Gunparade March – Volume 3
Label. MVM.
Certificate: 12
Discs: 1. (4 episodes)
Running time: 100 mins approx
Video: 4:3
Sound: English 2.0, Japanese 2.0
Subtitles: English (Full dialogue or signs only)
Release date: 7th December 2009
RRP: £15.99 – Amazon – Play
Brief synopsis:
As the new new millennium draws ever closer, the alien invaders push harder and it’s up to humanity to push back, even if their fighting force is mainly comprised of mere teenagers. When Unit 5121’s role in the war against the Genjyu comes to the attention of the mass media, Hayami and Mai find themselves thrust into the limelight, whether they want to be or not. As Hayami struggles to tell Mai how he really feels about her, another HWT unit asks for her to be transferred over to them as a replacement Tandem Pilot. If Hayami doesn’t make his move soon she’ll be gone and, with the way this war is panning out, that could mean he’d lose her forever.
Comments:
On the whole not a bad series but not great one either. It tries to traverse ground covered by a number of other series – Full Metal Panic, Blue Gender, Chrome Shelled Regios to name but a few – but just doesn’t seem to manage to pull it off. It’s biggest problem seems to be that it doesn’t know whether it’s a high-school romantic comedy involving shy teens blooming into adulthood or a mecha action drama involving huge battles against alien invaders and then suffers somewhat in all the confusion. The original Japanese language version’s not bad but a lot of the time the English language dub sounds like it’s being read off of cue cards. The animation’s pretty good for it’s age (2003) though there have been some short-cuts made along the way.
Extras:
Trailers and original Japanese commercials.
Gunparade March – Volume 3 will be available from most high streets and online retailers from 7th December 2009. Reviews of previous volumes can be found here and here.
Desert Punk – Volume 6
Label: MVM.
Certificate: 15
Discs: 1. (4 episodes)
Running time: 100 mins approx
Video: 4:3
Sound: English 5.1, Japanese 2.0
Subtitles: English (Full dialogue or signs only).
Release date: 7th December 2009
RRP: £15.99 – Amazon – Play
Brief synopsis:
Six months have passed since Desert Punk’s death. Though many are glad to see the back of him once and for all, his former apprentice Kosuna is determined to carry on her master’s legacy. With her own pint sized apprentice, seemingly bottomless bag of tricks and a crude, conceited and downright haughty attitude that would make her old mentor proud, Kosuna truly is the new Desert Punk MKII blazing a trail of greed and avarice across the Great Kanto desert. But taking on the Desert Punk name means she must also take on many of Desert Punk’s enemies, even those who were former allies.
Comments:
I’m not sure what it says about a show when several of it’s best episodes are set after the main character’s death? Especially when the “Hero” was not only grooming a young girl to be his future concubine but actually owned up to it as well. I’ll admit, it was quite funny at times but I couldn’t help but be niggled by the feeling that this show had the potential to be a lot better if it had stuck a bit closer to the original manga and didn’t rely so heavily on the boob jokes, general lechery and the same old gags and tricks over and over again
Extras:
An interview with the ADR director; Text-less opening and closing animation; Trailers.
Desert Punk – Volume 6 will be available from most high streets and online retailers from 7th December 2009. Previous reviews of this series can be found here.
Anime box-sets for 2009: Part Ten (and a half)
Saiyuki Reload Box Set
Label: MVM.
Certificate: 15
Discs: 7. (25 episodes)
Running time: 569 mins approx
Video: 4:3
Sound: English 2.0, Japanese 2.0
Subtitles: English.
Release date: 7th December 2009
RRP: £49.99 – Amazon – Play
Brief synopsis:
In the world of Shangri-la humans and demons have happily co-existed in a land built on both magic and technology for as long as people can remember. Or ai least that used to be the case but unfortunately times have changed. A multitude of unsuccessful attempts to revive the long vanquished demon Lord Gyumaoh have turned this land of peace and harmony into a world of chaos and mistrust. The only chance Shangri-La has of returning to it’s previous state of peace and prosperity lies in the hands of a young priest, Genjyo Sanzo, and his three travelling companions, Cho Hakkai, Sha Gojyo, and Son Goku. The four must travel far to the west where they will attempt to put a stop to these attempts to revive Gyumaoh once and for all and hopefully return order to the world in the process. The journey isn’t going to be easy as not only is there interference from the heavens to deal with, there’s also a number of demonic forces wishing to use the raging chaos to further their own nefarious schemes and they’ll stop at nothing to ensure that the Sanzo party fails in their task, and the quickest way to do that is to kill them.
Comments:
So if that synopsis sounded pretty familiar then that’s because it’s all based (very) loosely on the classic Chinese tale Journey to the West, which has spawned a whole host of shows over the years, arguably the best known of which has to be cult favourite Monkey.
Saiyuki Reload is the 25-episode 2004 sequel to 2000’s 50-epsiode Saiyuki and if you haven’t watched the former then this show is going to make absolutely no sense to you what so ever – even if you have already read Journey to the West or watched Monkey.
Reading the original manga on which this show was based may not help much either as, while the first season had a lot of extra material crafted to pad it out for it’s 50 episode run, this sequel spends most of it’s first half deviating quite heavily from the manga before slowly getting back on track.
As the English language licence holders differ between Saiyuki and Saiyuki Reload there’s a new voice cast been brought in for this sequel which, according to many, has changed the general feel of the show though whether for better or worse is a matter of personal taste. Personally I felt that the new dub cast were very earnest in their efforts but unfortunately the end result, though certainly funny in a dry and sarcastic kind of way, was nothing to write home about.
Extras:
Pretty lacking in the extras department, there’s the obligatory text-less opening and closing animations, trailers and the original Japanese promos. Every episode except the finale has a short “Urasai” bonus episode after the closing credits.
Saiyuki Reload Box Set will be available from most high streets and online retailers from 7th December 2009.