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Sengoku Basara – Samurai Kings The Complete Collection Review

October 3, 2013

Sengoku Basara – Samurai Kings The Complete Collection
Studio: Production I.G
Publisher: Madman
Format: Blu-Ray (Reviewed), DVD
Release Date: 18th September 2013
Price: $69.95 – Available Here

Overview

There are a great deal of Anime series’ out there that try their hand at a storyline which takes place within a time in Japanese history where there is a great deal of war, those same series’ try their best to make history seem fun and interesting to the general populous, those same series’ don’t always hit their mark when it comes down to the crunch. It’s only once in a while that an Anime like Sengoku Basara comes around that kicks arse and blows people away.

Sengoku Basara was originally a game, and still is, by Capcom. It’s a hack and slash title that has been brought into the Anime world in a way like very few game-to-anime titles have. After having the two seasons and the movie individually released a while back, Madman has donned their Samurai armour and released the Sengoku Basara Collection which has both seasons of the series and the Anime movie; Last Party (you can read the review here). Read on to see my full thoughts on this, seemingly, incredible release.

Story

I ask that you bare with me during this part of the review. Considering that this release holds both the two seasons of Anime and the movie, there are three big storylines to cover. I’m going to try my best to supply a general explanation for the entire series without dragging on too much. One thing you have to know about the story behind Sengoku Basara is that it is loosely based around actual events throughout history, more specifically; The Sengoku Period. Real people throughout history are main characters within this series, people like Sanada Yukimura and Date Masamune who just so happen to be, what I would call, the series’ main characters. Season one of the series covers the almost-rule of Oda Nobunaga who sought to unify Japan but not in a way that would seem “appropriate”, he intended to rule with an iron fist.

Within the first series all of the characters are introduced and a lot of the relationships between them are built, especially the one between Date Masamune and Sanada Yukimura. The second series covers the rule of Toyotomi Hideyoshi who is, basically, the next man who intends to do the same as Oda Nobunaga. Within the series he has no real connection with Nobunaga which shows that it is not entirely historically accurate. The movie takes place a fair while after the series’ completion and details the Battle of Sekigahara which is an actual battle that determined the next Shogun of Japan. The two characters most focused on go head to head for different reasons; one intends to unify Japan in a, mostly, non-hostile way whereas the other only seeks revenge for the death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

Sengoku Basara does a fantastic job at making an audience grow an interest in Japanese history, I know that is the effect it had on me as I constantly had my laptop on hand ready to search the names of any new characters that were introduced, I also think that adds to the experience of Sengoku Basara. They do say knowledge is power. While the names of the characters are sometimes forgettable, only because they are very traditional Japanese and can sometimes be confusing, the characters themselves are incredibly memorable. They also interact very well throughout the story, each of the characters have a “counterpart” somewhere within another army and it’s interesting to see them interact as the story goes on.

Some would say that the story is incredibly simple, that it is just battle after battle but what they havn’t thought of is the fact that, first of all, it is set in the “Warring States Period” and each part of the story was based on real events. To me the series has done a good job at throwing the history of Japan into the new age and while I wouldn’t study the Anime series as a replacement for school work I would use it as a base for further investigation and research. I’ve seen a few of “these types” of Anime series’ in my time and none do it better than this.

Now while I continuously talk about the historical accuracy I want you all to know that it is only “based” on historical events and, yes, a lot of it is accurate yet the development team did intend for it to be an over-the-top and action-packed Anime so you will see a great deal of flaming swords, ground-breaking screams and even a cyborg with a jet pack. I know it sounds odd but even the cyborg, Honda Tadakatsu, was put in the same position as his real-life counterpart and served under the same man both in reality and within the Anime so they have really done their research and have hit the nail on the head with names, dates, military positions and battles.

