Anime Fans Online

Online anime rental seems like the perfect option, at least for the fans that don’t want to download illegal fansubs. I’ve already reviewed Blockbuster’s anime offering, now it’s time to take a look at a more specialized outlet.

RentAnime

RentAnime is run by the folks at AnimeNation, an anime retail site that’s been around since 1995. If you’ve been a fan of anime for a while you’ve probably heard of AnimeNation. Whatever opinions you may have formed about them can probably be safely transferred to RentAnime. I’ve never had any problems with them, neither the retail or rental branch.

Pros

• Much Better Anime Selection -

I have yet to think of an anime that I couldn’t find on there. Because they specialize in anime, and probably because they sell anime, they have a much better inventory.

• New Anime Added Constantly -

This is probably because they’re run by AnimeNation. AnimeNation has to keep on top of new releases so they can sell ‘em, so it makes sense that they’d also order some to use in their rental program.

Cons

• Horrible Website -

This is probably the biggest problem that RentAnime has. The website needs a complete overhaul. The only way to find an anime is to know what anime you’re looking for. The “Rental Categories” are not categories at all, they’re alphabetical listings of the anime that they offer. That is mind bogglingly bad.

• Useless Search -

Because of the lack of categories, I have to include the site search here too. This is what I got when I searched for “shojo”.



I find it incredibly hard to believe that RentAnime has absolutely no shojo anime. They need to fix that A.S.A.P..

• Slow Turnaround -

The amount of time between sending back a DVD and getting the next one in the mail is unacceptable. I sent back DVDs to RentAnime and Blockbuster on the same day. I had new Blockbuster DVDs a couple of days before I even got the e-mail from RentAnime telling me they got the DVDs. That could probably be fixed with some regional shipping centers.

Bottom Line

RentAnime has a great selection of anime. They’ve also got enough of it that it’s not often you have to wait very long for a particular title. The problem is waiting to get any titles thanks to their slow turnaround.

Once again I have to say that the website needs to be re-worked. Finding something to watch can be a huge headache unless you know the exact anime you’re looking for.

The selection is amazing, but if they can’t fix at least one of their problems I might have to look for another specialty anime rental site.

Anime, Rental, RentAnime, Rent Anime, Online, AnimeNation, Anime Nation, Review

I did a post that talked about places to rent anime online. Since then I’ve used 2 of those services. Here is a short review of one service based on my experience with them.

Blockbuster

Blockbuster is known across the country as a family friendly video rental outlet. With a large chain of stores and the good sense to use those stores as a factor in it’s online rent by mail business, it has a few advantages going for it.

Pros

• Selection -

You can rent more than just anime from Blockbuster. You can get pretty much any mainstream movie delivered to your home.

• Real Stores -

Blockbuster uses it’s many locations to it’s advantage. You receive coupons every month for free in store rentals. You can also return your Blockbuster Online rentals to a store and exchange them for another movie.

Cons

• Weak Anime Selection -

Blockbuster has some mainstream anime. The more popular it is, the more likely they are to have it.

• Extremely Long Wait -

The wait times for anime can be extremely long. I’m pretty sure that they didn’t even have some of the anime I wound up removing from my list, they just haven’t bothered to update the listings. It seems that way anyway.

This doesn’t seem to be the case with newer movie releases, just older releases or specialty topics like anime.

• Family Friendly Means No Hentai -

I’m not even talking about porn. Everyone that might be interested in porn knows you can’t get it at Blockbuster. I’m talking about things like Kite or Mezzo Forte. You won’t be able to see the uncut versions of those movies because they contain a scene or two that are hard core.

Bottom Line

If you’re looking for an overall video rental account, Blockbuster is pretty darn good. Quick service and some coupons to use at your local store make it worth checking out.

If you want a rental account for specialty topics, such as anime, then you might be better off going with a rental company that specializes in what you’re looking for.

Just a couple little things I wanted to mention. Things I thought were pretty cool in anime news lately.

The Melancholy of Konata Izumi

As a bonus for the folk that buy the Lucky Star DVD sets in Japan one store is giving away a phone card with the Lucky Star cast cosplaying Haruhi. Freaky. I hope we get something like that over here when it’s released.

Go Speed Racer

Yahoo! has the first few minutes of the Speed Racer movie online. Here it is, but I’d suggest checking it out on the Yahoo! page in full size.

Better yet, see the movie.

Yeah, I need to go see that one. I’m really looking forward to it, but I just couldn’t go this weekend. Maybe I can see it before it comes out on DVD. I’d really like to see it on the big screen.

