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Baka & Test: OVA Special Collection (BLU-RAY)

AJ Garcia — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 18:11:48 +0000

Review:

TV on Blu-Ray

Exclusive?:

Grade:

4.34

Tags:

Romance

Japanese

foreign

Fantasy

comedy

Baka and Test is back with another release. This time the Class F rejects are sporting a two OVA adventure in the OVA Special Collection. Short, but most definitely hilarious and a good dose of that very awesome anime mish mash of styles that’s made Baka and Test a pleasurable feast for the eyes.

In this two part OVA Class F is forced to join the rest of the school in coming up with individual idea’s for the Refreshing Festival the school holds every year. They’d rather sit around or go outside to play baseball, but of course their forced to join in.

Though everyone in class has some interesting idea’s the group decides to open a Café, and the good news is, they can buy new school equipment with the money. Good thing too since Mizuki’s father plans on sending her to a different school since her class is so poor and their equipment so shoddy. It’s all the inspiration the class needs to do the best job they can making as much money as they possibly can. Unfortunately there’s a catch.

In order to keep the money they’ve made in the Café the group must win the Summoner Test at the end of the Refreshing Festival. It won’t be easy going up against the smarter classes but with training and a few dirty tricks they may just pull it off.

PICTURE QUALITY:
If you’ve seen Baka and Test before you’ll know that the show doesn’t find it’s anime style and just stick with it. The anime styles in this show bounce from style to style. During the more dramatic scenes characters will be flush with a solitary color while they stand before a black background. Grain is present in these scenes. In other scenes the class is either outside or near a window that’s allowing light to shine in on them flushing out their color a bit. There are some other interesting concepts that muck with the picture quality a bit, but it’s all in the name of art. It’s experimental and fun to watch the change ups. You can either say it’s a downgrade for the picture quality or just roll with it. I say roll with it. It’s too odd a show to give it a mark down for the crazy stuff it attempts all in the name of enhancing the experience.

BONUS FEATURES:
~OVA Split 1 & OVA Split 2
~Promo Video’s
~Original Commercials
~Textless songs
~BD/DVD Versions

Baka & Test:

Talent(s):

Starring:

Baka & Test:

AJ Garcia — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 18:11:48 +0000

Baka & Test:

Tags:

Romance,

Japanese,

foreign,

Fantasy,

comedy

On Blu-Ray:

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Starring:

Studio(s):

Running Time:

92 minutes

Discs:

Official Website

Farewell My Queen

AJ Garcia — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 12:07:29 +0000

Farewell My Queen

Review:

DVD

Exclusive?:

Bonus features:

Grade:

1.79

On Set Interviews Interviews With Beonit Jacquout and Trailer

Tags:

Historical / Period Piece

History & Events

Gay / Lesbian Interest

Léa Seydoux plays Sidonie Laborde, a lady in waiting to Queen Marie Antoinette. Laborde has a special relationship with the queen, constantly being invited to the Queen’s quarters to read to her, to talk, to sometimes be doted upon. Though she is a commoner, Laborde has access to the comings and goings of the upper class at the Palace of Versailles. She’s observes their lives as they go about their daily routine, as well as their scrambling during the oncoming revolt.

I thought it was an interesting concept, very similar to Downton Abby, that we should see the fall of the French court in 1789 through the eyes of the lower class servants at the palace. We learn about the upper class scandals and love affairs through gossip, hear news of the coming revolt through passing, and see the iconic characters of the era through a less flattering light.

Unfortunately the concept isn’t given that great an execution. The film really just revolves around Sidonie as we see her give up all of her life’s joys or possibilities at joy to devote herself to the Queen. In the grand scheme of things the revolution and everything else seemingly more grand is simply a catalyst to bring us to the consequences of Sidonie’s life choices. Seydoux plays the character pretty bland, occasionally squinting her eyes to show disgust and or anger, but pretty much sleepwalks through the role, which seems blandly written. If the entire film hinges on the life of this one character it seems like the character should have been written a lot better. With nothing to grasp about this character her plight is meaningless, making the remainder of the film a shallow tool for her story.

The costumes and locations are fantastic. Unless you’re running a low budget film why wouldn’t they be though. It’s just a shallow film without much to it other then a boo hoo storyline about an indifferent girl who loved the Queen. As always final judgment is yours.

Talent(s):

Diane Kruger

Benoit Jacquot

Other Pictures:

Starring:

Diane Kruger

Farewell My Queen

AJ Garcia — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 12:07:29 +0000

Farewell My Queen

Tags:

Royalty,

Book-To-Film,

drama,

foreign,

French,

Historical / Period Piece,

History & Events,

Gay / Lesbian Interest

Release Date:

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

On DVD:

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Starring:

Studio(s):

Director(s):

Genre:

Running Time:

100 Minutes

Official Website

Baka & Test: Season Two (BLU-RAY)

AJ Garcia — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 12:17:36 +0000

Review:

TV on Blu-Ray

Exclusive?:

Grade:

3.94

Tags:

Things are just as off the wall in the world of Baka and Test as they were the last time we visited the series, maybe more. With the girls and guys of class F falling in and out of love with one another while they try and climb through the ranks at school things get messy. Too many teenage hormones can’t be good for the class with the lowest test scores.

