First Aang is dead! No, he wasn’t murdered or anything. He lived a long and fruitful life with Kitara actually. This new story is set some seventy years after the events of the final episode and center around the new Avatar, a southern water tribe citizen by the name of Korra. Korra has already mastered water, earth, and fire bending, so this series focuses around her learning air bending. HER? Yep, you read that right, the new Avatar is a woman. Not like that’s wrong or anything, but her character so far is looking to be completely different from Aang. Nickelodeon describes her as being, “hot-headed, rebellious, and ready to take on the world”.

Korra is going to have a lot to deal with as she begins her tenure in the spotlight. Aang and Zuko bringing peace to the world took one Firebender colony and created a melting pot for everyone called Republic City. A place for all benders and non-benders from around the world to live and get along. The main story arc seems to center around an Anti-Bender revolt that is kicking up in the city.

Other than Aang in spirit form, we won’t be seeing any of the old cast returning. Yet we will meet their children. Confirmed so far are Aang and Kitara’s children. Their youngest, Tenzin, who is a Airbender, along with Toph’s daughter, which leads the police in Republic City. So far those are all that have been revealed.

Creators DiMartino and Konietzko are back and will be writing every episode of the planned 2 seasons run of the show, for a total of 26 episodes. So you can expect the world to be different, yet still remain the same world. If that makes sense to anyone else but me. They have also stated the tone will be darker in this new era. Not that they are getting rid of the fun and humor, but that all the main characters are a little older than the original cast.

The show was originally set to begin around this time, but was pushed back to a to be announced date into 2012.

I am seriously looking forward to this series, since I was and still am a huge fan of the original show. I’m looking forward to how the world has change, and how this new Avatar will be. I just hope we don’t get one new episode a month. This current trend of a season of 15-20 episodes taking a full year to run is ridiculous, but that’s a editorial rant for another time.

About The Product

Gundam Unicorn is the first new video release from the Universal Century (read: original) timeline in the Gundam Universe in almost twenty years (Victory Gundam in 1993). Many of the newer Gundam series take place in alternate timelines (NOT multiverses. They all use different characters!). Some of the most notable alternate timeline Gundams are Gundam Wing, Gundam Seed, and (most recently) Gundam 00.

The Principality of Zeon formed from oppressed space colonies and declared independance from the Earth Federation. Though their numbers were small, they had technology on their side.  The 1 year war that started in U.C. 0079 was the culmination of a series of battles that ended in a stalemate.

From this war two champions emerged: Amuro Ray and Char Aznable. Their rivalry continued for years until it was settled in U.C. 0093, the year Char attempted to drop an asteriod onto Earth (see the movie Char’s Counterattack). Three years later (U.C. 0096), Gundam Unicorn begins.

What Makes It A Great Gift?

Simply put, this is some beautiful stuff. If you aren’t a fan of modern anime character designs (like me), UC hearkens back to the heyday of anime (and Gundam). The detail and craftsmanship of old-school character designs are in full effect here, from the eyes right down to the clothing. Not only is the art style a throwback, but the characters are as well.

Audrey Byrne (Mineva Zabi), the orange haired female heroine, actually got some screen time in the original Mobile Suit Gundam. The Londo Bell organization (from Char’s Counterattack) is still active at this time as well. There’s even a guy parading around pretending to be Char. There are a lot of nuggets in here for Gundam fans.

This is easily the best looking Gundam material to be released for home consumption since Char’s Counterattack. It even looks significantly better than Gundam 00. I haven’t seen the Gundam 00 movie, so I can’t speak to that end, but I can honesly say that they did not skimp on details. The colors are crisp and the lines are clean. You don’t have to take my word for it though -check the screenshots below.

Conclusion

Although they clock in at $45 a pop, each volume is an hour-long, feature-length release. As mentioned before, these Blurays are being released in all territories at once from Bandai and Honneamise. Although they are a bit pricey, they include an English dub as well as Japanese with english subtittles.

If you know someone that is in the mood for a good story and visual feast, this is an easy recommendation.  It captures the spirit of Gundam, which is essentially a young boy being thrust into the middle of a war while having to learn about himself and the world in the process.

The story is very accessible to someone who has never heard of Gundam, and I think that is the essential selling point. It has family drama, action, and coming of age elements that are woven skillfully into the narrative.

Oh yeah, there are some giant robots too, if you care about those.

My main problem with their previous release, despite the fact that it wasn’t really remastered (how do you remaster betamax tapes?) was that they chopped off some of the top and bottom of the original framed animation to make it wide screen. That is a no-no for any film-buff (you wouldn’t buy a full screen movie for this same reason -you aren’t seeing the whole picture as it was intended).

Nevertheless, FUNimation passed this release off as DBZ as it was meant to be seen. Fanboys cried foul and the casual fan apparently didn’t care less (the orange bricks sold like gangbusters).

Fast-forward to November 17th, and the elusive Dragon Box is available in America!