AnimeFansOnline has had a bit of trouble keeping up with the load lately, but it looks like that might be ending soon. Some work has been going on behind the scenes to improve the sites in the 451Press network.

It couldn’t happen at a better time. I’ve had a bit of trouble getting into AFO to post, but I’m sure that will be cleared up soon. To be honest the down time has given me a chance to work on FanaticSpace. I haven’t really had a chance to watch much anime the past few days anyway. I’ve been restructuring, and darn near rebuilding, my site.

Whew! That was close.

I tried to save this post and almost lost it due to the tech problems I was talking about. Guess there’s still some work to be done.

The movie casting game is still going on. There have been a couple of comments with some interesting casting suggestions for a Bleach live action movie.

Reminder

I’m using this to try out a grab bag giveaway. If you follow a couple of simple rules, you might get some free manga. Just leave a comment with your casting suggestions for a live action Bleach movie.

Repeat answers are allowed. I’m asking for your opinion. If you agree with someone else that’s cool with me. Don’t think you’re out of it because someone listed one of your answers already. This is about having fun after all.

If you want a shot at free stuff, then make sure to cast the following characters. You can also cast any others you want. These are the ones required for the grab bag.

• Ichigo Kurosaki

• Rukia Kuchiki

• Orihime Inoue

• Sado “Chad” Yasutora

• Uryu Ishida

• Kenpachi Zaraki

If you’re not interested in a chance at free manga, then don’t worry about the list. You can still drop in with your suggestions for a Bleach dream cast.

My Favorite Suggestions

A few of my favorite suggestions so far…

• Ikkaku - Jason Statham

• Yumichika - Orlando Bloom

• Urahara - Matthew McConaughey

So far this one has been nearly unanamous…

• Rukia - Christina Ricci

Future Casting Calls

I really hope this works out because I enjoy this kind of game. I’ve enjoyed reading the opinions and casting suggestions, but I’d like to see some more. I hope to do this again.

If you want to suggest an anime for the next Casting Call game, just let me know.

Anime, Opinions, Fun Stuff, Games, Contests, Manga, Free Stuff, Free Manga, Free, Live Action Anime, Casting, Bleach, Ichigo Kurosaki, Rukia Kuchiki, Orihime Inoue, Sado “Chad” Yasutora, Uryu Ishida, Kenpachi Zaraki, Ikkaku, Jason Statham, Yumichika, Orlando Bloom, Urahara, Matthew McConaughey, Christina Ricci

Story

Black Blood Brothers is the story of Jirou and Kotaru Mochizuki, brothers and vampires. Relations between the vampires, a.k.a. black bloods, and humans, a.k.a. red bloods, are tense. The tension is only made worse by the reappearance of a vampire bloodline that even other vampires are threatened by, the Kowloon Children.

The Kowloon Children are different from other vampires, they’re far more infectious. While other black bloods have to give their blood to humans to infect them and make them a vampire, the Kowloon Children only need to bite them. Everybody one of the Kowloon Children feeds on becomes one of the Kowloon Children. This makes them very dangerous, but even more dangerous is their ability to turn other vampires.

My Opinion

Black Blood Brothers takes an interesting view of vampires. By taking bits of folklore, movie magic and even making up brand new pieces to fill in the gaps a very cool vampire mythology is presented. I especially liked the ability of the Kowloon Children bloodline to turn with a bite while other bloodlines have to do things the old fashioned way. It gives the heroes of the story something to fight against, something better than the infighting between vampire bloodlines that you normally see.

This is a great anime for vampire fans, but you don’t need to be one to enjoy it. Black Blood Brothers is more of an action anime than a horror anime. It’s more like Blade than Near Dark (best vampire movie ever).

Extras

FUNimation gives us the basics. Clean opening and closing, trailers and TV promo spots. We also get commentary for each episode. That’s something you don’t see very often for anime, at least I don’t, so that’s kind of cool.

Is it worth it?

Black Blood Brothers is worth checking out. Vampire fans will love getting to know the different bloodlines and everyone else will enjoy the fights and comedy.

I’d recommend checking out Black Blood Brothers. This one might even be worth buying for the collection.

Anime, Reviews, DVD, FUNimation, Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Supernatural, Vampires, Bloodlines, Kowloon Children, Blade, Near Dark

Story

Mahoro is a combat model android built to fight off the alien invasion of Earth that no one even knows happened. Her preset life span is set to expire, but living a civilian life will lengthen the time she has left. Due to her service against the alien aggressors she’s given a choice. Continue fighting and expire in about a month or retire to a civilian life and live for another year.