While I enjoyed most of the first series I have to admit that I got tired of the school battles. The first few times were interesting as it played as an introduction to the process, and when the battles switched up and brought in an interesting deviation from the anime style it was fresh. Then it just went on and on. The dramatics of teenage life and love being the precursor for battle set ups.

This time around we start off the show with the crew on vacation and getting all pervy in the usual anime fashion. Busty bikini bods, nosebleeds, with an innocent twists somewhere in the mix. Really, nothing that hasn’t been seen a million times over. It seems to work though. It’s a break from the monotony of battle after battle and drama ensuing because so and so likes so and so and so on.

Fortunately this season does a good deal of hashing out back stories, which gives us a fresh area to explore to get away from the usual stuff. We get the scoop on a few new character attributes of our main protagonist, an interesting twist on his sister’s feelings for him, and of course a seemingly extra heavy dose of love gone mad between the class as boy and girl once again fall in and out love with one another, causing further battles to ensue between class F and the upper classes as well as within the class itself.

PICTURE QUALITY:
Like the previous season there is a mish mash of anime styles that come into play within the series which, some of them, interfere with the solidity of the picture. You’re going to have some soft looking spots due to an intentional effect within the picture but the overall picture still is rather sharp and extremely vibrant. It really is a beautiful looking job on an anime that pushes the boundaries on style.

BONUS FEATURES:
~Commentary for episodes 3 and 13
~Featurettes
~Promo Videos
~Commercials
~U.S. Trailer
~Textless Opening and Closing Songs
~Trailers

Baka & Test

Season:

Talent(s):

Starring:

Baka & Test Season 2

AJ Garcia — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 12:17:36 +0000

Baka & Test

Season: 2

Starring:

Tags:

Anime,

comedy,

Fantasy,

foreign,

International TV,

Japanese,

Romance

On Blu-Ray:

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Discs:

Shakugan No Shana: The Movie (BLU-RAY)

AJ Garcia — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 16:15:30 +0000

Shakugan No Shana: The Movie

Review:

Blu-Ray

Exclusive?:

Grade:

2.94

Tags:

Shakugan No Shana started off with an interesting concept. There are forces unseen that feed on human energy, killing said humans. In order to stop the world from going out of balance Flame Hazes are dispatched to kill off the threats and put in place Flames, the remnants of humans now dead to fill in for the deceased. Flames have all the deceased’s memories and quirks but does not know it’s actually a flame.

During a routine kill, Flame Haze, later named Shana, comes across a special Flame named Yuji who is a special sort of Flame, one that carries within it a treasure that the dark side craves. Seeing that Yuji is so special Shana decides to place herself into Yuji’s life using the essence of one of his friends who was a former Flame that had passed on. Posing as the Flame she goes to school with, lives with, and follows Yuji’s every move, waiting for the Denizen’s to come back to claim the treasure found within him, and stop them. Only, she had no idea this less then ordinary Flame would have such a huge impact on her life.

Unfortunately as the show went on I found it taxing and repetitiously, especially when held in contrast with other anime shows that boast the same kind of plot line and or plot progression devices. There are some Gems from season one to the end of season two, but getting there was a chore and not always fruitful. So how would a Shana film fair I wondered.

Shana the Movie is like a cross between Dragon Ball Z Kai and Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood. It’s a retelling of season one of Shakugan No Shana minus the fat, but also features new scenes that were added in to provide information from the light novels that was not present in the shows first outing. So, yes, you’re getting a recap of the first season but also getting a more faithful adaptation of the series from it’s source material.

Sadly after having seen seasons one and two the movie seems very rushed. Though I didn’t really care for the series as a whole, I thought this shortened revised version felt like it was abandoning a lot of detail and moving forward at to fast a speed. Revelations that come later in the series pop up in the first twenty minutes of the show then get washed over by other arcs that need to be shown to progress the film along. Again, I blame the fact that I watched the first two seasons already and felt as if this was a double chore going though it again, but it did end up being a bit better.

PICTURE QUALITY:
Shana the Movie is taken from the same HD source material that makes up the Blu-ray so you’ll find the same hard to swallow production that makes up the first season. It felt like the new scenes that were added into the series were a bit more ramped up bringing a better quality picture to the whole but it still had its recurring issues leaving it just a step higher on the rankings then before.

