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Baki the Grappler (2001)
Anime has a long tradition of making shows about fighting. Dragon Ball Z, Street Fighter, S-Cry-Ed and many others exist in a genre that’s all about beating each other to a pulp. Some go beyond their conventions to be something special that fans remember for years and that hold a special place in their hearts, while other shows languish and stay stuck in the clichés that abound the genre. Baki the Grappler is unfortunately one that sits in … (read more)
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Basilisk (2005)
A little while back you might remember I reviewed the Shiny Eyed People mov- Err, I mean, Shinobi. Well, I’m back with the shiny-eye references in this review – same tune, different medium, and possibly a lot more violence. Come on, what did you expect? This is anime.
Based on the same story, written in the 1950’s by Futaro Yamada, and adapted from the more recently serialised manga Basilisk by Masaki Segawa (now publishing in English by Del … (read more)
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Death Note (2006)
It’s impossible when reviewing Death Note not to end up coming across just a little bilingual. I don’t mean as in Japanese English; I mean in terms of analogue to digital medium. Death Note, for the one or two people in the world who don’t already know, started as a manga conceived and written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Hikaru no Go’s Takeshi Obata. It was serialised in Weekly Shonen Jump starting December 2003 and the 12 volume … (read more)
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Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex – The Laughing Man (2005)
The Laughing Man tells the story of the entire first season of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, regarded by many people to be one of the best anime series ever, as a 2 and a half hour movie. It is a compilation of only the material from the 26 episodes of the series that is related to the ‘Laughing Man’.
It is AD 2030. Six years have passed since a super-class-A hacker known as the Laughing Man … (read more)
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Space Adventure Cobra (1982)
Nostalgia can be a bad thing. It makes you remember things, being better than they really were, after a period of time has passed. I remember watching a cartoon, as a young lad, called M.A.S.K. about a bunch of guys that drove around in cars that could transform and they had to wear these masks to make the cars work. Watching it again recently was just downright painful. I thought the cheesiness of it all would kill me. Sometimes old … (read more)
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The Fencing Master (1962)
Knowing that The Fencing Master was written by the great Akira Kurosawa probably does the film few favours in the mind of the viewer. The mere mention of the Kurosawa name immediately raises expectations, but how many films can even come close to the standard set by his many masterpieces? As such, it is probably best to forget about Kurosawa’s involvement when viewing The Fencing Master, and just enjoy the film for what it is – a solid period … (read more)
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Devilman (2004)
Based on the long running and popular manga series from the 1970s by Go Nagai, whom some of you will recognise as the creator of Cutie Honey, this live action adaptation of Devilman carries with it a certain level of expectation. Unfortunately, the film isn’t quite as great as it should have been. While it does have some good parts, the film on the whole doesn’t quite live up to the expectation.
The story begins when a mysterious force … (read more)
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Innocent Venus (2006)
I really don’t want to be the reviewer for this series. Not because it’s terrible, but because it’s just average. If it was bad I could tell you to turn away as fast you could, or drop the disc into an acid bath so no one else will ever have to witness the misery of it. If it was a great watch then that would be an easier sell of: just go watch it. But when the material is just … (read more)
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