What is a Dragon Box, you ask? Well, while FUNimation was pimping their gimped DBZ release, Toei Animation (the folks who animated DBZ…try to keep up!) pulled their film masters (yeah, ACTUAL masters) out of cold storage and cleaned them up for a DVD master. They cleaned the glue and grime off of the film and re-framed the shots. However, they released DBZ in two separate (expensive) sets. Really, these sets were like $1,200 each. The price, not to mention the fact that they had no dub subtitles meant that the American DBZ fan was out of luck…

…Until now.

Now, to be fair, I’m sure the fact that the previous DBZ set sold like crack enabled FUNi to acquire this gem, so from now on we’ll just let bygones be bygones.

Enough back story…on to the set:

This thing is a real beauty. Emulated after the original Japanese Dragon Boxes, this one retains all the aesthetics. The boxes are smaller (literally, and in episode count) and they are broken down into consumer-friendly (read: cheaper) volumes. The first one stretches from episode 1 to 42 (that means it goes a little bit into the Namek Saga).

Picture quality is great. You may notice grain, but it’s meant to be there. It shows the film’s subtle nuances and displays every detail that FUNimation’s photoshop filters blurred out of the previous release.

Sound is as good as it can be. The only Japanese track that exists for DBZ  is in mono, so there’s no overcoming that. The English dub is included with the original Japanese score and a 5.1 mix. Complaints about character casting aside, it makes the Japanese track sound like poop (I still rock it for nostalgia though!).

We are also treated to a Dragon Book that includes episode summaries, character descriptions, and various other pieces of artwork and information. The actual DVD menus are no-frills, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

All in all, this is an excellent release. There should be seven releases to coincide with the seven Dragon Balls, and I will be purchasing every one. As the insert packaged with the set proclaims, “this isn’t an addition to your archive, this IS your archive.” If you are a fan of DBZ, even at $79.98, this is a no-brainer. If you bought that orange brick crap, ebay it and grab this asap. Short of re-drawing the entire series, it doesn’t get any better than this.

Recommended

The Hollywood Reporter has informed us that Shippuden will start airing on Disney XD (used to be Toon Disney) next month. Before you fanboys get your panties in a bunch, remember 3 things:

1) You can still watch the show legally and unedited on the internet.
2) This is only going to help the series, even if it is edited.
3) The first series was cut to ribbons on Cartoon Network.

Complain if you must, but it will only make you look like a whiny little brat…

Thanks, ANN.

The Captain suffers a defeat against his biggest villain yet...capitalism.

Marvel movie properties like Spider-man, X-Men, Iron Man, Incredible Hulk , and Fantastic Four have proven to be very lucrative for Marvel as have Video Game licenses to Activision (Marvel Ultimate Alliance, Spider-man), Sega (Iron Man), and Capcom (Marvel Vs. Capcom).  Once these movie and video game deals are over where do these go?

Can we expect Marvel Vs Disney, or Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 developed by the team behind the Hannah Montana games?  Maybe Zach Efron will play Captain America, or will we finally see a Donald Duck/Punisher Crossover. Are they going to move all of the Marvel based cartoons to the Disney Channel and have them air after The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.

I don’t see Disney changing the way Marvel publishes its comics, since Marvel is pretty much the expert in that area, but the other media outlets that have been so good to fans in the past decade are where the risk stands.

Although you won’t be able to see a Halo movie in the foreseeable future, soon you’ll be able to get the next best thing. Halo Legends, a collection of Halo short films from leading anime studios, will officially be announced later today at Comic Con. Some of the studios Microsoft will be working with are Bones, Casio Entertainment, Production I.G., Studio4°C, and Toei Animation. This announcement certainly comes as a surprise to me, but it will be great to see how these guys expand the Halo universe even further. A snippet of the official press release is below.

LONDON — July 23, 2009 — A renowned set of storytellers from some of the world’s leading anime studios in Japan are about to take one of the most iconic franchises in science fiction and video games to a new level. Microsoft Corp., in collaboration with some of the most acclaimed anime creators, today unveiled a new project called “Halo Legends,” which will bring the “Halo” franchise and its sweeping sci-fi saga to an entirely new medium, in the form of several original anime short films.

“Halo Legends,” which will officially debut at a panel presentation today at Comic-Con International in San Diego, is being produced by Microsoft’s 343 Industries and features creative direction from anime pioneer Shinji Aramaki, director of the critically acclaimed “Appleseed” and “Appleseed EX Machina” anime features, and Mamoru Oshii, director of the landmark “Ghost in the Shell” movies, with additional production from Joseph Chou of J-Spec Pictures. The compilation will include a series of short stories that explore different times, themes and characters from the “Halo” universe and will be distributed globally by Warner Home Video, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. company. Influential studios that are part of the project include the creators behind some of the most popular and celebrated anime to come from Japan, such as “The Animatrix,” “Cowboy Bebop,” “Fullmetal Alchemist,” “Ghost in the Shell,” “Dragon Ball” and more.

