Fuji TV’s noitaminA block has been very good to us animation fans in recent years, having provided us with more than a few interesting shows (including Eden of the East, a personal favorite of mine.)

With Funimation’s upcoming release of Guilty Crown, a recent noitaminA series, do we have another interesting series from the respected and venerable animation block worth your time and money? Continue reading →

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 →

I’m reviewing another western comic already? Apparently so. This is issue #1 of the new miniseries, Flashpoint.
 

 
Flashpoint is Geoff Johns’ latest big event, and he and DC themselves have said it’s fine if you just want to pick up this book without reading the large amount of build up to it. To be honest, I hadn’t even heard of it, and I didn’t even know it was a Flash story when I was asked and agreed to review it! So once again, I’m going to be finding out if this comic really can stand alone and be enjoyed by someone who’s completely out of the loop. Continue reading →

This isn’t the kind of thing I’m normally asked to review, but there’s a first time for everything. Today will be my first review of a western comic book: Action Comics #900.
 

 
#900 is a milestone issue, so as well as finding out just what I think of it, I’m going to be asking myself if it’s a good place for new readers to jump in. I haven’t read a DC comic since around the Blackest Night event, so I might just have been the right person to ask! Continue reading →

Gunslinger Girl is hitting bookshelves again, this time thanks to Seven Seas Entertainment.
 

 
This first release from them is an omnibus collecting volumes 1 through 3 of the manga. That’s 544 pages of gunslinging action! This wasn’t my first attempt to get into the series, so how did I like it this time? Read on and find out! Continue reading →

I’m extremely disappointed right now.  When I read a manga called Amnesia Labyrinth, I expect to see someone wake up in a maze without any memory of how they got there.  That’s not what this is at all!
 

 
Sarcasm aside, Amnesia Labyrinth isn’t nearly as exciting as its intriguing name would suggest.  The series has just hit American shelves in graphic-novel format courtesy of Seven Seas Entertainment, and I can’t say I was riveted by the four chapters included in this first volume.  In fact—and I know I sound like a bit of a bastard for starting out the review this way—the volume peaks in its first three pages.  You look at the catchy (if misleading) cover, read the synopsis on the back, and settle down to read a good ol’ mystery manga about a couple of high-school kids.  And what’s the first thing to happen in the volume?  An innocent student gets shoved in front of an oncoming train. Continue reading →

Funimation comes out swinging with a big film release, arguably the biggest film they’ve released since the first Evangelion Rebuild film (and based on who you ask, possibly bigger.)
 

 
A big push is being given to Summer Wars: theatrical screenings, larger than normal advertising, even an attempt to get it nominated for an Academy Award.  Is all the extra push worth it?
 
As a fun little experiment, Alex and I are reviewing this film together, since we both had things we wanted to say about it.
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 →

What is Fractale? To tell you the truth, I’m still figuring that out myself…
 

 
One of the latest additions to FUNimation’s incredibly robust online streaming repertoire, Fractale is being simulcast every Thursday on Hulu at 11:45 am (EST), one hour after the episodes premiere on Fuji TV in Japan…at least, that’s the plan.  The simulcast was halted after the first episode when the show’s copyright holders demanded FUNimation take steps to stop piracy of the episodes.  Once this was sorted out and the simulcast resumed, the massive snow storms and cold fronts sweeping much of America prevented this week’s planned simulcast of episode four (I know how you feel, FUNi – it’s cold here too!).  Thus, this review covers the first three episodes of the series as part of a new plan on this site to review streaming content in ‘blocks.’  Fractale will only be 11 episodes total, so we’re planning two more reviews, each highlighting four new episodes, to cover the rest of the series as it airs. Continue reading →