Video Backlog: Week 4, 2011

"Dairugger XV"
Publisher: Anime Works (Media Blasters, USA)
Format: Region 1 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English Subtitles
Length: 52 Episodes x 24 minutes
Production Date: 1982 - 1983
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes

This show is the second half of “Voltron” and is the only reason it has received an English language release. Right off the bat, I’m going to get stuck into Media Blasters. This disc was nearly three months late. Seriously the market is softer than hell at the moment and one would assume that keeping existing fans buying discs would be a priority. So what the fuck is up with all these constant delays? It really gives me little hope for the US industry if practically no studio can release anything on time. I think this’ll be the last Media Blasters disc I’ll ever buy. There’s nothing else in their upcoming catalogue which interests me (thankfully), and the delay really shat me.

Now the reason why I bumped this show up to the top of backlog was that I really enjoyed “Go Lion” (the first half of “Voltron”) and thought this show would be crazy bat shit insane as well. Unfortunately it’s not. While the promotional material and cover pictures attempt to sell the show as an ultra-violent sleaze fest (like “Go Lion”), this show is much more realistic and level headed. Basically the Rugger Guard goes from system to system surveying planets using their impractical Rugger machines which form the robot Dairugger. This is where the main problem of the show lies. Whereas “Go Lion” only had five pilots, here you have 15. Even with 52 episodes, you hardly get to know any of the pilots. Sure, a few have whole episodes dedicated to a single pilot, but that’s only a handful of the pilots. There’s also the question as to why you would need such an impractical system of surveying planets with such machines which for some reason can combine and transform into a robot. Yes I know it’s just to sell toys, but placed around what is a fairly serious drama story, it makes very little sense. The character designs are pretty stock standard and look like they came out of the late 1970’s.

The Galveston Empire, which the Rugger Guard encounters, are one of the best elements to the show. In particular I liked the fact the military commanders were fighting each other over how to deal with the Earth forces and how the political struggles within the military. In a way it’s kind of similar to Earth and Gamilus in “Yamato” to a degree, except there is a group who does not want to fight with Earth, but negotiate instead. Unfortunately a lot of this is just reduced to endless almost identical looking battles in which Dairugger wins every time. Comparing this show to others which aired at the same time like “Macross”, “Votoms” and “Dunbine”, it’s easy to see why this show has been relegated to the dustbin of history. Well, except in the minds of “Voltron” fans that is. Unlike the perverse cruelty and weirdness of “Go Lion”, this show is pretty much devoid of violence. And humour and just about anything else which would make an interesting show. There’s also the fact the quality of the prints are pretty shocking. The grain on the first few episodes is just woeful and the print has a lot of scratches and other blemishes which seems to have been poorly and cheaply “fixed up”. To round off the problems, the animation is a little dire and really shows its age. Still it was a decent show and did almost win me over at a couple of points. Not bad, but terribly mediocre. 6 out of 10.

"Laputa: Castle in the Sky"
Publisher: Buena Vista Japan
Format: Region 2 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English Dub and English and Japanese Subtitles
Length: 124 minutes
Production Date: 1986
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes

With my last order from Amazon.co.jp, I have finally completed buying all of the Ghibli films I didn’t own on DVD. Only took me nearly a decade. Anyway, on to the last three. Now I haven’t seen this film in nearly a decade. Right away I noticed the film had aged massively. Normal for a film in its 25th year, but I think it’s aged a lot more than “Nausicaä”. I must admit I think this film is one of Miyazaki’s weakest. For one his trademark of strong female characters is really missing here. Apart from the old female air pirate Dola, that’s it. It’s mostly a male dominated affair. Sheeta is quite weak and a bit of a damsel in distress. Even in the boys only adventure of “Porco Rosso” you have two really strong female characters. Here they’re pretty much non-existent. Kind of strange for a Miyazaki film. You can’t beat the designs and the story, they’re exciting and top notch. It’s a really beautiful looking film. You just get the constant niggling feeling something is missing. The extras are interesting. You get a clean opening and closing credits as well as all the usual trailers and TV spots and complete story boards. A dub is included and I think it’s the old Streamline Pictures dub from around 1989 or so. This film got a small US theatrical release, but not a video release (until Disney), which was odd from Streamline. Overall it has aged substantially and is probably a makeover of “Future Boy Conan” to a degree, but it’s s till a fun fantasy film, just not as great as Miyazaki’s other films. 8 out of 10.