Get over to Microsoft’s press page for the press release.

“K-on” is a play on keiongaku, which is the Japanese for light music. Light music generally refers to light orchestral music, which is what our main character Yui assumes when she joins the club. She is surprised, however, when she learns that the club members have formed a rock band.

Yui hears them play and is inspired to learn the guitar from the ground up.  She is extremely lethargic, but she has a knack for the instrument. Many techniques that take some work to get down (like vibrato and palm muting) she nails after seeing someone do them once.

Mio is my favorite character. She is shy and a bit of a chicken, but her bass playing skills are wonderful. She also has the moe thing going in full force. She is easily the Mikuru of this group.

Ritsu is the drummer and plays a good contrast to Mio. They grew up together and she knows all of Mio’s weaknesses. Her silliness often results in Mio smacking her on the top of the head.

Mugi is the resident ‘rich kid’ and provides the club with their snacks. She also loves to tickle the ivories. She is probably the most mature of the bunch, but she also has a childish side that often comes out when they go on their musical training camps.

Azusa is an underclassman that decides to join the club. Both of her parents are Jazz musicians and she is very serious about her guitar playing. It is funny to see her call the group out on their laziness and then slowly become assimilated.

K-ON! is a show that sits somewhere between Lucky Star and Beck. By Lucky Star (which is, in my opinion, the Seinfeld of anime) I mean there are plenty of times when this group just sits around doing nothing. They love being useless. Most of their club time is spent eating cake and rambling. However, when they DO pick up their instruments everything is good.

The musical performances always make me think of the “God Knows…” sequence from Haruhi Suzumiya. I don’t really know why, because the songs are generally light hearted and don’t really have the metal undertones of that song.  Not to worry though -the compositions are just as complex.

I thought that this would turn into a “song of the week” type show and I’m glad that isn’t the case. Rambling aside, the music is great. The opening (“Cagayake! Girls”) and the closing (“Don’t say ‘lazy’”) have both appeared on the Oricon weekly singles charts at 4th and 2nd respectively. “Don’t say ‘lazy’” is definitely my favorite song so far.

There’s also the issue of the licensed musical instruments. Yui plays a Gibson Les Paul, Mio plays a Fender Bass, Ritsu is rocking Yamaha Drums and Mugi has a Korg Triton keyboard. I think I have even seen licensed amplifiers and headphones in some of the episodes. The placement isn’t obtrusive or unnatural (i.e.: they don’t hover over the logos) so it doesn’t bother me in the least.

The visual quality is what I have come to expect from Kyoto Animation. Well, I have to admit that I was surprised that the show isn’t being broadcast in high definition. In fact, it has a 3:4 aspect ratio as well. This is only a minor complaint though because everything else is top notch. Consistent art style and frame rates abound.

Definitely give K-ON! a try. If you appreciate music as much as I do you won’t be disappointed.

The storytelling of Eden is thriller-esque, and believe me when I say you will spend the first few episodes trying to figure out what the hell is going on (six episodes in and I still don’t fully get it). Rest assured, however, that you will latch onto what is handed to you like a hobo onto a ham sandwich.

First off, we have Saki Morimi. The story begins with her visiting Washington D.C. on a college graduation trip. She was looking forward to tossing a coin into the fountain in front of the white house and making a wish, but gets depressed when she discovers the distance of the fountain from the street. She tries anyway however and is approached by policemen.

However,  some naked guy on the other side of the street attracts the policemen’s attention and Saki is given a chance to escape. The guy’s name is Akira Takizawa, and he and Saki become fast friends.

Apparently, Akira has lost his memory, but there are clues sprinkled throughout the story that make me think he used to be a certified badass or something. There is also his phone. The phone comes equipped with a concierge (Juiz) and 8.2 billion yen (!!). Akira eventually learns that he is one of twelve individuals who have been commissioned (somewhat against their will) to save Japan. The organization, is known as Selecao.

Overall, Eden has a nice balance of suspense and character development. I have to admit that I was a bit put off by the seemingly generic “guy who lost his memory” thing, but they put a nice spin on it in the sense that he erased his memory on purpose. A part of me keeps watching just to find out why he did it.

Saki seems more like a ‘tween than a college graduate. She just floats around on whatever wind blows in her direction (i.e.: naked guy who lost his memory…I will skip my job interview to hang out wit him!) I understand that she is in love, but it just seems weird to me because usually someone with her lack of direction would have probably never went to college in the first place.

Last but not least, the opening song is Falling Down by Oasis. I consider myself a moderate Oasis fan, and I really enjoy the songs led by Noel Gallagher (guitarist). His younger brother Liam usually sings lead vocals.

Main character issues aside, I can’t stop watching this because I am dying to see what happens next. The show is only 12 episodes, so I hope everything wraps up nicely. Check it out!

Am I being lazy? Yes, but you have to admit that trailer looks sexy. This movie releases June 27 in Japan, so expect an American release early 2010 (I hope).

A real post next week. I promise…