Anime DVD Review – Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro

Distributor: Manga Entertainment
Rating: G
Official Website: http://www.lupinthethird.com/

Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro

Reviewed by Julie Gray
Review originally published September 20, 2006

Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro is not your average anime title. There are no scantily clad young girls to be found, no lollipop sucking teenagers wielding meat cleavers hiding in corners or effeminate men running around saving damsels in distress inside giant robots. Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro is quite possibly one of the better titles to be released by Manga Video this year even though it was originally released in 1979 under the original Japanese title of Rupan sansei: Kariosutoro no shiro which translates to Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro.

The fact that Hayao Miyazaki, the director of Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle also directed this little gem should be enough to sell it to the world. We believe romantic adventure thrives in animation today and Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro definitely proves that point to perfection.

The main character of this animated movie is Arsene Lupin the III who just happens to be a master thief, of all things. Lupin is a character with a lot of history. There are around 228 odd episodes of anime released in Japan as well as 13 movies made for television all featuring our hero, Lupin the III. It has been 30 years since the character of Lupin first aired in Japan. That’s a pretty hefty reputation for a thief! Hayao Miyazaki has taken Lupin the III to new heights by giving him the profile of a romantic thief with a heart of gold in this re-released title Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro.

The characters in Castle of Cagliostro are all extremely well developed and in particular, Lupin and his sidekick, the shady yet entertaining Jigen Daisuke who feature throughout the anime as the ‘bad’ guys who are really just good guys with bad reputations. The character keeping our hero Lupin on his toes is the hard-nosed police Inspector Zenigata who seems to know deep down that although Lupin is a thief, he really is a good guy underneath. Of course, every good story always has a bad element and in Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro, that bad element comes in the shape of Count Cagliostro, and what a nasty piece of work he is! Although Arsene is a master thief, it appears that in this movie, he is the one who ends up with something stolen. As it turns out, Lupin the III doesn’t count on having his heart stolen by a young lady named Clarisse, who unfortunately, finds herself being held against her will by the Count.

As far as storylines go, Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro is entertaining and witty, humorous and touching where it needs to be. The action is great and the story works incredibly well with the strong characters that are portrayed. You can definitely see Hayao Miyazaki’s magic touch coming through in this movie even though it was originally written in 1979! It just goes to show that no matter how old a movie is, the magic of story telling never wears off, especially for someone as talented as Hayao Miyazaki.

The animation is outstanding for its time. If you’re a true fan of animation, you should be able to spot the subtle differences between the more rounded and flowing animation of Disney in comparison to the harder and edgier animation of the Japanese artists. The frame rate used for most Japanese animation is also created using 12 frames per second as opposed to 24 used by Disney animators. Nonetheless, Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro is a wonderful story and the animation and detail that has gone into it is really superb.

Overall, this movie is a must see for any and all animation fans. The story has a little bit of everything; action, humour, romance and plenty of entertaining moments and the characters are wonderfully portrayed. With an animated legend such as Arsene Lupin the III, it’s little wonder the Japanese have been watching him on their screens for the last 30 years. Now, we all get the opportunity to understand why Lupin the III is such an interesting and entertaining character. With the talented creativity of Hayao Miyazaki behind the scenes, Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro is a must see!

Animation: 8/10

Story: 9/10

DVD Extras: 8/10

You may view the original published article here.

Anime DVD Review – Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie

Distributor: Anchor Bay Entertainment/Manga Entertainment
Rating: PG-13 (US) M 16+ NZ
Official Website: www.manga.com

Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie

Reviewed by Julie Gray
Review originally published July 21, 2006

Street Fighter has had many adaptations over the years. It all began with the game created by Capcom. This was a game that was considered one of the most popular of its era. Arcade gaming was at its peak when Street Fighter arrived on the scene. This was soon followed by the Anime adaptation of the game which was then adapted into a live action movie starring Jean Claude Van Damme and Kylie Minogue.

