Review
Welcome to the NHK DVD Review
A new year brings with it a new review! The Welcome to the NHK review has been added to the reviews section. Here’s a direct link.
Welcome to the NHK was the first SD series I reviewed. As a rule of the thumb I won’t lower grades of series that have visual issues on modern HDTVs if they were created in SD and don’t have an HD master or upscale available. That is, unless they look outright awful today.
Here’s an interesting bit of trivia I found while watching the series that didn’t quite make the cut for the review: the three alien-like baby creatures Sato keeps imagining are refered to in the English credits as Hikikomorians. All three Hikikomorians have different voice actors despite the fact that the only audible thing they do on the show is laugh sinisterly or cry out in fear.
If you are interested in the light novel that inspired the anime series you might want to check Brian Ruh’s article on it. He also addresses the notion of hikikomori in general.
Cowboy Bebop: The Movie Blu-ray Review
The latest review is up. This time its the Cowboy Bebop movie. Read the review here or through the review page.
I really liked how Sony treated this title (note: the version I reviewed is a rerelease by Image Entertainment but the source was still authored by Sony). Although it is not really a 1080p release Sony applied some fine retouches to the Blu-ray version to make it more visually attractive. I hope someday a brave company will venture into Sunrises archives, dig up the old series and give it the same (or even better) treatment. It’s not a far-fetched dream either. Technically speaking, If FUNimation Entertainment can make an HD version of the original (super old) Dragon Ball Z series from scratch I’m sure Sony is also up to the challenge. And Because so much time has passed since Cowboy Bebop came out on DVD a new Blu-ray version has some serious marketing potential. Good series tend to resurface like that from time to time.
Itsudatte My Santa! DVD Review
The Itsudatte My Santa! DVD review is up in the review section. Here’s a direct link.
I’ve always loved Akamatsu Ken’s manga. Love Hina was one of the first manga I read and to this day I regard it as a masterpiece and a milestone in the harem genre. I’ve since read Itsudatte My Santa! and A.I. Love You and found both to be decent. Today I follow the Negima! manga as it comes out in the U.S. and am quite enjoying it.
It is because I hold Akamatsu’s manga in such high favor that I find the anime adaptations of his titles to be so disappointing. The anime adaptation of Love Hina really turned my down and the Negima! series and follow-up OVAs felt really corny. I did find the Negima!? series to be an interesting experiment, but that is because it presented an alternative version which I couldn’t compare to the original manga material. How come the anime adaptations of Akamatsu Ken’s works tend to be such a letdown? Perhaps Akamatsu’s manga are too detailed for their own good? Or are his character reactions, which never cease to surprise me, unfit for animation? Maybe it’s the animation studios’ fault for not capturing that magical Akamatsu feel?
Either way if you’ve only seen the anime adaptations to Akamatsu’s manga and felt disappointed I urge you to pick up the manga and give them a second chance. Kodansha’s upcoming Love Hina omnibus releases seem like a good place to start.
FLCL Blu-ray Review
The first review is here! The FLCL Blu-ray review has been added to the review section. You can also access it directly here.
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