Let’s say one day people start dying for no real reason at all in a city you’ve lived in for quite some time. It ranges from friends, other families, a few new people in town, and maybe even other towns nearby. What would you do? Is this an epidemic, or is it something else? Would you stay in the area or leave right away? I recently finished the entire series of the anime Shiki, and boy do I have to say that I enjoyed the series. I’ll admit here that at first I was confused, but after some time I grew to enjoy the series as it pulled me in more and more. Read the full story

Lately I’ve been watching the DVD/Blu-Ray copies of the OVA Collection for FullMetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, which features some stories about other alchemists within the series. When it comes to a series such as FullMetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, you’re in for a grand adventure. Why do I say this? Well from the start you’ll be pulled into the most detailed series I’ve seen yet to date. The OVA Collection provides more to the FullMetal Alchemist story by way of battles, backstories, action, adventure, and so much more. If you wanted to know more about some of the series’ characters, this does it. Read the full story

What would it be like if an alien came to our world and you were the first to meet it? Now I have another question…what if it looked just like a human, yet it had cat ears and a tail and was VERY sexy? Of course, this would be any nerd’s fantasy since, let’s face it, who wouldn’t want a girl in cosplay? Lately I’ve been watching the new series Cat Planet Cuties, and I can say I’ve been very intrigued from start to end. This series provides a lot of laughs, and I can say flaunts a lot of “stuff” during some episodes. You can use your imagination to see where I’m going with that.

Will this new anime series Cat Planet Cuties provide the viewers a great action packed experience? This is what you’re here to find out in my review of the new series Cat Planet Cuties.

Cat Planet Cuties is a series that spans 12 episodes, and will provide many laughs. The complete series will also contain an OVA, which is an extra episode. The story for Cat Planet Cuties is an interesting one. The series starts out with one of our main characters, Kio Kakazu, who’s a young teenage boy. He’s nerdy, but is very caring when it comes to helping his friends and people he hardly knows. Who wouldn’t want a friend just like that? We also meet another main character named Eris, but little does Kio know until later on that Eris is an alien. Why is Eris on Earth? She’s tasked by the Catians, which are her species, to explore and study Earth as much as she can. Of course, Eris isn’t safe on Earth. Many secret agencies learn about her, and she has to deal with a rival species known as the Dogisians. I told you the series gets interesting from the start. You’ll also be meeting other main characters such as Aoi and Manami, but they’re hiding a big secret from Kio. What is this secret they’re hiding? You’ll need to watch the series to find out.

Now, Eris and her kind look just like humans; the only difference is she’s got parts from a cat. Yes, I just said a cat! Aren’t you surprised? Another thing to add is that all of her species have hot bodies. Yes, I know it’s only an anime, but hey, when you got it going on it needs to be said. I’m not getting weird here or anything, right? I would go more into Eris, but this is one of those areas in which you’ll need to take a glance at the series, whether it’s via FUNimation or you purchase the DVD/Blu-ray combo, which comes out May 15^th.

For the story, I feel that the series did well as a whole, but fell short with the amount of content it offered. What do I mean by that? Well, the story for each episode was spot on and very detailed, providing me with laughs and overall enjoyment. At times, though, I felt that side stories could have extended the series, such as back stories of the Dogisians, more information on each character, and more instead of going straight to the point in each episode. As for the graphics, I approve of the art style, minus seeing the girls flaunting their boobs. Yes, guys, you’ll get to see somewhat naked people in this series quite often. I’ve grown used to some anime titles that go that far, so it doesn’t bother me, and it’s something that all anime fans should get used to. I’m mature about it, but I do know some of the younger crowd may enjoy themselves. Hey, only being honest since I have a few friends who would only grab this series due to that reason, which I think is wrong. To me it’s all about the story, plot, and the work that was put into the series.

As for the acting within the series I can say FUNimation has done a good job with syncing the voice acting to the lips movement, as they always try to do in their titles. Additionally, the inclusion of emotion and feelings at serious parts and battles was done very well. When it came to the music within the series, I really wasn’t pulled in. I was more focused on the story/plot of the series rather than the music that played at certain parts. Though I must point out, during one episode the cast did start singing a song, which I thought was funny and reminded me of a moment that you’d see in a musical movie. I’ll need to give the directors of the series two thumbs up when it came to that part of the series.