Since then, there have been comics and more animated movie releases. What makes this DVD release so special is that this version is unedited, uncut and unrated, filling in all the gaps that were masterfully placed into the edited version for rating purposes.

The storyline behind Street Fighter II begins with our two ‘legendary martial arts warriors’ Ken and Ryu. To many arcade gamers, Ken and Ryu represent the pinnacle of Street Fighter gaming. They are two warriors who become best friends after having trained with the same martial arts teacher. Ryu is a native of Japan and Ken is from the USA. Their friendship is what links the rest of the story together.

Street Fighter is not just a story about friendship. The dark element in Street Fighter is represented by one M. Bison; the big, bad psychic (and, some would think, psychotic) megalomaniac who plans to take over the world by recruiting the world’s greatest street fighters to do his bidding. After setting his eyes upon Ryu (through the use of robots who are setup to spy for Bison), Bison decides that Ryu is the one fighter he must have on his side if his plan is to be successful. The rest of the story follows Bison on his evil mission to control Ken and take over the world.

One of the most important factors in any game-to-anime adaptation is character portrayal. Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie delivers this flawlessly. It is very refreshing to see the same characters gamers world-wide have revered brought to life in all their arcade-like glory. Although Ryu and Ken are the main character focus in the movie, they are joined by a few familiar faces; Guile and Chun-Li, who are part of the ‘good’ fight against M. Bison’s evil robotic reign. Sagat, Blanka, Vega, E.Honda, Dhalsim and Zangief all receive small appearances in the movie, but Guile and Chun-Li appear through-out as main characters opposite Ken, Ryu and M.Bison.

The original movie was released in 1994. One of the main characters in Street Fighter (M. Bison) went through an interesting name change. Capcom, fearful that Mike Tyson (the boxer) might sue them, decided to change M. Bison’s name. The name change was made in three different places, causing nothing but confusion. M.Bison now appears as himself in Japanese versions of the game and as Balrog everywhere else. The Spanish street fighter is known as Balrog in Japan and Vega elsewhere, and the evil head of Shadowloo is recognised as Vega in Japan and M. Bison outside of Japan.

This version of the movie doesn’t really offer a lot of new footage. Obviously, being uncensored means more violence and some nudity. That is easily displayed in the 16+ rating (as opposed to the PG-13 rating for the 1994 version). The infamous ‘shower scene’ where Chun-Li is semi-nude is included as well as the classic fight scene between Chun-Li and Vega, complete with extra gore. The best thing to remember is that this version is the original Street Fighter 2 movie released in Japan all those years ago and has finally been given the green light for release internationally.

Street Fighter 2: The Animated Movie is still a whole lot of fun to watch, even if you do get a little confused. The animation is produced by Group Tac and features fluid snap shots of the same animation that made the Capcom games so popular. The fighting scenes in the movie are what hold the pieces of the (almost) transparent story line together and will ultimately give fans of the movie the world over a much needed dose of long-awaited Street Fighter mayhem.

Animation: 8/10

Story: 7/10

DVD Extras: 7/10

You may view the original published article here

Anime DVD Review – Karas: The Prophecy

Distributor: Manga Entertainment
Rating: M/PG
Official Website: www.karas-movie.com

Karas: The Prophecy

Reviewed by Julie Gray
Review originally published April 17, 2006

The opening scenes of Karas: The Prophecy are enough to give you the shivers. Shivers of anticipation, that is. Not even five minutes into the movie and we are catapulted into the middle of what appears to be a battle between two futuristic looking fighter planes. A minute or two later and the fighter planes suddenly transform. The planes are not planes at all but humanoids clad in some sort of mechanical armour. Think of a modern day Samurai covered in metallic armour from head to toe. Karas begins with a wave of intensity that is in your face and action-packed.