I’m no history buff so I can never be 100% certain of all these facts but, as I said, I did do a lot of research throughout my time watching the series. Before you tackle Sengoku Basara I suggest you, one, watch the series all in order because each iteration does follow it’s predecessor and, two, go in expecting an extremely romanticised version of what would have happened back then. Don’t go in expecting it to be a great deal of convoluted story but don’t go in expecting it to be 100% accurate, Sengoku Basara lies comfortably somewhere in-between.

Visuals

Whenever I speak about good-looking Anime titles from now on I’ll be talking about Sengoku Basara and it’s incredible animation. This Anime is a couple years old yet it looks as good, if not better, than a whole lot of the Anime titles we’re seeing released in the present. Not only does the animation look fluid and fantastic but the motionless backdrops have almost the same effect on the audience as the animation. The fight scenes escalate to such incredible levels and it allows the animators to go wild with their imaginations, between the sparks of two swords clashing and the colourful flames of each individual character, it makes to be visually stimulating beyond believe. Costuming is done in a great way in Sengoku Basara; each army has their own colours and their own small details that seperate them from the others.

The Leaders and the Generals on the other hand are incredibly unique in aesthetics and even in the weapons they choose to use. Armours that look like leather jackets to horses decked out to resemble motorcycles , Sengoku Basara oozes style. This series stands visually in the same way it stands story-wise; some aspects are extremely accurate like Date Masamune’s crescent moon helmet and eye patch and Meiji’s (A vagabond character) Cloud-like buster sword. It all fits in a way that doesn’t entirely seem right but it, kind of, “just is”. Some things do become too over the top but by the time they come along, audiences are already used to the style of the series so it ends up working out in the end. CGI is used throughout the series mixed in with traditional animation yet it is not used enough for one to get annoyed at. It is used more for background characters so as to put the focus on the main head-to-head battle.

Audio

This is on much the same level as every other aspect of the series, especially the voice acting! Sound effects like swords clashing and fires blazing are great and work simply well with the series in it’s entirety but it is not so over the top as to have a bigger mention in the review. What is fantastic is the voice acting in the series, I’ve seen it in both English and in Japanese and the two are, basically, on par. The Japanese does it better than the English for a couple fundamental reasons: One is the fact that the series IS based in Japan so it’s only natural for the Japanese language to fit the series more and two is that, for the most part, some characters are speak quite traditionally and that doesn’t entirely translate well into English, that’s not to say the voice actors are bad, it’s just the dialogue that limits them, fortunately it is only like this for a few character.

A lot of characters speak extremely traditionally yet other say things like “Let’s GUN it!” and some refer to each other “Dude” so it’s not entirely traditional. This relates to what I said above; because all aspects of the series are divided evenly between traditional and crazy, it tends to work extremely well. This is no different for the audio. The music is also quite good and treads those same lines; one moment it could be traditional Japanese music as the camera pans over a landscape and the next minute it could be fast rock music that highlights the intensity of a major fight scene.

Extras

I have, up until this day, never seen a release with more extras than this. It has a fairly long list and the items on those list are quite extensive. Not only does it have a short film about the making of the movie “Sengoku Basara: Last Party” it also has things like “Sengoku Basara II Katakura-kun” which is a short list of even shorter episodes that are done in traditional ink-looking style mixed with that of the chibi style and is basically a light hearted “side-series” to the main series which, although not canon, does prove to be fairly fun.

There’s a whole bunch of episodes which have audio commentary from the cast, two different chibi-style short series’ based off of the main series, a few trailers and commercials both for Sengoku Basara and other Anime titles, text-less opening and closing sequences and a small feature called Four-Panel Theatre: Another Last Party. There’s enough extra content here to keep you going for hours and hours on end, this release continues long after you’ve finished the series so if you do pick up this release I suggest you go through the extras, there’s a lot of really great stuff to be seen.

