Posts Tagged ‘blue drop’

I’m not complaining but between the lineups Funimation and now Sentai has announced, I’m not sure I’m going to see the light of day once all September. This morning Section 23 sent out another press release announcing their release lineup for the month of September which includes two new licenses and a couple of new collections for fans to add to their libraries.

Getting to the new stuff first, in the new press release it’s been revealed that Sentai has picked up Studio Bones produced mech series, Xam’D for a DVD and Blu ray release. The story centers on a boy named Akiyuki living on an island caught in the middle of a war. After a mysterious power enters his body during an explosion, he turns into a creature called a Xam’d. Thus begins his new adventures with a woman who tells him that she can help him learn the secrets of his power and his role in the world. The first set will be released on DVD and Blu ray on 9/21.

Also included in the press release is proof that Sentai Filmworks loves me and wants me to be happy, also known as the license of Hell Girl Season 3. Already in the middle of releasing Hell Girl Season 2 (which concludes on DVD at the end of July, which can’t come soon enough!), Section 23 will release the first half on DVD starting 9/28. In the final season, Ai Enma continues her work as Hell Girl but in the meantime has found the perfect host body to facilitate a return to Earth. And after spending a few episodes with that creepy new character in season 2 I think I’m about ready for this series to go back to being deliciously dark and twisted.

Rounding out the rest of the month, the rest of Sentai’s September looks like this:

Blue Drop Complete Collection (Dubbed) – 9/7
Ghost Hound Complete Collection (Dubbed, DVD and Blu ray) – 9/14
Golgo 13 Collection 2 – 9/21

Full press release below the cut

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I knew that this Monday was trying to lull me into a false sense of security. Things were quiet this morning… a little too quiet for a Monday in the middle of March. *cue eerie music* But real life was waiting and so I left and have returned to find a whole mess of very cool press releases in my inbox! So, starting in the order that they appear:

Right Stuf/Nozomi Entertainment Start New Countdown: Oh Right Stuf, how you do love your little countdown clock! A new timer has been started by Right Stuf over at their usual Coming Soon address but this time there’s a twist. From now until Wednesday, clues will be dropped for fans to try and win prizes. The clues will point fans towards a combination that they must figure out and the name of the series that they’ve licensed. Guess them both right and win a prize. I’ve been thinking about this for a little while now and I don’t have any initial guesses on what it might be. (Full press release below the cut)

Sentai Announces Dubs for FIVE Series: The loyal have fought hard and bought the sets that had no dub track and finally, they have been rewarded. The second press release to hit my inbox today came from Sentai Filmworks announcing that the following series will be re-released with brand new dub tracks: Clannad, Blue Drop, Ghost Hound, Legends of the Dark King ~ A Fist of the North Star Story and Tears to Tiara. Few details were made available right away but the release did say that they are working on an upgrade program for those fans who already purchased the sub only versions.

I would love to sit here and share my thoughts on this but I’m limited on space. So to sum it up: Clannad and Tears to Tiara: yay, Blue Drop and Legends of the Dark King: seriously? and if you’ve even once said ‘I won’t buy this series because it doesn’t have a dub track,’ I suggest you snatch these up. (Full press release below cut)

Viz Media Opens VizAnime.com: Viz Media has never been completely silent in the streaming market. While they aren’t busting out brand new series each and every week like Funimation and Crunchyroll, they have been holding their own with weekly Naruto and InuYasha streaming simulcasts. Today Viz took one step forward in the streaming world by opening VizAnime.com which, right now at least, hosts all of the streams that they currently have on Hulu on one site (they even use pretty much the same site navigation system).

The site also attempts to inject some functionality and social networking to your anime viewing by allowing comments and letting registered users keep track of which episode they left off on last. (Full press release below the cut)

Mangaka Strike Back for the Loli: Do you remember last week when I mentioned the proposal being discussed in Tokyo? In a nutshell they want to ban any image depicting a loli character in a way that could cause someone, somewhere to somehow become aroused (I may be paraphrasing that a bit). Well, luckily for fans there are still some good, honest, hard working folk who just aren’t going to listen to that kind of nonsense: mangaka!

