DVD Review - Voices of a Distant Star

Definitely a very different type of mecha piece - and sadly just a one-off 25 min OVA project.....But ohhhhhh, what a project it was!

With technology being what it is today, a solo anime project may not be quite the extreme oddity - but in 2003....That's right, I'm talking about Makoto Shinkai's "Voices of a Distant Star."

DVD Review - Patlabor: The Movie and Patlabor 2

I wouldn't normally do a review like this - but as I watched both Patlabor: The Movie and Patlabor 2 back to back again this weekend, it seemed to make sense.  This time around, I'm really interested in reviewing these more as police procedural movies that include mechs.  To be perfectly honest, as far as this month goes - I'm just too lazy busy to watch a whole season of a mecha show - so my selection of mecha feature films to choose from is a little more limited.

I'd heard references to these movies for quite a while before I finally got around to picking them up on DVD a number of years ago.  Of course, I don't believe the full series was available at that time on DVD, but might have been an out-of-print issue or something similar (see also the original Vampire Hunter D).  Sometimes I also hold out on picking something up if the reviews bring up issues like the lack of a Japanese audio track or very poor audio/video quality.

DVD Review - Welcome to Irabu's Office (Complete Series)

Well, this anime series is very different from almost every other series I've watched before.

The eleven episode series is a very unique sort of proposition.  The psychiatrist Irabu Ichiro analyzes a variety of patients over the course of the series as they are drawn to his office.  These range from a man with a permanent erection to a yakuza underboss afraid of sharp objects and an investigative reporter with OCD.  One of the catches to the show though is that the entire show takes place over a 9 or 10 day period in December - and each episode covers roughly the same period of time...so starting from the first episode you also see some of the different characters crossing paths with one another - unaware of some of the issues being addressed or their interconnectedness.  There's no overarching plot or conflict, just a series of characters addressing their issues - although the final episode does close things out a little more clearly.

Blu-Ray Review - Moonrise Kingdom

My first *full*/complete viewing of Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom since I first had the opportunity to catch it in the theater in Portland when my ship was there for the Rose Festival in 2012.

Anderson is rightfully recognized as an auteur and his style in this film is instantly recognizable if you've had the chance to watch any of his previous films.  He also revisits very familiar themes - particularly familial issues and relationships - failed ones, new ones, renewing old ones.  While clearly hitting some potentially very painful edges - for the characters - or the viewers - he's able to bring his characters to address them appropriately (for the most part) - and without the use of too much deus ex machina (also for the most part).

Sam the orphan Khaki Scout goes AWOL from his troop to run away with Suzy, the lonely, misunderstood daughter of two bickering lawyers (Frances McDormand and Bill Murray).  Enlisted in the search to find the two of them are the mismatched remainder of Sam's troop, his scout leader (Edward Norton), the local police officer (Bruce Willis) and Social Services (Tilda Swinton) - right as a massive storm is about to break out - as narrated by Bob Balaban.