As one of the most well-known mecha series in the world, Mobile Suit Gundam is the genesis of a franchise that is still going more than 30 years later, and with countless sequels, spin-offs, manga, video games, and of course plastic model kits, Yoshiyuki Tomino’s epic is credited with cementing the “Real Robot” genre into its place in anime history. After the rousing success of Mobile Suit Gundam Wing on Cartoon Network’s infamous and recently resurrected Toonami block, the original 1979 series that started it all made its way to American shores. A decade later, Bandai Entertainment gave fans in America the most complete version of the series it could possibly provide us; but is it worth it to track down these sets, now that Bandai is no longer with us? Continue reading →

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya… one of the more popular series of recent memory.  After three years the series returns with a new season.
 

 
After having such a well received first season that blew quite a few people away can season two possibly stand up to its predecessor? Does it need to? Or would a few extra adventures with fun characters be enough?  Guess we will find out… Continue reading →

Eureka Seven is back… in movie form.  Eureka Seven: Good Night, Sleep Tight, Young Lovers (long enough title I think) is a new adventure with Renton, Eureka, and the crew of the Gekko.
 

 
I’m sure all the Eureka Seven (I certainly won’t be using the full title every time in the review…) fans already ran off to go get a copy, but unfortunately this is an early review, and it won’t be released until next month.  But let’s take a look at how the Blu-ray is, and if it’s worth the cost of entry for fans. Continue reading →

Time for another early review.  This time we have the Escaflowne movie, now having over half a dozen American releases.
 

 
Having had over a dozen releases, and the Ultimate Edition from day one still being the preferred version, is Escaflowne on Blu-ray a great release?  Or should it go in the pile of disks that few want, next to Escaflowne on UMD and Bandai’s Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence Blu-ray.
Continue reading →

Lucky Star returns for one last… well not sure I’d call Lucky Star an adventure… but Lucky Star is back for one more go round (that works).
 

 
A few months after the series has ended we get about another episode and a half.  With a bit of time having passed, is Lucky Star still the bright shining star we remember? Continue reading →

It’s sorta odd to have a DVD in hand for a license announced just a week ago, but here Kannagi is.
 

 
After a year of oddity from Bandai in regards to quality and actually getting releases out (not to mention similar issues in the past), people are being a bit on the cautious side with Bandai disks, let’s see how this one fares. Continue reading →

It’s time for one of the bigger, if not the biggest early review I’ve done, Akira.  Akira is one of the biggest, if not THE biggest anime as far as us over here in the USA are often concerned with.  Over the years with more and more big name releases it may get a bit more bogged down when it comes to discussions of the biggest things ever, but for anyone who got into anime years ago, Akira is the big shadow in the room.

Getting to do the first review I know of of this disk nearly a month before it comes out anywhere in the world is just….awesome.  Being probably one of the closest things anime fans will get to the must have Blu-ray, let’s take a look at how they did, including some new ground broken. Continue reading →

For the third time now we have a batch of DVDs that seem to work randomly.

I’ve seen plenty of people complain about V.2 of Gurren Lagann (mine works), the new Zegapain, and V.1 and 2 of Code Geass (mine don’t work), and it’s been a few weeks and Bandai despite recalling some, and claiming to ship replacements to stores has been silent to the customers, but no more, Bandai is gonna set things straight and make sure we know what is going on.

After an examination, Bandai Entertainment reported that there are discs circulating with an error during Vol. 2, though the exact extent of the error in the batch is still being assessed. If any consumer is experiencing a problem, please go to http://www.bandai-ent.com/ and in the upper left hand corner there is the standard customer service box which says “Contact our Customer Service.” Indicate the nature of the problem and a replacement disc will be issued. Customers without internet access can call 714-816-9500 and ask for “Bandai Entertainment customer service.”

….Great, thanks Bandai.  You gotta wonder how they have sent replacements out if they don’t know what the issue is (and not mentioning the issues with the other DVD).

Not much news for today either.

Bandai (unsurprisingly) has the .hack//G.U. Trilogy CGI movie.

Crunchyroll will be adding a number of series from ADV, Media Blasters, and Gonzo up in the following weeks and months.

Kadokawa has Garei Zero, based on the Garei manga.

and JAM Project showed up at the Bandai panel and gave out Lucky Star T-Shirts.

Tomorrow is the ADV panel, so let’s see what happens there.

At the moment Gurren Lagann is being released in a relatively barebones sub only format. Starting near the end of the year it will start getting a slightly different release with lots of extras and a dub directed by fanboy favorite Tony Oliver. Bandai’s official blog put up a preview of the box that will come with Volume 1 of the more deluxe version of the series. Continue reading →