Azur and Asmar (DVD)Renaissance (DVD)While in the US, computer animation means reaching for more and more realism or doing cartoons in 3D, the Europeans are looking for other ways to be creative with it, as demonstrated by these two features.
Renaissance, with its high-contrast, black and white look, does to computer animation what
Blade Runner did to the SF flick: infuse it with style while telling a tighly woven intrigue heavily influenced by film noir. Everything is there, from the cop who will get to the truth no matter what the cost, the corrupt corporation of the future, dealings with seedy criminals, and of course, a femme fatale or two.
Beautifully designed and animated,
Azur and Asmar proves that Michel Ocelot is indeed one of the modern masters of animation. He shows his roots as a cutout animator in his choice of framing and movement style, yet somehow the realistic 3D characters manage to move in a stylized, almost 2D environment while not looking out of place. Every frame is a pleasure to behold, but it's not just eye candy, it's there to tell a story: a beautiful tale tackling issues of racism and brotherhood without teaching lessons of tolerance with a sledgehammer.
—René WallingSuzuka Vol. 2 (DVD)Suzuka is a fun and entertaining sports anime that tracks a boy named Yamato whose high school crush is inexplicably talented in track & field. Featuring some pretty amicable characters and genuine story about meeting and surpassing expectations, the
Suzuka television animation is charming and easy to like.
—Aaron H. BynumWoody Woodpecker & Friends Classic Collection (DVD)The first generally available sampling from the Walter Lantz studio on DVD. This collection contains most of the cream of the studio's output including cartoons featuring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Andy Panda, Woody Woodpecker and Chilly Willy. Directors include Shamus Culhane, Dick Lundy and Tex Avery and animators include Fred Moore, Ed Love, Grim Natwick, Pat Matthews and LaVerne Harding. While the cartoons don't have the same high batting average as Warner Bros. cartoons, there are genuine gems here. If you're a fan of golden age cartoons, prepare to be entertained. —
Mark MayersonLabels: anime, CGI, releases, shorts, upcoming releases
It's back to school in September, and to help you cope with the transition there's a ton of anime titles coming out. Hmmm, textbooks or animation? It's a tough call.
Kicking things off right after Labour Day weekend is the debut of Essence of Anime, Manga Entertainment's equivalent to Bandai and ADV's Anime Legends and Essential Anime brands. They'll start by re-releasing
Appleseed (the so-so 1994 OAV, not the
recent CGI feature), Blood: The Last Vampire, Ghost in the Shell, the first volume of
Karas, Ninja Scroll, Perfect Blue, the
Read or Die OAV and
Street Fighter Alpha. The week after comes the high-definition releases of
Wings of Honneamise, in both HD DVD and Blu-ray. Two weeks after that is the DVD/UMD/Blu-ray release of
Tekkon Kinkreet, which only just opened in limited release across North America.
And there's plenty more where that came from.
New titles:
July:
7/31 - Night Shift Nurses: Kranke Vol. 2 (Adult) (DVD)
August:
8/7 - TMNT (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) (Blu-ray)
8/7 - TMNT (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) (DVD)
8/7 - TMNT (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) (includes DVD edition) (HD DVD)
8/14 - Secret World of Benjamin Bear: Teddy Lessons (DVD)
8/15 - Night Shift Nurses: Experiment Vol. 2 (Adult) (DVD)
8/18 - Backyardigans: Super Secret Secret Spy (DVD)
September:
9/3 - Gumby Essentials Vol. 1 (DVD)
9/4 - Appleseed (Essence of Anime) (DVD)
9/4 - Blood: The Last Vampire (Essence of Anime) (DVD)
9/4 - Ghost in the Shell (Essence of Anime) (DVD)
9/4 - Karas Vol. 1 (Essence of Anime) (DVD)
9/4 - Ninja Scroll (Essence of Anime) (DVD)
9/4 - Perfect Blue (Essence of Anime) (DVD)
9/4 - Read or Die (Essence of Anime) (DVD)
9/4 - SpongeBob SquarePants Season 5 Vol. 1 (DVD)
9/4 - Street Fighter Alpha (Essence of Anime) (DVD)
9/11 - Ah My Goddess Season 2 Vol. 3 (DVD)
9/11 - Best Student Council Vol. 6: Don't Go! Hello (DVD)
9/11 - Guyver Vol. 6 (DVD)
9/11 - Wings of Honneamise (includes DVD edition) (Blu-ray)
9/11 - Wings of Honneamise (includes DVD edition) (HD DVD)
9/11 - Xenosaga Vol. 1: Enter the Gnosis (DVD)
9/18 - Barbie as The Island Princess (DVD)
9/18 - Kappa Mikey: Lost in Transportation (DVD)
9/18 - Red Garden Vol. 1: Live to Kill (DVD)