Over 25 mangaka have put their names on a letter while some of the signed held a press conference denouncing the proposal. Even more have joined the cause since then via the press and Twitter.

Keep fighting that good fight you brave men and women!

Caitlin Glass Saves the World: Wrapping things up on a bit of an optimistic note, English voice actress/ADR Director Caitlin Glass (Winry in Fullmetal Alchemist, Haruhi and ADR Director in Ouran High School Host Club) has decided to take a break from voice acting to teach English across the sea with her husband. I had the chance to interview Caitlin once and had a great time doing so. I wish her the best of luck in her travels and hopes that someday she’ll return to lend her voice to another Funimation dub! Good luck Caitlin!

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Warning: For those who haven’t read one of these in the past, the ‘Additional Thoughts’ column is entirely dedicated to discussing the ending to a particular series. As such, there are major and minor spoilers throughout the article which will not be clearly marked.

I can admit that, for the most part, I haven’t had the greatest track record with yuri series. I’ve enjoyed a few over the years but it’s still not really a genre that I seek out. I mention this because when I got to the end of Blue Drop, there were a lot of feelings of resentment that stuck with me. At first I thought I was being overly harsh so I stepped back and thought about it for awhile and realized something: the last episodes of Blue Drop are really freakin irritating.

Throughout the series, one of the biggest struggles that the series had was with its inability to juggle two genres at once. In every episode, the staff works really hard at blending the line between school romance and Sci-fi action but ends up never being able to do either. In the final episodes of Blue Drop, this problem is amplified to its peak with the action packed climax that is happening at the same time as the somber dramatic climax. To be honest, credit is due to attempting something like this. To mix two climatic moments that are completely different tones is not something many would think to do… and perhaps this is why.

In the final episodes, a series that really didn’t play up the action all that much in the build up becomes all about the action; war ships are flying in from every angle, Ship 5 is damaged but the loyal Tsubael is fighting back with everything she has and an incredibly dangerous weapon is about to be used. Meanwhile, every few seconds the action will completely stop and the series will go dead quiet as the play written by Michi is performed at the school. Both of these moments could have been powerful moments for the series instead of jarring and uneven.

In all honesty though, I’d have forgiven that if it weren’t for the large pile of half finishes and loose threads that audiences are forced to look at after it’s all over. This is particularly true with the roles that characters play in the series and they are everywhere! The homeroom teacher/secret agent, Yuko, finds out about the invasion too late (mind you this after she already blew her cover to Mari) but is unable to do anything, was her role really to be the most incapable special agent ever assigned to the field? Akane is accosted by thugs who say they have a beef with her and yet disappear after Mari is rescued, anyone want to fill us in on them? Azanael spends eight episodes as a fierce, tough soldier who just missed her one true love. In the end she is cornered, scared witless, shot in the back and eventually left defenseless in the sky… so we spent all that time just because the staff needed a character to beat up and show that the invading aliens were really tough?

Thinking back, I am hard pressed to think of another series that treats its characters as poorly as this one does and these were just the little examples. In reality, if anyone in this series represents the tragic figure it would have to be the meganekko in the background, Michi.

In the beginning, Michi’s really only purpose was to act as Mari’s buffer. When Mari needed someone to listen as she said bitchy things about someone, you could always count on good old Michi. Later in the series though, Michi starts to play a much more important role; the playwright for a performance to be held at the culture festival. Alright, first of all I need to divert here to say that as I writer I was absolutely pissed with how Michi was forced into this. She says that she likes to write stories to entertain herself and so that means she’s qualified to write a full play and direct it? What the hell kind of logic are they teaching these kids?

But I got over that. It’s how it is; if Michi is going to play a more important role she’s gonna have to earn it. So she does and for the next half dozen episodes, the series shows Michi working harder and getting praised for doing it. Truly she is headed for a happy ending. Finally the big day comes and her play is shown to the audience… that is until the bombers come and everyone has to evacuate the building.