Mahoro chooses to retire and become a maid, but that doesn’t mean the action is over. On her way to a job interview she stops a bus highjacking, then she almost kills her new employer.

Looks like the life of a maid has challenges of it’s own.

My Opinion

Mahoromatic - Automatic Maiden is your basic “battle android/maid comedy action fanservice ecchi drama“. What, you haven’t heard of that category of anime? ok, so maybe it’s not a fully fledged category of anime. I can really only think of a couple more anime like Mahoromatic. If you’ve enjoyed one of those then you’ll probably enjoy this one too.

I was a bit surprised by the amount of nudity and sexual humor. It wasn’t anything extremely offensive, but it might not be one you want to watch with the kids. Older teens? That’s probably ok, but as a parent (and or guardian) it’s your call.

Extras on the disc are pretty sparse. Clean opening, some art and trailers are all you get.

Is it worth it?

If you’re a fan of ecchi comedies with a little bit of action and a lot of boobs, then Mahoromatic - Automatic Maiden might be just right for you.

I recommend it.

Anime, Reviews, DVD, Action, Comedy, Romance, Science Fiction, Ecchi, Fanservice, Fan Service, Nudity, Sexual Humor, Maid, Boobs

Story

Kai was raised by the Ashrum organization, one of the 12 companies that control the world. After his mother dies he joins Ashurum’s special psychic unit. As one of the highly trained psychics called E’s, pronounced Ess (?), he’s able to support his sister who is undergoing medical treatment provided by Ashurum.

While on a dangerous assignment Kai goes missing in action and discovers that the world may be different than he once believed.

My Opinion

While E’s Otherwise seems to be made up of bits and pieces of anime I’ve seen before, it fits together well. If you like the shady organization that gets, presumably, overthrown by a once naive hero it has betrayed type of anime then E’s Otherwise would be perfect for your collection. It may be well done, but what it’s doing isn’t that original. The plot and characters are all things we’ve seen before.

The extras on the DVD follow the anime’s lead. Just what you’d expect and nothing really special. Clean opening and closing, promo spots and trailers for other anime by ADV. Remember when DVDs had cool stuff on ‘em?

Oh about the “E’s” thing. I think it stands for “Esper”, a psychic. I don’t know for sure, it wasn’t explained in the episodes I watched. That’s just my theory. If you know I’m wrong then let me know. I’d be interested to find out what it does mean.

Is it worth it?

E’s Otherwise may be covering old ground, but it does it well. There’s a reason those stories get told over and over, because they work.

I’d say this is a rental. There’s nothing on the DVD worth buying.

Anime, Reviews, Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Science Fiction, Supernatural, DVD, ADV, E’s Otherwise

Story

Three young men travel back in time in an attempt to stop a war that nearly annihilates the human race. Easier said than done. They didn’t arrive in the time they expected to. Now they only have 3 months to save the human race. All the while being hunted down by the genetically engineered monsters that started the war they’re trying to prevent.

My Opinion

Generator Gawl is a pretty solid anime from the late 90s. Sure there are a few things I can gripe about, and I will, but overall it’s a decent anime.

The art is a bit dated, but it’s not too bad. I don’t think the art detracts enough from the show to distract me from the story. The same can’t really be said about the English dub though. It’s not even a matter of bad voice acting, though a couple of ‘em did bug me. Nope, this is more of a sound quality issue. The voices don’t sound like they’re in the same environment that is shown on the screen. The best that can be said about it is that it makes me realize how much the English audio has improved. That makes me happy.

What the Generator Gawl anime does have going for it is action. The monsters look like classic examples of kaiju. It wouldn’t surprise me to see a movie made from this anime, rubber suits and all.

There’s also a bit of comic relief. Gawl doesn’t get along with the landlady’s daughter. Of course there was the whole perverted stalker misunderstanding, so it’s kinda understandable. Pretty standard stuff.

Is it worth it?

If you only like new anime, keep lookin’, you won’t be interested in this one. Generator Gawl shows it’s age, but if you can look past that it could be a nice reminder to the older anime fans about how far anime has come. Too bad you can’t change the past.

With some decent, though short, monster battles and a bit of humor Generator Gawl comes in as a rental.

Anime, Reviews, Action, Adventure, Drama, Science Fiction, Time Travel, Monsters, DVD, Generator Gawl, Generator Gawl Volume 1, ADV

Here it is folks. This is the first casting call post. If you missed the explanation of what’s going on here, then check out the previous post.

Everyone have fun with this one. I look forward to seeing your choices.