Overall

I think that the Sengoku Basara – Samurai Kings Complete Collection is a perfect release. Now obviously this kind of thing’s target audience is fans of Anime so I’m going to speak directly to you here: You will love it! Simple. Not only does it have a nice story and even better characters it also has some of the greatest animation I’ve ever seen in an Anime outside of a movie release like the Rebuild of Evangelion series. There’s so much style to keep you attached to the series and, if I’m going to talk about the release itself, it is well worth the money. I guarantee this Anime will make you enjoy history in a way you probably never thought you could. I would highly suggest it to any Anime fan and, in fact, any fan of Japanese history. It has so much to offer and it is definitely on my list of all time favourite Anime and I think it will be on your list too.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

A.R.E.S. Extinction Agenda EX Out For XBLA

Joe Morgan

October 3, 2013

Aksys Games, the publishers behind the recent Hakuoki: Memories of the Shinsengumi, have announced that their newest game, A.R.E.S. Extinction Agenda EX, has been released for the Xbox Live Arcade in North America, Europe (including Australia and New Zealand) and Japan.

Developed by ORiGO Games and Extend Studios, A.R.E.S. is an action-packed side-scrolling platform game originally released on Steam in 2009. Redesigned specially for the Xbox Live Arcade, the new release features awesome graphics, new bosses, new stages, a new character, and much more content.

Folks interested in checking out the Xbox Marketplace website for the game can go here.

Medaka Box Added To J-Stars Victory Vs Lineup

Frank Inglese

October 3, 2013

It has been announced, once again through the Weekly Shonen Jump Magazine, that two more characters from a whole new series have been added to the, already massive, lineup of characters from the upcoming action brawler J-Stars Victory Vs. from the Manga Medaka Box have been added to the fighting game’s roster. We know one thing for sure at this point in time; Medaka will be a playable character whereas Misogi will be a support character only.

- Medaka Kurokami and Misogi Kumagawa - — – Medaka Kurokami and Misogi Kumagawa –

Medaka is said to be able to move at the speed of light while in her Ranshin mode within the game and Misogi will weaken opponents who are hit with his screw weapons. The game is set to be released on the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita systems and while there’s no exact release date as of yet we should be hearing of one very soon.

Attack On Titan: The Last Wings Of Mankind Cover Unveiled

Frank Inglese

October 3, 2013

We’re getting closer and closer to the release of the Attack On Titan 3DS game; The Last Wings of Mankind, that’s obvious but now we’ve been given the Official Japanese Boxart of the game and it’s finally hit me that the game isn’t THAT far away. Now onto the point of this article: There are two things I want to outline and I also want you to take note of them while you scan the image itself. The main thing that sticks out is that it is shown to have a D:17+ rating. It seems like this game isn’t just going to be a typical and basic 3DS game, considering it is an Attack On Titan game I’m glad that it has been given this rating, this means that there will be no holding back when it comes to story and action.

- Attack On Titan: The Last Wings Of mankind - — **– Attack On Titan: The Last Wings Of mankind –**

The second thing I noticed was that the cover art looks a lot more like the Manga than the Anime, now whether or not this means it is going to continue the story past the Anime and into the Manga is not confirmed but I’d like for it to turn out that way. This is a big case of wishful thinking because it’s not often that we see something like this. The game is being both developed and published by Spike Chunsoft and is set for a release on the 5th of December just in time for the holiday season.

Two Tribes Classic Titles Announced for Wii U

Jamie Laike Tsui

October 3, 2013

Riding on the success of Toki Tori 2 on Wii U, Two Tribes is releasing three classic games for the Wii U. Toki Tori, EDGE, and Rush will be made available for the Wii U over the next three months. The games will cost €3.99 each. A special deal during the launch will drop the price down to €1.99. The games are all optimized to run with the Wii U GamePad.

Toki Tori is a puzzle platformer. It supports off TV play, touch screen controls, and the Portal 2 ARG content. EDGE is a platformer that supports off-TV play at 60fps at 1080p resolution and includes the EDGE Extended content. Rush is a 3d puzzle that supports off-TV play, touch screen controls, the Portal 2 ARG content, and can be played with just the GamePad.