Overall, I’d say the series did a great job with keeping me entertained and pulled in from start to end. Why? Well the story telling was detailed; the plot of the entire series wasn’t that bad either. Again, the one major thing that did bother me was that some characters just showed up without explaining what they do within the series; hence the thought of side stories that could be added. When it came to the acting it was also well done. As for the art style and etc., I felt as if they did a good job, but flaunting boobs quite often seemed to be the main focus at times. I’m fine with it but doing it quite often did grow annoying. Is this anime series worth the purchase price? I’d say kind of but I’d wait for the price to go lower, unless it goes on sale for the complete series, which with FUNimation it’s most likely on sale before the launch. When it comes to the series, it’s a must buy title, and would be perfect for any anime fan.

Cat Planet Cuties has been provided by FUNimation Entertainment for review purposes. For more information on the anime series or FUNimation, please visit their website.

When some friends of mine first told me about Black Butler, I watched a few episodes. Now, it’s been a long time since I watched those first few episodes, so I didn’t remember the series much, other than the butler and the kid he’s tasked with watching over. One thing you’ll discover is that he’s one hell of a butler. If things weren’t going your way, your family members died, and you needed help…would you make a deal with a demon? Personally, I wouldn’t, but revenge is a strong motivator.

See if the Black Butler series lives up to all of the hype in my review. Read the full story

When it comes to being in an adventure, everyone wants to be the hero, right? I mean, who wouldn’t want to plan out a grand adventure, kill some bad guys, and save the day? But what if your hero had the power to kill everyone, and you tried your best to keep that power from awakening? That’s what we seem to have here in the anime series The Legend of Legendary Heroes. I wouldn’t say it’s bad to have a power such as that, but keeping the power inside of you will be one hard task.

Today, I’m reviewing the series The Legend of Legendary Heroes brought to you by our friends at FUNimation. Will this series be any good or will after just a few episodes this series be a waste of time? That’s for me to know and you too soon find out.

The Legend of Legendary Heroes is a 24 episode series which follows the life of Ryner Lute, from a glimpse of his childhood up to his final task. So, who’s Ryner Lute, you ask? At the start of the series, he’s what we’d call a lazy fool at the Roland Empire Royal Magician’s Academy.  But little do his fellow classmates know, he has a hidden power within that could kill them without remorse. What do I mean by this? Think of it as a power that, if released, would allow him to kill everyone without reason and without feeling. I’d say that’s one bad “curse” to have put on you, even if you’re not sure why you have this power. One day, the Roland Empire is issued to go to war with the country Estabul, due to being attacked. Of course, everyone at the Academy is issued to go help with this war, but during the process Ryner Lute loses all his fellow classmates except for two. Why? Well you’ll need to watch the series to understand more, and of course I don’t want to spoil it for you fellow anime fans.

During that time the enemy captures both classmates, our main character Ryner Lute breaks loose and releases the rage that he never wanted to unleash into the world. In this world, this “power” is known as the Alpha Stigma, which causes the user to go berserk, lose their sanity, and kill anyone and everyone. Enough of the story so far, since this is where we’ll be starting the grand adventure with Ryner Lute.

How is the story for The Legend of Legendary Heroes? The story to The Legend of Legendary Heroes is quite an interesting one that deals with betrayal, adventure, trust, and even love at one point. To me I felt the overall story was good and very enjoyable. Throughout each episode you learned about our main character Ryner Lute and his companion Ferris Eris, who will be with him throughout the entire series. Who’s Ferris Eris? She’s a servant of the Roland Empire who’s tasked to help Ryner search for the Hero Relics. What are the Hero Relics? When you first watch the series you will learn of things that happened before man was first in the world. Did the series do well with being detailed? I’d say it did, but there were times I wanted more back story during some episodes to explain why some things were happening or why certain enemies are going after Ryner and the King of Roland. Why did I want more? During some episodes I caught myself wondering where this or that character came from and why this part of the story arose, but with a series such as this, getting to the point was the best choice.

