Monday, August 13, 2012
Sunday, August 12, 2012
MISC. MANGA, *Sea Princess Azuri
Taking place in an undersea kingdom, you might think this would be your standard Little Mermaid ripoff. But, the merfolk here are actually half-orca called Orcans. They have had an unsettling peace with the Eel people for a while, and both kingdoms wish to settle their differences by having the heirs to each throne get married. The pricess Azuri wants to live a more carefree life though, and spend time with her best friend Thalo who is in the royal guard. On the day that she is supposed to meet her future husband, Azuri befriends an orphened unicorn seal and takes it as her pet. She then encounters the Prince Unagi of the Eel people and starts to recongnize his charms. At the same time, Thalo is confessing his true feelings for Azuri to her.
This was a pretty short volume for your average Tokyo Pop graphic novel, at only about half the size of their standard publications. But still the artwork is very good, and the story is enchanting. It's one you have to buy into a little at first though, otherwise you might get lost in the inner-workings of this self-contained little world. Great fun for anthro-fanatics!
ANI-MOVIES: Sword Of The Stranger
Probably the best samurai anime since Samurai Champloo, this recent movie won international awards across the board. Studio Bones, best known for Fullmetal Alchemist and Eureka Seven through together this epic clash of Japanese and Chinese fighting styles, but with Western gaijin taking the center stage.
Set in 19th Century Japan, a local lord is working with some representatives from the Chinese emperor who are looking for a young boy whose blood is supposed to grant immortality in a ceremony that can only be held once a year. The sacrifice in question is Kotoro, and is on the run from the Chinese agents with his dog Tobimaru(who is arguably the most talented dog in all of anime!). They come across a ronin called “No-Name” because he never gives his actual name to the boy, although its later revealed to be Nanashi. He defends Kotoro from some samurai, but Tobimaru gets hit with a poison dart. Kotoro hires No-Name to help cure the dog while protecting him from the Chinese hoods. Amoung the Chinese warriors is the proficient and very blonde Luo-Lang who is mainly only in this whole business to find worthy opponents to fight, so basically he’s this movie’s “Vegeta”. It’s later revealed that No-Name is also a honkey as he really has red hair, but keeps coloring it black, probably so he won’t be called a Ginger. No-Name delivers Kotoro and a healed Tobimaru to a monastery which is secretly controlled by the lord in league with the Chinese. Kotoro is taken to a large monument erected for the sole purpose of taking in his blood to give to the Emporer of China. No-Name shows up in time to save Kotoro, although he’s lucky as the Chinese agents and soldiers of the lord end up killing each other off, until all that’s left are No-Name and Luo-Lang. Aside from the fact that his a top notch swordsman, Luo-Lang like the other Chinese uses a special drug that supresses pain, but what he doesn’t know is that No-Name uses some of too in their duel. A bloody fight ensues where No-Name just leaves Luo-Lang dead in his tracks, although No-Name appears to be near-fatally wounded as Kotoro rides off with him as they plan to be pirates(sequal?).
Sword Of The Stranger seriously fills in the void that’s been forming for the last few years in anime as there hasn’t been much any real samurai stuff at all. The closest example would be Samurai 7 which is really more sci-fi, but there has been almost nothing in the field of a samurai anime movie since probably the Rurouni Kenshin movie. Anyway, Bones comes through with some awesome animation and their traditionally somewhat jarheaded character designs. All the characters are each given their own rich background, even the supporting ones. Plus, this probably has the best fight choregraphy I’ve ever seen in an anime movie, and its not afraid to pump up on the brutality, so Tanrentino fans are in for a real bloodbath with this bad mutha! I recommend that anyone that is a fan of action movies, epic adventure, and the true dark path of the samurai should check it out.
Friday, August 10, 2012
Thursday, August 9, 2012
ANI-MOVIES, *Royal Space Force
Taking place in an alternate version of Earth, a faction of the military called the Royal Space Force has been practicing on and off to gain proper funding for their space program. Shirotsugh Lhadatt is part of the RSF, and is mainly just in the military for laughs with no real direction. However, when one of their crew dies in a test, he becomes concerned with his direction is life. While out drinking with his crew, he runs across the religious girl Riquinni who invites him back to her place the next morning. She’s not some Jehova’s Witness though, but seems a little to faithful to her religion to the point that it leaves her very clueless about how the real world works, like paying her bills. Lhadatt gets inspired by her devotion, and decides to live up to his lot as an astronaut by volunteering for the first planned orbital flight, otherwise the whole space program would’ve been shafted. The military takes over a large portion of this project claiming the rocket is a warship, and it becomes viewed by the neighboring country as a threat, so much so that Lhadatt gets targeted by some rather creative assassins. The situation escalates to where the actual launch site becomes the focus of a full blown battlezone, and the entire thing gets cancelled by the government, but the RSF decides to brave the odds by continuing with the launch. Lhadatt finally achieves his space flight, and reflects that all the hostility and wars humanity has going on seem pointless since from where he sees the world now there are no borders.
This movie is considered to be the crowning achievement in Gainax’s long history. The world it takes place in is modeled after own, but redone in fashionable steampunk way. It pools elements from several of our cultures into it, and seems to really dig neon lights in ways that Las Vegas never did. Gainax outdid itself with this, and set the standard for their future productions like Gunbuster. It has some of the most memorable animation you’ll ever see in sequences you have trouble telling the difference between them and live-action. Royal Space Force was a real game-changer.
OBSCURE O.V.A.S, *Knights Of Ramune
The story starts out on an alternative future version of Earth after the events of the TV series where two holy virgins, Cacao and Parfait, who originally helped save the world with the help of the third in a great line of warriors called Ramunes that was really a kid who got sent into the future via a video game(kinda like on Monster Rancher). They are sent further into the future to find the 4th Ramunes warrior along with their small blob robot commrade Piqu. The girls find someone claiming to be the 4th Warrior, but he’s actually the commander of an invading force. They escape his space fortress in a giant mecha, along with the orphen girl Lemon. What follows is the realization of who the 4th Warrior really is and the recovery of a large robot named the Mythical Knight that was created to destroy the galaxy.
Knights Of Ramune is mostly funny and brings a good aftermath to the original TV series which should hopefully get picked up in America. Oddly enough, VS Knights Lamunes And 40 Fire was really the remake of another anime called NG Knights Lamunes which had 2 sequals of its own. It’s a little odd having an anime like Knights Of Ramune which is really the tail-end of the whole saga to be released before any of the other Lamune titles. This was also supposed to be the lead in to another new series called Knights Of Lemon which never got off the ground though. There’s lots of great action though and tons of juicy fan service. This series lives up more to the title “Slayers in space” than a certain other sci-fi show did.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
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