18 May, 2012

It has been nearly two years since the release of the last Bleach movie, The Diamond Dust Rebellion. This month we have the all the Bleach movies being re-released on Blu-ray as well as the third movie. Is the third movie a welcome addition to the Bleach saga let’s take a look. The first thing you’ll notice as soon as the film begins is just how...

14 May, 2012

The Solid State Society film picks up about 2 years after the end of the 2nd GIG of the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex series. We find Togusa leading up a field team, Batou becoming somewhat picky about the ops he goes on and the Major long resigned from and out of contact with Public Security Section 9. Whilst this might not be quite the future...

20 Mar, 2012

Set in a Blade Runner looking future, Mardock Scramble – The First Compression takes a straightforward witness/victim taking the bad guy to court whilst the bad guy continues to try to murder them theme, and splashes it liberally with sci-fi. Rune Ballot is a young prostitute, taken in by the smooth talking Shell, a man who has his memories regularly removed,...

14 Feb, 2012

While critics may gush over the latest Ghibli masterpiece and fanboys and girls squeal over the newest magical girl show, it’s long been apparent that the engine that drives the anime industry can be found in the humble shounen action show. From the grandaddy of them all, Fist of the North Star, through the worldwide phenomenon that was Dragonball Z and...

26 Jan, 2012

After living on her own in a tent in the woods after her mothers death, Tohru Honda a slightly naïve but deeply kind-hearted girl, stumbles across some of the Sohma family living nearby including her classmate (and school heartthrob) Yuki and discovers that there is more to them than there seems. The Sohma family are cursed and 13 of their members...

19 Jan, 2012

From its bombastic opening and stylised art, you know you’re in for a treat from the get go. Samurai Girls is an action, comedy and fan service mixture, set in a version of modern day Japan, called Great Japan where they never adopted western fashions and styles, but remain ruled by the Tokugawa shogunate and largely cut off from the outside world, allowing...

13 Jan, 2012

It’s always an interesting thing to watch when the anime and manga industry abandons their normal wild world of superpowered warriors, giant robots and magical girls and instead focus on the real world. While part of anime’s  appeal has always undoubtedly been its escapism, over the years we’ve seen various shows turn their gaze upon real...

8 Dec, 2011

Years ago two anomalies suddenly appeared, one in Brazil and one in Japan. Known as Heaven’s Gate and Hell’s Gate respectively, they cause all manner of bizarre effects in their vicinity and their appearance also replaced the sky. The moon is gone and the stars above are now replaced with new ones linked to the lives of a new breed of humanity, Contractors,...

5 Nov, 2011

When a director sets out to make a racing film “that defies all logic” this is the best possible result. Redline is the name of the most extreme race in the universe to crown the best driver, where anything goes in order to win. Occupying a space somewhere between F-Zero, Wipeout and Wacky Races, Redline presents us a universe filled with weird and...

10 Oct, 2011

From the standout first episode, you know you’re watching something different. Dance in the Vampire Bund shows us a world where vampires step out of the shadows with the wish to establish a home for themselves, the titular bund, and all the forces working against them. Upon this backdrop we follow the lives of Mina Tepes, the ruler of the vampires and Akira...