Nadav
.hack//Quantum released today. Will be reviewed soon.
Hi everybody. This post is just a quick heads up to inform you that I intend the review .hack//Quantum as soon as possible. I did pre-order the title and it was shipped about 4 days ago, but it takes forever for these stuff to arrive at my place (I live in a pretty far away place). For now I’ll leave you with the cover art of the Japanese limited edition release. I wonder why FUNimation chose the cover art of the regular edition over this one?
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time Blu-ray Review
Join us as we screw around with time in The Girl Who Leapt Through Time Blu-ray review. The review is available here and in the reviews section. I pretty much summed up everything I wanted to say about the movie in the review itself, but here’s a couple of interesting trivia facts about this title:
- The movie is very loosely based on a novel by the same name written by Yasutaka Tatsui. It’s been out of print for ages in the U.S., but was recently published in the U.K. by Alma Books. Check it out if you want a different take on the same concept.
- If you look closely at the refrigerator in Makoto’s house you’ll notice her mom attached notes to it with the expiration dates of all the food inside. How weird.
- In one scene a girl is hit by a fire extinguisher thrown her way. If you pause the movie at the moment of impact you will discover that the fire extinguisher didn’t actually touches her. How weird #2.
Final Fantasy XIII-2 European Limited Collectors’ Edition
I just received my Limited Collectors’ Edition of Final Fantasy XIII-2. As all you Final Fantasy fans probably already know, FF XIII-2 had tons of DLC content and some pre-order bonus items that came along with it. The problem with these DLC and bonus items was that each retailer handed out a different DLC or bonus to those who bought their game through it. This in turn made it harder for Final Fantasy fans to decide where to place their order. To avoid this problem I went ahead and pre-ordered from game.co.uk – the only place that offered (if you pre-ordered) all the bonus content and DLC available…and then some. Now would be a good time to mention that game.co.uk offers only the European version, and FF XIII-2 will probably have lots of DLC coming up, so this deal would have been good only for those of you who have European credit cards. So anyway, since pre-orders are already over here’s an unboxing video of the collectors’ edition for all those interested:
I’m very satisfied with the limited collector’s edition and the pre-order bonus. In fact, the only better version available is the crystal edition (that has the full OST which I don’t need). As for Impressions about the game itself? I don’t have the time to play it yet
I’m also waiting for the Collectors’ Edition of the game guide (I’ll post a separate review for that of when I get it). In the meantime, Happy gaming!
Why you should care about Media Blasters’ hurdles
As you may have heard according to Robert’s Anime Corner, Media Blasters will not be publishing the 2nd volume of Bakuman on DVD and the Ikki Tousen: Great Guardians Complete DVD Boxed Set. This announcement, coupled with Media Blaster’s decision to lay off 60% of its staff in January, poses real questions regarding the sustainability of the company. You needn’t be a Bakuman or an Ikki Tousen fan to understand why these are bad news, very bad news. 2012 already saw the closure of Bandai USA, and although it was a hushed closure with seemingly little ripples (caused mainly by fans of ongoing/newly licensed series which were suddenly dropped) it will prove to be a huge loss when Bandai’s back catalog runs dry. Suddenly all those series you’ve “saved for later” will go OOP. This is the tough reality behind Bandai USA’s closure and, although I hope I’ll be proven wrong, Media Blasters seems to be heading down this rocky road as well.
Media Blaster has been keeping a low profile for the last couple of years. It abstained from fighting over new licenses, rearing its head once in a while to release a new volume of the The Twelve Kingdoms, a new Queen’s Blade bundle or another “remastered” version of Magic Knight Rayearth (seriously, there are about five different DVD bundles of this thing and none of them are genuinely remastered). So one wouldn’t have been surprised if Media Blasters decided to phase out old licenses or fail to acquire hot upcoming titles. However, cutting series after a single DVD (in the case of Bakuman) or failing to release them completely (Ikki Tousen: Great Guardians) is baffling. These are both short series that could have easily made a quick buck for Media Blasters. Failing to monetize these titles can be a big mistake.