The anime to cast is…

Bleach

You can cast the role of any extra characters you want, but the characters I’m looking for are…

• Ichigo Kurosaki
• Rukia Kuchiki
• Orihime Inoue
• Sado “Chad” Yasutora
• Uryu Ishida

and because my g/f and I like him…

• Kenpachi Zaraki

These are the characters that you have to use if you want a shot at some free manga. If you don’t care about that, then ignore the list and cast your favorite characters.

Type of Casting

Serious: The actor that you think is best for the part.

Leave a comment with your dream cast for a big budget live action version of Bleach.

Anime, Opinions, Fun Stuff, Contests, Manga, Free Stuff, Free Manga, Free, Live Action Anime, Casting, Bleach, Ichigo Kurosaki, Rukia Kuchiki, Orihime Inoue, Sado “Chad” Yasutora, Uryu Ishida, Kenpachi Zaraki

Quite a few anime are being turned into live action movies, or have been recently. I thought it was about time I got your thoughts on the matter. I could do an opinion poll, but that discourages original answers. I could just ask you what you think, but you could do that on any post. I wanted to do something fun.

Time for a game.

How it works

I’ll select an anime. It may or may not have been made as a live action movie already.

Then I’ll ask you to cast the actors for the live action movie. Not the whole cast, just a few of the main characters. Though you can cast more characters from that anime if you’d like.

There are a couple of casting categories. Serious, Humorous, Hollywood and Anti-Casta

• Serious: The actor that you think is best for the part.
• Humorous: Joke casting, so go for the laughs.
• Hollywood: Who you think Hollywood would cast. This isn’t applicable if there has already been a Hollywood version, like Speed Racer.
• Anti-Casta: The actor that you think would be the worst possible choice.

I’ll let you know which casting category I’m looking for. You can do any of ‘em, but if you play along there might be something in it for you.

Why play along?

Free stuff.

I’ve got way too much manga sitting around that I’ll never read again. Stuff that I bought to review or just didn’t like. I’m not going to be reading it anymore, but you can.

I’ll pick a few of the comments I like best and they get free stuff. The free manga will be randomly selected. That means I just grab something. So don’t bother with “Can I have (random manga name) ?”, because it won’t work. Those clever or insightful enough to receive something will get whatever is on top of the pile.

What do you think?

I think this could be fun. Is there anything missing though? Should I make any changes before I post the first anime to cast?

Anime, Opinions, Fun Stuff, Contests, Manga, Free Stuff, Free Manga, Free, Live Action Anime, Speed Racer, Casting

D.Gray-Man is a good example of why I don’t like to give up on manga or anime. I’d tried to read it before but just couldn’t get into it. I don’t know what it was, but something put me off the first time. Since then I’ve read a couple of other manga that I’ve enjoyed. When I went back to D.Gray-Man this time it reminded me of some of those. Once I got into it, I didn’t want to stop reading.

Story

Innocence is rare, but in the world of D.Gray-Man it’s even more precious. In that world innocence is the name of a holy substance that allows exorcists to combat the evil akuma. Akuma are weapons created by the Millennium Earl to destroy humanity and the world.

Allen Walker is an exorcist. Allen is a human with the ability to use innocence as a weapon to fight the Millennium Earl and his army of akuma.

Can Allen and his friends survive long enough to defeat the Millennium Earl?

My Opinion

D.Gray-Man is a cool little horror comic with just a hint of steampunk. Some genuinely creepy moments are interspersed through a great action adventure story set in an alternate past. There are bits of humor here and there as well. There kinda has to be though, because the story would be a bit too sad otherwise.

The art does a good job telling the story. I really enjoyed the way it’s used to set the mood. The mood can change pretty quickly. If the art wasn’t used very carefully to convey those emotional cues, then the story would suffer. Katsura Hoshino has done a great job getting everything just right.

Is it worth it?

D.Gray-Man is worth picking up. Cool characters, action and a carefully constructed world make for a great story. I’d recommend giving this one a chance.

Manga, Reviews, Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Horror, Supernatural, Viz Media, Shonen Jump, Katsura Hoshino, D.Gray-Man, D Gray Man, Allen Walker, Innocence, Exorcists, Akuma, Millennium Earl

I have tried several times to watch the Ikki Tousen anime. The last time was a DVD I thought I’d removed from my rental list. The second Ikki Tousen DVD showed up in my mail and I figured I’d give it another chance. Maybe even write up a review. Bad idea. It’s just as bad as I remembered.

Story

Very loosely based on the Japanese translation of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Ikki Tousen tells the story of 7 high schools vying for power. The schools war against each other using fighters designated by the stones that they wear. Some of the students seem to be linked to the fates of the ancient warriors.

