Video Backlog: "Katanagatari"

Publisher: NIS America (USA)
Format: Region 1 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English Subtitles. Region A Blu-ray, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English Subtitles.
Length: 12 episodes x 50 minutes
Production Date: 2010
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes

It is the Edo era. Many years prior, a rebellion took place where the leader of that rebellion, Takahito Hida, was killed by a man named Mutsue Yasuri. For this crime, Mutsue and his family were exiled to the island of Tamba. Many years later only his son, Shichika Yasuri, and his daughter, Nanami Yasuri survive on the island. Both have been trained in the art of Kyotoryu school of martial arts, though Shichika was chosen by his father as the head of this school. The Kyotoryu style is not exactly your typical martial art. Shichika is a swordsman, but has no sword. The martial art is designed so he performs as a sword. Shichika and Nanami live pretty much in blissful ignorance of the world outside their little island. That is until a young white haired woman named Togame, a strategist who claims to be under orders from the Shogun, arrives and asks for Mutsue’s help to recover twelve extraordinary swords collectively known as the "Deviant Blades" swords forged by a sword smith named Kiki Shikizaki. The brother and sister explain that their father is dead, but Togame insists that Shichika be his replacement and help her retrieve the swords.

However the Maniwa Ninja Clan are also looking for these swords and have send one member, Maniwa Koumori, to stop Togame’s search. He kidnaps Togame in an effort to dissuade Shikizaki from journeying with her. Shikizaki soon finds himself in his first real battle and in the process discovers that his father killed Togame’s father. Knowing that Togama him to travel with her despite what his father did to hers, Shichika makes the decision to leave his island home and accompany her in her journey. Over the course of the next several months they challenge the current owners of the swords in an effort to collect all twelve. However the owners never give them up easily and quite often the Maniwa Ninja Clan will challenge them as well. There’s also a mysterious figure named Princess Denial lurking behind the shadows. Her link with Togame will soon be revealed.

This is yet another series based on a bunch of light novels. The author of the novels, NisiOisin, pumped out a light novel per month over a period of 12 months which is quite astonishing. Now in this adaptation, two things stick out like sore thumb; the highly stylised designs and the double length episodes. Both really help make the series stand out, but it’s the story which makes this show a winner. I’ve read where people suggest that the series is a satire on generic shonen fighting manga/anime, but I can’t see that at all. Certainly it does take tropes from chanbara cinema and similar sword/samurai epics and puts a twist on them or ends up taking the piss out of them. For instance the preview for episode four hypes up an upcoming fight. However the actual episode itself focuses on Nanami as two Maniwa Ninja attempt to kidnap her. The fight itself is only mentioned at the end by Shichika and Togame, but apart from the preview, none of the fight is actually shown.

There are a few problems I had with the show. Towards the end it delves into some surreal territory which I think wasn’t really needed. The ending was a bit of a surprise as was the whole explanation about the origin and purpose of the "Deviant Blades". It was a bit hard to swallow that explanation and I’m still a bit iffy on the ending to tell the truth. NIS America’s release is pretty damn good. It has the usual chipboard flat box and the hardcover booklet with a ton of artwork. In both books there’s about two and a half pages dedicated to a glossary of terms used in the show which is really helpful. However NIS still manages to not explain what the story is behind the cross that can sometimes be seen in Togame’s left eye. As I understand it, it has to do with some sort of pun on her name. Wrapping up, I think this is a really great show and was a bit surprised that there seems to be little fan buzz around it. It’s really quite unique in terms of presentation and the story is pretty damn good. I really wish anime studios would take more chances to make shows like this. 8 out of 10.

Remaining Backlog: 27 months (it's much easier this way than listing the number of discs).

Video Backlog: Lafiel… Abh! My Goddess

“Crest of the Stars (Seikai no Monsho)” 
Publisher: Bandai Entertainment (USA)
Format: Region 1 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English dub and English Subtitles
Length: 13 Episodes x 25 minutes
Production Date: 1999
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes

Over a thousand years have passed and humanity has spread out into the galaxy. Not as one single unit mind you, there are large factions and disputes are still common which leads to war. Jinto Lynn is just an ordinary young boy who happens to be the son of Rock Lynn, leader of the planet nation Martine. A race of genetically modified humans called the Abh Empire, who live in space and frequently war with other empires in order to maintain and create new trading routes, invades Martine. Jinto’s father surrenders in exchange position as a nobleman in the Empire. The people are furious to find out they’ve been sold out, and the Lynn family and it’s servants have to go into hiding. Jinto is pretty much forced into learning the ways of the Abh nobility, and when he reaches the age of 18, he is drafted into the military for a minimum period of 10 years, as tradition dictates. Jinto is assigned to the Gothlauth, a patrol ship, to ferry him to a training base to commence his military training. There he meets another trainee, Lafiel, whom he embarrassingly is unaware that she is a viscountess. Unfortunately a number of enemy ships soon trail the Gothlauth. The captain, not willing to let non-combatants involved in the fight, orders Lafiel to take the patrol ship’s shuttle to the port of Sufuguoff, via a refuelling point in control of the Abh noble Baron Febdash, where they plan to rendezvous with the patrol ship. However things don’t go to plan. The pair are confined against their will at the refuelling point by the slightly deranged Febdash, and after they escape and head to the rendezvous point, but discover that it is now in enemy hands and the pair have to go undercover in order not to get caught.

I originally acquired the first two episodes of this show back in the dark ages of fansubs on VHS. At the time I thought it was an OK show, but never really got into it. To me it felt like a more crowd pleasing and less hard sci-fi version of “Legend of Galactic Heroes”. It wasn’t until 2009 or so that I decided that perhaps it might be a good idea to pick up the series before Bandai deleted. Because of the obvious similarities between this show and “Legend of Galactic Heroes” (on the surface at least), I really was expecting tons of space battles and some political drama. While there is a space battle or two, most of the series focuses on the struggles of Jinto and Lafiel as they try to make their way to the planet of Sufuguoff. There is a romantic thread running through the series, but it’s extremely subtle, along the lines of “does Lafiel have any feelings at all for him?”. In terms of as an ongoing series beyond this initial 13 episodes, this part of the series does serve as great introduction to the characters. As a standalone series, it’s a little bit on the weak side. Especially when the show’s promotional material pitches the show as a space opera with space battles aplenty and the reality has Jinto and Lafiel hiding out on planet for much of its length. While most of it is in the hard sci-fi vein, I felt the last quarter went into a sort of police drama/fugitives on the run type show. While most of this was fairly well handled and was used to strengthen the ties and relationship between Jinto and Lafiel, some of it was rather silly and the mehca, some of the characters and situations were a bit cartoonish. Still, overall it’s a pretty good show 7 out of 10.

“Banner of the Stars (Seikai no Senki)”
Publisher: Bandai Entertainment (USA)
Format: Region 1 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English dub and English Subtitles
Length: 13 Episodes x 25 minutes
Production Date: 2000
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes

Because of the events surrounding the patrol Gothlauth in the previous series, the Abh have gone to war with a triple alliance of nations. Three years later and the war is still going on. Jinto has completed his training and is now a supply officer. He is assigned to the Basrogrh, captained by Lafiel. She is at pains to explain to Jinto that she will not let their friendship get in the way of running the ship. The assault ship Basrogrh’s main mission is join the main fleet and protect the Aptic Gate, a wormhole that ships use to reach other parts of the galaxy. Complications arise when Atosuryua, the younger sister of Baron Febdash, becomes the commander of their battalion and surprisingly invites both Lafiel and Jinto to dinner. Worse is the fact the Bebaus brothers (twins in fact) are given the task of defending the region. The Bebaus family has a developed a reputation known as “Spectacular Insanity” in terms of their battle plans. Will Lafiel and Jinto survive the forthcoming battles?

The follow up lived up to my expectations as to what I envisioned the series to be about. While there seems to be a lot of downtime for the crew of the ship in the beginning, we are soon treated to a ton of really well animated space battles. Apart from focusing on Lafiel and Jinto’s completely chaste developing relationship and the problems of Lafiel not wanting to favour him while she is captain, there’s also a lot of new characters that are introduced that don’t necessarily have any connections to Lafiel and Jinto. The two Bebaus brothers as well as several other commanders in the Abh fleet have large parts of the story focused on them. My favourite would have to be Commander Spoor (originally introduced in the final episodes of the first series), a 20-something noblewoman who constantly vocalises the boredom of her job. She’d rather be a trader, which is her family’s business. But she can be quite cold and bloodthirsty at times as well as enjoying teasing the enemy as well as her subordinates. Naturally the series also focuses on the main crew of the Basrogrh as well. Most of the “pure” Abh give the impression the Abh race are rather cold and calculating, a little like Vulcans from “Star Trek”. The show is certainly hard sci-fi for the most part, but some parts of the show are a little daft. Still it’s a pretty exciting well told story coupled with some very nicely choreographed space battles. I don’t understand why Bandai has chosen “Banner of the Stars” as the title of the show. The more literal “Battle Flag of the Stars” sounds a lot cooler. 7.5 out of 10.