"Heisei-era Tanuki War Pom Poko"
Publisher: Buena Vista Japan
Format: Region 2 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English, French and Japanese Subtitles
Length: 119 minutes
Production Date: 1994
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes

Easily Isao Takahata’s best film and probably his most commercial. Yeah, I don’t mind “Grave of the Fireflies”, but it’s an extremely hard film to watch and also for me a hard film to like due to the really grim subject matter. I prefer “rus: Prince of the Sun” and “Only Yesterday” to that film. I recall watching “Pom Poko” at the local anime club some 13 or 14 years ago (god, is it that long ago?). Having very little idea as to what the film was about (the anime club always provided little info about what they were playing), I kind of dreaded sitting through the film based upon what I initially saw. The opening scenes make it look like some sort of animated animal documentary, but once the anamorphic antics kick in, it’s great fun. Isao wins us over by portraying the Tanuki as rather whimsical, a bit gullible and fun loving. I think the usage of a narrator works really, really well. It is rather heavy on the environmental message, but the drama and the humour in the lives of these creatures makes you forget all of that. The film is almost like a Disney film with all of its talking animal characters, but grounds itself in modern day (1994) Japan with the expansion of humans into their habitat. It also doesn’t go for a big happy ending. It’s a more realistic ending which I’m sure Hollywood film makers wouldn’t even think of creating. As I’ve said before, the Japanese rarely talk down to their audience, especially in children’s animation. I wish the English adaptation team would have the guts to respect the audience’s intelligence and not keep calling the animals raccoons, because they aren’t. At the very least call them by their proper English name of raccoon dogs. They aren’t racoons. It’s a completely different animal. And by the way, look out for the Porco Rosso and Totoro cameos. In closing, a fun Ghibli film by Takahata. 8.5 out of 10.

"Whisper of the Heart"
Publisher: Buena Vista Japan
Format: Region 2 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English and Japanese Subtitles
Length: 111 minutes
Production Date: 1995
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes

I think to a large degree Ghibli hit their creative peak in the 1990’s. They released more films than they had before or since in any decade, some of their most varied work and it was a time period where they had the most directors. Watching this film, it is really a crying shame director Yoshifumi Kondo died soon after its release. Like “Ocean Waves (I Can Hear the Sea)” and “Only Yesterday”, it’s a coming of age tale sent in a modern age with little fantasy and whole dose of reality. While the story is fantastic and a lot of fun, the visual here are pretty top notch. The attention to detail is quite stunning. I picked up a lot more from watching the DVD than I did from the old VHS fansub and anime club screenings from about 14 years ago. It’s just so beautiful and rich. While the story could be horribly sweet and schmaltzy, the director has really pulled back (though what probably helped a lot was Miyazaki’s script). It feels really natural and free flowing. While I doubt kids in year six or seven would be thinking about becoming artisans, at least it’s presented as a quite believable story. While watching the movie this time and after viewing some of the extras on other Ghibli DVDs I had recently bought, I cynically thought that maybe Ghibli now represents an alternative to latte sippers for their kid’s viewing. In other words instead of Disney or Pixar films, they take them to Ghibli films. I know, I’m a bit nasty… Also while watching this film, I got the distinct feeling that it was a bit of a middle class fantasy of sorts. Yeah, I’m being overly nasty again. I also questioned what kind of girl in mid 1990’s Japan would find wearing a straw hat like that to be acceptable. Seems like an adult projecting their own ideas on to child. Despite those rather minor niggling complains, this is one beautiful and satisfying film. Just remember to take extra special care in watching the animation in the closing credits. 8.5 out of 10.

Remaining Backlog: 20 months (it's much easier this way than listing the number of discs).

Animé, it's French for, uh, anime...

People get upset when anime for the English market has its name changed. Spare a though for the French. Below are some examples of old VHS tapes I found;

Unlike the English speaking world, the French love "City Hunter". In fact it's just about to get an uncut release courtesy of Beez. Why of why couldn’t English speaking fans love this show. I’m wondering if Nicky Larson is any relation to Gary Larson.

Yes, “Juliette je t'aime” is the French version of “Maison Ikkoku”. Godai is called Hugo in the French dub.

Yes, two boy crazy French women blowing up the crap out of the universe. Check out the theme song.

Gee, who thought the French would dig Cutey Honey? Yeah, it's right up their alley I guess. This is the original series, not the remake(s). It also has a weird theme song, but it can't beat the original.

A bizarre title for the French version of "GoShogun" or "Macron-1" in the little seen English dub.

