Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Review

Speaking of things just released on 4K blu-ray (as I was a week ago… that paragraph starter doesn’t really work here in that case… oh well) we have Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, the CG follow up film to the mega-popular RPG. At the time of its release I was blown away by the animation and CG effects and I guess I convinced myself to buy the 4K version because I was desperate to reclaim that feeling but I have to say it doesn’t matter how uncompressed it is CG animation from 2005 just doesn’t impress any more in 2021… Still, what’s the actual story and experience like? Let’s take a look!

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Ghost in the Shell (1995) Review

As I settled down to watch the newly released 4K blu-ray of this all-time classic I thought it was a good time to finally review it on this site, especially given I’ll be reviewing the Matrix trilogy leading into the release of the fourth film in a few weeks. Yes this first Ghost in the Shell anime film has inspired so many people and properties in its wake (not to mention a fun Anime TV series I’ve already reviewed in “Stand Alone Complex”) that it’s hard to cut all of that out and just focus on it as a singular story. I’ll try though! So let’s take a look…

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Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba The Movie – Mugen Train Review

Demon Slayer was the big hit a two years ago, with gorgeous Ufotable animation and a decent Shonen story to boot but I don’t think anyone could have predicted this film’s success! Collecting accolades like the biggest Japanese box office success EVER and the very top film of 2020 worldwide (okay, that one isn’t as impressive given the whole pandemic thing, but still!) is this film THAT good? Well, no, I’m sure what could be, but I will say that it is a good watch, being an adaptation of a manga arc rather than a spin-off like other Shonen films adds to it, certainly. Let’s take a closer look!

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Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai (Episodes 38 – 50) Review

Oh yes, that’s right. Before we get to a few more stand-alone anime reviews and then the next bigger series / story arc we have another chunk of DQ: Adventure of Dai episodes to get through! What adventures await? … Actually, to be fair, these episodes were mostly good it’s just the series has started to outstay its welcome, which given a new opening starts the next batch I’m assuming we’re not as close to the end as I thought / hoped…

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Mobile Suit Gundam SEED HD Overall Review

Another Gundam series done, though unusually for an alternate universe show there is still another series and a film to talk about later down the road. Gundam SEED is an odd one, it ups the teen angst and drama while following the original Gundam series’ blueprint very closely for its first half before thankfully deviating to a more original story to end. Plus it has more Gundams than you can shake a stick at! Let’s take a final overall look then, once again a more detailed breakdown of the series in four chunks of episodes can be found by clicking on the Gundam tab above…

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Mobile Suit Gundam SEED HD (Episodes 39 – 48) Review

We reach the end of Gundam SEED (for those not following along, the HD version cuts out the recap episodes, which is why this ends at 48… and also why I had to change the thumbnail of a few of these reviews when I remembered that fact and had put the episode counts wrong…) and what do we get for the finale? Well, more sudden reveals than you can shake a stick at, most of which don’t land at all and are rather pointless, BUT we do get one hell of a final space battle spread out across several episodes, so more good than bad, certainly. Let’s take a look!

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Mobile Suit Gundam SEED HD (Episodes 24 – 38) Review

At the (roughly) halfway mark is where Gundam SEED starts to get interesting and drops most of the original Gundam series blueprint and even some… SOME of the teen melodrama as well. By reintroducing the neutral nation of Orb and giving it a key focus they steer away from the basic good vs. evil set up and go in interesting new directions. Want to know more? Let’s take a look!

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My Hero Academia – Endeavour Agency & Meta Liberation Army Arcs (Episodes 101 – 113) Review

Time to take a look at the just-finished-airing second half of My Hero Academia’s fifth season, adapting the Endeavour Training and Meta Liberation Army arcs. While the first arc had some good moments it’s the latter that really shone, casting light on our lead antagonists and not actually featuring the protagonists at all. “My Villain Academia” indeed! … Let’s take a look!

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Star Wars: Visions Review

I love it when two completely separate parts of my entertainment life come together like this! Visions is a series of nine anime shorts based on Star Wars, with the creators (and we’re talking major studios and people in the anime industry) given free rein to do whatever they wanted, no need to stick to any canon or anything… and boy did they ever not! What’s it like? Given it’s a bunch of shorts how good is the hit rate? Let’s find out!

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