BONUS FEATURES:
~Why? What? Shana!
~Shana-tan Movie Version
~Movie Promo Videos
~Movie DVD Commercials
~U.S. Trailer
~Trailers

Talent(s):

Starring:

Shakugan No Shana: The Movie

AJ Garcia — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 16:15:30 +0000

Shakugan No Shana: The Movie

Tags:

science fiction,

foreign,

Japanese,

Anime,

action,

Swordfighting

Release Date:

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

On Blu-Ray:

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Starring:

Studio(s):

Genre:

Anime,

Horror,

Running Time:

90 minutes

Official Website

Being Human: The Complete Second Season (BLU-RAY)

AJ Garcia — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 15:14:47 +0000

Review:

TV on Blu-Ray

Exclusive?:

Grade:

4.35

Tags:

Supernatural & Paranormal

Like most, I stumbled upon the U.K. version of Being Human and enjoyed it. When news that Canadian production company Muse was planning to redo the show, again, like most I kind of just shrugged it off as just another ongoing trend of rebooting already established works too soon. Eventually I got around to watching it when the hype grew too large to ignore and found myself enjoying it.

What’s great about the show is that, aside from the first couple of episodes in season 1, this version of Being Human tries to move in a different direction then it’s UK version. Something’s remain the same, only slightly deviated and then set back on course, and other elements are completely new.

In season 2 we find Aiden (Sam Witwer; Star Wars: The Clones Wars) stepping into the void where his mentor Bishop once reigned. It’s a tasking job trying to keep the new born vamps from creating massive bloodshed as well as all the political implications from above and it’s pulling him away from Sally and Josh, who’ve got their own problems.

Sally has missed her door, the portal that would take her into the next world, and staying behind has caused her to gain new and improved powers that are starting to pull her into the dark. Like all things naïve when discovering new strengths. Sally goes on a selfish ghostly bender that leaves consequences to answer for at a later time.

Josh inadvertently may have turned his girlfriend into a werewolf with a simple scratch. He doesn’t know it but she has some suspicions which are pretty much rectified when the full moon rises.

The introductions are over as far as the three main characters are concerned and the show dips into the dark as the second season proves more troublesome for the three. So how did it look on Blu-Ray.

PICTURE QUALITY:
Pristine. Immaculate. I have always been in love with the werewolf transformation done by Rick Baker in the 1981 film An American Werewolf in London. When Baker failed to capitalize on his reputation with the flop remake of The Wolfman in 2010, choosing to use CGI to create the transformation for Benicio Del Toro’s wolfman, I threw my hands up realizing if Baker couldn’t make it look good no one could. I was surprised and happy to find that both the UK version and the US version looked fantastic. Of course seeing as how CGI is a variable in the transformation I did worry that it would come out looking cheesy on Blu-Ray. On the contrary, the depth of detail gives the transformation a more realistic quality and sets the tone for the rest of the series, which is apparently handled with kid gloves since the production always looks so sharp.

Other then that I was impressed with how rich the black levels looked. No white hazes during night time scenes, no contrast when CGI enters the picture. It all looks and sounds fantastic.

BONUS FEATURES:
~2 Featurettes
~Interviews
~Being Human at San Diego Comic-con 2012

Being Human

Season:

Talent(s):

Sam Huntington

Sam Witwer

Meaghan Rath

Other Pictures:

Starring:

Sam Huntington

Sam Witwer

Meaghan Rath

Panty & Stocking With Garterbelt: The Complete Series (BLU-RAY)

AJ Garcia — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 13:21:30 +0000

Review:

TV on Blu-Ray

Exclusive?:

Grade:

2.00

Tags:

I was fortunate enough to review Panty and Stocking with Garter Belt when it first came to DVD in a limited edition package. I felt it was a bit under whelming but it had it’s good parts as well. If you want a complete run up of the series please click this link: Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt - Complete Series (Limited Edition)

PICTURE QUALITY:
Like my original thoughts on the series, the Blu-Ray transfer is also under whelming. There is a barrage of styles that make up Panty and Stocking with Garter Belt from weird cartoon network like styles to proper anime styles to even live action stuff. Not all of it manages to translate well into the HD version of the show. Matter of fact, hardly any of it.

It’s pretty hard to go wrong as far as the color scheme for the series is involved. P&S is a vivid looking show with bright colors. Where the discrepancies begin is line definition and clarity. Sometimes the line definition looked a bit jagged and a strange hue created a soft look for most of the series. I watched the DVD version in July of 2012 so it’s been awhile since I last saw it, but I don’t remember the quality being so uneven. It certainly has its upsides such as audio being as perfect as usual with most Funimation titles, but I didn’t really feel as if I had upgraded all that much in picture.

BONUS FEATURES:
~Trailers
~Panty and Stocking in Sanitary Box
~Ghost Explosion Collection
~Ghost Explosion Collection Documentary
~TV Promotional Video
~Official Homepage Commercial Collection
~Pre-Airing Commercial Collection
~Now-Airing Commercial Collection
~Post-Airing Commercial Collection
~DVD Commercial Collection
~Talk Live Animated At Loft/Plus One
~Making of Lingerie Scene
~Outtakes
~U.S. Trailer
~Textless Songs
~Limited Edition Artwork Box Case
Plus newly added features:
~Panty and Stocking With Garter Belt- Unrated: An interview with the cast
~Sit Down With Panty and Stocking

Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt

Talent(s):

Other Pictures:

Starring: