MISC. MANGA, *Astra

Jerry Robinson is probably best known as one of the original artists on the Batman comics along with Bob Kane back in the late 30-early 40s, and is often credited as the creator of Joker. However, he also put together a very interesting story for a musical along with Sidra Rausch titled Astra that was adapted into a manga series in Japan in the late 90s. Along with scriptwriter Shojin Tanaka and artist Ken-Ichi Oshi, this managed to get released in America through CPM Manga at first in single issues. The strange thing is though it wasn't completed until it was printed into a trade paperback. This was even turned into a short-lived off-Broadway musical in Washington in 2007. Despite this though, it seems like if Jack Kirby had tried to do a very ecchi manga.

Astra is a princess from the planet Eros which is made entirely of women. She is sent on a mission by her mother the Queen to find some healthy sperm for them to use as they're all tapped out back home. So Astra takes her little spaceship and voyages towards Earth. At this point in human history, space flight is a semi-common thing, and Yosuke, a truck driver from Japan, wins a trip on a newfangled space shuttle. He carjacks the mini-shuttle inside it, and takes a little joyride through space, where he finds Astra's ship. He hops on board and wakes her up from suspended animation. Astra and Yosuke are brought to Earth by the Ministy of Science, which is run by the unscrupulous Godai. Godai learns of Astra's true mission and plans to capitalize on this, even though Yosuke seems to have won her heart. After failing to find any real contenders for a sperm donor, Astra falls under the spell of Godai who hypnotizes her into loving him. Astra's people later arrive on Earth, and are about to take Godai as their new savior, but Yosuke shows up and reveals Godai's scheme. Godai and Astra then head back to Eros to live happily ever after.

Astra is a mixed bag of an homage to Golden Age sci-fi stories, plus a strait-up fan service manga, but they both seem to work rather splendidly here. It seems like something that Jack Kirby might've put together if he collaborated with Japanese creators. The art is very enjoyable, although the translation is a little rough at times. If you dug Buck Rogers or Barbarella, then this is the manga for you.

Which pony is the most "Moe"?

ANI-MOVIES, *Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Movie

Since the Utena anime TV series was such a phenomenon, there just had to be a movie of it too. Originally titled Adolescence Of Utena, this took the shojo-ai premise of the story to full blown yuri proportions. Unlike Cowboy Bebop, Naruto, DBZ, or Sailor Moon, this one is a total remake of the show instead of being a sequel/midquel/prequel. Similar to the Escaflowne movie, this film retells the original plot but in a "parallel universe" sort of way. BTW, I'd like to point out that not all remakes of an anime are parallel universe stories, like Tenchi Universe or El-Hazard: The Wanderers.

The movie sets out with the mysterious Utena Tenjou just arriving at the illustrious Ohtori Academy, the campus of which is designed like an M.C. Escher wetdream. She finds out that her ex-lover Touga is there, who is a member of the student council. Utena then recieves a signet ring from a glowing flower, which indicates that she is now one of the duelists for the hand of the Anthy, the Rose Bride and sister of the student chairman. Utena "wins" Anthy away from the lecherous Saionji in a match after releasing a soul-sword from Anthy's body. The two of them become increasingly close throughout the course of the movie, and way more intimate than they did in the TV series. Alot of hints involving the supporting characters come into play, but these are mostly only relevent if you've seen the original show. Utena is then challenged by the student duelist Juri, although she beats her after tapping into the spirit of Anthy's brother. It is suddenly revealed that the student chairman supposedly killed himself after thinking Anthy had died. Not only him but Touga has been dead since Utena was a child too. This leads to the conclusion that the world the academy lies in is an alternate one from the outside world. Utena decides to leave with Anthy, but is then turned into a car(sure, why not?)! The rest of the film deals with Anthy now driving the Autobot-Utena in a big Speed Racer-style chase where most the other students(dead or alive is unknown)take on the forms of black race cars and chase after them. Anthy is saved at the last second by the surviving members of the student council, but only to have to be attacked by Cinderella's castle on wheels. Anthy escapes the clutches of her brother(who might be Satan!), and she and Utena drive off totally naked into a desolate wasteland.

Okay, lemme first state that the movie sports some really keen animation, although not always in scope with theatrical quality, but a definate improvement from the TV series. At least there wasn't that redundant bit of Utena walking up the stairs to the castle that they used in every freakin' episode! However, trying to grasp the whole concept of this story is harder than trying to figure out the entire Evangelion series while watching it backwards and dropping acid at the same time(don't ask me how I know that). There are so many overlaying themes going on that it would take at least multiple screenings to even come close to understanding them all and how they might possibly all fit together. Utena and Anthy's relationship is amped up to being something more out of a hentai dojinshi than a plot for an official movie. The idea of the world where everything is happening is in itself like the land of the dead is done fairly well, but the rest of the premise for this is really hard to wrap your head around. I'd suggest that watching the entire TV series is a must before looking up the movie, otherwise you'll be really lost.