Video Backlog: Week 3, 2011

"Howl's Moving Castle"
Publisher: Buena Vista Japan
Format: Region 2 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English Dub, French Dub and English, French and Japanese Subtitles
Length: 119 minutes
Production Date: 2004
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes

This film had a very rough birth. Originally to be directed by Mamoru Hosoda, he left the project and Studio Ghibli in 2002. I had read once that the studio had gone back to him at least once to redo parts of the film’s pre-production because they weren’t happy with it. He must of got sick of the process and left. Well after “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time” and “Summer Wars”, clearly Ghibli’s loss is Madhouse’s gain. So as you may know, Hayao Miyazaki became the director. I originally saw this film in 2005 in the cinema (subtitled too), the day after I resigned from my shitty old job. While I really enjoyed the film as it’s classic Ghibli/Miyazaki stuff, I thought it lagged a bit in the middle. I also had some problems with a couple of plot points such as how the Witch of Waste found Sophie and a couple other parts which didn’t quite add up. I think after “Princess Mononoke”, Miyazaki’s films have become rather surreal and a little nonsensical. And what’s up with the black goopy creatures that seem to inhabit every single one of his films since Mononoke? I think I do prefer pre 1997 Miyazaki to modern era Miyazaki. Still, it was quite a good film. Miyazaki’s female characters are always fantastic, even when their based off of another work. I will give it 8.5 out of 10.

"Tales from Earthsea"
Publisher: Buena Vista Japan
Format: Region 2 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English Dub and English and Japanese Subtitles
Length: 115 minutes
Production Date: 2006
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes

Ah, the other Miyazaki, Goro. Another Ghibli film I first saw in the cinema (subbed as well), however I was originally not very impressed with it. I think this was because the film was an obvious DVD projection in the cinema (damn cheap of you Madman Entertainment!) and I didn’t enjoy the experience. Having watched the DVD some three years later, I have changed my mind completely. Sure Goro may be Hayao’s son and it seems they hated each other’s guts during the production, but god it’s quite a good film. I don’t it quite has the magic of many other Ghibli works, but it’s certainly more commercial that the Ghibli films of Takahata. Apart from the fantasy elements which I really like, there’s more of a western setting in this film which has been missing from a lot of Ghibli’s more recent works. This film really reminds me a lot of “The Adventures of Hols, Prince of the Sun” (aka “The Little Norse Prince”), Takahata’s fantastic film from 1968. Unlike his father, the focus here is on male characters, which I didn’t mind at all. Despite all the hate the film got in Japan, I really liked it. It’s a solid Ghibli film, though probably not the best in their catalogue. For a debut film, it is pretty fantastic. 8 out of 10.

"s-CRY-ed"Publisher: Bandai Entertainment (USA)
Format: Region 1 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English Dub and English Subtitles
Length: 26 Episodes x 24 minutes
Production Date: 2001
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes

Watching this show, I recalled how good the animation studio Sunrise is and wondered why fandom never seems to give them due credit. I can only think of one really mediocre Sunrise anime, “King of Thorn”. Everything else I’ve seen of theirs is at the very least quite entertaining. “s-CRY-ed” is a typical Sunrise show. It’s got quite a good plot, a bunch of great characters and some great designs. Yeah sure, the character designs are by Hisashi Hirai who like Keiji Goto has probably overstayed his welcome (like Goto, his designs are very distinctive), but you have to admit the designs are really attractive. At the core of this show, it’s really just a fighting anime, but it’s a heavily disguised one. I think if Sunrise had just made this show an ordinary fighting anime rather than adding the other plot elements, it’d get really tired pretty quick. At one point it becomes a bit like a bishonen in armour show (like “Saint Seiya” or “Samurai Troopers”). The relationships and interactions between all of the main characters are very good. I think where the show falls down a bit is with the secondary characters. Most of them are caricatures and have no real character development. Also some of the powers the Alters have are just absurd. The watermelon guy just takes the cake. The absurd elements really take away from the drama and any realism the show was striving for. The end was also really silly. It didn’t make any sense to me especially after what had happened in the previous 25 episodes. The packaging Bandai Entertainment is absurdly over the top, especially when you consider that the DVDs themselves come in a standard digipak case and the only extra was a metal key chain. So much wasted space. I was going to be mean and give this show a 6, but’s really better than that, it’s just that a number of elements really let it down. 7 out of 10.

Remaining Backlog: 20 months (it's much easier this way than listing the number of discs).

Video Backlog: Week 2, 2011

"Himiko-den (Legend of Himiko)"Publisher: U.S. Manga Corps (Central Park Media, USA)
Format: Region 1 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English Dub and English Subtitles
Length: 12 Episodes x 25 minutes
Production Date: 1999
Currently in Print (as of writing): No

I remember getting the fansubs of this show over a decade now. I recall loving the opening animation and being quite disappointed with the episode animation. Looking at the show now, it’s not as bad as I thought it was. Being a late 1990’s anime screened in the wee hours of the night, you know Keiji Goto is involved somehow. Although the character designs are very much Goto looking, it’s actually his protégée Megumi Kadonosono (of “Kiddy Grade” fame). While the show is indeed based of a game, somehow the writers have made quite a decent plot that manages to remain interesting throughout the 12 episodes. However it does get a little bit silly at times, especially with some of the secondary characters. Two of them seem to be really misplaced. It’s as if they’re just filling in time and are only there because they were in the original game. Also the character of Himiko is rather annoying the beginning of the series. However she improves quite quickly. But the show is quite well written for what it is and the ending was also quite good. Though that last shot or two weren’t really needed. It was as if the writers thought that the audience was a bit thick and had to hammer home the point. Overall surprisingly good, but a little forgettable really. 6.5 out of 10.

