AnimeTalk
a bi-weekly column by Don Houston, John Sinnott, and Todd
Douglass
Japanese animation can certainly be a bit strange, and this week Anime
Talk has an advance look at one of the more odd titles to make its way
across the Pacific: Papuwa.
This irreverent show features an assortment of bizarre characters including
a transvestite fish with legs (in fishnet stockings of course), a mobile
walking poisonous mushroom, and a young boy who's also an incredibly powerful
weapon. This installment also gives readers a
chance to win one of five new Ultraman sets
that DVD Talk is giving away, reviews of the latest
anime DVDs, a table of upcoming releases and a
list of some of the best deals around
on anime.
Ultraman
Giveaway
This week we have a
very special giveaway from BCI for the highly anticipated DVD release
of Ultraman:
Volume 1. One of the top syndicated shows in the late '60s and early
'70s Ultraman
continues to maintain a massive cult following. Ultraman:
Volume 1 DVD features: 20-episodes in their original, uncut length
with completely re-mastered picture and sound, Original Japanese audio track, with newly created English
subtitles, English dubbed tracks created by the same team that voiced Speed
Racer and Interviews with English dub team. Enter now for your chance to
one of 5 copies of Ultraman:
Volume 1 we're giving away.
The
Latest Anime Reviews:
(Click on the links to read the full review.)
Things
are really heating up for Edward and Alphonse as the long-running
Fullmetal
Alchemist
series starts to draw to a conclusion. The tenth
volume in the franchise continues to prove why this show is one of
the best that you'll find on the market today with an intense amount of
drama, great sense of humor, and over-the-top action. More history surrounding
Ishbal and Scar is revealed here as well as well as some background on
Martel. It seems that everyone's past has done nothing but lay steps towards
the future as the Homunculi work towards their devious goals and Alphonse
learns something devastating about the leader of the military. Another
great volume for a fantastic anime!
When a show like Boys
Be… comes along and draws you in it's always sad when you have to see
it come to an end. That's the unfortunate truth we face with the fourth
volume of this emotional show. Kenjo spends a day with an idol, Makoto
spends some time with Yumi, and Kyoichi pines for Chiharu. As the year
comes to a close New Year's rumors circle amongst the kids about their
relationship's future and they each take the gossip to heart. Things come
together at the end to bring about a very satisfactory conclusion to the
lives of our friends. If you have an open mind and don't mind slower more
emotionally drawn out shows then you'll definitely want to check this one
out.
One
show that is rather surprising is Hikaru
No Go. It's based on a manga of the same name that appeared in
Shonen Jump in Japan (and is currently being reprinted in the American
version of the magazine) along with Dragon Ball Z, One Piece, Yugioh
and other action based strips. Unlike most of the other comics in Shonen
Jump however, Hikaru No Go isn't a fighting story. It's based on
the game of Go, a complex strategic game that is the eastern equivalent
to chess. Sounds rather dull, doesn't it? Nothing could be
further from the truth. The series has all of the drama and excitement
of it's more violent counterparts while telling a story that quickly hooks
the viewer. A solid show that anime fans should make a point of checking
out.
Baki and company are back for more butt-kicking and skull cracking with
the latest installment of the Baki
the Grappler anime. The tournament has been heating up and as it enters
the final rounds we get to see a lot of action. Several fights take place
and new victors are crowned, but the downfall here is that Baki stays on
the sidelines for just about every episode. Yeah we get to see him and
sometimes Yujiro chimes in with an interesting tidbit, but for the most
part Baki just watches the fighting. This newest volume is action packed
but the development isn't there and the plot simply feels like it's stalling
until the end of the show.
FUNimation continues to release one of the longest running anime shows
ever. In volume 1.3 of Case
Closed (or Detective Conan as it's known in most of the world), the
pint sized detective gets to work his magic on six more cases including
the attempted murder of a bride and the brutal slaughter of a loan shark.
Sure, some of the mysteries are a little convoluted and unnecessarily elaborate,
but it's still fun to see Conan solve a case while he's hamstrung by being
a little kid.
Be sure to take a look at recommendations by DVDTalk's twisted cast
of reviewers in their Best
Of Anime 2003, Best
Of Anime 2004, and Top
Ten Anime discs of 2005 articles.
Upcoming
Releases
Holly's
Anime Bargains
Presented
by Holly Beeman
Amazon Slick Catch:
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For more anime deals check out the
Official
- ANIME Bargains! - Thread. Updated daily by yours truly!
Something
to Look Forward to:
Papuwa
ADV has licensed the 2003 comedy show Papuwa for release in region
1. The odd thing is that this is a sequel to Southern Country Boy
Papuwa, and the first series hasn't been released in the US. In any
case, this is a rather odd show, and it's hard to tell from the first three
episodes that were sent out as advance screeners whether this will turn
out to be an outrageously hilarious show, or just sort of stupid.
Papuwa lives on in a place that shows up on no map: Papuwa Island
II (the first one was apparently destroyed in the first series).
He lives in tranquility, more or less, until one day when Kotaro wakes
up from his coma and escapes the high security prison he's been confined
to by the Ganma Army. This young boy steals a boat, heads out to
sea, and crashes on Papuwa Island which gives him amnesia, naturally.
When Liquid, another resident on the island see's Kotaro, he freaks
out. After all, this was the boy who destroyed the first Papuwa Island,
and if he ever realizes his true power, it would be very dangerous.
They can't let him find out what his real name is, or his memories might
come flooding back. So, In a cunning plan Liquid changes the name
on the boy's underwear to Rotaro. Though he's skeptical that his
name is really 'Rotaro', the kid believes it when his drawers are shown
to him. After all, as Liquid says, "there's no better proof of a
man's identity than what is written on his underwear."
Of course the Ganma Army wants Kotaro back, and assigns the task to
their Special Forces. After playing rock-paper-scissors to see who
gets to go, they send an assassin to the island, dressed up as a giant
duck. Add into this mix a walking, talking, poisonous mushroom, a
transvestite fish with legs (in fishnet stockings of course), a giant snail,
and the fact that Papuwa thinks that Kotaro would make a nice meal, and
you have a wacky show that has a lot of potential.
Watching these first episodes, you do get the feeling that you're missing
out on something, like you've walked into the movie a little late.
They do have a brief introduction before the credits roll that's supposed
to bring viewers up to date, but it's more confusing than helpful.
The characters aren't really introduced either. You have to decipher
just who and what they are from the context of the show, which again can
get a little confusing.
There's also a plot to this show, which comedy shows like Excel Saga
and Azumanga Diaoh usually eschew. The segments with the Ganma Army
are serious and not played for laughs, which conflicts with the rest of
the show. It will be interesting to see if they can merge these two
facets of the show into a coherent whole. If they can, this should
be a fun show to watch.
What do you think about the column? Like what you see? Don't
like it? Have a comment or suggestion? Drop us an e-mail
and let us know!