Dirty Jobs Down Under Review

Kane Bugeja

October 3, 2013

Dirty Jobs Down Under
Studio: Pilgrim Studios
Publisher: Beyond Entertainment
Format: DVD
Release Date: 2nd October 2013
Price: $15.95 – Available Here

Overview
It’s only natural to complain about your job. That being said, some people have a better claim than others. From capturing deadly snakes in the city of Adelaide to mining for precious opals in the hot and fly ridden Coober Pedy, work can be tough. Something Mike Rowe learns as he searches for Dirty Jobs Down Under.

Dirty-Jobs-Down-Under-02 — **The trick is to not get bitten**

Story
This is a show about jobs. Not jobs that people think about mind you, but ones that are important regardless…also dirty. In this season, Mike Rowe ventures down under and checks out the strange and colourful vocations that Australia has to offer. As with the rest of the show, Mike Rowe takes part in the action, learning how to perform these various jobs and living the life of these unique workers. For a short period of time at least. Though each job undertaken is by no means common in Australia, they do not exist at all in the United States. As a result, the show spends a majority of its time in stereotypically Australian places, such as crocodile infested creeks and areas of ridiculous heat.

Venturing to the city of Adelaide, Mike and crew experience a day in the life of a snake catcher. Being the naturally safe habitat that Australia is, these slithering serpents venture into right into populated areas. Amongst these creatures is the Eastern Brown Snake, the second most venomous snake on the planet. As Mike Rowe finds out over the course of his snake catching quest, these poisonous snakes occasionally make home visits. Who you gonna call? If snakes aren’t enough for you, the episode also explore the majesty of the cane toad, a scourge of Australia. Introduced to alleviate a bug problem, cane toads soon spread across the country, destroying crops…they also completely ignored the bugs they were brought to kill. Genius. Being the serious folk Australians are, one may view one of the magnificent cane toad races. If this isn’t your speed there is also a program to hunt them down, at which point they are frozen, stored, then liquefied into fertiliser…it is called dirty jobs after all.

Dirty-Jobs-Down-Under-03 — **Revolutionising filmmaking one cane toad at a time**

Episode Two heads along the road to Coober Pedy which, as constantly noted, is a fairly long drive. There’s even a song about it. Once there, the crew explores the nature of opal mining. More dangerous than dirty, years of searching for these precious stones have left Coober Pedy littered with holes, a fact one cameraman discovers first hand…leg first…he’s alright though. Just as with any mineral hidden within the depths of the Earth, opal mining is a hit and miss profession. Though worth a lot of money, the rarity of said mineral is a deterrent for the majority of people. Also noted in Coober Pedy is a unique golf course and the interesting green keeper, who doesn’t have any green to keep. The interactions with said green keeper also note the details of documentary making itself, such as finding people to co-operate with the show…and know what television is.

This unintended exploration into the importance of communication, is also expressed clearly and painfully during episode three. From the outset, the crew’s visit to Arnhem Land is comprised of confusion. Not enough cars, no agreement to film, wrong job, wrong place…it’s definitely interesting. Though an episode is salvaged, it is somewhat less…polished than the rest. That being said, it does suit the shows style, being a more relaxed documentary series than most. Which helps when dealing with some of the most laid back workers you’ll ever see, like those who capture crocodiles for a living, like it’s no big deal…it kind of is. Crocodiles are dangerous.

Dirty-Jobs-Down-Under-04 — **Is there such thing as a fear of depths?**

Visuals
Scenic. It’s Australia after all. A majority of the show takes place in the beautiful Australian outback, showcasing the wonder of the country…and a lot of dangerous animals. As such, the documentary uses a lot of establishing shots of the environment, depicting the often harsh climate in which these jobs take place. One particular technique utilised in the series involved the camera remaining motionless whilst the host moved off screen. This was generally employed when entering or leaving an area, to express a sense of travel…or when there was a funny sign to look at.

