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 Fanboy Review is back with its second ever joint review! Join Alex and me as we take an early look at the first animated adaptation of the popular Dragon Age franchise.

Co-produced by EA and Funimation Entertainment, Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker made its debut in Japanese cinemas back in February and will be hitting US shelves on May 29.  This is the first bit of animation that is a Funimation ‘original’ (rather than a licensed film/show.) How does their first original production hold up? Continue reading →

Infinite Ryvius is a top-notch psychological drama from Sunrise that aired in 1999. Bandai first put it out on DVD in North America in 2003, and it’s really worth a look.
 

 
Infinite Ryvius, on its surface, looks like the kind of generic mecha/sci-fi series that Bandai often releases. It seems like it has nothing new to offer and is really only for the hardcore Sunrise fans. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. There’s very little action in the show, and the mecha is only used a handful of times throughout the entire 26 episodes. So I’m not really sure if that crowd would enjoy this. No, this series instead seems aimed at fans of character driven dramas, and that’s perfectly fine. There is also some great insight on political systems, and what human beings truly are at their root. This series cuts deep into human psyche. Continue reading →

We’ve been meaning to have me write something for The Fanboy Review for a while—around a year, in fact—so here I am! This is my first review around here, and I’m quite happy with the show the boss decided on. So let’s get down to it and take a look at the latest release of Tenchi Muyo! GXP.
 

 
The truth is that I’ve been a fan of Tenchi Muyo! for a long time. I was always interested in animation in general, but I was first introduced to Japanese animation properly when I was still in school, and Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki happened to be one of the first shows I collected on VHS. As such, it’s surprising that this is my first time taking a proper look at GXP, but I just never got around to it. It’s about eight years old now, so how does it hold up as a show, and how good is this latest release of it? Continue reading →

As a new reviewer for the site, I just wanted to quickly introduce myself to readers. My name is Jonathan R. Lack, and I’ve been writing film and TV reviews for eight years now, much of that time spent at Denver Post subsidiary YourHub.com where I publish most of my work. Anime isn’t an interest of that reader base, however, which is why I’m excited to write for The Fanboy Review and share my interest in anime with fellow ‘fanboys.’ Enjoy!
 

 
Has any anime ever been released so out of order in North America? Collecting the original Dragon Ball series has always been an exercise in frustration, going back to the jumbled release of the 2-disc ‘saga’ sets and culminating in the overdue but welcome blue-brick season set releases. The release of the films made just as little sense. When FUNimation began releasing the movies on DVD, we got uncut releases in the extremely strange order of film 3, Mystical Adventure, film 4, The Path to Power, and finally film 2, Sleeping Princess in Devil’s Castle, which was simultaneously released in a “Movie Box” alongside the other two. Meanwhile, movie 1, Curse of the Blood Rubies, had actually been released much earlier in an edited-and-dubbed only release as part of the material FUNimation (teaming up with various other companies) released in an earlier, failed attempt to bring Dragon Ball to young American audiences prior to their release of Dragon Ball Z. Rights issues related to this period in the franchise’s history meant an uncut release failed to see the light of day on DVD until just recently, just as the first thirteen TV episodes didn’t get an uncut release until the season sets. But the DVD is finally here, completing the long, complicated, and largely jumbled release of the series in North America. That alone may be cause for celebration. Continue reading →

NIS America is back with a new show doods!
 

 
After a few early missteps that NISA worked quickly to fix does a second attempt from NISA come out golden… doods? (It’s my second NISA review, I feel obligated to toss in a few doods at the beginning.  You read enough NISA Twitter posts and press releases and you will do it also.   Just passing it along to help NISA with their diabolical plot to spread the word dood around.) 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 →

Right Stuf/Nozomi/TRSI/any other name you can come up with is back with another DVD release.  And this time it’s a return to Maria Watches Over Us.
 

 
Season 4 of Marimite (ha ha, short show nicknames make the job easier!) returns to a few different major and minor plot threads that in various ways reach back to every season.  TRSI loves the niche, but can Marimite hold onto its audience through a fourth season? Continue reading →

A new company arrives with a series that has a bit of a following.
 

 
Toradora! is finally coming to the USA via NIS America.  Rather than just getting the vanilla treatment though, NIS is going the premium route for their anime releases.  Does Toradora! (last time I use the exclamation point…) end up being a good start for them? Continue reading →

Greetings viewers! The name’s Samuel Savage but I’m better known as PirateBeck these days. You probably haven’t heard of me before and considering my line of work is very different to that of a reviewer, I can’t honestly blame you. However, it’s something I’ve had an interest in for quite some time so Marc’s giving me a shot. Anyway, to cut the introduction short, I’m from the United Kingdom and while we may not get that many series released here due to many different licensing issues, we have been lucky enough to receive some exclusive anime releases, such as the upcoming Summer Wars and Professor Layton movies. So I’m here to tell you what’s worth importing and since it hasn’t been released yet in the USA, I’m going to touch upon a shonen oldie…
 

 
Space Adventure Cobra is the film adaptation of the manga series of the same name, originally released in the late 70s. The movie itself was released in 1982 and I believe it’s an adaptation of the entire manga story (don’t quote me on that). The UK disc was released in August 2008 and can be currently ordered from Amazon UK for around £3.99 ($5.95 as of May 2009). Is it even worth that? Let’s find out… Continue reading →