Big Windup!, Part 2 – DVD Review October 18, 2009
Posted by psfrontline in Anime Reviews.add a comment
Review by: Clive Owen
Publisher: FUNimation Entertainment
MSRP: $59.98 US
Running Time: 315 minutes
Genre: Sports
Rating: TV 14
Release Date: Available Now
There’s no crying in baseball.
As a sports fan and devoted baseball enthusiast, Big Windup! joins the ranks of some of my favorite sports anime series whether its basketball or football. The first part of the series introduces us to the freshman baseball team and a most unusual yet talented young pitcher who brings hope to the nine players that find themselves out of spring training and in the tournament that might just make legends out of them. Big Windup!, Part 2 is here and the tournament has finally begun but be prepared for one of the most slow paced game of baseball we’ve seen yet.
It might have been fate or the luck of the draw that the Nishiura Nine find themselves starting off the Summer National School Baseball Tournament by going up against the defending champions of last year’s tournament … Tosei High. In the opening episode of Part 2, Episode 14, the game begins and Nishiura immediately becomes intimidated by Tosei’s lineup that includes a good pitcher and a captain with a good head on his shoulders.
Tosei’s pitcher manages to impress the delightfully spineless Mihashi as he watches the young seasoned pitcher strike out Tajima. Oh, but Nishiura is in no way backing out of this game and even more so that in the stands the male cheering squad has brought as many Nishiura High students they can find to cheer their team on with much enthusiasm. Many of the players mothers are also cheering their sons on as a group and Mihashi’s attractive cousin is there to root for him.
As I mentioned above, the second half of the series moves at a very slow pace and this is mostly because the series spends the eleven out of thirteen episodes getting into the mindset of each player as well as going through every little detail about a play. For the casual ball fan, the excessive attention to every detail might be exhausting but those who know that game well will find the details to be quite interesting. Very few shows about baseball lets you know what a catcher is thinking when he sizes up a batter or how said batter is trying to determine what type of pitch will be thrown.
Thankfully, the episodes zero in on Mihashi who is slowly developing confidence in the catcher, his teammates and himself. Of course, there are various moments that shatter that confidence and turns him into quivering coward and the thought of letting down his teammates has him almost feverish to the point that Abe, the catcher, keeps checking on him. Meanwhile, the other players are stunned when Mihashi comes up at bat and manages to hit a grounder. Also, thanks to his awkward fumbling ways, Mihashi manages to help a teammate get to home base and thus earn the first score of the game.
In the fourth inning, Nishiura just isn’t able to get their best hitters to make a dent in Tosei’s defense and it isn’t until Mihashi performs another miracle when he’s up at bat that his teammates finds themselves playing in the same level as the more experienced opposing team. The other team suddenly sees players like Tajima, Abe and Hanai as major threats. Many of them can’t even make heads or tails of Mihashi’s pitching style.
While the majority of the episodes get into the cerebral aspects of the game, there are many exciting moments in the game between Nishiura and Tosei. When Tosei wins the lead in one of the innings, Nishiura really hustles to keep up until the final moments when our team manages to tie and then jump ahead thanks to Mihashi’s pitching. The final moments of the game are most definitely the more exciting and the better part of this second part of the series.
With the outcome of the game surprising just about everyone, the final two episodes finds the Nishiura Nine gets some rest and allowing their star pitcher to recover from the game. While Abe still picks on the poor guy, he certainly proved a lot during the game. In the final episode, we find Haruna – who was Abe’s Junior High pitcher – trying to talk a teammate out of quitting the team and baseball. He even talked Abe out of not giving up on the game.
In the end, Part 2 of Big Windup! seems to move at a glacial pace that might not sit well with fans of the first part but when it comes down to it this is still one of the most entertaining sports anime series to come along. The characters are so well developed that we gladly follow the Nishiura Nine as they begin to show signs of promise. I still can’t recommend this one enough to sports fans and anime lovers alike.
DVD REVIEW BREAKDOWN
MOVIE/EPISODES: B
It’s the first game in the tournament and Nishiura High is up against returning champions, Tosei High who has an impressive starting lineup. Yes, the bulk of the 13 episodes are dedicated to a single game but there are exciting moments scattered throughout and we get a deeper view into the characters strengths and weaknesses.
VIDEO QUALITY: A
The animation is some of the best and the action flows perfectly so the baseball action looks good in motion. I still get a kick out of Mihashi’s frightened bird-like expressions.
AUDIO QUALITY: A
The voice work is still top notch although there are noticeable inconsistencies in the pronunciations of names and Japanese words for the amazing English dub cast. I definitely enjoyed the original Japanese voices a little better in this series and the music is still sweeping and wonderfully cinematic.
EXTRAS: D
Short on extras, the only thing you’ll find in the second disc are the textless opening and closing songs and a number of trailers. We definitely would have loved an audio commentary track for one or two of the episodes.
OVERALL: B
Things slow down considerably in Part 2 of Big Windup! and with most of the episodes in this set dedicated to one game there is still much to like about this second part. Sure, it becomes frustrating when a series dissects just about every detail of a sport but Big Windup! keeps sports and anime fans cheering either way.
Samurai Champloo, The Complete Collection – DVD Review October 14, 2009
Posted by psfrontline in Anime Reviews.add a comment
Review by: Edward Zacharias
Publisher: FUNimation Entertainment
MSRP: $69.98 US
Running Time: 650 minutes
Genre: Action
Rating: 16 Up
Release Date: Available Now
The art of the ultra cool samurai.
A young, clumsy and cute tea house waitress has always felt that her life was missing something but dared not chase that something down on her own until the fateful day she met two very talented swordsmen who start their relationship with her by trying to kill each another. Samurai Champloo isn’t your average Edo period samurai action anime and that’s what thousands of anime fans love about a series that is wildly entertaining and way too cool.
The Complete Collection features all 26 episodes of the series in seven DVDs and if you missed the series individually and waited for a complete set like this then you will not be disappointed. Among the exciting hip-hop fused sword battles and bloody violence, there’s a sincerely poignant tale of friendship and honor that makes the trio so much damn fun to watch from start to finish. You see, as much as we love the action, it is the characters that light up the screen.
The story introduces us to the two talented swordsmen I mentioned earlier about to get executed by a local magistrate the two had angered in the wake of their destructive battle that lead to said magistrate’s son getting killed in a tea house blaze. One a rude, crude and dangerous vagabond swordsman named Mugen who would kill for a few coins or even something as simple as dumplings. The other is a quiet, polite and neatly dressed Ronin named Jin who follows the path of the samurai. To the young tea house waitress named Fuu – who manages to escape the fire – these two are the perfect candidates to help her look for a samurai who “smells of sunflowers.” That is, of course, if Jin and Mugen don’t kill each another in the process.
With that one and simply vague description, the three set on a length journey to find this samurai for reasons Fuu doesn’t go into until the very end. With no money in their pockets, the three take on odd assignments when offered such as the time Mugen works for the Yakuza for a few extra coins or when Fuu decides to pose for an artist who one day inspires Vincent Van Gogh’s sunflower paintings. They even participate in an eating contest where they meet a very unusual man who hires them on as their guide.
With each stop, Fuu learns that the man she was looking for has passed through at some point. She’s about the only one who seems concentrated on the task at hand seeing as her two swordsmen keep getting into trouble that requires them to kill a number of men. It’s downright hilarious watching Fuu try to either fix their mistakes or try to get them out of a jam. In one episode, Mugen and Jin are conned by a beautiful woman and – in another episode – Mugen convinces Jin to pawn his eye glasses with the promise he’s get them back by winning at gambling.
The trio also end up giving a helping hand in stopping crooks and, at one point, draws out a killer who slays swordsmen. Jin even helps a woman who is sold into a brothel to work out a debt owed to the brothel owners by the woman’s husband. We also get to learn more about the two men she keeps as company. In one episode, we learn a secret about Jin and why samurai who know him want to see Jin dead for a crime he may or may have not committed. In another episode, we find out a lot about Mugen’s past from those criminal scum that knows him best.
While never really trying to accurate capture the era realistically, we do learn many little interesting lessons in Japanese history such as how homosexuality is viewed or the fact that graffiti actually originated in the Edo period. There’s even the first real look at baseball in Japan. What the series does best is push the violence in a stylized way that it is never gross or gruesome. It also handles the humor perfectly throughout the series.
I won’t go into how their journey ends or whether or not Jin and Mugen finally decide to fight each another at journey’s end. What I will say is that by the final episode you really don’t want this series to end. We wish we could continue to follow them but all good things come to an end and the series ends on a good note. The brilliantly directed series and amazing animation play a big part in the storytelling seeing as it – like its characters – have their own unique style. I mean, even the music isn’t your typical soundtrack.
Samurai Champloo, The Complete Collection, is exactly what you deserve if you consider yourself an anime fan with an eye towards ultra cool action. It’s a slick, stylish and satisfyingly amazing series that should be on the very top of anyone’s Must Own list. Very few anime series makes samurais seem so amazingly cool and fun to watch like the ones in this series and trust me when I say that you will have a blast watching this series.
DVD REVIEW BREAKDOWN
MOVIE/EPISODES: A+
Inspired by the sight of two very skilled swordsmen, a young girl named Fuu asks the cool and collected Jin and the crude yet talented Mugen to help her find a samurai who “smells of sunflowers.” On their journey together, the trio gets into a number of adventures and facing the demons of their past.
VIDEO QUALITY: A
The animation is simple fluid and gorgeous enough that you can see what Quentin Tarantino saw in it when he used Kazuto Nakazawa for Kill Bill, Vol. 1. The transitions between scenes are handled uniquely and the action sequences are stellar.
AUDIO QUALITY: A
The English dub is wonderfully effective and somehow makes more sense but you’ll find that the original Japanese voice work is just as good. The soundtrack is one of the real highlights of the series with remarkable music and great closing tracks such as the Minmi closing songs.
EXTRAS: C-
The collection could have offered more extras but there’s conceptual art and a Bumper Gallery feature. The opening promo video of “battlecry” is simply awesome.
OVERALL: A+
A hip-hop-infused samurai action series that is straight up cool in just about every way, The Complete Collection of Samurai Champloo should be on any anime fan’s wish list. With a strong cast of characters and plenty of blood splattering swordplay, this stylishly unique series has enough amazing episodes to keep action junkies satisfied.
Honey and Clover, Vol. 7 – Manga Review October 11, 2009
Posted by psfrontline in Manga Reviews.1 comment so far
Review by: Sophie Stevens
Publisher: VIZ Media
Author: Chica Umino
Genre: Graphic Novel (Shojo Beat Manga)
MSRP: $8.99 US
Rating: T+ (Older Teen)
Release Date: Available Now
At journey’s end, the only truth is that love will guide you home.
Pedaling across the open fields and through villages and towns unknown, Yuta Takemoto continues to bike his way onwards to a destination that is not clear to him. All he knows is that he doesn’t know who he is and what he wants out of life and that maybe somewhere out there lies the answer. In Honey and Clover, Volume 7, Takemoto reaches the end of his journey and makes a discovery.
As you can imagine, Takemoto’s delivery bicycle is falling apart and when it does he finds himself worn out and takes a nap not far from a temple. When he wakes up, he is surrounded by a motley crew of workers who have come to restore the temple. They not only invite him to eat with him but also come to work with them long enough for him to buy a new bicycle so he could continue the journey. Takemoto agrees and takes on the task of cleaning their clothes, cooking their meals and performing small chores in restoring the temple. Of course, there’s one young fellow he immediately despises Takemoto for obvious reasons.
