Al’s Anime Annex – March 2012

Hey anime lovers (and mum!), how’s things? I hope you all enjoyed last month – Tekken looked gorgeous and Fruits Basket was cute on a stick, but shaped like two DVDs. Before we start running down all the Manga releases for the month of March I have to give a mention to Hyper Japan. A three day convention celebrating all things Japan, I went to check it out on the Sunday and had a brilliant, brilliant time. Upping sticks to bigger digs this year, there was a lot more room to breathe as well as enjoy all the cosplay, anime, sake and sushi your heart could possibly imagine. If you weren’t there, you’re not square but you should check it out next year. There’s a twitter to follow, a Facebook page to like and even a mailing list to sign up to, so that you don’t forget. PS. I’m not shilling, well, I am. But not to get anything – I genuinely loved it and think you will too.

Soooooooo… MARCH. March, March, March… I usually insert some reference to seasonal shenanigans related to the current month in this bit. What’s March got? The start of Spring and Mother’s Day? Massive whoop. It’ll do. This month we’ve got the latest instalments of my favourite resident of Hidden Leaf Village: Naruto. There’s a new kid on the block in the form of the magical new series Fairy Tail. Taking up the rear is some assassin shaped goodness in Phantom and another dose of urunkai agitating in Bleach. So let’s Spring into action (sorry) and make your… I don’t know. Something about Mother’s Day. Yeah!

What’s it all about?

Ninja-in-training Naruto’s latest collection of scrapes. This instalment begins with the gang and N himself in much need of some R and R. After unleashing the Rasen Shuriken, a super, super powerful technique that messes up your enemy on a cellular level, Naruto is warned not to use it again or risk smashing himself to pieces in the process.

To attempt to find a replacement technique, Naruto hooks up with Jiraiya, a bit of a perv with a shock of white hair, to train and try and catch a glimpse of ladies in the bath house. But when some of Naruto’s friends get in trouble, he must put aside his training and help bust them out of a giant crystal.

Is it any good?

Though it’s business as usual, it’s ever-enjoyable, as usual. There are some cool new techniques and though I’m sure Naruto is probably sick to his sharp, back teeth of training I found it as interesting and fun as ever. CSI-style analysis of techniques and their effects is pretty and clever and though it’s been around for as long as poor Naruto’s been in training, the characters are still developing alongside the machinations of the Akatsuki.

Any extras?

Disc 2 has a hefty gallery of Production Art and two trailers.

What are the audio and subtitle options?

English stereo or Japanese stereo with subtitles.

Star me up.

Rating:

When is it out?

It already is. Naruto Box Set 8 came out on the 27th of February, my review copy just missed the cut off for last month’s Annex is all.

What’s it all about?

In the land of Fiore magic is commonplace. For most folks it’s just an everyday tool, but for some it’s still an art to be revered, practiced and perfected. There are guilds for wizards that want to hone and master their magic and the best of them all is Fairy Tail.

Fledgling mage Lucy can use special keys to summon spirits to help her out, some of which are based on the signs of the zodiac and some are cute and funny mascots, like a twitchy little snowman guy. Lucy meets Natsu, a travel sick master of fire magic, who sounds like Stan from South Park and also happens to be a member of Fairy Tail. They hit it off and Lucy is soon getting to know the ways of the guild and the adventures that can be had from accepting missions from its notice board.

Is it any good?

It’s possibly my new favourite current series. It’s full of huge magical fighting set pieces and Natsu’s little buddy, Happy the blue cat, is the current cutest thing eva. Some of the adventures are almost
Scooby Doo-y mysteries, which was a very pleasant surprise as I love Mystery Inc., and there’s even a guy with a palm tree on his head. Something for everyone.

Any extras?

There is an audio commentary for episode 9, two textless opening sequences and two textless closing sequences.

What are the audio and subtitle options?

English six channel surround or Japanese 2.0 with subtitles.

Star me up.

Rating:

When is it out?

Fairy Tail will be casting its spell over all the new fans it deserves on the 5th of March.

What’s it all about?

Reiji was a no-one who got abducted, renamed Zwei and forcibly trained to be a professional killer for a shady organisation called Inferno. He’s pretty good and becomes known as the Phantom. In the second batch of episodes Zwei/Reiji/Phantom takes on a little girl as an apprentice.

While she trains the two also attempt to track down and stop a sniper who may be the thought-to-be-dead Ein – a sexy, super ‘sassin who Zwei totally deep down loves.

Is it any good?

Really, really good – Phantom has really stepped up from a Part 1 that I wasn’t particularly fussed about. I really enjoyed this batch and not just because a lot of it reminded me of Leon, alright, a little because it reminded me of Leon. Phantom has got a great balance of the cloak and dagger and gunplay, with some very thrilling hits and a significant side of sexy sauce on top. It also features my fave opening sequence of the moment and, not ideally, a really annoying tendency toward utilising some awful techno on the soundtrack. So it’s not all peaches and gravy, but it ties with Fairy Tail as the best of this month’s crop.

Any extras?

There is the usual selection of opening and closing sequences and some commercials, but there’s also some nifty Picture Dramas. With a not to be sniffed at running time of forty one minutes, the Picture Dramas are sequences of stills animated only via pans and zooms, with voice over that give more and sometimes new slants to scenes from the episodes. They’re really rather cool.

What are the audio and subtitle options?

You have the choice of English 5.1 or stereo Japanese with subtitles.

Star me up.

Rating:

When is it out?

Phantom Part 2 will be sniping the competition from the 12th of March.

What’s it all about?

Ichigo and his pals’ (the good guys) battle against Lord Aizen and his arrancar (the bad guys) continues in episodes 152 to 159. On their way to give Aizen a good shoeing, Ichi and his crew get stuck in a maze that splits them up and leaves them fighting separately. Ichigo goes up against the preening Dordonii – a guy in a white suit that’s kind of a dick and can shoot typhoons out of his shoes.

Is it any good?

My up and down relationship with Bleach continues to go up and down. I mostly enjoyed this collection though I still find aspects frustrating. Naruto and Bleach are both guilty of padding and plodding, but I think Naruto covers it a lot better than Bleach does. Ichigo’s stubbornness to just use his sodding “bankai” and “visored” winds me up too. But it’s still going and it’s still good most of the time.

Any extras?

The second disc has a Production Art gallery that’s a lot easier to navigate than the one on the Naruto disc and two textless closings, the second of which I absolutely love. There’s also a selection of trailers for the series itself, both Bleach movies and Bleach Soul Resurrection: The Game.

What are the audio and subtitle options?

English stereo or Japanese stereo with English subtitles.

Star me up.

Rating:

When is it out?

Part 1 of Bleach’s eighth series hits the shelves on the 19th of March.

Done and done. March is pretty sweet for anime shiz. You should definitely give Fairy Tail a go, as well as the new doses of Naruto and Bleach. That was only the second load of Phantom, so if it sounds good, don’t worry – there’s not acres to catch up on.

I hope everyone’s not sick of Naruto, ‘cos our favourite number one ninja will be back with us again next week. Little whisker face will be returning in his fifth (blimmin’ ‘eck) movie: Bonds. I’m sure there’ll be plenty more treats in store in next month’s Annex, so be sure to come back or you’ll be quite the April fool.

As always feel free to chip into that ever so lonely and blank comments section – it’d be nice to hear from you. If you’re new or simply enjoyed this month’s Annex and have some lunch hour left, there’s a juicy little ANIME ANNEX button at the top of the page that’ll unleash a bajillion (not a bajillion) more Annex’s upon your screen. Laters lovelies.