Posted by: Cybermario @ 2:58 pm 
Hello anime lovers, here’s a bunch of clips for SlugTerra: Return Of The Shane Gang. Another monster battle show, seems Shout! Factory loves them as much as we do, enjoy!
On February 12th, Shout! Factory Kids, in collaboration with Nerd Corps Entertainment, will release SLUGTERRA: RETURN OF THE SHANE GANG on DVD!
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February 7, 2013
New clips releases for SlugTerra: Return Of The Shane Gang
January 15, 2013
NEW PEOPLE Travel Interview film and anime director Katsuhito Ishii
The latest NEW PEOPLE Travel issue features an exclusive interview with Katsuhito Ishii, the famed creator of the anime racing film, Redline, the live-action movies, The Taste Of Tea and Funky Forest (both available from NEW PEOPLE Entertainment), and the anime portion of Kill Bill. His article is posted now for readers at www.newpeople.jp/travel/eng/ishii.html.
Katsuhito Ishii thrilled North American filmgoers with his first feature film, Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl, which inspired Quentin Terantino to appoint Ishii to direct a vivid anime short depicting the brutal past of assassin O-Ren for his 2003 action film, Kill Bill. As a film director, Ishii delivered surrealistic off-beat tales in The Taste of Tea (2004) and Funky Forest (2005) and later went on to create a cruel yet beautiful hell-like world in the 2011 film, Smuggler.
For the 2010 anime feature, Redline, he teamed up with anime director Takeshi Koike at Mad House studios and broke the boundaries of speed with an imaginative galactic car racing adventure.
“Katsuhito Ishii talks about his life and career and offers rare insights into his creative process in his interview and we are honored to feature this acclaimed director as the latest J-Pop culture luminary on the NEW PEOPLE Travel web site,†says Seiji Horibuchi, the founder of NEW PEOPLE, Inc. “We invite readers to visit this unique free web magazine and take a closer look at the source of Ishii’s fury and creative passion.â€
Katsuhito Ishii was born on December 31st, 1966 in Niigata prefecture. After graduating from Musashino Art University in 1992, he began his career as a commercial director at Tohokushinsha Film Corporation. He debuted as a film director in 1995 with a short film called The Promise of August and continued to release renowned films such as Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl (1999), Party 7 (2000), The Taste of Tea (2004), My Darling of the Mountains (2008), and Smuggler (2011). In 2003, he took on the animation production for Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill. His latest film, Hello! Junichi, was made in 2012 in collaboration with children and young directors who are past attendees from creative workshops he has held.
The NEW PEOPLE Travel article archive features past stories by an array of intriguing Japanese artists and notable filmmakers including Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, Sky Crawlers), Dice Tsutsumi (Art Director at Pixar, Toy Story 3), and Yoshitaka Amano (Artist, Final Fantasy, Gatchaman, Vampire Hunter D) among others.
NEW PEOPLE Travel is available at: www.newpeople.jp (select ENGLISH from the menu bar), or at: www.newpeople.jp/travel/eng/index.html. The site is updated every Monday. NEW PEOPLE Travel welcomes reader’s requests regarding future stories to be featured on the site. Send requests to info@newpeopleworld.com.
January 5, 2013
2 New MONSUNO: DESTINY Clips released
Check out the newly released clips for MONSUNO: DESTINY, coming out this January 8th on DVD.
January 4, 2013
Monsuno: Destiny DVD Vol. 1 Review
Set in a fantasy universe, Monsuno: Destiny is one of the many anime series that follow the trend of Pokemon and Digimon in which kids and adults fight alongside monsters, when you throw you pokeb… er, i mean when you spin your core, your monster is released and a battle takes place.
Story
Doctor Suno (researcher and creator of the Monsuno monsters) has disappeared and his son Chase and friends decide to go look for him, once they arrive at the laboratory they find they are not the first people visiting his father’s laboratory.
Once in the lab Chase finds a legacy his father left for him, a core with a powerful Monsuno that will aid him to find his father whereabouts.
This will not be an easy feat as two major forces are fighting to take control of the strongest Monsuno, Storm and Dark Spin.
The first being a military organization which founded and sponsored Suno’s research and the second a dark organization with unclear origins and goals. Chase and friends will often clash with them as they find clues of doctor Suno along the show.
Especially in the first 5 episodes we see how Chase, Bren and Jinja obtain their Monsuno, learn to control their abilities and meet enemies and allies like Beyal, a young monk that will join them in their travels.
Animation 7.5/10
Most of the animation is fluid and with good design, few details here and there could be better but overall the quality of the production is good, something that’s more than welcomed.
Character Design 8.5/10
Although human characters are nothing beyond ordinary and design is quite common, monster design on the other hand is quite good, detailed and why not.. Impressive!
There are 3 different colors based on manufacturer including red for Klipse (Dark Spin), Blue for Core-Tech (Doctor Suno) and Yellow (Storm).
Audio: 7.5/10
Gotta say some character voices are cheesy and voice acting could have been better but this is expected due to the nature of the show and the younger audience that it’s aimed at. Opening/ending songs are catchy and upbeat, nicely done!
Packaging:
This is where Shout Factory shows they give fans a good product, the packaging for this release uses a standard transparent DVD case and 2 sided art insert, featuring an amazing image of Lock on the back, something Shout Factory do in many releases that’s pretty eye candy.
All five episodes and the bonus content in one disc. A carton sleeve featuring Chase and Lock in the front cover. The back cover displays a summary, character art and a list of episodes and features.