As Takemoto impresses the crew with his efficiency, Yamada manages to make an impression on somebody the young girl never thought she would get to meet. You see, hanging out in the offices where Mayama use to work is Rika-san … the very woman that Mayama is in love with and thus the reason he pushes Yamada aside. As Yamada stammers and tries to find something to say to the older woman, it is Rika-san who begins the conversation and inquires about Yamada’s beautiful pottery work. As the young girl attempts to avoid Rika, it is the older woman who comes looking for Yamada to hire her on for a project. Yamada’s answer surprises even Mayama.
As the complexities of the love triangle take a most dramatic and hilarious turn (one that leaves Morita in the hospital), Hagu gets an offer to teach grade school children art. She accepts reluctantly and, seeing as she’s physically not much bigger than the kids in her classroom, she actually makes a good teacher. One of her students in particular wants more instruction to win an art prize and when Hagu discovers why she begins to weep (which makes her student weep) and finally shares a moment with him that inspires the youth. It’s clear that Hagu has found a place as a teacher.
Takemoto, on the other hand, thinks he found his place among the temple restorers and ends up realizing that he’s still just as clueless as to who his is and what life has in store for him. He discovers that one of the workers was on the same journey of self-discovery as well until he found the same workers. Offering him his old bike and maps, the crew sends Takemoto back on the road. It isn’t until the young man reach land’s end that he comes to understand that there is a place where he belongs and it is back him where his friends are and where she is waiting.
Needless to say, Takemoto’s return is monumental. He makes it his priority to see Hagu first and she is genuinely glad to see him … as are the others who see the change in the young man. While Takemoto says he didn’t really find himself, the reality is that he has found something even more valuable. What it is becomes apparent when he sees Hagu again to make his confession to her.
It’s good to see the gang together again as it was since Volume 1 and yes it’s a real hoot watching the five of them go about their wildly fun antics of the past. Even more so, it’s great to see more bonus chapters and in this volume we are introduced to Ninzaburo, a beloved mascot who managed to steal the hearts of even the coldest and meanest ruffians. You just have to read this bonus chapter, Honey and Clover fans.
Volume 7 of Honey and Clover, like past volumes, speaks from the heart and this time it is Takemoto who takes center stage. The fractured love triangle that is Mayama, Yamada and Rika-san comes to a fascinating collision as the three come together and yes we are dying to see what happens next with Volume 8. Once again, Chica Umino takes this story to a different and genuinely pleasing new heights.
MANGA REVIEW BREAKDOWN
STORY: A+
On his continued journey to find himself, Takemoto is discovered by a group of temple restorers who offers him a job that Takemoto takes on with much enthusiasm. Meanwhile, Yamada comes face-to-face with the woman who has stolen Mayama’s heart for so long. When Takemoto finally does come back home to the others, he makes a confession to Hagu who has taken up teaching art to grade school children.
ART: A
Ok, now Chica Umino is just playing with us because just when we thought she has made the perfect Honey and Clover cover she goes and outdoes herself again. Volume 7 has a truly gorgeous cover and once again her art is one of the highlights of this manga.
OVERALL: A+
There are certain moments in every manga series that fans are waiting and hoping would happen and in Volume 7 of Honey and Clover that moment is here when Takemoto finally comes home. His journey of self-discovery has led him down many interesting paths but the lessons he takes with him make this volume deep stuff, indeed.
Death Note: L, Change The World – DVD Review October 7, 2009
Posted by psfrontline in Live-Action Movie Review.add a comment
Review by: Brenda Gregson
Publisher: VIZ Pictures
MSRP: $24.98 US
Running Time: 129 minutes
Genre: Mystery
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Release Date: Available Now
Those who change the world are often those who could end up destroying it.
Having been an admirer of Sherlock Holmes and even having had a fascination with Phillip Marlow, the one detective that truly stands out as a brilliantly original creation is none other than the master detective known as L. Those who know him well have most likely read the Death Note manga, seen the anime or even the two live-action movies based on the Kira case. L made a return on the big screen and now VIZ Pictures has released Death Note: L, Change the World on DVD.
The live-action movie once again has the always fantastic Kenichi Matsuyama reprising his role as the brilliant detective L as Change the World picks up after the events of the second Death Note movie, The Last Name. Having written his own name on Light Yamagami’s Death Note, L has sealed his own fate in a final sacrifice to finally beat Light at his own game. The result is that L has 23 days left before he dies “a peaceful death from heart failure.”
Change the World chronicles the famous sleuth’s final days as L spends his remaining days of life cracking as many high profile cases as possible before he dies. Having lost Watari, his father-figure and assistant thanks to Misa Amane’s Shinigami, L has cut all ties with the Kira case by ridding the world of the Death Note. If you were wondering what happened to the notebooks after the finale of Death Note then Change the World gives you the answer.
In Taiwan, however, a plague has been unleashed on a small village and its inhabitants. As a group of men in Hazmat suits comb the village, a man known only as F makes a run for it with a strange little boy who seems unaffected by the virus. It’s clear that F is infected and before he makes the ultimate sacrifice, the man tells him to memorize a sequence of numbers as well as the telephone number to the only people that can help the boy. The telephone number, it turns out, belongs to Wammy House and the numeric sequence is really a message meant for its founder … Watari.
Of course, with Watari gone, the message is passed on to L and in an instant he finds himself in charge of a little boy that hardly shows much emotion. Seeing L babysitting a kid is by far one of the highlights of the movie, especially since his technique to win the child over is by offering him a kabob made entirely of cakes and sweets. “This is my first babysitting experience,” L says dryly.