Did the directors of the series do a great job with keeping the show as detailed as possible? I’d need to say yes, the directors did a good job with explaining each part of the story in great detail. Examples being where Ryner first learned about his power, the wars going on throughout the land, the other people Ryner and Ferris meet, and the overall story detail. Again, I was hoping for some side stories, but it never happened. Now, with any series there will be problems, and the one major issue that stood out above them all was the series ending, which to this day has me wanting to see a true ending rather than keeping it open for all viewers to guess on what might have happened next. Of course you can go to the books for the series and learn what happened but you never know…hopefully a Part 3 is on its way.

The graphics of the series were well done from start to end. Examples range from the massive battles with the characters using magic powers, giant enemies destroying the land, Ryner Lute going crazy and unleashing his power, and the war scenes you’ll see later in the series. The amount of detail that was put into the series was quite brilliant and I do give the artists a hand for not going over the top and making every part of the series one big battle. Keeping the art style simple for the viewers, detailed, and keeping the viewer entertained is one good feature. No viewer wants over the top scenes if the story is going to be somewhat short. If this series was much longer, I could see where the artist could go crazy on the gore, magical power usage, etc.

As for the audio of the series you can also tell a lot of work was put into making the series enjoyable, maybe even emotional if an episode triggers an emotion. It didn’t happen for me, but it’s there. Well, maybe I did go “aww” at a part or two but it’s very late in the series. The voice acting was very top-notch and as I’ve said in past reviews, one feature I keep an eye out for is the lips moving to the words being said on-screen. Throughout the series you can tell there were no issues with synching, such as the voice coming out before or after the lips moved. I also listened to the series in Japanese and read the subtitles, but I prefer English dubbed so that I can understand what I’m hearing.

Overall, I’d say this anime series is quite good, but due to the ending I felt as if it didn’t complete the series. I know some anime titles will leave an open ending to keep you guessing, but the way this title ended the series had me wanting more and for the story to be closed. Will FUNimation provide an ending such as that in the future? I doubt it, but we never know what will be announced. The series is detailed, straight to the point, and the art style throughout the series amazed me at times, as a fan of the fantasy genre. My final choice for the series is this is a must buy but for the price tag I’d wait for it to go down unless you’re buying the entire series. If you’re a fan of being in the past when there were kingdoms, magic, and wars, then by all means enjoy the amount of time you’ll be spending with this series.

The Legend of Legendary Heroes has been provided by FUNimation Entertainment for review purposes. For more information on the series or FUNimation, please visit their website.

AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!

So, how do I non-spoiler talk about this movie? It’s hard to say. Basically, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) returns to claim the Tesseract cube (the plot device from Captain America: The First Avenger) and ends up forcing Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) to bring together Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) to stop him and whatever he’s planning. Read the full story

When I first heard of the FUNimation anime title Sands of Destruction, I thought to myself, “This will be an interesting series to watch.” Little did I know that the anime is based on a 2010 Nintendo DS role-playing game published by SEGA. Now, we’ve grown used to many movie adaptations of video games, and video game adaptations of movies, that almost always end up sucking. With that said, does this anime series turn out well? That’s for me to know, and you to soon discover in my review of FUNimation’s Sands of Destruction series. Read the full story

It’s always hard to do a review of an anime movie that’s based on a TV series. These kinds of film tend to work as continuations of the shows they’re based on, and make it difficult to judge it on its own merit for people who may not know what’s going on. FullMetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos (released by Funimation and animated by Studio Bones) doesn’t try to complicate itself by explaining everything for new people, instead focusing on the strengths in storytelling the show and its original manga (created by Hiromu Arakawa).

Read the full story

Here lately, I have seen few movies featuring a sophisticated plot. Most of the time, the plot can be summed up in around five words, but to try and sum up the plot for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo‘s with “Two people solve a crime,” however, would in itself be a crime. Steig Larsson succeeded in weaving an intricate web that could entice any fly and David Fincher has succeeded in bringing Mr. Larsson’s best-selling novel to the screen. Read the full story

It’s time to play the music, it’s time to light the lights. It’s time to meet the Muppets on the Muppet Show tonight. It’s time to put on makeup, it’s time to dress up right. It’s time to raise the curtain on the Muppet Show tonight. If you’ve ever been a fan of the Muppets, hearing this song and seeing this sequence will be just one in a long line of wonderfully nostalgic moments in their 2011 feature film, The Muppets. From the theme song, to Mana Mana, to Statler and Waldorf, and to a long list of celebrity cameos, The Muppets is…the Muppets. Read the full story