Review for Ghost in the Shell: 2.0 (Review)
Introduction It's time to throw away those old-fashioned DVDs, as the Ghost in the Shell Blu-ray is now mine. Ghost in the Shell is a perennial anime favourite, oft revisited by Manga Entertainment and fans alike. It's the Star Wars of the medium, the film that everyone will buy and re-buy with each new home cinema release for the best possible quality. This is my fifth version of the film,...

Review for Eden Of The East Movie 2: Paradise Lost (Review)
Introduction Another six months have passed, and now we finally get to see the conclusion of Eden of the East in the form of the final feature film, Paradise Lost. The end of 2010 saw the UK release of Kenji Kamiyama's peerless Eden of the East anime series, 11 episodes of animated event television, a social satire, and cyberpunk mystery that was conceivably the anime release of the year. It...

Review for Slayers: Evolution-R (Review)
Introduction For reasons outside of my control, I couldn't review Slayers Evolution-R prior to its release in the UK. I've had to be just like the little people and wander into a virtual anime emporium, and part with my all too real cash. Fortunately, I've grown very fond of the Slayers franchise as I have watched its UK release since season 1, and I eagerly grabbed the final collection once...

Review for Silent Running (Masters of Cinema) (Review)
Introduction The Javan Rhinoceros is now extinct in Vietnam. That was the headline to a brief story printed in the Guardian newspaper a week or so ago. The story itself merely stated that a poacher had killed the last known specimen for its horn (what else?), and that elsewhere, only 30 individuals were accounted for in the wild, making this one of the most endangered species of mammal in the...

Review for K-ON! - Volume 2 (Review)
Introduction Two months gap between single disc releases? I feel like I'm back in 2005. But while the release format may be distinctly last decade, the K-ON! anime is very much of the now, and could very well be the next anime gateway drug, the show that recruits a whole new legion of fans to the medium. Ten years from now, grizzled veterans of the anime fan base will be citing a show where...

Review for ICE (DVD) (Review)
Introduction I have the utmost respect for labels that bring anime to the UK. It's a niche product at best, not the sort of product that makes bank managers smile, and a headache to licence. It's not just a matter of getting the anime from Japan and sticking it on a disc, you usually have to wait for the US to licence and create a dub, or at least subtitle it, and then you have to wait on someone...

Review for Assassin: City Under Siege (Review)
Introduction Are we tired of superhero movies yet? That initial thrill that the studios might finally have sussed this most deceptively simple of genres out, with movies like the initial Blade, X-Men and Spider-man, began to fade once the sequels start being churned off a production line. My will to watch these films in the cinema died with the advent of X-Men: The Last Stand and Spider-man 3,...

Review for Five Minarets in New York (Review)
Introduction I've never been one for excessive reality in what I choose for my entertainment. I want my movies and television to be an escape from the real world, not a reflection of it. Not that I don't enjoy shows that set out to reflect an aspect of society, or make a statement, it's just that I very rarely seek them out. That's doubly true for films and TV shows that have sprung up following...

Review for The Melancholy Of Haruhi-Chan Suzumiya & Nyoron! Churuya-san Collection 2 (Review)
Introduction If you thought that we were done and dusted with Haruhi Suzumiya following the release of Season 2 in the UK, think again. Next month sees the release in the UK of the feature film, The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya (except the Blu-ray, which has been delayed until February 2012), but before that happens, there is the small matter of completing the release of the short animations....

Review for Gunslinger Girl: Il Teatrino OVA (Review)
Introduction I'm impatient, and I'm a collector; that's a combination that doesn't bode well for my wallet. Manga Entertainment had initially announced that Gunslinger Girl Il Teatrino would be released in the UK as a three disc, complete collection, gathering the two series discs, and the OVA disc into one, very appealing package. But when it came to the release date, that wasn't to be, and...