In the Infectious Disease Center of Asia, a little girl named Maki (wonderfully acted by “Kamikzi Girls” own Mayuko Fukuda) is living with her scientist father and his loyal assistant, Doctor Kimiko Kujo (played by the talented Youki Kudoh of “Memoirs of a Geisha” fame). As the two scientists work on finding out the origins of the virus that resulted in the destruction of the village in Taiwan, a radical environmental group storms the facility demanding the virus. Maki not only witnesses the death of her own father who made a move to destroy the only viable antidote for the mutating virus but the young girl also witnesses the true ringleader of the group step forward.
Her only hope is find Watari and, instead, finds L who accepts the job to aid the girl when the environmental group comes looking for the girl. It seems that Maki might just hold the key to the antidote for the virus that is a cross between the Ebola and flu virus and L decides to make a run for it with both kids who are linked to the virus. With the aid of an FBI agent named Hideaki Suruga (played by comedic legend Kiyotaka Nanbara), L and the children attempt to locate the only scientist who can makes sense of the biologically created virus and come up with an antidote.
Meanwhile, the leader of the environmentalist group reveals its plan to unleash the virus on the United States to start a pandemic so huge that it will bring their plan to save the planet from pesky humans to fruition in such a manner that nothing will be left. As L manages to locate the scientist, Maki goes caught by the group and this leads to a final showdown aboard an airliner as L finally shows us that he doesn’t just solve cases in front of a computer. In fact, he uncharacteristically takes drastic measure to stop the plane from taking off in one of the most exciting climaxes.
Change the World, if anything, shows us another side of L we didn’t get to see during the Kira case. It also offers us a small peek of the Los Angeles BB murder case from the novel, “Death Note: Another Note, The Los Angeles BB Murder Case.” We also get to see L run, which is a rarity and I don’t know about you but seeing L make an escape in a cute pink “Angelcrepe” van is just so laugh-out-loud hilarious. He even goes on a picnic with the two kids as he explains to Maki why he eats only sweets.
Surprisingly, the lack of a supernatural twist doesn’t distract us from the fact that L is a very interesting characters that makes even a case like this one actually fun to watch. In fact, I’d even go so far as saying that he alone makes all the cast of characters from shows like NCIS or even Monk seem so transparent. If there’s one character that’s screaming to become the star of their own series it’s L so seeing him again in Change the World is a treat. As far as the movie is concerned, there’s some solid acting and Hideo Nakata is able to make the movie flow steadily until its reasonable finale.
Death Note: L, Change the World is a thoroughly entertaining movie that fans of Death Note will certainly enjoy but not as much as the two Kira case movies. That said, the highlight here is clearly the character L who continues to not only be brilliantly fascinating but also amusing enough that watching him crack cases that aren’t even supernatural in nature is still something of a blast. Death Note fans should not miss out of another opportunity to see L at work.
DVD REVIEW BREAKDOWN
MOVIE/EPISODES: B
With only 23 days left thanks to the Death Note, L spends his final days taking on the very case that lead to the death of a fellow detective from the Wammy House that Watari built. With a strange boy by his side and a little girl who might have the key to stopping a mutating virus that a bio-terrorist group wants to unleash on the world, it is L who sets out to save the world.
VIDEO QUALITY: A+
VIZ Pictures once again tops itself with a perfect Anamorphic Widescreen presentation. Still, you can’t help be think how good these live-action Death Note movies would look on Blu-ray.
AUDIO QUALITY: A-
The English voice dub is handled well and even more so with Alessandro Juliani reprising his vocal role as L and Brian Drummond doing double duty as Ryuk and FBI Agent Suruga. It’s a good option to have but this is definitely a movie to watch in Japanese.
EXTRAS: B+
There’s a Behind the Scenes featurette with interviews with Kenichi Matsutama and Director Hideo Nakata plus there’s the Event Bonus Footage. The loads of trailers are fine additions but the best special features also happens to be the audio commentary track and bilingual options with Alessandro Juliani. There’s an insert included that comes with a Death Note crossword puzzle.
OVERALL: B
While it strays from the supernatural cat-and-mouse game that was the first two Death Note movies, L’s final case makes Change the World all the more enticing and actually fun to watch if you’re a fan of Ohba and Obata’s most interesting detective. It’s not a bad story but not as amazing as the Kira case.
High School Debut, Vol. 11 – Manga Review October 4, 2009
Posted by psfrontline in Manga Reviews.1 comment so far
Review by: Faith McAdams
Publisher: VIZ Media
Author: Kazune Kawahara
Genre: Graphic Novel (Shojo Beat Manga)
MSRP: $8.99 US
Rating: T (Teen)
Release Date: Available Now
The fight for Yoh has begun.
I said it once and I’ll say it again: we love Haruna Nagashima and since she met and finally got the boy of her dreams to become her boyfriend we were inspired by her truthfulness and her determination. Not everyone is brave enough to put her heart on the line and take risks the way she does and we can definitely see why Yoh Komiyama likes her so much. We love Haruna Nagashima for another reason as well and that reason is what makes Volume 11 of High School Debut really shine.
You see, Haruna has the habit of letting her imagination get the better of her and that makes her jump to various conclusions that ends up either amusing Yoh or annoying him. It also gets her into trouble. So when she sees Yoh chatting with the weird girl with glasses and is smiling at her she jumps to the conclusion that Yoh might just be interested in her. After all, Yoh is the kind of guy that can look past a person’s physical appearance and see a person’s personality. The thought of losing Yoh has Haruna in a daze and even when he invites her on a date she feel only a little comfort.
On the day of the date, though, Yoh runs into the girl again. Just when she finds out that he was on his way to meet Haruna, the girl faints so off Yoh goes to the hospital. As it turns out, the girl’s name is Miyabi Jyoho and Haruna’s first instincts about her are – surprisingly – right. Miyabi is clearly obsessed with Yoh, a fact that has her brother, Akito, worried. Interestingly enough, the girl goes to Haruna’s house to apologize to her for being the reason Yoh missed his date with her and ends up insulting Haruna to the point that our girl believes Miyabi’s harsh words.
Unfortunately, bad timing has Yoh showing up in time to see Haruna crying and embracing Akito who came over to see if she was Ok. Yoh gets the wrong idea but when Haruna tries to clear things up it becomes clear to Yoh that she’s upset by what she had seen outside the prep school when she found Yoh smiling at Miyabi. Meanwhile, Miyabi begins her plan to create a rift between the two when she gets her hands on Yoh’s phone. Via text messages, Haruna receives the shock of her life and – on top of that – her new rival even sets up plans to meet up posing as Haruna only not to show up.
As Haruna sinks into depression and turns to food as a comfort, Miyabi reveals her true feeling to Yoh. Even despite all the misunderstandings, Yoh reveals that Haruna is a lot more precious to him that Yoh ever cared to admit even to his friends or his own sister. In the end, a new “shapely” Haruna decides to fight for her love and heads out with Akito to the beach where Miyabi tricked Yoh into showing up. This is truly one of the more hilarious and memorable moments in this series. Miyabi actually turned out to be a fantastic character and a much better rival than even Leona.
In the final chapter of the volume, Haruna manages to lose the weight she gained from the Miyabi problem and also managed to regain her confidence. When her co-workers hear that Haruna has a boyfriend, one of them makes the suggestion that she consider a weekend trip someplace romantic. It never occurs to naive Haruna that there’s a suggestive nature to a weekend trip with your significant other … a fact that actually bother Asa to no end. Once again, Haruna managed to comically get a reaction out of Yoh and his friends.
Is Haruna ready to take the next step with her boyfriend? Is Yoh ready for something like a weekend trip with his girlfriend? We cannot wait to see what happens in Volume 12.
By far one of the most funniest and darkest chapters in the Haruna/Yoh relationship, Volume 11 of High School Debut is also one of the best volumes this series has produced. It basically has everything you can ask for in a funny shoujo manga and, as it reaches its finale, still just doesn’t stop surprising the series’ loyal readers.
MANGA REVIEW BREAKDOWN
STORY: A+
As always, our girl Haruna is jumping at all sorts of conclusions about Yoh, specifically when it comes to the strange girl wearing glasses that always seems to show up when Yoh’s alone. Still, when it becomes clear that Akito’s sister is planning to steal Yoh away from her, Haruna decides to fight back. Later, Haruna asks Yoh to go away with her for the weekend … not knowing what that means until an angry Asa tells her.
ART: A
The artwork has been progressively getting better with each volume and I have to admit that Kawahara definitely knows how to draw cute boys.
OVERALL: A+
Volume 11 of High School Debut is actually the first real time that Yoh and Haruna’s relationship is put to the test by a character that’s one of the most interesting to come along in this series. While it’s wonderfully dramatic at times, Kawahara never really loses her charming comedic writing that makes this one yet another winner.
Monthly Editorial: October 2009 October 2, 2009
Posted by psfrontline in Editor's Note.1 comment so far
I really love Tokyo.
It’s been a long while since I’ve been to Japan and I definitely was looking forward to going to the Tokyo Game Show this year and was all set to go to cover the three-day event when a few unexpected bumps in my schedule forced me to sit it out. I wasn’t disappointed about not being able to see all the latest games that are heading our way but rather I was disapointed I wasn’t about to see Tokyo again and bring back a suitcase filled with anime and manga.
Why would I mention video games in a blog dedicated to manga and anime? Well, yours truly is producing and leading a team to resurrect PSFrontline, a blog site dedicated to all things PlayStation. We reviewed games here before but they were related to anime or manga and wish to do more of that here but if you’re interested in unbiased game reviews and news please look forward to PSFrontline.
I would also like to thank all our readers who gave positive feedback to my little sister’s comic review site, Comic Revolution (http://comicrevolution.wordpress.com). She’s just getting warmed up and will have plenty of comic reviews heading your way. She is actually turning out to be a good Editor-in-Chief and has a loyal following of readers. This from a girl who covered the San Diego Comic Con 2009 dressed as a cheerleader.
Anyway, thank you again for your continued support. We have more reviews for you and other new projects.
With much love,
Edward Zacharias
Editor-in-Chief
School Rumble: 2nd Semester, The Complete Collection – DVD Review October 1, 2009
Posted by psfrontline in Anime Reviews.add a comment
Review by: Brenda Gregson
Publisher: FUNimation Entertainment
MSRP: $69.98 US
Running Time: 610 minutes
Genre: Romance/Comedy
Rating: TV MA
Release Date: Available Now
It’s all about Love, manga, curry and really crazy school days.
If you’re been waiting for the second semester of School Rumble to be released in a complete set then you are certainly in luck because FUNimation has given the series The Complete Collection treatment it gave the first season of the show in one set with four discs. If anything, School Rumble: 2nd Semester, The Complete Collection is the way to go if you’re a School Rumble fan.
Taking place after the first season’s hilarious madcap events that finds bad boy Kenji Harima still very much in love with the cute and air headed Tenma as well as still pursuing a career writing and drawing manga. Meanwhile, Tenma’s younger sister Yakumo hasn’t told Tenma that she’s been helping Harima with his comic and her big sister believe the two are secretly dating. Once again, misunderstandings put Harima back into square one with Tenma who is still crazy about the weird boy in class, Karasuma. Once again, it is this rather interesting little love triangle that is the best thing about School Rumble apart from its outrageous humor and crazy vignettes about the other many characters in the series.
With the Culture Festival coming up, rumors of Harima dating Yakumo doesn’t sit well with rich girl Eri Sawachika (who actually has a crush on Harima) or Haruki Hanai (who is so madly in love with Yakumo). Before the festival, though, Class 2-D once again challenges Class 2-C but this time even Class 2-C is divided by whether to put on a play or a maid café for the festival. The only way to see which options is picked is by holding a Battle Royale-like BB gun survival game. The battle is fierce as friend turns on friend and even a girlfriend turns on her boyfriend. Even the band, which includes, Karasuma, joins in the fight. This is truly one of the biggest highlights of the first half of this second season.
Once again, the fun elements of the series takes center stage as we get small stories that flesh out the rest of the cast of the series in the most hilarious manner possible. For example, we get more background about Eri’s butler and maid and the ideas for the play they decided to put on for the festival are hilarious. We get to see the other characters during their part-time job (Lara, for example, works at a local burger joint with her rival, Karen). The series even pokes fun at anime production when Harima gets a job as a production assistant. One of the most memorable moments occurs when Harima accidentally becomes part of the Sleeping Beauty play production during the festival … playing the role of Sleeping Beauty.
We also stray from the Harima-Tenma-Karasuma love triangle for a few episodes about a first-year student who begins the school’s first all-girls basketball team. The girl, Satsuki, gets a number of girls to join the team and even Tenma catches basketball fever … although she is rejected right off the bat. There’s also a romantic twist to this storyline that surprisingly works well and it’s fun to see Harima and Tenma team up as they join a basketball team composed mainly of rejects.
As Harima becomes accepted as a mangaka, he finds himself working closer with Yakumo who is starting to like Harima. There was even a confrontation between her and Eri during the school play and now the relationship between the bad boy and the quiet girl is becoming more evident. Still, Harima – despite his reputation as a brawler – is a sensitive and kind soul who, during Tenma’s birthday, offers up his own present and tells Tenma it came from Karasuma. He’s the type of guy who would much rather see the girl he loves happy than to admit that the gift came from him. This is but one of the many reasons we love Harima so much and root for him to get the girl.
As it was in the first season, though, more misunderstandings have the poor guy suffering. At one point, he even comes to stay under the same roof as Tenma and Yakumo when a failed attempt to admit his love to her places him out on the street. When he is taken in by Mikoto, Harima finds out that Eri is staying under the same roof as him in an attempt to escape an arranged marriage meet-and-greet. The two actually become a bit closer because of this as Harima helps Eri try to get out of the meeting.
The second season is also the most craziest with odd vignettes/fantasies such Tenma joining a Ghost in the Shell-like cyber organization or Mai becoming a Magical Girl fighting an masked wrestler version of Harima. There’s even a short about a crazy basketball team. These are fun but don’t really add to the main story, unlike the strange stories that are credible (Imadori humiliating Lara and then has a play date with Karen’s little brother) to weird (Hanai meeting a Mayan version of his classmates and the boys and girls of Class 2-C getting lost at sea).
Within the layers of madcap humor and odd occurrences is the heart of a good romantic comedy with a slightly dramatic soul. Sure, these parts aren’t played up as well as the first season but it makes for a good central theme that becomes more interesting when Yakamo and Eri become part of the love triangle. The hilarious moments are genuinely funny and hardly ever forced, although sometimes you will find yourself scratching your head at the insanity. Still, anime and manga fans will love the little nods to other series and the fact that secondary characters do get their moment to shine in the complete season set. I mean, we never knew Togo was this funny until we really got to know him in this season.
The Complete Collection of School Rumble’s 2nd Semester is just jam-packed with a lot of what we loved about the first season while going totally insane in the second half of this season’s set. I would like to say that this is the perfect season but it isn’t but that doesn’t mean you won’t have loads of fun watching each and every episode. In fact, I still recommend this series to my friends and anyone who is interested in a romance-comedy that is flat-out crazy in the best way possible.
DVD REVIEW BREAKDOWN
MOVIE/EPISODES: B+
In the second semester of their school year, the students of Class 2-C get into romantic triangles and try to survive everything from a Culture Festival to a cruise ship disaster. More importantly, Harima is still chasing after Tenma and Tenma is still chasing after Karasuma. This time around, though Harima has two girls interested in him and students that were merely a supporting cast gets fleshed out a bit more. Plus, a number of crazy things happen … again.
VIDEO QUALITY: A+
Kiki Van De Kamp was right when she said this series looked great on DVD and yes it is always a treat to watch Harima react to all the misunderstandings. This series is ripe with hilarious sight gags and more so in the second half of this season.
AUDIO QUALITY: A
There is definitely a lot to love about the English dub that does a great job of adding its own style and making the characters all the more likeable. Yes, the original Japanese voice actors are fantastic and I love Ami Koshimizu but Luci Christian’s voice is what I hear when I imagine Tenma. The two closing theme songs are favorites around this office.
EXTRAS: B+
Aside from the usual collection of trailers and clean opening and closing tunes, the Complete Collection includes an interview with Ami Koshimizu in the second disc and a great interview with School Rumble creator Jin Kobayashi on the fourth disc.
OVERALL: B+
While not as deliciously brilliant as the first season, the complete second season of School Rumble won’t fail to make you laugh, make you root for its characters’ romantic life and scratch your head wondering what a funky basketball bunch has to do with the love triangles. Yes, School Rumble is the kind of show that is unapologetically outrageous but that’s what we love about it and The Complete Collection of this second season is just what we have been hoping for since the first release of this season.
Emma, Vol. 1 – Manga Review September 29, 2009
Posted by psfrontline in Manga Reviews.3 comments
Review by: Sophie Stevens
Publisher: CMX Manga
Author: Kaoru Mori
Genre: Graphic Novel (Shoujo)
MSRP: $9.99 US
Rating: T+ (Teen Plus)
Release Date: Now Available
A very Victorian romance.
There are few mangaka who are able to pull off telling a story set outside of Japan and do so brilliantly enough that you find yourself absorbed but the story and characters rather than pointing out the shortcomings in the setting. For example, very few mangaka can pull of the Wild West era of America. Still, when one does manage to pull it off, as in the case of Volume 1 of Emma, the story is enriched by it and makes it all the more special.
Kaoru Mori has often expressed her love for all things English and more so in the Victorian era just as new innovations become common place. The story finds a handsome young man from the wealthy Jones family about to knock on the door of his old live-in governess who practically raised him only to have his hat knocked off and his head bumped by the door that is opened by the young live-in maid.
Her name is Emma and in the very instant their eyes lock, William Jones is completely smitten. She’s beautiful and graceful in the manner that well trained maids are graceful and even with her glasses the beauty shines through. His old governess, Kelly Stownar, notices his attraction to her immediately and even though she was harsh on the boy when he was growing up she so really wants to see the young man happy. So begins the unusual romance between a young aristocrat and a maid.
If this story sounds like it’s been told before in other manga, I would agree with you but what makes Emma such a rare breed of shoujo manga is in the uniquely slow manner in which the romance blossoms. You see, William isn’t the type of man that is prone to simply professing his love to a girl nor does he flirt. He simply is just there hoping for a chance that he could one day tell her how he feels. Emma is also quite different seeing as she doesn’t really recognize her beauty despite the fact that she is often being courted by many admirers.
William finds himself wanting to see Emma again and he does visit but his awkward nature doesn’t really push him into making a confession. Instead, he offers to buy her a new pair of glasses when he notices that Emma didn’t see him waving from far away. Having suffered from poor eye sight, Emma is rather attached to her current glasses thanks to her employer so she asks William for something else instead.
Things get interesting when William’s friend from India shows up with a crew as well as four of his best elephants. He is Hakim, a young man much like William who comes from a very wealthy family. His friend decides to stay for a week but when an elephant ride turns sour for William it is Emma who takes care of him. In an instant, however, Hakim sees Emma and falls in love with her. So taken by the beautiful maid that he dresses like a true English gentleman and pays her a visit and make a surprising confession to her. William, we can see, is clearly uncomfortable with that.
The story also touches on the life of Kelly Stownar who didn’t have the chance to have children with her husband who died before his time. Instead, she has grown to think of both William and Emma as her own. She had taught both of them and, despite her strict nature, both William and Emma appreciate all she has done for them. Even William’s father decides to pay their old governess a visit after Kelly takes a nasty tumble.
As I mentioned in the beginning, Mori does a marvelous job of invoking the period, the customs and the setting perfectly. Whether its looking through the books at Mudies or William clashing with his father over an arranged marriage, the feel of the Victorian era is everywhere in this manga. Mori even adds her delightful sense of humor.
Volume 1 of Emma is an impressive and pleasant manga that doesn’t fall under the same shoujo trappings of other series. What we have here is an enchanting and enjoyable read and a series that started off perfectly thanks to the wonderful characters and setting. If the other volumes are like this then consider is hooked on Emma.
MANGA REVIEW BREAKDOWN
STORY: A+
Visiting his old live-in governess, a young man from a prominent family named William Jones meets and becomes totally smitten by her maid named Emma. While William isn’t the sort of chap who goes about announcing his intentions, Emma finds the young gentleman to be interesting … even more so when William’s wealthy friend from India comes to town.
ART: A+
Kaoru Mori’s art is exquisite when it comes to the gorgeous backgrounds and the attention to detail she pays to every aspect of the characters’ appearance and other details. What a delightfully well-drawn manga.
OVERALL: A+
One of the most enchanting romance stories to come from the mind of Kaoru Mori, Volume 1 of Emma is a charming manga that is wonderfully original and totally fun to read. Very few shoujo manga manages to capture the feel and era of a setting outside of Japan but Emma manages to do so perfectly enough that you will find yourself consumed by the story. Consider this a real Must Have.
FUNimation Entertainment has announced the English track directors and cast of the megahit anime series “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood” September 28, 2009
Posted by psfrontline in Anime News.add a comment
“Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood” is produced by the acclaimed Japanese studio Bones and set in a fictional world where alchemy – the transmutation of raw materials into objects – is science and the way of life. The series follows the Elric brothers Edward and Alphonse on their perilous journey in search of the legendary Philosopher’s Stone. They set forth in the hope that the magical artifact can restore their bodies after a failed attempt to revive their dead mother cost Edward’s left leg and right arm; as well as Alphonse’s entire body, leaving his soul affixed to a suit of armor.
Line Producer: Mike McFarland
ADR Directors: Mike McFarland and Caitlin Glass
Reprising their roles from the first series:
Edward Elric – Vic Mignogna
Winry Rockbell – Caitlin Glass
Roy Mustang – Travis Willingham
Lust – Laura Bailey
Envy – Wendy Powell
Gluttony – Chris Cason
Maes Hughes – Sonny Strait
Fuhrer King Bradley – Ed Blaylock
Riza Hawkeye – Colleen Clinkenbeard
Jean Havoc – Mike McFarland
New Cast Members:
Alphonse Elric – Maxey Whitehead (Antonio from Romeo x Juliet, Czeslaw
Meyer from Baccano)
Scar – J Michael Tatum (Eneru from One Piece, Isaac from Baccano)
Isaac McDougal – Bryan Massey (Ladd from Baccano, Nino from Gunslinger
Girl: Il Teatrino)
Aaron Dismuke will be featured in another role later in the series.
FUNimation Entertainment will release “Fullmetal Alchemist:Brotherhood” on DVD beginning in Spring 2010.
FUNimation currently streams high-quality, free, original Japanese dialogue and English subtitled episodes of the series within days of Japanese television debut via http://funimation.com/video as well as key video-sharing partners.
