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DVD Review: Secret of the Urn
AnimEigoDirector: Hideo GoshaWriters: Hideo Gosha, Kei TasakaStars: Bin Amatsu, Keiko Awaji and Takuya Fujioka(From imdb.com) What they say: After losing both an eye and an arm to treachery while on a mission for his clan, Samanosuke (Kinnosuke NAKAMURA) becomes a ronin who calls himself TANGE Sazen. When a stolen urn that contains the secret to a treasure worth a million gold coins falls into his one remaining hand, all sorts of villains, including a high-ranking Shogunate minister, plot to relieve him of his burden — and his life. Unfortunately for them, TANGE has developed a unique and deadly one-handed fighting style, which means his enemies will have their hands full…
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DVD Review: Revenge (Adauchi)
AnimEigoDirector: Tadashi ImaiWriter: Shinobu HashimotoStars: Kinnosuke Nakamura, Takahiro Tamura and Tetsurô Tanba(From imdb.com) What they say: A minor quarrel escalates into a duel. A death creates a debt of honor. The demands of honor outweigh the demands of justice, and force friends to spill each other’s blood. And the need for victory requires the sacrifice of honor. One simple argument spawns death, madness, and a final confrontation that will leave the sandy soil soaked with blood. What I say: Revenge is a twisty tale of a duel gone wrong and how one little slight in the world of samurai can lead to major repercussions. The film is told out of…
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Manga Reviews: Animals, Princesses, Air trecks and the end of the world!
Airgear vol. 21Story & Art: Oh! GreatTranslation: Stephen PaulLettering: Dave SharpePublisher: Kodansha I ever reveal that anytime I read this series, I want to dust off my old rollerblades and go outside and bust my ass? Because, that is exactly what would happen if I did that. I’m 33 now, I can’t be doing silly things like that; bones would take too long to heal and then I’d have to take time off work. Oh to be young again, thank you Airgear for making me relive those young days, however. If you aren’t familiar with AirGear it is a manga by Oh Great, who not only has a badass name,…
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About Heroes @ Comic Con 2010: The Walking Dead panel
Fans of Kirkmans book…get ready to be VERY happy. Before we got to seeing some footage, we were first introduced to the creative team to the show. Director/Writer Frank Darabont, The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman, Producer Gale Anne Hurd, Make up efx master Greg Nicotero, and head of AMC SVP of original programing Joel Stillerman. A quick roundup on some of the information we got: -Gale (having a hand in a few comic-to-movie properties) got involved after hearing the popularity of the series and then reading the book. -Darabont, a huge horror fan, discovered the series at his local comic shop. Upon reading it he realized that the story…
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Fairy Tail vol. 3
Story & Art: Hiro MashimaTranslation: William FlanaganPublisher: Del Rey I was surprised by how much I enjoyed volumes 1 and 2 of this series. I’m not a big wizard fan (let the Harry Potter fan-boy emails come) and I really got bored with Rave Master, because Mashima never stepped outside of his formula and the story was going nowhere. But, this was something that brought me back to my child hood and I really got that sense of adventure when Natsu, Lucy, and Happy took off for Fairy Tail. Now the Dark Guild Eisenwald are going head to head with Fairy Tail for the Lullaby (no, not what you think,…
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Midweek Manga Reviews: We’re Back!
Castlevania Curse of Darkness vol. 1Story & Art: Kou SasakuraTranslation: Ray YoshimotoAdaptation: Jeremy BlackPublisher: Tokyopop As a kid I don’t there was a better videogame experience then locking my room in the middle of the night and playing through Castlevania in the middle of a storm. All the sense of excitement and horror was intensified by the crack of thunder. This is the first time I have read a Castlevania comic. I wasn’t at all interested in the IDW series, but the cover to Curse of Darkness really got my attention. Although this particular manga is not based on Simon Belmont’s story, it is based on one of my favorite…
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Dororo vols. 2 & 3
Dororo vols. 2 & 3Story & Art: Osamu TezukaTranslation: Dawn T. LaabsPublisher: Vertical It’s really hard to read a book by Osamu Tezuka knowing you are going to be reviewing it. It’s hard because how do you review the guy that set the standard for manga, hell not only manga but comics in general. I know Omar reviewed the first volume and loved it, but when he passed these down to me I just didn’t know what to critique. Dororo is a manga about a man named Hyakkimaru who was robbed of 48 of his body parts by the devil. Not your usual happy starting point from the man that…
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Midweek Manga Reviews: It’s Friday!
Dr. Slump vol. 15Story & Art: Akira ToriyamaTranslation: Alexander O. SmithPublisher: Viz I always wondered if his editors at the time had made Toriyama keep going with this series if it would have turned into something like Dragon Ball Z. I can see it now: Dr Slump Zeta!!! It’s a good thing that his editors weren’t that pushy back then. There is a new kid in the Norimaki household and his name is Turbo! If you were expecting a normal baby without powers, well you are reading the wrong manga! After being ran over by a spaceship and brought back to life Turbo develops telekinetic powers and that makes changing…
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Midweek Manga Reviews: From The return of Akira Toriyama to Hitting a Wall
Cowa!Story & Art: Akira ToriyamaTranslation: Alexander O. SmithPublisher: Viz Being a Toriyama fan has been really hard over the years. After reading everything he has done and collecting the Japanese tonkabon, it gets really hard to wait for the next Toriyama project. I remember seeing Cowa pictures a few years back, but I’m really glad Viz went on and brought the manga over to the States. This particular work contains all of the things people expect of Toriyama; action, gags, and Toriyama’s signature drawing style with a kiddie twist. There are also elements in this book I have never seen in a Toriyama book; a real kiddie simple story, that…
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Midweek Manga Reviews: From Headache Remedies to Addictive Online Games!
Aspirin vol. 1Story & Art: Eun-Jeong KimTranslation: Soo-Kyung KimAdaptation: Che GilsonPublisher: Tokyopop I’m not sure how many reviews you are going to read that include a joke about having a headache and getting some Aspirin…so I will spare you the lame intro and just move on to the book. Hell, even in the back of the book they make a joke about temporary relief of pains and side effects. I guess I really didn’t do that good of a job at sparing you a lame intro, sorry. Lord When Ondar accidently breaks the crystal orb he accidentally releases three powerful demons loose and King Dan-Goon orders the fool Ondar to…