Being a documentary, camera angles are important to the show, providing different perspectives and keeping the visual material interesting. This is expressly noted during one quite humorous scene, wherein the close up camera is installed rather poorly…and too late. Another similar incident notes how such a camera would provide an intense, interesting view of a crocodile being captured…if it was it actually turned on. When this approach actually works, it allows the host to express the intricacies of a particular task as he experiences it first hand.

Dirty-Jobs-Down-Under-05 — **Good ol’ fashioned stingray spearing**

Audio
Being a documentary style series, Dirty Jobs uses audio to back up the situation being depicted on screen. Immediately setting up the Australian locale, didgeridoos can be heard during the title sequence. On the long drive to Coober Pedy, Mike note his penchant, though lack of skill, for writing songs. On such melody is “On the Road to Coober Pedy”. Sung over the course of the episode, it denotes the trials and tribulations of a ten hour drive through flat, barren scenery…It’s not the most positive song.

Also due to its nature as a documentary, the series is narrated by Rowe after the fact. This provides insight into the processes of filming, as well as the numerous problems faced when trekking across Australia. The narration also crosses over with the soundtrack at certain points for humorous effect. Rowe notes that the ominous music playing must mean that something scary is about to happen.

Dirty-Jobs-Down-Under-06 — **Removing the ropes seems a little counter intuitive**

Overall
Dirty Jobs Down Under is a not so serious look at some of the more obscure jobs you’ll probably never come across. In this special Down Under Version, the jobs aren’t so much dirty as they are unique, probable won’t find cane toad hunting anywhere else…glad Australia’s got that going for it. There’s singing, jokes and enough mishaps to fill a blooper reel, were they not already included in the show. That being said, the series does provide a unique perspective into the road less travelled…probably because it’s a really long trip. Or because of the snakes. Or the can toads. There’s crocodiles too…

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

Blue Exorcist Volume 1 Review

Kane Bugeja

October 3, 2013

Blue Exorcist Volume 1
Studio: A-1 Pictures
Publisher: Madman
Format: DVD, Blu-Ray – Reviewed on DVD
Release Date: 18th September 2013
Price: $24.95 – Available Here

Overview
Throughout the ages people have feared the darkness, worried about what lurks out of sight. Monsters, ghosts…Demons. Most demean it as superstition…but what would happen if the creatures of myth were real? What would you do if the underworld came after you? What if there was more to you than you knew?

Blue-Exorcist-Volume-1-02 — **You should see the other guy…**

Story
Raised in a church along with his twin brother Yukio, Rin Okumura lives a fairly normal life. Not a fan of school, he’s doing his best to find a job, to get his father off his back if nothing else. However, everything changes with a revalation, brought about by a lost scarf. Sort of, it is the first glimpse into the truth though. Helping a young girl retrieve said scarf, Rin notices an odd creature latched on to it. Though this is nothing compared to what follows. A bully whom he had dealt with the day before returns with a thirst for vengeance…an inhuman thirst. Far more twisted and sadistic than before, it all becomes clear when Rin’s father appears and performs an exorcism. Terrifying, but clear.

With demons gunning for him, Rin learns a horrifying truth: the identity of his father. Slightly more intense than an adoption, he discovers his dear old daddy is…well-known, in the worst sense of the word. Not just a demon, but the demon’s demon, the Prince of Darkness: Satan. At this revelation, Rin is understandably freaked out. After making it back to the church, naturally barricaded against the forces of the underworld, Rin’s father reveals to him a sword sealed with demonic power. His demonic power. Should he unsheath the sword, he will cease to be human, though his potential will be released. One hell of a choice.