9/18 - This Ugly Yet Beautiful World Collection (DVD)
9/18 - Toys That Rescued Christmas (DVD)
9/25 - Air Vol. 2 (DVD)
9/25 - Air Vol. 2 + artbox (DVD)
9/25 - Tekkon Kinkreet (Blu-ray)
9/25 - Tekkon Kinkreet (DVD)
9/25 - Tekkon Kinkreet (UMD)
9/25 - Utawarerumono Vol. 6: A Song for Posterity (DVD)
October:
10/2 - Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: The Laughing Man (DVD)
10/2 - Max & Ruby: A Merry Bunny Christmas (DVD)
10/2 - Tenjho Tenge Complete Collection (DVD)
10/9 - Kyo Kara Maoh! Season 1 Set (DVD)
10/16 - Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo Box Set (DVD)
10/16 - Hellsing Ultimate Vol. 3 (DVD)
10/16 - Hellsing Ultimate Vol. 3 Special Edition (DVD)
November:
11/6 - Naruto the Movie Deluxe Edition (DVD)
11/6 - Naruto Vol. 17 (DVD)
11/13 - Pokeom Season 1 Box Set 2 (DVD)
11/20 - Death Note Vol. 1 (DVD)
11/20 - Death Note Vol. 1 Deluxe Edition + figure (DVD)
11/27 - Bleach Vol. 7 (DVD)
11/27 - Hikaru no Go Vol. 11 (DVD)
11/27 - Naruto Vol. 18 (DVD)
11/27 - Ranma 1/2: Season 4 Box Set: Outta Control (DVD)
December:
12/4 - Mar Vol. 4 (DVD)
12/4 - Naruto Box Set 5 (uncut) (DVD)
12/4 - Naruto Box Set 5 Special Edition (uncut) (DVD)
12/4 - Zatch Bell Vol. 13 (DVD)
12/18 - Death Note Vol. 2 (DVD)
12/18 - Full Moon Vol. 7 (DVD)
12/25 - One Piece Vol. 12 (DVD)
January 2008:
1/8 - Shonen Onmyoji Vol. 4 (DVD)
1/15 - Karin Vol. 5: Ascendance (DVD)
1/15 - Kyo Kara Maoh! Season 2 Vol. 8 (DVD)
1/15 - Law of Ueki Vol. 11 (DVD)
Date changes:
September:
9/18 - Noein Vol. 5 (DVD)
October:
10/16 - Zipang Vol. 7: Return to the Future (DVD)
10/23 - Karas Vol. 2: The Revelation (DVD)
March 2008:
3/31 - Highlander: The Search for Vengeance Special Edition (DVD)Labels: anime, releases, Tekkon Kinkreet, upcoming releases
The first five seasons of
Pee-wee's Playhouse drop on two DVDs this September; technically it's not animated, but there's a reason it's making its debut on Adult Swim this week—it contains the work of such notables as
Prudence Fenton, Aardman Animations co-founders Peter Lord and David Sproxton,
Phil Trumbo,
Mitch Greenblatt, and... you know, I don't think there's any way to count them all. I wonder if the discs will include all the old black and white cartoons they used to show?
Also, while we usually use our section of unknown release dates for titles that have slipped into limbo until their distributors sort things out, our two new additions (the Victorian Romance Emma collections) in that area bear mention. The release dates haven't been fixed yet, but Right Stuf is offering an interesting incentive to the first 1,000 people who order the set: their names in the DVD's credits.
New titles:
July:
7/10 - Natural Obsessions 2 Vol. 4 (Adult) (DVD)
August:
8/28 - Dave Mckean's Keanoshow + book (DVD)
8/28 - Open Wide: Tooth School Inside (DVD)
8/28 - Ugly Duckling & Me: School Days (DVD)
September:
9/4 - Di Gi Charat Nyo! Vol. 3 (DVD)
9/4 - Eureka Seven Vol. 9 (DVD)
9/4 - Eureka Seven Vol. 9 Special Edition (DVD)
9/4 - Kaleido Star: New Wings: True Star Collection (DVD)
9/4 - Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Character Song Vol. 1: Haruhi Suzumiya (CD)
9/4 - Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Character Song Vol. 4: Tsuruya-San (CD)
9/4 - Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Character Song Vol. 6: Kyon's Sister (CD)
9/4 - Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Character Song Vol. 9: Kyon (CD)
9/4 - Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Vol. 3 (DVD)
9/4 - Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Vol. 3 Special Limited Edition (DVD)
9/4 - Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny Vol. 10 (DVD)
9/4 - Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny Vol. 10 Limited Edition (DVD)
9/4 - My-Otome Vol. 2 (DVD)
9/4 - Tide-Line Blue Vol. 3 (DVD)
9/4 - UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie 4: Banquet of Time, Dreams & Galaxies (DVD)
9/11 - Pee-wee's Playhouse: #1 (seasons 1 & 2) (DVD)
9/11 - Pee-wee's Playhouse: #2 (seasons 3-5) (DVD)
9/18 - Best of Rocky & Bullwinkle Vol. 2 (DVD)
9/25 - Maggie and the Ferocious Beast: Trick or Treat (DVD)
October:
10/2 - Mar Vol. 3 (DVD)
10/2 - Zatch Bell Vol. 12 (DVD)
10/23 - Prince of Tennis Box Set 3 (DVD)
10/30 - Bleach Box Set 1 (episodes 1-20) (DVD)
10/30 - One Piece Vol. 11 (DVD)
Unknown release dates:
12/12 - Victorian Romance Emma DVD Collection 1 (DVD)
12/12 - Victorian Romance Emma DVD Collection 2 (DVD)Labels: Aardman Animations, anime, releases, upcoming releases