“Banner of the Stars II (Seikai no Senki II)”/”Lost Chapter of the Stars: Birth (Seikai no Dansho - Tanjo)”
Publisher: Bandai Entertainment (USA)
Format: Region 1 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English dub and English Subtitles
Length: 10 Episodes x 25 minutes, 1 Episode x 27 minutes
Production Date: 2001, 2000
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes

After the end of the war, Lafiel and Jinto are given respective roles as Territorial Ambassador and Territorial Deputy Ambassador of the newly conquered Lobnas system. They were given these roles as the Abh have expanded their territory so much, they have run out of people to govern these new territories. However when they arrive at the system, they confronted by four people claiming themselves to be leader of this world. It soon transpires that the world is a prison planet, and the three sections of the large island the prison is on, have a leader each. The fourth claimant, Geol Meideen, actually is in charge of running the prison and therefore is the planet’s true leader. Jinto is sent down to negotiate and Meideen tells him that he wants the staff to be evacuated. The women’s section of the prison also want to be evacuated, however the men’s section want them to stay so they can build the planet into a new society (as they technically aren’t prisoners anymore due to the Abh’s action) the staff and the women get their wishes granted, but the men cause a full on riot (though it’s more like a war) using weapons supplied by staff sympathetic to the cause. Jinto soon discovers something more is going on than what he has been told. Some of the staff and the male prisoners have a drug racket going on, and the evacuation is going to put a stop to this lucrative venture. Regardless the evacuation proceeds and Jinto decides to stay on the planet until the evacuation is complete. However while traveling, Jinto’s car is hijacked and he is taken hostage. With enemy forces within a short distance from the system, Lafiel is forced to abandon Jinto and retreat.

I’m really not too sure about this short series. There are some really good ideas here, but it doesn’t seem to work out all that well in the final product. I found the whole prison planet and many of the prisoners themselves a bit clichéd and silly. The prisoners are stereotypes really. Surely they could have spent a bit more time developing them since they do play a big part in the series. There’s also the bizarreness of starting the show with a scene which shows the ending! Not exactly sure what the point of doing that was. Jinto has a shit of time surviving, but we know he survives because they told us in the very first scene of the series. The look of the show and the animation itself are also problematic. The show is 16:9 widescreen, but the fact it’s a cel based show and the very tight framing of shots lead me to believe it was originally shot in 4:3 and then zoomed it to make it 16:9. It looks a little off to be honest. The animation is pretty shoddy too, especially in the mid-section of the show. The DVD set also comes with the 2000 OVA “Birth”. This OVA follows the story of Lafiel’s parents as they discover an abandoned space craft while out on a leisurely flight on their own spacecraft. While marketed as being about the birth of Lafiel, other than a scene at the end, it’s all about her two odd parents. It’s a strange kind of OVA which doesn’t really give much insight into Lafiel or her parents. Despite the story of the OVA, it doesn’t really give much info about the history of the Abh either. In the end, I think this is an OK series. The ending sort of saved it for me. As for the OVA itself, I was really lukewarm on that. I must make mention of the orchestral music through the entire series. It is magnificent, especially the opening theme which is used for all three series. It’s glorious. There is also a two part 2005 OVA series “Banner of the Stars III” which never made it into English unfortunately. I can only give “Banner of the Stars II” and the “Birth” OVA 6.5 out of 10.

Remaining Backlog: 27 months (it's much easier this way than listing the number of discs).

Video Backlog: Week 5, 2012

I’ve been a bit lazy this week, so I’m only going to do quickies in terms of reviews of stuff I’ve watched over the last week or so.

