"Time of Eve" Movie International Blu-ray

"Time of Eve" has several incarnations.  There is an six part ONA available for streaming on Crunchyroll and released as a Blu-ray.  There is also a movie version of the story that was released on iTunes and as a Kickstarter funded Blu-ray. I backed the Kickstarter and received the Blu-ray, the soundtrack, and a bonus book as a box set, plus some art cards in a separate envelope.

It's an excellent release with an excellent English dub and subtitles in several languages.  It also has detailed translations of the on screen signs and text.  The disc menu is easy to navigate.

The movie itself is a science fiction story set in the near future where androids that are indistinguishable from humans are commonly used as labor, including as house servants.  Rikuo is high school student who has an android he calls Samy.  Looking at her activity log, he notices she has gone to an unfamiliar location without instruction.   He secretly goes there with his best friend Masaki and learns it's a cafe where androids and humans mix as equals.  How should society treat androids that exhibit human behavior?  Maybe someday that will be an issue in reality.  I like the art style which is not overly "moe" and there is some humor to break the tension.  There is one part about a "disowned" house robot that was funny and touching at the same time.  The movie is bookended by scenes involving the government's role in android control that I still don't understand completely, but I like the kind of movie where things aren't spelled out.  I think science fiction lends itself to that kind of set up where the viewer has to think about the world of the story more than usual.  The creator is Yasuhiro Yoshiura who also made "Patema Inverted," another science fiction anime movie that is a bit hard to understand (for me anyway).  Maybe I'll write about that some day.

tofubeats special mix for hikki

Listen to this remix!  I miss Utada Hikaru a lot.  I hope the cover album that just came out means she is coming back with a new album soon.

Another Levi Figure

Real Action Heroes No.697 RAH Attack on Titan - Levi (Suit Ver.)(Preorder)

Only about $195 USD (sarcasm).  From what I can tell from the store pictures and description, he has 5 different looks of disdain from his eyes and 2 different mouth expressions to express all that disdain.  Also included are the armchair, a full teacup, a black book, and a pistol.  He does look snazzy in a suit.

Movies I rewatch when they come on TV

"Dolores Claiborne" -- I remember actually seeing this in the movie theater and being really bummed out watching it.  It's not a feel good movie by any means.  Kathy Bates is unattractive and generally unlikable through the whole movie.  The movie (except in flashbacks) seems to have a dark blue filter over the whole thing making it even more dreary.  But it's a compelling drama.  You realize when Dolores went through her whole life to make a good life for her daughter.  The dialogue is very Stephen King-like which is not a positive, but this mystery/drama has a heart under the blue filter.  I think Kathy Bates was better in this than in "Misery."

"The Shawshank Redemption" -- Another Stephen King adaptation.  The narration by Morgan Freeman turns the movie into a modern fairy-tale.  Not a lot of chuckles in this one either.  Andy (Tim Robbins) crawls through a river of... well you know what... and gets sweet revenge while maintaining a lifelong friendship with Morgan Freeman's character, Red.  The ending is one of the best endings in movies.

"The Mummy" --  Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz star in the cheesiest of movie monster movies and its a heck of a good time.  The movie seems to know its just a fun romp and keeps a good sense of humor while chugging along a breakneck pace.  The special effects are pretty well done and still look pretty good for today.  Imhotep...

"Sling Blade" -- Billy Bob Thornton does a lot with his seemingly emotionless character Karl.  Dwight Yoakam is excellent is the sleazy boyfriend.  Young Lucas Black is incredibly likable as Frank the young boy.  It's the friendship between Karl and Frank that holds the movie together.  By the end of the movie we understand what Karl felt he had to do.  John Ritter has a small but memorable role.

"The Da Vinci Code" --  Another movie that has a blue filter over all of it.  Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou flee over Europe to find the Holy Grail.  The story is a bit muddled, but the music, the two leads, and the whole idea of finding the Holy Grail always gets to me.  It's another not feel good movie, and its a downer of a thriller, but the end where Tom Hanks is walking toward the Louvre always gives me the chills.  I think its mostly the music.

"Contact" -- A Jodie Foster science fiction movie?  Yeah, and its pretty good.  I like how the mystery unfolds about first the sounds, then the pictures, then the machine... but the end kinda sucks.  But Jodie Foster is likable and Matthew McConaughey is a young hottie in this one.

"Clueless" --  Alicia Silverstone and Paul Rudd in a "Emma"-style story.  Finally a romantic comedy on this list.  This story of a spoiled rich kid and her well-intentioned but misguided matchmaking is full of good writing and Alicia Silverstone really does a good job as Cher. Plus love that the song "Tenderness" by General Public plays at the end.  Love the 80s.