Now, from the view of the storyteller, I can see this as a chance to create an amazing catharsis or memorable moment. The audience has just watched this character push herself to her very limits to create something wonderful only to see her moment of triumph crushed. So, what does Blue Drop do to capitalize on this amazing moment of drama? Make her last scene in the series standing in an empty building crying at her dream being crushed. In the end, Michi’s entire role in the series was to be someone you could watch being built up only to have it all taken away from her in the end. You know what’s even worse? The audience doesn’t even get to spend that long feeling bad for her as it’s real purpose is to make sure the audience is already in a depressed mood when they see Hagino die moments later.

The ending wasn’t the only place Blue Drop was running into problems with unevenness though. The second biggest issue that made the first half such a trial to get through were the relationship issues that constantly surfaced between Mari and Senkoji. I’m not referring to the antagonistic relationship between the two characters but more the levels that it played at through the episodes.

Early in the series, Senkoji and Mari are already off to a rocky start. That’s perfectly fine for the first couple of episodes but from there it became a guessing game on where the feud stood from one episode to the next. Early on, audiences are safe: if the two heroines are together you can figure that Mari is going to be saying something bitchy. Later on though, the two finally share some secrets and there is a new warmth to the relationship which even turns into playful teasing. Then Mari is pissed again and before long I found myself left not really caring about how either of them felt about anyone anymore.

So when Senkoji decides to sacrifice herself in the end, even after the girls have manged to share their true feelings for each other, it was hard to feel particularly upset. To be honest, I was still a little busy being bummed about Michi to be that sad about Hagino. She was a decent character to watch but eh, it happens.

While researching the manga series, I finally understood the true origin story purpose to the series. In the manga, the setting takes place years after the aliens have invaded and taken over the Japanese government. If you look at it this way, you could understand why these loose ends were left over… but then you realize that the manga series takes place far into the future that it’s not as though any of these characters are ever going to find their real moments or even conclusions.

As a concept, Blue Drop had a lot of potential to start with. After thirteen episodes though, I’m ready to put this one off to the side and forget that I ever watched it. Maybe I’m not the right guy to review yuri series but I know that the genre has produced better stories than this!

Available from Amazon Available from Right Stuf

Blue Drop Complete Collection Released By: Sentai Filmworks Released: 11/17/09 Reviewed: 3/12/10 Rated: 13+

The Story

Before transferring to a prestigious all girls high school, Mari Wakatake was being raised by her grandmother. A few years prior, she was living on a small island when it was completely destroyed by a mysterious tsunami that left Mari as the only survivor. Now a teenager who has never been to school before, she must learn to acclimate to the new environment which includes a mysterious girl named Senkoji Hagino.

Despite an initial rocky start, Mari and Senkoji eventually learn to co-exist after Mari learns her secret: Senkoji is actually an alien who commands her own ship. What she doesn’t know is that Senkoji actually played a direct role in the event that changed Mari’s life completely and there is an even larger, looming threat waiting for them on the horizon.

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So, now that we’ve had a chance to digest the fact that ADV as we knew it is gone, time to look forward. Section 23 sent out their first press release this morning announcing a slate of live action J-Horror and anime for November. Starting with the anime, fans are getting a few new titles! All of the new licenses are published by Sentai and I’ve received confirmation that Section 23 will be acting as their new distributor. Things appear to be very busy over there though as the press release that gave all this info had almost zero information on these titles besides the basics.

Anyways, five new licenses were announced in the release: Special A, Blue Drop, Polyphonica and Tears to Tiara. The school love comedy Special A will have its first 12 episodes released on 11/10 before two complete collections, Blue Drop and Polyphonica, are released on 11/17. Finally on 11/24, the first twelve episodes of the better than average, fantasy visual novel adaptation Tears to Tiara will be released in its first collection.

Update: It was brought to my attention in the comments that You’re Under Arrest Season 2, Collection 1: being released on 11/3 is actually a new license as well. That makes Little Snow Fairy Sugar Collection 2 the only re-release on 11/17.