“xxxHolic”
Publisher: Funimation (USA)
Format: Region 1 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English dub and English Subtitles
Length: 24 Episodes x 24 minutes
Production Date: 2006
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes

Kimihiro Watanuki is a high school student constantly plagued by spirits who seem to be attracted to him, which of course no one but him can see. One afternoon has him being chased by a bunch of spirits when he suddenly stumbles upon a shop run by a mysterious woman named Yuko Ichihara. She claims that she can rid him of the spirits that follow him. However there’s a catch; like all wishes she grants, the payment for them must be of equal value, so Watanuki must become Yuko's part-time employee until he has racked up enough time so she can perform the wish. Yuko puts him to work mainly on household chores and errands, but mostly having him cook meals for her, and her companions, two strange young girls called Moro and Maru, and a small black talking creature called Mokona. During the period where Watanuki isn’t being hassled by Yuko and her companions for food and sake, he is also helping out and poking his none into requests from clients. He soon realises that Yuko can command supernatural forces and often finds himself in thr thick of the supernatural world. Occasionally his school friends, Himawari Kunogi (a girl who he seriously has a crush on) and Shizuka Doumeki (a gruff boy who he suspects is a rival for Himawari’s affections), get caught up in Yuko’s world as well.

Supposedly this series can be watched in conjunction with “Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle”, but really I couldn’t be arsed. While characters from “xxxHolic” appear in that show, you could easily watch this show without every watching “Tsubasa”. There’s not one reference made to any of the characters or any of the situations in that show. I stupidly bought this series because it was rather cheap. I later regretted at as I expected the show to be full of stories where someone wants a wish and has to pay ironically and painfully for that wish. There is some of that in the show, but it’s thankfully quite subtitle. And most of the time “bad things” don’t actually happen to Yuko’s clients. In fact it seems most are reasonably happy (or at least satisfied). There’s also more of reliance of basing stories around the regular cast (or returning characters) rather than one off characters. The main problem with the show (and everyone seems to point this out) is the animation. This is really disappointing seeing as it’s a Production I.G show. About mid-way through the series, characters go off model something dreadful. Their arms become way too long; their necks are insanely long and at one point Yuko just looks like a mess with her breasts in an odd position. The characters do go on model again, but it’s just very, very sloppy work in my opinion. While the stories are pretty good (most episodes are self-contained) I though the series went off track just before the end. There’s also no real end to the show. The character just keep having adventures randomly, though there is a two parter at the end which has Watanuki on the verge of death, but it wasn’t exactly much of a climax. In the end, it’s a bit of strange show with some rather mediocre animation in the middle. I did enjoy a fair amount of it though. I really find I haven’t enjoyed much of Clamp’s material since about 2001 or so. 6.5 out of 10.

“Ultraman Zearth”/“ Ultraman Zearth 2: Superman Big Battle - Light and Shadow”
Publisher: Force Entertainment (Australia)
Format: Region 4 DVD, PAL, English dubbed
Length: 47 minutes, 67 minutes
Production Date: 1996, 1997
Currently in Print (as of writing): No

It had been exactly 15 years since the last Japanese Ultraman series, “Ultraman 80”, which finished in 1981. However in the intervening years there were several other Ultraman series; a co-production with the South Australian Film Commission called “Ultraman: Towards the Future” was made in 1990. A US co-production called “Ultraman Powered” was made 1993 and an “Ultraman vs. Kamen Rider” TV special with Toei the same year. There were also a couple of animated and unofficial productions as well in the 15 year gap. March 1996 brought Japan a new Ultraman in time for the franchise’s 30th anniversary. A movie omnibus called “Ultraman Wonderful World” which featured the shorts “Revive! Ultraman” and “Ultraman Company” as well as a 50 minute movie called “Ultraman Zearth”. In this film, gold is being sucked up by a mysterious force. It’s up to MYDO (Mysterious Yonder Defence Organization), an anti-alien invasion force organisation disguised as attendants in working petrol station which doubles as their secret base. Katsuto Asahi (Masaharu Sekiguchi) is a lowly, practically spineless trainee in MYDO, and can’t even go out on missions, and is also made fun of by his colleagues because of his obsessive compulsive issues with dirt. Of course the only one who doesn’t make fun of him is Tohru Hoshimi (Yuka Takaoka), naturally the two of them begin developing romantic feelings for each other. Unbeknownst to everyone is the fact Katsuto is Ultraman Zearth. Unfortunately he’s not very good at his job and has trouble fighting. Making matters worse is the alien Benzen Seijin (Takeshi Kaga, that’s right, Chairman Kaga from “Iron Chef”) in his human form taunts Katsuto at every opportunity at the petrol station by wiping dirt and oil on him. It is finally revealed a monster called Kottenpoppe is staling gold to convert to energy for Benzen Seijin. Naturally MYDO fail in stopping the alien’s plot and Tohru and several children are kidnapped by Benzen Seijin to draw out Zearth.