JESI THE GENIE, *Part 6: Page 8

ANI-MOVIES, *Wallace & Gromit: Curse Of The Wererabbit

After three Oscar-nominated(and two winning!)short movies, Britain's favorite tinkerer and his much smarter dog at last made their own full-length motion picture. Creators, Steve Box and Nick Park(most famous for Shaun The Sheep)directed it, and the movie was done as a joint-venture between the original studio of Aardman after their success with Chicken Run, plus Dreamworks Animation.

We open up to the small English village that W&G live in where they have opened up a new humane pest control service called Anti-Pesto. Apparently, there is a big vegetable growing competition goin on in this town which is like their Super Bowl, and everyone is obsessed with winning the prize for having the biggest homegrown lettuce/pumpkin/melon/etc. Anyway, Anti-Pesto is keeping all the rabbits they find nibbling on people's gardens at their place, which Gromit uses as an opportunity to try and get Wallace on a veggie diet so he can loose weight. Although, Wallace plans on using a special mind-altering gizmo to condition himself into eating better, but changes gears when a successful run at a nearby estate gives him the idea of using the device for brainwashing the bunnies into not wanting vegetables(so, they were going to be carnivorous rabbits?). As to be expected, in true "wacky inventor" fashion, the machine backfires, and now a monsterous giant rabbit is rampaging the village. At first Gromit suspects its the modified rabbit that they've named Hutch, but its really Wallace who turns into a Were-Rabbit. This all culminates in a grand monster chase at the city fair, and Wallace's curse just somehow lifts itself up, even though Hutch is still somewhat humanish.

Both Wallace and Gromit are in great form in this movie. You would think that taking two characters from a series of shorties couldn't hack it in a full feature, which is not the case here. Wallace is just as eccentric as ever, and warmingly voiced by British actor Peter Sallis. Gromit is of course mute the whole time, but proves that its better when cartoon animals don't talk, and that the Charlie Chaplin school of acting is still funny. Ralph Finnes does the bastardish Victor Quartermaine who is a hunter out to win the heart of the resident nobelwoman, but mainly for her money. Helena Bonham Carter performs as Lady Tottington, the kindhearted landowner who has a softspot for small furry animals. It's weird that Carter did this around the same time that she was doing the lead role in Corpse Bride, which was the only other stop-motion animation movie to come out within the last few years.

The movie itself was set out to be a family movie from the beginning, but this G-Rated film managed to slip in alot of risky material under the radar. The parents will get most of the jokes, although there is some sight gags that are just so obviously funny(the change purse shot will absolutely kill you!). The film homages old horror movies very well too, and did a better job of praising the original Wolf Man movie than the current remake did. This is a perfect selection for Halloween, or weirdly enough even Easter.

Shining Cadence!

ANI-MOVIES, *Ghost In The Shell: Solid State Society

As the Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex TV series achieved a level of popularity not seen in the franchise since the original GITS anime, a movie followup to the series was a no-brainer. Like some films that act as conclusions to an anime TV series like Fullmetal Alchemist, Ghost Sweeper Mikami, and Nadesico, this brings the entire original cast back together for one last ride.

About two years after the second season of the series(2nd Gig), Matoko has left Section 9 to go work on her own. Since then, Togusa has stopped bleaching his hair and become field commander, while Batou is off being picky about which cases he takes. A foreign colonel kills himself on Togusa's watch for fear of a master hacker called the Puppeteer. The colonel's father is an exiled aging dictator under Japanese asylum, who is soon found to be dead by a micromachine virus. Batou goes to arrest someone connected to the virus, but runs into Matoko. He keeps this a secret from the other Section 9 members because he thinks she might actually be the Puppeteer. The investivagation leads into something called the Solid State Society, which is a secret government orginization running under a project titled Noble Rot. where abandonned or orphened children are left to take care of eldery citizens with no one left to leave their inheritence to. The Solid State was actually brainwashing these children and grooming them to be a docile next generation, with the wealth and power coming from their foster parents. They're also responsible for kidnapping thousands of children from abused families. The true Puppeteer turns out to be an individual A.I. that emerged from the collected consciousness of all the puppet personas that Matoka herself used through prosthetic bodies she controlled over the last few years. The children are then sent back to their families, and Matoko rejoins Section 9.

Solid State Society was a fine continuation of Stand Alone Complex, it however was a little lacking in the kind of production seen in a theatrical release. The quality was too similar to the that of the TV show, and when you're taking an animated series and turning it into a movie, it has to be a better than the original format. Considering how realistic some of the shots in GITS: Innocence and the recent GITS 2.0 reproduction, SSS should've been more polished than it was. The story fits well together, but anyone who hasn't seen the original SAC series will be pretty lost on some of the nuiances of the plot(like what the hell happened to the Tachikomas!). Unless there's going to be anything more from the GITS anime world in the next few years, this was a fitting finale to Shirow's cyberpunk saga.