"M.D. Geist" – Director’s Cut and "M.D. Geist Death Force"
Publisher: U.S. Manga Corps (Central Park Media, USA)
Format: Region Free DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English Dub and English Subtitles
Length: 47 minutes (original), 44 minutes (Death Force)
Production Date: 1986, 1996
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes (ADV Films re-release)

Surely one of the contenders on anyones worst anime ever made list. It’s obvious that the OVA was influenced by “Mad Max 2” or more likely “Fist of the North Star”. Except there is very little plot here (yes, even less plot than “Fist”) and it’s mostly about gore and fighting. But that’s exactly on the reasons why it became so popular. This OVA was a favourite of CPM head John O’Donnell for some unknown reason. So much so he co-funded a director’s cut (which adds some additional footage and annoyingly removes some of the animation mistakes which added to hilarity of the OVA – albeit these fixes are poorly done) and a new sequel OVA called “Death Force”. “Death Force” is somewhat of an improvement over the original, but it’s still pretty crap. It’s still death and exploding people in a futuristic post apocalypse landscape. I’ll give the director’s cut OVA 3 out of 10, because it was animated OK in some spots and some of the designs were good, and 5 out of 10 for the second OVA.

"Cybernetics Guardian"Publisher: U.S. Manga Corps (Central Park Media, USA)
Format: Region Free DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English Dub and English Subtitles
Length: 45 minutes
Production Date: 1989
Currently in Print (as of writing): No

This one was quite a surprise. I bought the “Mecha Masters” CPM box just after the company fell to bits and I really expected nothing of this show because it was coupled with “M.D. Geist”. Boy I was wrong. Sure it may be a disposable late 1980’s OVA, but it’s pretty fun one. There’s a bit of cyberpunk mecha, a shadowy mystical religion based in the slums of a megalopolis, a ton of action and it’s animated by AIC. No wonder Manga Video released this one back in the mid 1990’s. Yes it’s completely silly and turns into a demon slugging match, but it’s one hell of a ride. Probably the downsides are the lack of details in the character designs (they look a bit bland) and the story is paper thin a lot of the times, but what the heck, it’s fun. Going to give it 6.5 out of 10.

"Genocyber"
Publisher: U.S. Manga Corps (Central Park Media, USA)
Format: Region Free DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English Dub and English Subtitles
Length: 46 minutes (OVA 1), 4 Episodes x 25 minutes (OVA 2 - 5)
Production Date: 1994
Currently in Print (as of writing): No

The last disc in the “Mecha Masters” box (well, besides the soundtracks) is this five part OVA from Artmic. This is yet another show that Manga Video in the UK picked up, so you know it’s going to gratuitous violence. And it certainly has that. Tons of it. The OVA series is in three arcs. The first is the longest OVA which tells the story of how two girls who are experimented on a by a crazed scientist in a corporation in in Hong Kong and then later form the Genocyber and proceed to destroy everything in sight. The second and third OVAs move to a war with a fictional middle eastern country. One of the girls is mistaken as a refugee and is taken aboard an aircraft carrier which has another experimental esper-like pilot with similar powers as the girl. Naturally all hell breaks loose. The final two episodes are set about 100 years after an apocalypse in a totalitarian city surrounded by wasteland. An underground cult worships the remains of the Genocyber, and you know something bad is gonna happen. There is a great core story in this show. Lots of fantastic concepts based upon Hindu culture. The opening “video diary” gives an exciting tease into a larger more complex story. The animation is also top notch. However It’s pretty clear by the 15th minute or so that gore is the order of the day. I don’t think I’ve seen so many flying animated intestines in my life in one show. It’s also pretty downbeat with nothing but death, destruction madness in store for everyone except the two girls that form part of the Genocyber. And gee, they don’t have much fun either. Also compared with the first three episodes, the change of tone in the last two lets the show down a lot, especially after the excitement of episodes 2 and 3. It just takes too long to set things up and too much time is wasted on two characters that just die needlessly in the end anyway, and have no real connection as such to the Genocyber. I’m still going to give it 6 out of 10.

Remaining Backlog: 20 months (it's much easier this way than listing the number of discs).