The second film was released the next year and was paired with the anime short “Ultra Nyan” which is about an Ultraman cat. In the second film, Zearth comes face to face with Ultraman Shadow, who sent there by Benzen Seijin’s sister, Lady Benzen (in human form played by the lovely Misato Suzuki). Having been defeated, Katsuto has a crisis of confidence and believes he can no longer defend the Earth as Zearth. First I think I should talk about the major problems with these discs. First, they’re dub only (an obscure dub by the Ocean Group in Canada. It seems the dub has only been released in Australia) and second it’s 4:3 letterboxed. The dubbing is overplayed and is just tolerable in places. There’s also a theme of taking the piss out of the films, and even though they are parodies of Ultraman, I still think it’s disrespectful to the original material. Third the cover pictures for both discs are not an image of Ultraman Zearth, but Ultraman Tiga (the same images with different colourer backgrounds). One can only wonder why Force decided to release this show in Australia. Besides a very late night airing of “Ultraman: Towards the Future” by the Nine Network in the non-ratings period in late 1991, no other Ultraman show has screened or been released on video here. There really is no introduction to the situations or explanations for monsters or in the show. It requires some knowledge of the Ultraman franchise. There’s also a number of cameos in the film by all of the original Science Patrol from the original 1966 Ultraman and a couple of the cast from Ultraseven and Ultraman Jack. As you can imagine, the dub writers gloss over all of this and any subtle references to other Ultraman series in the films. The first film is pretty mediocre and very, very silly. I found it annoying that Katsuto is treated like crap by his teammates. The second film is far better in plot and special effects. Takeshi Kaga does a fantasic job as the evil Benzen Seijin. It’s a shame that you can’t hear his original voice on the disc. It’s a far better performance than what the dub actor gives. I’m realy not too sure why these dubs were created to be honest. They certainly don’t help the films at all. I can only give a combined score of 5.5 out of 10 for these discs.

“Super Atrigon (Shin Kaitei Gunkan)”
Publisher: ADV Films (USA)
Format: Region 1 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English dub and English Subtitles
Length: 51 minutes (OVA 1), 47 minutes (OVA 2)
Production Date: 1995 - 1996
Currently in Print (as of writing): No

At the end of WWII, the United States of America and Japan develop secret super submarines built from technology from the subterranean civilisation called Mu. However both submarines go into battle in final moments of the war and sink each other, leaving no trace of their existence. Some 50 years later, strange occurrences begin to happen in the Antarctic, with large amounts of microwaves being detected and huge sheets of ice breaking up and drifting north. A task force from the UN is set out to investigate and they discover an enormous black cylinder is the cause of it. After getting too close, the cylinder shoots laser beams towards the task force, killing the leader. UN forces are suspiciously close behind and begin their attack. However large red rings defeat them before they have any real chance. Go Arisaka, one of the young members of the task force awakens from the disastrous battle and finds himself inside the medical bay of a large gutted ship. He is more surprised to find he is inside some sort of huge dry dock where a super submarine, the Ra, is being rebuilt. ON board he discovers a man who looks like his long lost father, presumed lost at sea, though the man denies it and claims his father is dead. Go also discovers fellow task force member and girlfriend Annette has survived. She isn’t exactly what she seems. The crew of the Ra have rebuilt the Ra, from the plans of the original WWII sub, and plan to fight the Mu civilisation, which sent out the cylinder and rings to defeat the UN, from taking over the world.

I haven’t seen this OVA series for almost 15 years. This OVA is based on the same novel that the original 1963 live action Toho film “Atrigon (Kaitei Gunkan)” was based on, but there the similarities to the two versions end. One can only wonder why ADV decided to market this tape under the Atrigon name. In the late 1990’s only dedicated tokusatsu fans would have recalled the original film. Like a number of OVA series of time, there’s a fair wack of money ploughed into this film. It looks pretty good, though the cel animation doesn’t quite stand up to today’s computer coloured stuff, and the Warsaw philharmonic provide the score. Yoshikazu Yasuhiko provides character designs and there’s a couple of voice actress such as Junko Iwao and Kikuko Inoue in the cast. It’s a pretty good sci-fi fantasy with plenty of action. The production does reuse a number of animation sequences, especially in terms of the fighter jet battles. The ending was also really left open. But of course there’s never been any follow up OVA series to the show. Overall I think it’s a solid, really fun show. 7.5 out of 10.

Remaining Backlog: 27 months (it's much easier this way than listing the number of discs).