Noein – To Your Other Self (2005)

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Posted on March 2, 2009 by Deni

The first thing you’ll notice about Noein is that it’s beautiful; not in a conventional way though. It stretches and bends the normal sense of the physical that most anime adheres to. Sometimes it’s only slight – the sketchy, jerky way the characters are rendered and move; and sometimes it’s more extreme, like the stunning opening action sequence in the first episode, for example. Perspective is a malleable thing, which is a little ironic considering the story involves multiple universes … (read more)

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Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage (2006)

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Posted on March 2, 2009 by Tom

Before we start, anyone reading this, who is unfamiliar with Black Lagoon should take a few minutes to read the review for that as Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage (to be known from this point on as BL: TSB) is a direct continuation of the series, so while you go read that I’ll sit here and drink some tea… Its okay I’ve got the time to wait and my tea is quite tasty… ahhhh… that’s good tea. You’re back. … (read more)

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Always: Sunset on Third Street (2005)

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Posted on March 2, 2009 by Samson

Always: Sunset on Third Street was a commercial and critical success in Japan, winning the hearts of Japanese audiences and critics alike. It was a huge box office hit, and went on to become the big winner at the 2006 Awards of the Japanese Academy, sweeping almost all of the major awards, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Support Actor and Best Support Actress. In fact, had it won any more awards from the Japanese Academy, it would … (read more)

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Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion (2006)

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Posted on February 17, 2009 by Deni

The name of Clamp wields a great deal of influence, enough that their connection to an anime series is enough to make most people sit up and pay attention, and with good reason. In the case of Code Geass, the well known creative conglomerate have lent their distinctive style to the series’ character designs with impressive results. The look is sharp, elongated and intensely dramatic, and for a story with dark, complicated undertones and an antihero who makes Light … (read more)

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Ip Man (2008)

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Posted on February 15, 2009 by Justin

With Ip Man, Donnie Yen takes on his meatiest role yet. He’s played the central hero before (in Iron Monkey and in the miniseries of Fist of Fury, for example) but they’ve all been a bit over the top: period-era takes on the unstoppable leather-jacketed Donnie we know from most of his films. The title character of this film, however, is a quiet young kungfu master of 1930’s Foshan, born into privilege and not a willing participant in … (read more)

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The Wallflower (2006)

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Posted on January 31, 2009 by Deni

There’s a couple of things I’ll never understand: why I have to buy a DVD series 4 episodes at a time (thank god for flatpacks, is all I can say), and what possesses a licensing company to change the more or less literal translation of a series title from Perfect Girl Evolution to The Wallflower when there was nothing wrong with the original in the first place. Seemed to me that ‘Perfect Girl Evolution’ was fairly descriptive of this kooky … (read more)

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Tree of Palme (2001)

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Posted on January 31, 2009 by Tom

First off, although based off of the story ‘Pinocchio’, this adaptation is really not for the children. The fact that there is a decapitation in the first fifteen minutes, well hidden by shadows and dust but it’s still a death by beheading, is proof of that fact. Secondly it’s a very complex. It’s taken me two sittings and I’m still not entirely sure that I can get my head around everything that is happening on screen.

Palme, a robot puppet … (read more)

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Old Fish (2008)

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Posted on January 15, 2009 by James

Not all things discovered in mysterious small packages are good. Several packages containing volatile home-made time bombs, for instance. Objects that can paralyse a city, waste civil resources and, if not dealt with promptly and carefully, lead to the loss of innocent limbs and lives.

Unfortunately, it’s a scenario that, today, we can appreciate all too well.

Utilising such assumed knowledge within its audience, Old Fish actually steps back from any sort of commentary on this particular infliction of terror … (read more)

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