"Steins;Gate" x IBM

It's cool to see the "Steins;Gate" group again in this short promoting IBM's "cognitive computing."

"Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun" or "Gekkan Shojo Nozaki-kun"

It's all for the manga.

This show came out of nowhere this season to become one of my favorites.  Sakura decides to confess to her crush Nozaki.  Nozaki, being the clueless guy he is, thinks she is just fangirling over his secret status as a successful shojo manga author, and invites her to become part of his artistic crew.  Each episode has quite a few LOL moments.  You would think the show would dwell on Sakura and Nozaki's romantic relationship.  But the show actually focuses more on Nozaki's circle of friends who he has incorporated into his work, either physically as technical help, or spiritually as inspiration (or both).  Mikoshiba is a smooth-talking, popular high school boy, but he is actually the model for Nozaki's manga heroine.  Kashima is smooth-talking, "prince-like" high school girl, who serves as a model for Nozaki's manga hero.  The show has a lot of fun making fun of manga tropes by gender-swapping the inspirations for the manga characters.  Seo, Wakamatsu, and Hori, round out his group of friends and all their relationships get even more time than the Sakura-Nozaki relationship.  The comedy evolves from their each character's personalities and relationships, which go against manga-trope expectations.  It's all sounding academic right now, but just watch the show and bust a gut laughing.

"Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders" ends... for now

Perfect poses.

So sad to watch the final episode of Jojo until it returns in January.  What will I look forward to on Fridays now?  The camaraderie among the group is fun to watch and each successive stand user they fight against is increasingly disturbing.  From evil babies to brain burrowing insect things, you can bet you will be surprised with each stand and stand user.  Still, my favorite is Joseph.  His sudden English exclamations of surprise and general upbeat attitude are something to look forward to each episode.  Polnareff might be my second favorite, just because he gets into the worst situations, but still keeps going.  Hurry up,  January!

OVAs for "Attack on Titan: No Regrets - Birth of Levi" manga

Original video animations based on "Attack on Titan: No Regrets" manga are coming out in December 2014 and April 2015.  Some cool action animation featuring my favorite character Levi is shown in this trailer.

"JoJo's Bizarre Adventure"

Avdol, Kakyoin, Jotaro, Joseph....Bam!

"JoJo's Bizarre Adventure" is a 26 episode anime from 2012.  It's based on a manga by Hirohiko Araki. This season the sequel just began, "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders."  All the old episodes and the simulcast of "Crusaders" were recently made available on Crunchyroll.  I finished the old episodes quickly and am really enjoying the simulcast.  I like how the story starts off in the 1800s and the current story is set in the present day.  The show follows the adventures of the Joestar family, Jonathan in arc 1, Joseph in arc 2, and Jotaro in arc 3.  All of them are fated to battle the evil that is Dio, a really rotten guy who becomes even more rotten and totally evil when he puts on an ancient stone mask that turns him into a vampire.  The Joestars have special powers that allow them to battle Dio and other supernatural baddies just like Dio who could turn everyone in the world into a vampire.  The art style is old school, but still looks fresh, especially this season which seems to have a lot of money available for the production.  The drawings are well detailed and shadowed.  As the show progresses, there is more humor and self-awareness of how ridiculously fabulous all the characters are.  Each man is enormous and incredibly muscled and incredibly masculine but at the same time "fabulous" in its uber-masculinity with constant trash talk and occasional look-at-me pose that borders on a "feminine" vanity.  My favorite character is Joeseph, who is a little more fun than his grandfather Jonathan and grandson Jotaro.  Each week it's a treat to watch "Stardust Crusaders."

"Haikyu!!"

Group shot at the end of the OP

"Haikyu!!" is a volleyball anime that started this Spring 2014 season that I'm really enjoying.  It's kinda like "Yowapeda" with great chemistry between all the team members.  Hinata is the enthusiastic, high-jumping, but short, first year member who is just happy to be on a team.  Kageyama is a self-centered first year settter who is learning to be a team player.  Will they be the awesome combo the Karasuno Volleyball Club needs to win?  Will there be a whiff of bromance every now and then?  Hmm.

Kageyama and Hinata

I really like the art style too with the characters looking not-too-moe but moe at the right times.  Note these shots of Sugawara-senpai.

Cute senpai

Regular senpai

There is quite a bit of comedy in the series, but still a decent amount of actual sports action.  I just finished episode 5 and they're about to start a match.  I wonder if it will be a 3 episode long match?  I'll find out in the next few weeks.