Extras:
The bonus included in the DVD are bios for Chase and his Munsuno Lock, that’s it. I wish there was more extra content on the disc, probably in future releases a behind the cameras, interviews or more bonuses related to the production of the show could be included? We can only hope.
Features:
The DVD features english audio without information of dolby sound or audio features. Running time +/- 110 minutes
What they did right:
Glad to see they cared to give us insights of the origin of Monsuno and how they came to be, i hate when some shows never tell us the origin of the characters or why they fight, (I’m looking at you Redakai…) Monster design is pretty good as stated before and battles can be heated.
What they did wrong:
Someone explain to me what are three teenagers doing in the middle of a forest searching for a secret laboratory, i mean really?… hope this gets explained in future episodes. Aside from that, my only complaint is some of the voice acting.
Overall
Monsuno: Destiny may not bring anything new under the sun and really on the pokemon/digimon clone formula but it works, they did it good enough to stand on it’s own, if you enjoy shows with monster battles this is a show you need to check out, if not.. this may not be your cup of tea.
Truly enjoyed Monsuno: Destiny and can’t wait to see the next DVD release, which i’m sure will just get even better!
Giving it 8 rice balls out of 10!
~Mario
May 31, 2012
Review: Castle in the Sky Blu-ray + DVD Combo Pack
When it comes to classics specially Studio Ghibli, one of those titles you can’t ignore is Laputa Castle in the Sky (TenkÅ« no Shiro Rapyuta). The film was officially released in Japan in august 2, 1986. This film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki is based on Laputa, a fictional place in the book “The Adventures of Gulliver” by Jonathan Switf (Haven’t read? What a shame, you should).
Now, thanks to Disney this amazing classic comes in a Bluray + DVD combo with a unique and elegant presentation, for the joy of not only the fans of the famous director, but for all anime lovers!
Story
In ancient times an advanced civilization came to build and inhabit impressive floating cities, for some mysterious reason they left everything behind, only one of these cities remains, surrounded by myths and legends, Laputa!
The movie starts so phenomenally with sky pirates attacking an aircraft, yes .. Sky pirate, if that doesnt excite you nothing will, but believe me, you’ll like it!
Sheeta is a prisoner of Colonel Muska, a government agent. Sheeta has a crystal which is the target of pirates and the army, she falls into the void while trying to escape the ship and the crystal shows its mysterious power, slowing and softening her fall from the sky. There, a young miner named Pazu sees herl fall down and catches her with his arms.
Their joy will not last long, as both pirates and the army will go to the miner town in search for them, for the crystal which is the key to reveal the whereabouts of Laputa.
The military captures Sheeta, there it’s revealed that the Colonel just like Sheeta descends from the royal family of Laputa, an ancient Laputa robot that was salvaged by the army revives to protect her.
After this event Sheeta and Pazu join the pirates in search of the mysterious floating city! Now to the review.
Animation 9/10
The best no doubt, being a film by the famous studio and Miyazaki ensures great quality and unique visual style, something many modern films with GCI should learn from. From start to finish you will be delighted with the quality of the animation.
Character Design 8/10
The character design is good, especially if you like the work of Miyazaki in the decade of the 80′s you will enjoy a lot, which reminds me of the style used in Future Boy Conan (Mirai no Shounen Conan), a tv series that Miyazaki directed at the time, an anime I highly recommend you to watch.
Audio 8.5/10
Although I am not a fan of the english dub, I decided to watch this version before the japanese with english subs and did not dislike it as I thought at first, they made a good job with the dubbing. Voice acting including Mark Hamill, Anna Paquin, James Van Der Beek and Cloris Leachman.
Packaging:
The packaging for this release uses a standard size Blu-ray case (no hinge) with two discs, a bluray and a dvd version of the movie. Sleeve with embossed lettering for the movie title and Studio Ghibli, featuring blue and golden for a pretty elegant presentation. The back cover display screenshots, bit of character art and a list of features.
Extras:
The dvd include a presentation by John Lesseter, this is also included in the bluray dics plus Original Japanese Storyboards and “Behind the Studio” with a lot of bonuses such a The World of Laputa, Characters Sketches, Behind the Microphone and much, much more!
Features:
Bluray: 1080p High Definition / 1 85:1 aspect ratio, English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio (48khz/24-bit). Japanese 5.1 DTS-HD Master audio Original Production Audio. English ESL & SDH and French subtitles.
DVD: Widescreen/1 85:1 enhanced for 16×9 televisions. Audio; English 5.1 Dolby Digital Language Track. Japanese 5.1 Dolby Digital Production Audio. English ESL & SDH subtitles.
What they did right
Where should I begin, from the amazing intro showing us the floating cities and ships, the charismatic and lovely characters, the epic mechas and aerial battles… Wowza!
It’s hard to describe how epic the movie is in few words, everything I said before and much more is what you’ll find in this film with a fantastic and very imaginative theme. As I said before this is one of those classics of Japanese animation that any respected anime fan must not miss!
What they did wrong
If any, I wish there was a better explanation of why the inhabitants of Laputa abandoned the many floating islands and the technology they did posses. You have to excuse me, one of my whims as a lover of anime and fiction.
Overall
What to say that hasn’t already mentioned in this review? A great classic of animation, one of those titles that no one should miss, whether you’re an old or new fan of Japanese animation, this film by Hayao Miyazaki is a must watch for any anime fan.
Giving the anime 9 rice balls out of 10
**A review copy of the Bluray + dvd combo pack was provided for this review.
~Mario