My Opinion

Sounds great, right? It’s not, at least not in my opinion. There is just a bit too much fan service. Instead of ancient battles being fought again and again throughout history, it’s a framework for panty shots and ripped clothing. It’s like being told the story of Ben-Hur, but when you watch the movie it’s the toga party scene from Animal House.

It’s pretty disappointing when you want more history and fewer boobs.

I want to like Ikki Tousen, I really do. I just can’t get past the nearly hentai nature of this anime. So far the only thing I really liked about Ikki Tousen are the toys. There is some very cool Ikki Tousen merchandise. Maybe the manga is better. I don’t know. I’ll pick up a copy of the manga and see if there are any redeeming qualities in there.

Is it worth it?

I’d say no, but if you like jiggle more than story in your anime you might feel differently. If you want a beat ‘em up anime with tons of fan service then rent Ikki Tousen and save your money for the toys.

Anime, Reviews, Action, Adventure, Comedy, Ecchi, Fan Service, Historical, Martial Arts, School, War, Ikki Tousen, Dragon Destiny, Romance of the Three Kingdoms

I’d caught an episode or two of Tactics on the SciFi Channel’s Ani-Monday programming block. It looked pretty good so I added the first DVD to my rental list. I might be changing my opinion of Ani-Monday. After checking out the DVD I had a few small gripes, read on to find out what they were.

Story

Kantaro is an author and an expert in folklore. Kantaro also has spiritual abilities that let him fight demons and monsters. He uses his knowledge and abilities to investigate demonic and monstrous activities. Kantaro isn’t alone. He has the help of Yoko, a fox demon, and Haruka the legendary “Demon Eating Goblin”.

My Opinion

I liked Tactics when I saw it on Ani-Monday, but I don’t think it was near the beginning of the story. I caught episodes where the viewers were expected to know the characters, and I didn’t. Even with that disadvantage I still enjoyed the anime.

I like the show even better now that I’ve seen the characters introduced and gotten to know them a little bit. I have a few complaints, but nothing major. Once again most of my complaints are directed at the DVD and not the anime.

The only thing I don’t like about the show has to do with voice acting. Even that is just a small casting preference. I think Vic Mignogna would have been better as Kantaro and Blake Shepard would have fit better as Sugino. No big deal.

My complaints about the DVD are, once again, the extras. Just from looking at the extra features menu you might think it was loaded. The only problem is, a lot of ‘em are pretty crappy. The worst of the bunch are probably the “Japanese Merchandise” ads and “Merchandise Information” extras. They’re just screens of text. Kinda like a magazine ad, but for stuff you can’t even buy. Take a look.

Is it worth it?

I’d recommend it. Tactics is a good anime, but don’t expect anything special from the special features on the DVD. Check it out on Ani-Mondays if you have the SciFi Channel.

Anime, Reviews, DVD, Manga Entertainment, Action, Comedy, Drama, Mystery, Supernatural, Tactics, Volume 1, Vic Mignogna, Blake Shepard

Just want to mention that I’ve seen the main character’s name spelled a few different ways. Since I don’t know which one is right, I’m going with Yusuke.

Story

When Kanenone Academy, an all boys school, decides to merge with a girls school things get interesting. A group of high school girls are bussed into the remote mountain location of Kanenone Academy for a test semester before the merger is official.

The first one off the bus is Midori. She can’t wait to find her true love Yusuke. The only problem is Yusuke has never seen her and doesn’t know who she is. Can their love survive this small problem?

My Opinion

I was expecting some sexual humor in Green Green , but not nearly this much. This is an anime that relies almost entirely on sexual humor. Green Green is pretty much made up of boob jokes, nudity and weird fetishes. There are a couple of storylines that aren’t about breast size, but they’re completely outnumbered.

If you’re ok with that amount of trashy humor, then Green Green can be entertaining. There were a few laugh out loud moments for me when I watched the 4 episodes on the DVD. There were also several moments where I was creeped out by some of the guys in this show too. I don’t know what the heck was up with Tenjin, and I probably don’t want to know.

The DVD extras are pretty sparse.

• Textless Opening.
• 2 Music Videos, like AMVs.
• TV Spots.
• An extra, 7 minute long, episode. (w/ nudity)

Is it worth it?

Green Green is a rental. If you like boob jokes a lot, then Green Green might be for you. If you’re not comfortable with sexual humor, then you should avoid Green Green.

Anime, Reviews, Comedy, Romance, Slice Of Life, Mature, DVD, Green Green , Volume 1, Boobs, Boob Jokes, More Boobs