T5W#294-Top 5 Gundam Anime Corner Season Premieres

Today, the Gundam Anime Corner celebrates its 7^th Anniversary YAY!!!  As excited as I am to share my thoughts on Weathering With You as the celebratory title for the event (link to that review is right here: http://gundamanimeblog.blogspot.com/2021/03/weathering-with-you.html), the end of one year means its time to begin another.  Kicking off the next era of reviews for the Gundam Anime Corner wasn’t so important to me as when I started but in time, it’s become more fun to think of what title can start things off with a bang…more difficult to think of what comes later to maintain that momentum haha.  So, to commemorate what’s coming tomorrow, let’s take a look at the Top 5 Gundam Anime Corner Season Premieres.

Weathering With You

16 year old Hodaka Morishima runs away from home to find a life of meaning in Tokyo.  In a city where it hardly stops raining, Hodoka meets Hina Amano, a beautiful girl with a special gift.  If Hina prays to the sky, she can stop the rain for a brief period of time and let the sun in.  Hodaka and the rest of Tokyo find themselves praising this “Sunshine Girl” as hopes are lifted and dreams become reality.  Hodoka and Hina team up to bring life and hope back to Tokyo, but how long can this amazing miracle last…and does it come with a terrible cost?

Weathering With You is a movie that had a massive feat to pull off: it had to follow near perfect masterpiece that was Your Name.  Even sharing the same Writer and Director (Makoto Shinkai), music composers (RADWIMPS) and animation studio (CoMix Wave Films), whatever was done after Your Name was gonna have to prove that if it couldn’t surpass it, the movie could at least match Your Name’s level of quality.  That’s a lofty weight and a lot of pressure, I’m not envious.  Still, against all odds, despite some minor rough edges, Weathering With You is a sign that Makoto Shinkai isn’t just a one hit wonder.  If he can keep pumping out emotional, feel good movies like this, Anime is gonna be something else in the next few years for sure. 

The Gundam Anime Corner 7th Anniversary

March 31, 2014-It began as a simple exercise: pick an Anime Collection from my shelf; review a disc full of episodes every week until it was done; once it was done, choose another; wash, rinse, repeat.  Fast forward 7 years later.  Up to this point I have reviewed 70 TV Series, 170 Films (damn), 33 OVAs and 8 ONAs.  I’ve gone far beyond my own personal stash of Anime and expanded to whatever I can find on streaming services, YouTube, wherever I can track a title down.  Why go the extra length?  Because this is my blog and I love it as much as I love Anime and that love is the reason this blog exists at all.  I’ve revisited old favorites, gotten second opinions on others and found a bunch of new titles to fall in love with.  And even though I name this blog after my favorite Anime franchise of all time, this blog is more than just about Gundam, though I have finally been able to see more of it than ever before over the last few years.  The Gundam Anime Corner is a place to find Anime titles old and new, classic and cringe, where you can agree or disagree to your hearts content.  It’s a place to have fun, to get away from the world for a few minutes if you don’t mind listening to my ramblings and lists.  This blog has become a love letter to not just my own fandom, but Anime in general and I cannot wait to share what I have in store for the next year of its existence.  Actually…how about a sneak peak, eh

Code Geass: Akito the Exiled

As the Black Rebellion rages on in Japan, other parts of the world feel the wrath of the Britannian Empire.  Leading the European Union counterstrike against Britannia is the Wyvern Squad Squadron, led by the beautiful tactician Leila Malcal.  This squadron is made up exclusively of volunteers from Area 11, the former Japan and among their ranks is the ruthless Akito Hyuga, a young man with capabilities far exceeding a normal human.  As Akito and Leila fight against a powerful enemy and their own destinies,  Knight of the Round Suzaku Kururgi escorts a very familiar military advisor into hostile territory, bearing a secret weapon that could crush the European resistance once and for all.

For a franchise that seemed poised to rival Gundam, Code Geass hasn’t had a large presence in the Anime world outside of its juggernaut debut.  Which is a shame because Akito the Exiled is proof that the world of Lelouch Vi Britannia has room to grow, both around and outside of his shadow.  This OVA takes everything that made Lelouch of the Rebellion a blast to watch and experiments with it, both to decent and not so decent results. 

Steamboy

London, 1866.  On the eve of the Great Exhibition, young James Ray Steam receives a package from his Grandfather containing a ball whose power can change the course of Human history.  Pursued by a shadowy organization who will stop at nothing to get this ball, Ray flees to keep it safe but ends up in the middle of a battle between two opposing scientific factions.  With dangerous ambitions threatening the nations future and all who live in it, it’s up to Ray to take the power they covet so badly and use it against them, for the future of both science and Humanity itself.