Video Backlog: "Only Yesterday (Omohide Poro Poro)"

Publisher: Buena Vista Japan
Format: Region 2 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English and Japanese Subtitles
Length: 119 minutes
Production Date: 1991
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes

Story Outline: 1982, Tokyo. Office worker Taeko takes 10 days leave to visit the family of her sister in-law in rural Yamagata. During the trip there she begins to reminisce about the time she was 10 years old in 1966. She remembers the school, her friends and class mates, her family and TV shows on at the time and the trials and tribulations she went through as a child. She also remembers the first summer she went to Yamagata. Taeko is working on the farm picking Safflowers and is picked up at the train station by a young farmer named Toshio. The two of them find themselves being drawn together, but Taeko is confronted by the idea that she should leave her job in Tokyo and live together with Toshio.

Mini Review: Believe it not, I don’t own all the Ghibli DVDs that have been released. I was buying them as them came out in Japan, but somehow I lost a bit of interest and there were competing anime DVDs being released in the US. But with the US anime industry in the doldrums big time, I’m catching up. I got this film as part of a fansub trade with a now defunct Australian anime club some 12 or so years ago, but I never played it at the club I ran for about a year and a half. I did give it to another local club to play. I think about a quarter of the audience left before the end. Not a great look for a Ghibli film. Isao Takahata makes some odd films really. I mean this could have easily been shot as a live action film. It’s strange to think what the target audience would be for this movie. I think kids would be bored with it and would people in their late 30’s and early 40’s want to see an animated film like this? It’s based on a manga reminiscing about the late 1960’s, but the modern day (1982) elements are Takahata’s creation.

That’s where the problems lie in the film. Initially the flashbacks are a little distracting and there is not transition that makes the audience know it’s a flashback. The second problem is the fact there seems to be no real indicators that the present day is 1982. It’s quite plausible that it could be modern day (1991) Japan. I’m unsure why Takahata chose this time period, as the character could be 37 rather than 27 and I think it would still work. However by the 25th minute mark, I was hooked. Especially with the stories of the 1966 Taeko. The way the children acted was really quite natural and very amusing. I think just about everyone has gone through similar experiences as Taeko. Her family was also very natural. I was especially taken with her father. Very stoic, very 1960’s Japanese salaryman father. Didn’t speak a lot but his word was it. It was final.

Some of the Takahata stuff was bit silly. The farmers and their work were sort of portrayed as some kind of utopic world (I’m assuming an influence from Takahata’s socialist student collage days here). Sometimes I found it a bit creepy with all those smiling farmers! And somehow I doubt there would be a big organic farming industry in 1982 Japan. Taeko’s 27 year old character design made her look old beyond her years. This part of the move really felt like disillusioned-salarywoman-makes-tree-change, but I managed to go along with the flow. But the core in this part of the film is Taeko and Toshio’s rather platonic and slow moving relationship. And isn’t Toshio just a fantastic character? This is another oddity in Ghibli’s catalogue along with “Ocean Waves (I Can Hear the Sea)”. But that one is probably more commercial than this. Still there’s enough Ghibli magic here (despite being a slice of life story) to sink a ship. A lovely and fantastically nostalgic film. Keep watching until the credits finish though. 8.5 out of 10.

Remaining Backlog: 20 months (it's much easier this way than listing the number of discs).

Video Backlog: "Otaku Unite!"

Publisher: Central Park Media (USA)
Format: Region Free DVD, NTSC, English Dialogue
Length: 70 minutes
Production Date: 2004
Currently in Print (as of writing): No

Story Outline: Documentary on anime. See below.

Mini Review: With the popularity of anime on a steep incline from the mid 1990's onwards, then with a huge explosion of popularity in the early 2000’s, it was inevitable that someone somewhere was going to make a documentary about it. Actually there's been quite a few made, mostly coming from the US. But for some reason very few seem to have made it to home video (or even TV broadcast for that matter). The only one which seems to have cut through with any kind of proper commercial release is “Otaku Unite!”.

Made by first time director Eric Bresler, this well made documentary follows the development of anime fandom from the very early days of the late 1970’s to the period 2001 to 2003 when the bulk of this documentary was filmed. There’s tons of great stuff here; archival footage from AnimeCon '91 and Anime Expo ‘92, the marriage of Robert and Emily Dejesus at the Anime Central convention in 2001 and Steve Bennet. Now Steve is the guy who ran the now defunct manga publishing house Iron Cat. Steve proudly shows off his Polaroid collection of waitresses from his visits to various Hooters restaurants. Ah, so tasteful.