Review for Freedom: The Complete Collection (Review)
Introduction Freedom is here at last, again. Beez Entertainment originally released it on Blu-ray, although that four-disc release was a strictly limited edition, hard to find now. Manga Entertainment have licence rescued Freedom, and are re-releasing it, this time with all the content squeezed onto a single Blu-ray disc. To give the package added value, Manga Entertainment release the Blu-ray...

Review for Freedom: The Complete Collection - Collector's Edition (Review)
Introduction There are a whole lot of firsts with this disc. It's not the first anime licence rescued in the UK, but that's a rare enough occurrence to count on the fingers of one hand. But it is the first Blu-ray anime to be licence rescued, indeed back in 2009, it was practically the first anime series to be released in high definition in the West. That happened so long ago, that it was...

Review for Phantom: Requiem For The Phantom - Part 1 (Review)
Introduction Is it possible to dislike a series for reasons that have nothing to do with the series itself? There once was a (brief) time that Funimation's video portal streamed anime to the world freely and legally. Then they read the small print on their contracts, and suddenly the portal was geolocked to North America. At that point the UK was just a few episodes into the simulcast stream...

Review for Quirky Guys and Gals (Review)
Introduction I really ought to pay closer attention to what I read, as just skimming a press release can make me jump to some unwarranted assumptions. Not that I wouldn't have reviewed Quirky Guys and Gals anyway, but I would have approached it without certain preconceptions. I'd gathered that it was an anthology movie, and that Gen Sekiguchi, director of Survive Style 5+ was involved. I...

Review for Bleach: Series 7 Part 1 (2 Discs) (UK) (Review)
Introduction I've written sixteen reviews for various iterations of Bleach on DVD, whether it is another instalment of the series, or one of the feature films, and I've never really noted the rather ill advised idea of naming your production after something that you put down a toilet. How many of these reviews have I let pass without using a flushing metaphor, or made mention of some of those...

Review for Erotibot (Review)
Introduction I have an impulse control problem. I see a title that tantalises me, in a genre that I know to be cheap and cheesy, yet I have to indulge my curiosity anyway. It's the DVD equivalent of judging a book by its cover, and I really ought to know better by now, having reviewed Japanese low budget genre films like Geisha Assassin, Chanbara Striptease, Rogue Ninja and Tokyo Gore School. It's...

Review for Sparrow (Review)
Introduction I haven't seen all that many Johnnie To films, but what I have seen, Mad Detective, Running Out of Time, and Fulltime Killer have led me to believe that his output consists of hard-boiled, high octane action thrillers, excelling in suspense and tension. Terracotta Distribution have already released his Sparrow in a three-disc limited edition, with a disc full of extras including an...

Review for Star Wars Episode III Revenge Of The Sith (UK) (Review)
Introduction The Blu-rays are coming! The Blu-rays are coming! Which in no way explains why I'm reviewing the DVD of Revenge of the Sith, the final movie in the Star Wars saga, or the third one depending on how you look at it. It's been six years since Revenge of the Sith was released, and a big reason why I've finally put fingers to keyboard is that it is the one film that I have yet to...

Review for Birdy The Mighty: Decode Part 2 (Review)
Introduction It's been something of a summer of disappointments this year when it comes to serial anime, and we're not just talking about Blu-ray cancellations. Time and again, shows have demonstrated imagination and promise in the first half, only to fall flat in the second. So far I've been disappointed by Casshern Sins, Xam'd Lost Memories, Nabari no Ou, and Shikabane Hime. Against this...

Review for Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - Part 5 (2 Discs) (Review)
Introduction Obscure reference for you… Do you remember Keith Harris and Orville, and Cuddles the Monkey? Whenever Keith Harris had an idea, he'd ask Cuddles to be an assistant in his plan. Boy did that monkey get excited about being an assistant! He'd go on and on about being an assistant, you could see the thrill rush to his obnoxious little head. That's how excited I am at the advent of...