Katsuhiro Otomo is a name synonymous with Anime thanks to one title: Akira.  After that film dropped in 1988 and blew the entire world away, all eyes were on this man.  Whatever Anime film he directed next would have an impossible task ahead of it.  Granted, Otomo has worked on other Anime projects since Akira, mostly writing and production credits for films such as Metropolis and Memories.  When it comes to directing Anime feature films however, Otomo only has two titles under his belt: the aforementioned Akira and the film I’m reviewing today: Steamboy.  When Steamboy arrived in 2004, it did so after a long, 10 year production and quickly became known as one of the most expensive Anime films ever made.  Makes sense, considering it’s a project helmed by a man who single handidly put Anime on the worldwide map, a studio would want to give him a blank check so to speak.  The million dollar question is: Is Steamboy at least good?

T5W#293-Top 5 Things I’m Looking Forward to in Resident Evil Village

Last weekend, Resident Evil celebrated it’s 25^th Anniversary.  That’s 25 years of some of the coolest and most resilient bad asses battling some of the most iconic and long lasting nightmares in Video Game History.  The series has come a long way from a Special Ops Unit stranded in the Mansion from Hell.  As it turns out, we’ll be getting a brand new Resident Evil game during this milestone year: Resident Evil Village (aka Resident Evil VIII, though they don’t want to make that part of the title for some reason).  Village has become one of the most anticipated video games of the year and even I’m becoming more and more curious about it, probably because I’ve been delving deep into Resident Evil over the last year playing the Remakes and replaying 4&5.  Will the next chapter less than a couple of months away, todays Top 5 Wednesday will be covering the Top 5 Things I’m Looking Forward to in Resident Evil Village.  Theories, callbacks and rating one of the main villains in terms of hotness?  Let’s get cracking. 

Spriggan

Deep within the Ararat Mountains of Turkey, the mythical Noah’s Ark has been discovered.  This sparks a new battle in a long, secret war between two factions: ARCAM and the US Machine Corps.  One side wants to use the Ark for their own plans of conquest.  The other hopes to destroy it before it falls into the wrong hands.  To this end, ARCAM sends its top agents, the Spriggans, to do battle with the Machine Corps highly augmented killing machines led by a young boy with horrific psychic abiltiies.  Should the Spriggans fail in their mission, it could mean the end of the world as we know it

Spriggan is an unusual Anime action flick.  It looks like a crisp and polished early 90’s Anime but was released towards the tail end of the decade.  It features an interesting premise fitting of an Indiana Jones film but is mixed with a Metal Gear Solid aesthetic and some good old fashioned late 80’s early 90’s Anime ultra violence.  If all of that sounds like a strange combo, it’s because it is and despite all of that working in its favor, Spriggan isn’t nearly the amazing package it wants to be.  It can try sure but it never quite hits the marks it wants.

Highlander: The Search for Vengeance

From the Dawn of Time he came.  Moving silently, down through the centuries.  Living many secret lives.  Struggling to find Marcus Octavius, the man who killed his lover.  Now he has come to the future, to a city without hope.  A city ruled over by his rival who wants the world in his hands.  For Love.  For Redemption.  For Vengeance, his time has come at last.  But in the end, there can be only One.  He is Colin MacLeod: The Highlander.

The premise of Highlander feels like one tailor made for an Anime: Immortal warriors battling across time, with decapitation by sword or other means as the only way to be killed.  Think of all the time periods you could animate; how creative you could get with the fight choreography and watching all these different bad asses adapt to new times, new cultures and new ways of kicking each others asses.  The Search for Vengeance holds the distinction of being the first, and right now only, Highlander Anime film.  So how does it adapt the legendary franchise and, more importantly, how it as a sequel in a long line of very, very bad follow ups?

T5W#292-Top 5 Things To Know Going into Rurouni Kenshin: The Final

Late last week, we got a brand new trailer for the return of everyones favorite Rurouni, Kenshin Himura, to the big screen for one last showdown with his past.  After being delayed over a year due to the global pandemic, Rurouni Kenshin: The Final is set to drop at the end of April and the new trailer gives us our best look at whats to come yet and it looks like it will certainly live up to its “Final” moniquer.  Could this indeed be Kenshin’s final battle and the last time we’ll see him in live action form?  Well maybe, maybe not.  It has been a while since we’ve seen the former Battosai in any form, particularly live action.  So for this weeks Top 5 Wednesday, I’m gonna get you caught up on what’s happened and a couple of tiny tidbits of what’s to come for Team Kenshin in about a month.  These are the Top 5 Things To Know Going into Rurouni Kenshin: The Final. 