D. Gray-Man, Season One Part Two – DVD Review September 25, 2009
Posted by psfrontline in Anime Reviews.add a comment
Review by: Faith McAdams
Publisher: FUNimation Entertainment
MSRP: $59.98 US
Running Time: 300 minutes
Genre: Supernatural/Action
Rating: TV 14
Release Date: Available Now
The power of Innocence compels you!
It’s not easy being an Exorcist and even more so when you’re the youngest member of the Black Order that has spent the majority of your childhood learning the arts from a General that is a tough mentor and a man that’s not quite playing with a full deck of cards. Allen Walker has had a shaky beginning but in Part Two of Season One of D. Gray-Man his career as an Exorcist is just starting to kick into overdrive.
Beginning with Episode 14, Allen Walker is recovering nicely from his injuries that he received during his last assignment with fellow Exorcist Lenalee. As a result, Allen gets another mission to uncover the mystery behind the strange weather patterns that has been affecting a small village. It would be snowing at one moment then winding in another and then sunny within seconds. The cause, according to Chief Komui might be that Innocence is near while many of the locals believe it has something to do with the fabled Leaf of Revival that is so powerful it can bring the dead back to life.
A man and his daughter believe the rumors that the Leaf of Revival is nearby that they brave the horrible snow storm and are almost killed if it wasn’t for Allen, Kanda and Lavi (who, along with Bookman, decided to tag along). It becomes clear to Allen that the father-daughter team might get themselves killed so attempts to find the Innocence before they do but what he wasn’t counting on was the father following close behind them and a group of Akuma that happens to be looking for the Innocence as well. There’s a clash between the group that makes this a tough assignment for the Exorcists.
In another mission, Kanda has gone missing after having accepted an assignment in Rome. Allen and a still-ticked-off Lenalee is sent to look into the matter only to find out that Kanda’s disappearance might have something to do with an old legend of a beautiful Princess and a swordsman. When the pair get to Rome they find out the daughter of a very affluent man has been kidnapped and has offered a reward to a massive group of bounty hunters that have come to the city.
The truth behind the kidnapping is definitely not what it seems as Allen and Lenalee find Kanda recovering from his battle with what he claims to be the swordsman of the old legend. What they find instead is a deeply poignant love story that makes the two-episode story arc one of the best the series has produced. It’s also one of the more well-written episodes with a surprising twist in the end.
The series even adds another wacky episode involving Chief Komui who is outraged over the idea that his beautiful young sister, Lenalee, is dating an older and very married man working for the Black Order‘s Science Division. His suspicions become confirmed when he follows the two out in town and little does he know that an Akuma is also after his sister.
In another lengthy story arc that takes up six episodes, Allen, Tavi and Bookman find themselves heading out into a village where a Count is said to feed off villagers. They all call the man a vampire and while the young Exorcists do not believe in vampires they witness Count Arystar Krory draining a villager of his blood right before their eyes. The two frightened Exorcists proceed with caution only to find the castle contains man-eating plants, a mysterious and beautiful woman and the rumor that Allen’s mentor passed into town to meet the vampire. The Exorcists find themselves in a battle as they uncover the secret behind Krory and the woman named Eliade.
In the final episode of the vampire story arc, Allen and Tavi walk out with a new member and it comes in the form of the vampire himself. Krory has been trained in the arts to the point that he qualifies to become an Exorcist, a fact that the man comes to terms with in the aftermath of the battle. While we got to see a scary side to Krory, his more natural state is a lot more kooky and hilarious. The guy is a cry baby who, because he has been living in the castle, is easily conned by the people he meets. He gets a welcome much like Allen does when they show up in the Black Order headquarters but finds himself glad he chose to join them in the end.
In the final episodes, Allen meets another General who kindly offers the boy good advice and offers perspective on the reason why Allen Walker became an Exorcist. Both men have demons they are trying to overcome but when the Millennium Earl sends out his Clan of Noah followers to attack the General while he sends a message to all Exorcists that the end is coming soon for them.
This second half of Season One of D. Gray-Man does a slight step ahead of the first half of this season and is even more exhilarating as well. As Allen Walker’s becomes more comfortable as an Exorcist and his past begins to flesh him out to become a good lead character, the series becomes even more fun to watch. With the Millennium Earl ready to unleash his plan, things can only get interesting with Season Two.
DVD REVIEW BREAKDOWN
MOVIE/EPISODES: B+
Allen Walker finds himself taking on more responsibilities and missions in this second half of the first season whether he’s helping a father and daughter searching for a legend, looking into a castle said to be the home of a vampire or rid the city of Rome of a ghost swordsman. The Millennium Earl and his followers also makes their move against the Exorcists.
VIDEO QUALITY: B+
The animation is outstanding and is somewhat true to the manga and that’s a very good thing. I still love how all the Akuma looks in this series and on DVD it looks gorgeous enough.
AUDIO QUALITY: B
Like Clive said, the English dub voices aren’t bad but they fall out of synch with the setting so the Japanese voices is the way to go. This show certainly has some great opening and closing songs. “Pride of Tomorrow” by JUNE is still one of my favorite closing theme songs and the new opening theme, “Brightdown” sung by Nami Tamaki is absolutely fabulous.
EXTRAS: C
There’s an audio commentary track for Episode 18 and its worth a listen to seeing as it points out the special guest voice of Michael Sinterklass (who does the voice of Dean Venture in The Venture Brothers). Then there are the clean opening and closing themes and a few trailers to look forward to in the second disc.
OVERALL: B+
Season One Part Two of D. Gray-Man is a slightly more exciting and compelling half of the season that makes this one just as fun as the manga itself. There’s a deeper look into Allen Walker as his character is fleshed out and there’s more than enough action and hilarity to make this first season well worth the price of admission.