Blue-Exorcist-Volume-1-03 — **…now you should run**

With his life turned upside down, Rin and his father get into a fairly intense arguement, with terrible repercussions. In an emotional turn of events, Rin’s father decides to enforce a little family reunion…by using his adoptive father as a vessel. The body count is high. It is revealed that the onslaught of demons desire to bring the newly revealed demonspawn home, to take his rightful place alongside the Devil. Quite understandably, Rin does not want to travel to the realm of demons and, with no options left unsheathes the Kurikara blade, activating his latent demon abilities.

After the life changing events of the days prior, the little heir-to-hell vows to go against the wills of his demonic father and, I quote, “Beat the shit out of Satan.” With that, the anti-christ becomes an exorcist in training. Evil did not see that one coming. Or good for that matter. With his goal set, the series begins to delve into Rin’s not so normal school life. Unable to reveal his true origins, he must prove himself worthy to the other students and his teachers. Due to his generally laid back persona, this becomes somewhat difficult. Rin also buts heads with a fellow student who has also made it his life’s goal to destroy Satan…small world.

Blue-Exorcist-Volume-1-04 — **A sure fire sign that something strange is happening**

Visuals
Being based in a world where demons dwell among humans, the visuals of the series can get…intense. Case in point, possessed humans. Being imbued with the horrible spirits of the underworld, possessed characters tend to have aggressive faces, constantly twisted into horrid snarls. Pronounced fangs, piercing eyes, and this is all before they transform…Oh yeah, they can transform. Being the biblical creatures they are, expect horns, claws and all of that generally evil imagery that denotes demons. Those not able to withstand said demon possession, have a much quicker demise. Insufficient vessels tend to bleed…a lot…from their face. This creates a pretty powerful visual scene, especially when the demon ignores the damage to said vessel.

Lesser demons also appear scattered across the screen, creating a mismatched force with a strong visual impact. This cacophonous grouping of creatures immediately expresses the forces of evil as a chaotic group that will literally crawl over one another to reach their prize. This is noted in the seemingly sentient demonic fungus that spreads over everything like a disease. Even mushrooms are dangerous and scary…

Blue-Exorcist-Volume-1-05 — **Better the devil you…no, this is bad either way**

Audio
As can be assumed from a series that focuses on Biblical demons, the music behind some of the more intense scenes is notably dramatic. Certain moments are accompanied by some operatic vocalisation, immediately adding a grand sense to the scene, rightfully so when you’re dealing with demons forcing their way into the human realm.

The English dub of Blue Exorcist does an excellent job of in keeping up with the intensity of the visuals. The emotional range of the characters helps to sell the plot as a whole, creating memorable moments of dialogue and aiding in the creation of characters that occurs early in an anime series. The demons are also set apart from human characters through the use of a voice filter. This gives them an inherently dark voice, distorted from the human voices in the series. It also helps in personifying the demons

Extras
Blue Exorcist is fairly reasonable in its selection of extra features, especially for only five episodes. The most notable extra is the Ura-Ex bonus anime shorts. Running for about a minute each, these little side stories exist for their humourous look at, in this case, Yukio. Also included is previews of each episode in the volume as narrated by the monster of the week, once again a more humourous presentation than normal. The DVD also includes the Japanese trailers for the series, along with textless versions of the opening theme “Core Pride” and ending theme “Take Off”.

Blue-Exorcist-Volume-1-06 — **Evil comes in all shapes and sizes**

Overall
Blue Exorcist kicks off fairly fast and powerfully. Within two episodes it jumps from punk kid trying to hold down a job, to the son of the Devil enrolling in a demon hunting academy. One hell of a shift. The series itself is pretty intense in its representation of possession and varied in its notions of demons, immediately creating an abstract and interesting world. This being said, the Volume 1 collection kind of just ends. Only containing five episodes, the series pauses on a fairly regular episode. The series does subtly hint at some plot threads running in the background, though nothing revolutionary, at least not yet. All in all, Blue Exorcist Volume 1 is a great introduction into what’s looking to be an awesome series. If the main complaint is that there aren’t enough episodes, it must be doing something right. Probably the exorcists…and demons…it’s all cool really.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