Appleseed (1988 OVA)

In the wake of World War III, the city of Olympus has risen from the ashes.  Here, survivors can find a new beginning and form a peaceful society alongside the half human/half cyborg workforce known as Bioroids.  This perfect setting isn’t for everyone and there are those who would see it burned to the ground.  Standing in their way are Deunan Knute and her cyborg partner Briareos Hecatonchires.  Both are veterans of the war and have brought their expertise to the Olympus Police Department.  They are the only thing standing in the way of one disillusioned citizens quest for revenge and the fall of their new Eden.

Appleseed, created by Shirow Masamune, is a cyber punk dystopian series that is often lost in the shadow of its far more famous sibling, Ghost in the Shell.  Most people might know Appleseed from it’s trilogy of CG Anime films directed by Shinji Aramaki (the man who is currently co-directing the rather devisive new season of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex).  So it’s ok to admit you might not know there’s a super random Appleseed OVA feature from the late 80s, predating GitS’ first foray into Anime.  But there’s good reasons why you’ve never heard of this particular feature.  If you didn’t know the title was part of a larger franchise that didn’t kick off until the early 2000’s, the Appleseed OVA would just look like another generic hyperviolent scifi action romp that is terrible and forgettable on almost every level.

Bubblegum Crash

One year later, Megatokyo still stands but crimes involving Boomers still run rampant.  While the AD Police are trying to keep up with them, the Knight Sabers remain missing.  However, when a group of mercenaries turned thieves begin tearing up the city in next generation mech suits, Sylia reunites Priss, Linna and Nene for a new battle.  The Knight Sabers have been reborn but something else has been reborn behind the darkness of the city.  With new armor and weapons, will the sexy defenders of Megatokyo be ready for the fight of their lives?

I mentioned how Bubblegum Crisis felt like a cancelled series that probably still had some episodes left unaired.  Bubblegum Crash arrived only a few short months after BGCs cancellation and truth be told, I don’t know the full story as to why this is, or why it has a new title.  This new OVA does the job it sets out to do, tie up all the loose ends and resolve all the unresolved character arcs left over from the unfinished Crisis project.  Guess what though?  It not only makes the same mistakes as BGC, it makes whole new ones as well. 

Bubblegum Crisis Part 4 Episodes 7-8

Even with their greatest nemesis down for the count, the Knight Sabers aren’t getting much time to rest.  When a world renowned Rock Star arrives in Japan, the last thing anyone expects is for her to arrive with a vendetta against a Genom executive…and the Knight Sabers are forced to stand in her way.  Meanwhile, Nene’s double life catches up with her when a young and eager reporter catches a glimpse of her in battle with the girls.  Will Nene’s folly lead to the exposure of the Knight Sabers and possibly break up the team?

As some of you readers might know, when it comes to US Television broadcasts, the lifespan of certain shows can be healthy (4-6 seasons), unhealthy (however long NCIS or Law and Order SVU have been on at this point), or just terminated without warning (1 season or half of one).  Just because a series has a successful pilot episode and gets picked up for a full season order, doesn’t mean itll succeed entirely.  And on occasion, a show will be outright cancelled before its season order is even completed, leaving some episodes unaired or unfinished.  I bring all of this up because I feel this is definitely the case for Bubblegum Crisis.  The setup is one that works and the first episode did show off the glitz and glam of the Cyberpunk infused Megatokyo as well as the kick ass charm of the Knight Sabers.  But after that, everything went downhill when it came to story and characters.  Like I said about OVAs last time, beautiful presentations can only get you but so far when the story cant back up the visuals.  While I know this isn’t THE END because we’ll be getting to Bubblegum Crash next week, I not sure what can be done to save this stylish but incredibly flawed Cyberpunk Anime.

T5W#291-Top 5 Hottest Sailor Senshi

Over the weekend, one of Anime’s most popular and long lasting Magical Girls turned 29 years old.  I’m talking about the girl fighting evil by moonlight and winning love by daylight, the one called Sailor Moon.  Across a TV Series lasting 5 seasons, 3 theatrical films, and a reboot series that’s still ongoing, this fighter for love and justice and her friends have proven theyre more than capable of taking on the forces of evil as much as any ninja or hot blooded Super Saiyan.  And yes, it must be said, Sailor Moon and her fellow Sailor Senshi look absolutely gorgeous while kicking ass.  So on today’s Top 5 Wednesday, I’m celebrating the spectacular Guardians of the Solar System by counting down the Top 5 Hottest Sailor Senshi.  I expect this might get some debate cause I know everyone has their favorites.  But anyway, on with the Top 5.