I’ve read a lot of opinions from laid back people, people who believe that even if Media Blasters closes down it won’t be that bad of a thing. These people cling to bigger companies like VIZ and FUNimation for salvation, firmly believing that those companies will rescue everything Media Blasters throws their way or discontinue. Well, I beg to differ. Sure, FUNimation rescued a lot of series following the bursting of the anime bubble, but that was back when things sounded nice and easy. Now FUNimation is caught up in a lawsuit pertaining…yep, you guessed it – FUNimation’s decision to rescue series from the late Geneon. Moreover, FUNimation has in fact yet to release most of these titles from lack of materials. Does this sound to you like a company with the money and time in its hands to rescue yet another batch of series? And VIZ? Are you sure you want a company that is infamous for dropping series halfway to rescue your beloved series?
The bottom line of all this talk is – if you like a title, support it by buying it now or when it’s available. Fantasizing about some almighty company coming to the rescue when the forsaken fans need it to isn’t going to help sustain our beloved anime industry. Media Blasters isn’t going anywhere just yet. As of this time, Media Blasters hasn’t even officially confirmed the information regarding the infinite delays of the Bakuman DVDs or Ikki Tousen. Maybe it is us, the worried fans, who came up with the crazy idea that Media Blasters is having some unknown monetary problems. I would love to still be able to purchase the Bakuman BD set come May, even if the DVDs are discontinued. Media Blasters might not be at its peak as a company, but its loss will be bitter nonetheless. Try not to actively bring about this loss.
Why I won’t be reviewing ef – A Tale of Memories
This post is a shameless plug meant only to persuade you to buy ef – A Tale of Memories on Blu-ray. I strongly believe each and every one of you should buy this series. It was released in the U.S. by Sentai Filmworks yesterday and is worth every dollar spent on it. But I won’t be reviewing it here, nor will I be buying it myself. Why? Because of this:
This picture depicts the ef – A Tale of Memories Blu-ray Limited Box which was released in Japan on December 26, 2008. I preordered this box and is the proud owner of it since December 25, 2008. It is without a doubt the best way to own ef, as it comes with a commentary track for every episode in the series (essentially meaning you have 24 episodes in the series instead of only 12) as well as an art book , a sturdy wooden box and a copy of Chihiro’s book (!!!). What this wonderful limited edition doesn’t have is English subtitles. So while I’m satisfied to no end with the edition I’ve got I cannot review it for Anime Reviews. And that’s a problem, because ef – A Tale of Memories is one of my top five anime series of all times and would have, without a doubt, gotten a pure 10/10 score from me. It’s frustrating, but I’ll have to leave reviewing this masterpiece to other websites. What I can do is give those who’ll read the other reviews and be on the fence about this title a small push. If you find the premise of ef – A Tale of Memories to be interesting do not be afraid to pick it up. And than recommend it to your friends.
Redline Blu-ray Review
The Redline review is now available here and in the reviews section. Subscribe to us on Facebook if you’d like to receive a notice every time a new review comes up.
Watching Redline was a bitter-sweet experience. The movie leaves so many background stories untouched and so many characters unexplored! The director and creator do confess in the movies’ commentary that they didn’t have enough run time to add more background, and that the Redline book (released in Japan last year) contains a little bit more details. But I feel that’s just not enough. Ideally it would have been great if Redline could have been a three hours OVA. Realistically it took Mad House seven years just to finish this one hour and a half movie. So realistically speaking it could have been great if someone releases a Redline manga covering the lives of all the racers before the Redline race. One manga volume per character could have been a nice treat. It would have developed the Redline universe as well as allow us to better understand the racers’ motives.
I’ll finish this post with a question that has been on my mind ever since I got my copy of the Blu-ray. How come, despite the remarkably high picture quality of Redline, Manga Entertainment chose to use a grainy looking picture with an ugly white line obtruding the image for the DVD and Blu-ray covers?
We may never know…
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