The doco begins with couple of sequences introducing the concepts of “anime” and “otaku” via a number fan and industry sound bites. Then we get into the most interesting part; the history of anime fandom in the US. Everyone who was ever important in the industry is interviewed here including Peter Fernandez, Corinne Orr (both voices actors who worked on “Speed Racer”, “Ultraman” and other 1960’s English adaptations), Scott Frazier (animator extraordinaire), Trish Ledoux (editor of Animercia), Carl Macek (of Robotech fame), Helen McCarthy (editor of Anime UK/FX), Fred Patten, Frederik L. Schodt (author of “Manga, Manga, Manga”) and Robert Woodhead (AnimEigo founder). Bizarrely even porn star Asia Carrera manages to get her head in for a sound bite. She was one of many porn stars who provided their voices in several Nutech hentai releases. Remember that daft idea? No wonder it sunk like a stone and vanished without trace. Isn’t hentai crap enough already without making it worse with overpaid, badly acting porn stars?

After that the documentary turns its focus on a fan named John Cook or DJ Johnny Otaku as he likes to call himself. He has an anime themed show on his local community radio stations, wants to become a voice actor and enters the highly competitive and rather political world of cosplay. Although this could have become rather exploitative as John is rather nerdy to say the least, thankfully Bresler doesn't take this path. Despite the horrible cover CPM gave this documentary, it's not some cheap laugh at anime and its fans. The film treats its subjects with respect and intelligence as well as giving an audience not familiar with anime fandom a chance to understand it. The film also looks at specific fan groups such as the dance/cosplay Sailor Jamboree and a Yaoi convention, then it’s back to the trials and tribulations of John Cook for the finale. The documentary is coupled with a short called "Danger Can Happen" which is about “Kaiju Big Battel (sic)”, a group which puts on performances which are like a combination of Godzilla films, wrestling and street theatre. While this short is quite good, I wish CPM would have added it as an extra and not just slapped it on at the start of the main feature.

There are a numbers of problems with the documentary. Apart from the misplaced Kaiju Big Battel segment (which has nothing to do with anime at all really), it does seem scattershot at times and a bit unfocused. There’s also the constant focus on conventions. While this is where most of Bresler’s footage and interviews were shot, he seems to have glossed over anime clubs. I mean they are mentioned, but why is there no footage of modern day anime clubs and interviews with their members? I originally a got a hold of a copy of the documentary from Bresler himself for a convention I was helping run back in 2004. While I really enjoyed the film then, I was less enthused about this time around. This is mostly to do with me I think. In the intervening years, I’ve come to despise whole chunks of fandom. In the doco, I see elements I really love and elements I really despise. Also as the documentary was made as anime was riding the peak of its commercial popularity in the US, so it’s quite funny to see industry heads boasting of anime releasing totalling 60 to 80 titles per month. Boy, they certainly don’t those figures anymore, maybe a quarter or less. And then you have to factor in the constant delays and reschedules of release dates. This documentary should really have been given a lot more exposure as it is really well made and very accessible to non-fans. I think it’s a shame it never it never got that exposure. I’m going to give it 7 out of 10.

Remaining Backlog: 20 months (it's much easier this way than listing the number of discs).

Video Backlog: Week 1, 2011

Been watched a load of stuff, but seemingly I have had very little time to write about it. So I’m changing the format a little and will write up on the titles I watch once a week. They’re going to be a whole lot shorter too with the synopsis removed. Sometimes I may still do longer reviews on individual titles.

“Galaxy Express 999” and “Adieu Galaxy Express 999” (DVD Box Set)
Publisher: DVD Ani (Korea)
Format: Region 3 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional Korean Dub and English and Korean Subtitles
Length: 128 minutes, 130 minutes
Production Date: 1979, 1981
Currently in Print (as of writing): No (licenced by Discotek)

I bought this box set a long, long time ago. The DVD Ani release for Korea has been the subject of scrutiny over its legality. A number of the company’s titles have been found to have English language materials which weren’t exactly legal, but it seems that the licence for the original anime was. Unfortunately this applies for these movies as well. Which is a damn shame as these films are crying out for an English language release on DVD (Discotek has the rights, but haven’t solicited a release yet). While the films are in a cropped vista form at as seen in cinemas rather than the original open matte format as seen on video, they still look rather good. The Three-Nine story is essentially Leji Masumoto’s take on Kenji Miyazawa’s “Night on the Galactic Railroad”. I was really impressed by the first film this time around compared to earlier viewings. It is truly a classic anime film, despite the silliness of some of it. The second film is also very good, but director Rin Taro seems to have opted for spectacle over story. The film looks fantastic and there is a really beautiful semi-psychedelic sequence mid-way through. The problem is the story never quite engages the viewer. I was amused to discover that the first film was released part way through the TV broadcast of the original 999 TV series, which led to TV viewers having the end of the TV show spoilt for them (well, only if they went to the cinema). The first film is a classic, 9 out of 10. Adieu is quite strong visually but is a little week in the story department, 7.5 out of 10.

“Innocent Venus”
Publisher: ADV Films (USA)
Format: Region 1 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English Dub and English Subtitles
Length: 12 Episodes x 25 minutes
Production Date: 2006
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes (Funimation Re-release)

This TV series verges from intriguing to plain rubbish. It’s always teetering on the edge of crapness. The concepts of the robots and Sana herself are quite good, but I think we’ve seen this story a million times before. The two leads were a bit clichéd and the “comic relief character” was rather annoying. Admittedly I couldn’t really see where elements of this show were going, which was a little bit surprising. The initial episodes were unnecessarily confusing and cloaked in mystery. A peek into what the characters were up would have been nice. The first thing I notice with this show is how is sort of didn’t look “right”. There was something I couldn’t put my finger on; it almost looked like someone was copying an “anime style”. Though ADV hid it (by removing the names of all the animators and background artists), practically all non-creative aspects of the production are Korean. It really does look like a very good Korean animated TV series, not a Japanese one. Some of the animation looks a bit crap and a number of times the character are a bit off model. While quite intriguing, especially in the early stages, it fails to engage a number of times, however the ending was rather good I thought. I’m going to give it 6 out of 10.

“Iria - Zeiram the Animation”
Publisher: Anime Works (Media Blasters, USA)
Format: Region 1 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English Dub and English and Spanish Subtitles
Length: 6 Episodes x 30 minutes
Production Date: 1994
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes

There were some great OVAs for the 1990’s, and this probably one of the better ones. It’s a prequel to Keita Amemiya’s “Zeiram” films. I liked the first film a lot, but felt the second lacked a lot in the story department. Either way both films had that distinct Keita Amemiya look with lots of Asian influences in the designs. This anime version has that bizarre retro futuristic Asian look as well. Though it’s more on an epic scale here as Ameniya doesn’t have to worry about costs of special effects or sets. I remember watching a fansub of this I borrowed from the local anime club, and later got the CPM tapes. The CPM DVD was awful, so I’m glad I waited. The Media Blasters three disc set is fantastic. The show is a lot better than I remembered. Lots of little details of life on the alien planets and lots of cute moments like where Iria frees a couple of female hostages from a criminal, and both head straight to the toilet. Masakazu Katsura’s character designs are just fantastic. Iria in particular looks gorgeous. It’s great to see his designs working outside his usual genre of shonen romance. Usually anime is turned into live action. It’s great to see it the other way around and for it actually work and actually be occasionally better than it’s live action counterpart. The only downsides are that none of the original cast voice the anime characters and that sometimes the story can lag. However I’m still going to give it 7.5 out of 10.

Remaining Backlog: 20 months (it's much easier this way than listing the number of discs).

Video Backlog: "The Humanoid"

Publisher: U.S. Manga Corps (Central Park Media, USA)
Format: Region Free DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English Dub and English Subtitles
Length: 45 minutes
Production Date: 1986
Currently in Print (as of writing): No

Story Outline: Centuries into the future, a race called the Megalosians were obliterated in a civil war. Thir emperor fled to the planet Lazeria before his death, however his daughter, Princess Ignasia, lives a peaceful life on the planet with researcher Dr Watson, his daughter Sheri and Dr Watson’s humanoid robot creation Antoinette. A routine supply mission on a ship piloted by Eric, Sheri's boyfriend, and another man called Alan goes awry and the ship ends up crashing on the planet’s surface, near the ruins of an old spacecraft called the Iczeon. However they are attacked by a small group of fighters. Both escape and meet up at Dr Watson’s house. Ruler of the planet, Governor Proud, is behind the attack on Alan and Eric and is about to relaunch the Iczeon which will have cataclysmic effects on the planet. Eric attempts to stop Governor Proud and is saved by Antoinette who is awakening to human emotions.

Mini Review: You may have read other reviews about this show or reference books and seen this show proclaimed as “a contender for the worst anime ever made” (quoted from “The Anime Encyclopaedia”). This is of course complete bullshit. Anyone who makes this stupid claim obviously has seen little in the way of truly bad anime. Try out “Dracula: Sovereign of the Damned” or “Gundress” for truly awful examples of anime. “The Humanoid” is merely mediocre. Oh sure the plot makes little sense at times, the animation is inconsistent and the colour grading is noticeably bad. Add in the Hajime Sorayama “sexy robot” design which is frankly the only reason this video was made. There are a few good points to this OVA. For example Kaname Productions (Leda - The Fantastic Adventure Of Yohko, Windaria, Birth) was the co-producer and some of the designs, especially the girls, were really good. And um, um... Ok, so that’s about it. But somehow the show managed to keep me reasonably entertained for its length.