Review for Nabari no Ou: Complete Series - Part 2 (Review)
Introduction I certainly didn't approach Nabari no Ou in the right frame of mind when the first half was released. An overabundance of Naruto can inure one to the idea of more ninja stories. A rather bland and unpromising opening gave way to some really interesting character development, and more importantly, a very involving story. But now that the concluding half of the series has arrived...

Review for High School Of The Dead (Review)
Introduction I've said it before and I'll say it again, I am not a fan of the horror genre, and of the little offshoots of horror that I have encountered, I have a passionate loathing for the zombie movie in particular, this summer's 'Eaters' not withstanding. I'm probably the last person who should be reviewing Manga Entertainment's High School of the Dead, especially as I got the wrong end...

Review for The Glums: The Complete Series (Review)
Introduction I'm now dipping into second hand nostalgia. I was five years old when the Glums aired on British television. I remember Jimmy Edwards, I remember Ian Lavender, and I remember Patricia Brake, but I can't remember a single thing about the show. What I do recall is that my parents loved it. I remember my mum impersonating Eth's plaintive 'Ronnnn!' on occasion, and I remember my dad...

Review for The Extraordinary Adventures Of Adele Blanc-Sec (Review)
Introduction North Africa around the start of the 20th Century, an intrepid adventurer trying to elicit the secrets of some ancient ruins, with the aid of a native guide named Aziz, all leading to a fantastic, colourful adventure. The last time a Luc Besson film started like this, it was The Fifth Element, one of my favourite fun sci-fi movies. Now he's done it again, only this time it's The...

Review for The Lost Bladesman (Review)
Introduction Is it just I, or is Donnie Yen becoming ubiquitous when it comes to period action movies from Chinese cinema? In recent months there have been the Ip Man movies, 14 Blades, and now we have the Lost Bladesman, films that bring historical and mythical characters to life in well-budgeted movies with high production values. For an actor whose understated style didn't initially...

Review for Lethal Weapon 4 (US) (Review)
Introduction 1 minute and 33 seconds can in some circumstances feel like an eternity, in others it passes by like the blink of an eye. But 1 minute and 33 seconds can be reason enough to triple dip on a movie, to discard a Region 2 DVD and purchase a Region 1 disc instead. 1 minute and 33 seconds is the amount of film cut from Lethal Weapon 4 at the BBFC's behest, so that Warner Brothers could...

Review for Vampire Knight Guilty: Volume 4 (Review)
Introduction It was the last show that I ever expected to be hooked on. After all, Vampire Knight with its moody, elegant vampires, relationship angst and character designs that emphasise prettiness above all else, all add up to a recipe that should have me looking for a quick exit. I'm the kind of person who needs a Clockwork Orange style indoctrination before I go anywhere near a Twilight...

Review for Gallants (Review)
Introduction I feel like I've been here before. Ye olde style kung fu given the 21st Century makeover, paying homage to the great movies of the past, and even casting some of those much-loved figures from the old Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest movies that turned so many of us on to the revolution in action cinema. It's a love letter to the kung-fu classics of yesteryear. The last time I got...

Review for XAM'D Lost Memories Collection 1 (Review)
Introduction I shouldn't ought to have done it. I shouldn't have other means-ed Xam'd Lost Memories when it was initially released a couple of years ago. Those horrible streams, dodgy audio, low resolution… that was no way to watch a show of Xam'd's calibre. But then again, you can't really blame me for it. After all, Xam'd was one of those early streamed shows, an experiment in digital...

Review for Birdy The Mighty: Decode Part 1 (Review)
Introduction There once was a time when I thought that the remake was a uniquely Hollywood phenomenon. Plenty of exposure to world cinema has disabused me of that idealistic notion, as it turns out that everyone is at it, digging up relics and gems of yesteryear and polishing them for contemporary audiences. Not everyone seems to be as bad at it as Hollywood though, and many remakes,...