Back on planet Earth (Tokyo to be exact), it’s Christmas time and the people of Tokyo are none the wiser. The battle in the sky suddenly explodes onto the Tokyo streets. The two armour clad warriors are battling it out with an impressive combination of martial arts and sword play. As they approach the city, suddenly, everything slows down. It’s almost as if time itself has stopped. But we soon realise it hasn’t. Two different dimensions of existence are about to collide.

The backdrop of the story is modern day Tokyo but that’s not where the story remains. Karas: The Prophecy switches back and forth continuously between the dimension of humans and the dimension that belongs to apparitions, demons and spirits. An ancient battle between these factions has been waging for an eternity and humanity’s survival is at stake. Karas is the guardian appointed to retain the balance between the two dimensions.

The story of Karas: The Prophecy is definitely interesting. But the animation of Karas is beyond impressive. The ingenious blend of 2D/3D and CGI in Karas: The Prophecy brings to life the characters and gives them a facet of realism that looks absolutely stunning. Replacing an older method of animation using 2D dimensional frames, the team at Tatsunoko have utilised 3D models in place of cells, giving the animation realistic dimensions as opposed to the flat and generic appearance of 2D images. The overall result delivers a bold animation technique rarely used in Japanese animation today.

The main characters in Karas: The Prophecy are Nue, Eko, Yurine, Otoha and two Detectives investigating ‘strange phenomenon’; Detective Sagisaka and his partner, Detective Narumi Kure. Sagisaka and Narumi are probably best described as the Japanese equivalent of ‘Scully and Mulder from the X-Files’. The department they represent is shunned by the rest of their colleagues because they attempt to solve crimes relating to things that ‘don’t exist’. Yurine and Otoha are, next to Nue and Eko, the main focus of the story. Yurine is a Priestess armed with special powers and the responsibility to keep Japan safe at all costs. She works alongside Otoha who is introduced to viewers as the new ‘Karas’ (Raven) and guardian of Japan. Somewhere in the middle of all of this we find Nue, who is a demon in human form sent to Japan to fight Eko and his henchmen. And lastly, there is Eko who used to be the Karas before power ultimately corrupted him. Now, his only mission is to control the world by any means possible and destroy all those who oppose him.

The characters in Karas: The Prophecy are interesting and their interactions with each other draw you to the screen. As the story slowly unfolds, we begin to understand that the epic struggle between good and evil is ultimately going to claim lives and innocence along the way. A story of sacrifice, responsibility, loyalty and corruption can never be dull.

The voice actors behind the characters ultimately make or break the story. If the voice actors do a good enough job, viewers will be able to look at the animation and take it one step further in their minds. If the voice actors don’t do a good enough job, the characters will not be believable and it will be hard for viewers to connect with them. Karas: The Prophecy was a project that was done right. The voice talent chosen for the English Production was, thankfully, well thought out. Talented actors Piper Perabo from Coyote Ugly is the voice behind Yurine, Matthew Lillard from Scooby Doo and Scream is Eko and Jay Hernandez from Hostel and Goal is Nue.

The Japanese voice talent are also, without doubt, impeccably cast in their roles. It is definitely recommended to watch Karas: The Prophecy using both the English and Japanese language options. Whilst the English dubs were extremely well done, there is an element of authenticity that can only be realised whilst watching a Japanese animation using the original Japanese voices.

The DVD release comes with a few extra features such as interviews with the Japanese voice actors, Directors and Producers, Original TV Spots and Japanese Trailers, and a Behind the Scenes: Making of Karas featurette. There is also a Dark Horse Comics special full colour mini-comic book of Karas included with the DVD by Phil Amara and Nuria Peris.

An inspiring story and epic animation to boot, Karas: The Prophecy will prophesise great things to come for Tatsunoko Productions if this first installment is anything to go by. We are eagerly anticipating the next release of Karas: The Revelation in September this year.

You may view the original published article here.

Animation: 10/10

Story: 10/10

DVD Extras: 8/10