I must make note of the extras of this disc; in particular I want to highlight the shitty “Fun Facts Video”. Random and quite nonsensical “facts”, nearly all of which are completely unrelated to the OVA pop up on the bottom of the screen over the English dubbed version of the show. For example we see a character with a moustache and then we suddenly get a list of famous people with moustaches. That list included Tom Selleck and the “Pringles guy”. In the OVA a small pink bird briefly appears on screen and suddenly a factoid appears regarding John Walter’s film “Pink Flamingos” (the bird in question in the OVA wasn’t even a fucking flamingo) and how Divine ate dog shit in that film. It was at that point I pressed stop on my DVD remote as I was not going to spend the next 45 minutes of my life watching this stupid shit. Seriously CPM, what the fuck were you thinking when someone said “hey this sounds like a great idea!” and then you wasted fuck knows how many hours creating this bullshit extra? Well, now we know how they went broke; creating shitty irrelevant extras for their DVDs, like this one.

So in the end, it's mediocre as hell, but nowhere near as horrible as people make out (and not as bad as I remembered it was when I watched it some 15 years ago). Somehow I found it more entertaining than some of the other anime I've been watching lately. 5 out of 10.

Remaining Backlog: 20 months (it's much easier this way than listing the number of discs).

Video Backlog: "Animated Classics of Japanese Literature"

Publisher: Central Park Media (USA)
Format: Region 1 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English Subtitles
Length: 12 Episodes x 25 minutes
Production Date: 1986
Currently in Print (as of writing): No

Story Outline: A collection of TV episodes from the 32 episode series adapting the works of Japanese authors (original title; "Sumitomo Life Insurance Youth Anime Complete Collection"). It includes “The Harp of Burma” by Takeyama Michio, “Season of the Sun” by Ishihara Shintaro, “Botchan” by Soseki Natsume, “Student Days” by Kume Masao, “The Izu Dancer” by Kawabata Yasunari, “The Dancing Girl” by Mori Ohgai, “A Ghost Story” by Koizumi Yakumo, “The Sound of Waves” by Mishima Yukio and “Growing Up” by Higuchi Ichiyo.

Mini Review: Well, this certainly another odd CPM release. Yes, I’m getting to the bottom of the barrel in terms of the left over CPM related DVDs I have to watch. Originally released in what I think was its entirety in 1994, we only got 12 episodes on DVD. The episodes presented here are a real mix of pretty awful to rather entertaining. The WWII tale “The Harp of Burma” is just plain annoying. Old "Bill 156/I hate those gays/the rape of Nanking never happened/old women are useless" Ishihara Shintaro’s infamous “Season of the Sun” pops up here (I’ll be doing a proper review on this one plus a look at Bill 156 sometime down the track). Serious who’d want to watch two brothers fight over a woman like she was a piece of meat? Frustrating, awful and self-obsessed characters. In fact this animated adaptation would probably fall foul of his stupid Bill 156 laws and is a lot worse than a lot of the manga and anime the bill will effect. I think it has the most nudity in any anime I have seen for a little while. “Student Days” was utterly depressing and had some mixed messages in there. The other horrible one was “The Dancing Girl” which was overly melodramatic and frustrating. “The Sound of Waves” concerning a budding teen relationship in a small fishing village was really entertaining, as was “Growing Up” which had a similar story set in the late 1800’s, though with a younger cast and a melancholic outcome. “The Izu Dancer”, another similar story of first love was adequate, but not brilliant. The two best stories in this collection were “Botchan”, a comedy about a Tokyo teacher’s troubles at a rural private school and “A Ghost Story”, a rather creepy story, also adapted as part of the 1964 Toho film “Kawidan”.

As a whole, it’s not a great series at all. Many times I found myself shouting at the TV because it was all so silly. Part of the problem is that what we are seeing has been adapted from lengthy novels. It’s hard to crap that much into less than 25 minutes of screen time. A lot of subtext and plot has to be cut. Sure some stores run to two episodes, but even then there’s not enough time to tell the story properly. There’s also the use of different directors for each episode and different character designers. It’s just a hodge podge of different styles and nothing is consistent from story to story. It doesn’t feel like a series as a whole. However this can work to the story’s advantage. In particular the design for “Growing Up” was rather interesting and quite different to what was showing on TV at the time. The animation as you’d expect is typical of TV anime of 25 years ago, and it really shows. Some of the animation is abysmal at times. As I understand it, this show was an attempt to get kids to take up reading classics. If I was a Japanese kid, I really couldn’t be bothered if the stories presented here are really representative of Japanese literature (thank god they’re not). It was a bit of a chore to get through this collection. Despite the bright spots, I can only give this 4 out of 10.

Remaining Backlog: 20 months (it's much easier this way than listing the number of discs).