The Eccentric Family Plush Toys Get Teased On Twitter

Frank Inglese

October 3, 2013

Look at these guys...so full of "idiot blood"... — **Look at these guys…so full of “idiot blood”…**

Are you Human, Tengu or Tanuki? I guess it doesn’t matter because all mythological races will be extremely excited to hear about “The Eccentric Family” Anime plush toy range that was only recently teased on the series’ Official twitter account! It was announced/teased during a special event in Japan where the last episode of the series was streamed, so far we’ve only been given a glimpse of two character plush toys; Yajiro in his “Frog In The Well” form and Yasaburo in his Tanuki form which you can see in the image just below:

What can he do? I guess he's just a frog in a well... — **What can he do? I guess he’s just a frog in a well…**

The Anime series has just finished and already we’re seeing glimpses of merchandise, this is fantastic! Although this is the only picture that has been released it has also been said that a line of rubber straps for phones and what not are in the works as we speak, I for one am hoping for some more characters to be released in plush/Tanuki form, seeing how good they look in the picture above just makes me want to see what the rest of the cast would look like. As of right now there are no prices nor a release date, this is your average tease but I think we should celebrate it differently, I think this calls for a belly slap…DONK!

Death Sentence #1 Preview

Frank Inglese

October 3, 2013

I can take a wild guess and say that a great deal of you comic fans out there have been hearing a lot about this new comic “Death Sentence“. So far reviewers are loving it and I can see this one being a huge hit! Well next week marks the release of it’s first issue and so many people are extremely excited for this, including the series’ creators Monty Nero and Mike Dowling. I actually had the incredible privileged to interview the series writer Monty Nero, you can check out the interview by clicking on the link here.

If you’re one of those people who HASN’T heard of “Death Sentence” here is publisher Titan Comics’ Official Synopsis of the new series:

The clock is ticking – and three powerful lives are running out!
Given incredible superpowers – and six months to live – by the sexually-transmitted G+ Virus, three Londoners kick back against the spectre of death with everything they’ve got. Washed-up indie guitarist Weasel tries to make amends for a life that’s totally f*****d – but changing the direction of a lifetime can be murder!
Comedian and media personality Monty tests the limits of his new powers of persuasion, with horrifying results… and, after her explosive activation, Verity is on the run from the government – but can her nascent abilities keep her one step ahead of a crack team of GCHQ operatives?
Don’t miss the chance to get on board this critical smash-hit right now – it’s the future of superpowered storytelling!

“Death Sentence” Issue One of Six will be released next week on the 9th of October. It is being published and released by our friends over at Titan Comic and will be sold for $3.99 at every good comic book store around the country. Once again, “Death Sentence” is a comic book written by Monty Nero and illustrated by Mike Dowling that is set to blow audiences minds with it’s extremely original storyline and the events within it. Like usual we have a few preview images of the comic that you saw just above in a little gallery but we also have a very cool motion comic trailer for the series for you all to check out below, so get on it!

Pac-Man And The Ghostly Adventures: Adventure Begins Review

Frank Inglese

October 3, 2013

Pac-Man And The Ghostly Adventures: Adventure Begins
Studio: 41 Entertainment
Publisher: Beyond Entertainment
Format : DVD
Release Date: 2nd October 2013
Price: $15.98 – Available Here

Overview

The age we live in is slowly filling with remakes of old shows or games in the attempts to make the latest generation of children interested in the classics. We see this a lot with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Transformers, Thunder Cats and now; Pac-Man. I feel as though these things never really stuck, maybe because kids don’t have that great of an attention span and maybe because these remakes just aren’t hitting the mark. Pac-Man And The Ghostly Adventures is somewhere in-between those two things, it fluctuates between good and bad, but ultimately…well, read on to find out.

Story

The story follows Pac who is a young “man” that goes to school and leads a fairly normal life, well, as normal as being a yellow sphere can be. He and his two other Pac-like friends just seem to be cruising through school the best they can, one day young Pac gets forced into a maze (epic throwback to the games) by a school bully who intends to scare him by dressing up as a ghost, seems like people don’t believe in ghosts in this world. Well Pac runs through the maze worried he’ll never make it out alive, he happens to stumble on ancient ruins, he literally stumbles onto them which unlocks the portal to the underworld which releases an army of ghosts upon the city. It just so happens that these are the ghosts of enemy soldiers that died in the Pac-war many years ago, the soldiers are lead by their king Betrayus. Turns out that Pac is the key to defeating the ghosts because he is the last surviving Yellow Pac-Worlder, and they happen to be the only ones able to stop Betrayus before he rules the Pac-world. Here’s the all over vibe you get from the story; it’s very basic, very convoluted and is kind of a cop-out.

I say this because Pac-Man never had a story and, honestly, never needed a story. I enjoy that, throughout the story, they throw back to the games a great deal, introducing characters like Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde. I understand why they did that and it was very well done. The thing I didn’t like was that they set up this basis that there was a great war and many died and Pac’s parents were the mighty heroes, the first two episodes seem real promising, then they remind you it’s a children’s cartoon by adding a “plan of the week” way of storytelling alongside silly quips and immature jokes like farting or burping. I can see why the kids would like it, I honestly can, and I’m not going to take too many points away because I’m clearly not their targeted audience, it’s just something I have to point out. What kept me watching was the way they made reference to the games, that may have been the only good aspect of it for me. Making reference to the maze and to the ghosts and to the only named characters in the games was a good move by the production staff because I can imagine adults watching this with their children and understanding some of the more adult aspects. Like I mentioned above, it has potential but at the end of the day it is still a cartoon for kids and they had to cater to their target audience. Simple as that. I guess I left the series wanting more but that could’ve just been because I went into the series expecting more out of it, God knows why though.

Visuals

I’m going to straight out say that the visuals were “top notch”. They honestly were! The series relies solely on CG animation which isn’t a bad thing when they do it as well as the production team did here. The animation was smooth, the characters mouth and body movements matched the voice actors and it looked great! The characters were designed well, everyone was mostly-spherical and smooth but they did a good job highlighting Pac-Man above all the other citizens, not only was he the only yellow one around but it was things like his shoes which had little Pac-Men on it that highlighted him even more. I literally have no quarrels with the way it came across visually. Pretty much perfect.

Audio

The audio was also great, apart from the incredibly cheesy opening theme that seemed like they pulled right out of the 80s…I suppose they did it intentionally, it just wasn’t good at all. The voice acting was good, I’m sure the voice actors had a lot more in them but considering the roles they were playing, they pretty much had to stick with the cheesy one-liners and the silly script. Once again, I can’t take points away because it IS a kids show. What I did like was the way they recycled all the old sounds from the game, like the Pac-Man dying sound was used when Pac collapsed from exhaustion or how every time Pac ate something it was the same “wakka wakka” he would do in the game. They definitely did THAT well!

Overall

This show is a fantastic show for children to watch alongside their parents that are familiar with Pac-Man, it has a lot to offer to both sides be it the nostalgic value or the silly value that kids seem to be real into. It’s story is convoluted but, once again, I’m sure the team saw no need in putting more effort into the story considering none of their targeted audience would pay attention to it anyway. It is NOT for people in between. As a young adult I really wasn’t into this at all and while I did play Pac-Man as a kid, everyone has, it just didn’t offer anything to me that I could take away from it. As unfortunate as that sounds, it’s true. Look, just for the record, it’s a great show for kids because it’s nonsense wrapped in toilet humour and the young ones will love it, so in that regard I’m going to say the development team really hit the nail on the head.

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