DeeJay

Manga UK do it again...., 24 Nov 2012

With another disappointing release. Not to sound too cynical but Manga really have a habit of promising the world and failing to deliver. Ninja Scroll is one of my favourite ever Animes and it deserved the ultimate version, this falls way short.

First problem, albeit not the biggest one but still needs to be mentioned; the aspect ratio is '16:9 pillarboxed' which means big black borders down the sides of the screen. This I can almost forgive as Ninja Scroll was in 4:3, and when it was released on DVD in widescreen people complained about the stretched picture. It's not an easy compromise but there you go. The DVD version included is also the same ratio.

Transfer… Read more

A good start....., 23 Nov 2012

At 1hr 10 mins the first in a trilogy of Berserk movies/OVA's is over all too quickly, truth be told, disappointingly quick. Midway though after Guts joins Griffiths the story skips 3 years and we are just left to wonder about what adventures they had in that time; I cant help but feel that an extra 30 mins would have covered this quite well. As it is, at times, it feels more like bullet points from a long running Manga. I am hoping that as a TV show already preceded this, they are simply flying through what has already been done before to get to where the TV series ended, and where the Manga has continued. If each OVA is only 70 mins long, its all going to feel a tad rushed… Read more

Bland Broken Blade, 11 Oct 2012

I had heard some good things about this Anime so had it pre-ordered and watched it on release day. 4 months later I finally finished it. This was not because it had a Naruto/Bleach amount of episodes, far from it, there are only 6 50 minute episodes, it was because it was so dull.

The characters are all bland and fit into their stereotypical roles, and aside from the action sequences - which are very well done - there is nothing there of real note. Storyline is basic at best, the script has no real substance and the voice used for the main character in the English dub doesnt fit at all.

The Bluray does look great, but it's certainly style over substance and pales in… Read more