Bubblegum Crisis Part 3 Episodes 5-6

2033 AD.  When a pair of runaway Humanoid Boomers make their way to Megatokyo, a whole lot more than All Hell breaks loose.  The ghost of an old enemy reaches out with even more dangerous ambitions and the tactics and foes it unleashes will test the Knight Sabers unlike anything before.  Meanwhile, Detective Leon stumbles upon a secret that could change his feelings for the beautiful Priss.  It all comes down to one massive showdown between the Knight Sabers and their greatest adversaries with the fate of not just Megatokyo…but the world at stake. 

You know, I often think of OVA’s as the Best of Both Worlds in Anime.  They can be film projects sure, but more often than not theyre direct to video TV Series with the budget of a movie behind them.  At the very least, this means OVAs are gonna look absolutely gorgeous and most of the time they are.  But if there’s any lesson that Anime has shown it can and cant learn throughout history is that a stellar presentation cant mask the blotch that belongs to poor storytelling and poor characterization.  Bubblegum Crisis is 6 episodes in and once again, I’m fuming over the same matters once again: flashy animation that just keeps getting better; a musical score that wont stop being the best part of this whole endevour; and a story that barely exists long enough to get us from fight scene to fight scene involving superheroines we know next to nothing about besides “they’re hot”.

Bubblegum Crisis Part 2 Episodes 3-4

Megatokyo becomes a warzone when the Knight Sabers face threats on two fronts.  When Genom’s ambitions get out of control and citizens get caught in the crossfire, Priss declares enough is enough and rallies the Knight Sabers for an all out attack on the man pulling the strings: Brian J. Mason.  Then, an injured racers thirst for revenge turns deadly when he soups up his car with tech he cant control.  The highway to Hell is unleashed and it’s up to Priss with her own souped up ride to save the day.

Our time with the original 80’s classic Bubblegum Crisis continues and I have to say, it’s kind of a mixed bag.  I can see why this Anime is so influential and beloved but I can also say that some Anime have done better things with that influence and inspiration, such as give us a better story, deeper characters, more balanced tone.  The only things I will give Bubblegum Crisis ZERO crap for are Priss and the gorgeous Animation and action sequences.  Everything else needs so much work it’s disappointing.

T5W#290-My Sister’s Top 5 Favorite Anime

It is one of the best feelings in the world having a sibling who is also into Anime.  While our levels of fandom differ, everyones does, our mutual love of Anime is one of our strongest connections.  Since her birthday was yesterday, I figured it was about time I talked about her own taste in Anime and the ones she enjoys on her end of the Otaku spectrum.  Some of these ive seen and enjoy as much as she does, others are exclusive to my sister and her own personal tastes.  So, with a list picked by the sibling herself, I present My Sister’s Top 5 Favorite Anime.

Bubblegum Crisis Part 1 Episodes 1-2

2032 AD.  Seven years after an earthquake devastated Tokyo, the city has been split into two sections: the blossoming metropolis of Megatokyo and the ruins of the old city. To accomplish this, the Genom Corporation has been utilizing an android workforce known as Boomers.  However, a recent string of rogue Boomer attacks threatens to destroy all of Tokyo and the AD Police aren’t enough to bring them down.  That’s where they come in.  They are the Knight Sabers: four beautiful women from various walks of life battling these cybernetic terrors in state of the art armored mech suits known as Hard Suits.  Together, these four beautiful warriors might be the only thing keeping both parts of Tokyo in one piece as a shadowy conspiracy threatens to tear it all down.

It’s been a bit hasn’t it Bubblegum Crisis?  Back in 2017, at the request of a good friend, I reviewed Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040, the 90’s iteration of the OVA im about to take a look at over the next couple of weeks.  I praised the animation, action, soundtrack and most of the titular Knight Sabers but felt the villains, a couple of main characters and the ending were low points that weighed it down.  Back then, I wasn’t sure how Tokyo 2040 stacked up to its originator.  Now I get the chance to see.  On the whole though, I’m gonna try my best to not compare this OVA against its TV Series successor and instead judge it by its own merits.  That being said…the TV Series is looking oddly the superior though that’s just in the very beginning.  By Episode 2 things are starting to look better for Bubblegum Crisis.

The March to Year 8

Another month of March has come and you know what that means?  We’re approaching the Birthday of the Gundam Anime Corner, March 31^st.  I normally don’t try to plan anything really big around the occasion and just go about picking random titles to fill out the schedule (I guess I worry more about the Anniversary Title in question and what I’ll open the following year with).  But with the new two review a week format going on, it opens up some extra slots to slip in some more titles.  So, how about a little rundown of what lies ahead for the month of March.