Last Exile: Fam, The Silver Wing


Giant airship battles, feisty flying cuties... Yep, Last Exile's back.

A long time ago, in a Galaxy Far, Far Away... I was a younger Otaku who guzzled anime like soda. During that time, Gonzo was the studio often in the spotlight, and Last Exile was one of their classics. This series, full of cloudy worlds and warring airship fleets surely captured the minds of countless anime fans, mixing steampunk with mystical powers, light-hearted adventure (initially) with more dark, serious drama. Truth be told, I need to re-watch the series again to remember all the details, but it's still the first title I quote when I want to bring to mind awesome anime. So now, the sequel, Last Exile: Fam, the Silver Wing, is here, airing on Animax here in Manila every weekend, same time as Japan.

Set in another part of Prester, far from the warring states of Anatoray and Disith in the first LE, this time we take on the conflict between the Kingdom of Turan and the Ades Federation. I guess parallelisms to Phantom Menace are inescapable with Turan being smaller and seemingly less aggressive with their cute princesses and graceful, T-shaped airships, while we can see the more foreboding and militaristic Ades fleet as the 'bad guys'- well, since they broke a supposed peace accord and started attacking with no provocation, that's pretty unmistakable. Into this conflict barge in the titular Fam Fam Fan, a young Sky Pirate with amazing Vanship skills.
Though they'd probably be better off just staying out of the action and just hijacking the occasional lone airship, for some reason they come to the aid of Turan (perhaps they don't like seeing bullies), at first saving the embattled princesses escape then later personally flying one royal highness back to Turan. Obviously though, as the war continues with no end in sight, Fam, her people and the princess she's taken under her wing are in for the ride of their lives.

At just by the second episode there have been a couple of big battles, tons of Vanship daring-do, the return of old favorite Dio Eraclea from the first series, the revelation that there's another Exile, or giant super-powered starship, in existence and a whole city pulverized (which shows that this new series isn't all cute and fluffy). What the bad guys are planning, what other familiar faces like Tatiana Wisla will play in this conflict and what one spunky little Sky Pirate can do in all this will be revealed I guess, as Silver Wing flies off in earnest.

For now, I guess, I gotta dust off those anime VCDs and have an original Last Exile marathon very soon.

Hot News


The Gaang sport new looks in Avatar Season 3: Book of Fire.

Okay, perhaps another bit of premonition on my part. On the heels of my recent Avatar musing came this bit of surprising but thrilling news. Early yesterday, Paramount Home Video has just announced the release date of the first DVD volume of the YET UNAIRED Season 3 of Avatar: The Last Airbender, as well as the cover art (yeah, that's it up there). The street date for the set, which will contain the FIRST FIVE EPISODES of the new season, is on October 30 (in the US). This has gotten some sites online speculating on a possible LATE SEPTEMBER premiere of Avatar: Book of Fire.
This has, to say the least, caused a furor online whether or not this news is legit. According to reliable sources at Avatar.net, one of the best Avatar fan sites around, it IS.

Anyways, take a gander at that art. Aang with HAIR. The whole gang present, with Katara (with a new 'do instead of her hair loopies), Toph and Sokka... in Fire Nation garb. My gosh. This is just getting me goosebumpy and giddy. It's been so long. TOO LONG. I want questions answered. Issues laid to rest. Cliffhangers hanged. Screw LOST. Screw HEROES. Screw frickin' 24. AVATAR is THE series on TV, man. All I want. NOW. NOW. NOW. NOW. One more would be pushing it but what the heck. NOW. Man, I am so happy about this that I don't mind that Aang's disguise, despite the nice hair, is kinda iffy since YOU CAN STILL SEE THAT BLASTED ARROW. Heh.

I hope this isn't some sick joke. Gah. Anyway, for the full news article that has started this buzz, look here.

Ghost Hunt


There's creepy fun to be had in Ghost Hunt.

I was able to watch several more episodes of the anime Ghost Hunt over the weekend. I've posted about this supernaturally-themed title before, but not yet in-depth. Based on a manga, Ghost Hunt is all about the investigations conducted by the
Shibuya Psychic Research Institute, a small but talented group of paranormal investigators/exorcists/troubleshooters who investigate creepy cases now abundant in modern-day Japan.
The core group is composted of Shibuya Kazuya, a somewhat aloof teenage genius who is both the Institute's boss and head investigator. Bringing up the rear is Mai Taniyama, a first-year high school student and ghost story-lover who is more or less forced to become a part-time worker for Shibuya to pay off for some equipment she damaged. Then there's Lin Koujo (or Rin), Shibuya's mysterious assistant who has his own set of talents and secrets.
While not really a part of the Institute, a group of psychically-talented individuals are regularly called in to help in investigations; Housho Takigawa is a laid-back, fun-loving monk who often acts as a protective big brother figure. Ayako Matsuzaki is a beautiful but often haughty self-proclaimed miko or priestess who has the tendency to blame each and every case on earth spirits. Masako Hara is a 16-year old spirit medium and celebrity, and finally there's 19-year old John Brown, a friendly Australian teenager who is also somehow a Catholic priest and exorcist.

Now, while Ghost Hunt seems to be an animated version of popular paranormal investigation shows, it IS still an anime so there's your touch of romantic tension between the earnest Mai and the distant Shibuya AKA 'Naru' (Mai's pet name for her boss is 'Naru', which is short for Narcissist). While Mai and Shibuya don't seem to get along that well, they clearly have a bond, particularly since Shibuya appears as a kind of guardian angel in Mai's precognitive dreams regularly during cases, and she's plainly attracted to the handsome but cold genius. Further complicating things is Masako, who also seems to be interested in Shibuya.
But for the most part, this is about ghosts and hauntings, and the anime does a good job of establishing a creepy atmosphere thanks to nicely haunting opening music, liberal use of chilly sound effects and multi-layered supernatural mysteries that start off small but escalate in seriousness and magnitude as the investigation stalks its toward the case's resolution.

Ghost Hunt is divided into story arcs, or 'Files' which go for about 3 to 4 episodes each in length- there's been only one single-shot story ('Ghost in the Park'), which is played more for humor and light for the most part. The majority of the series deals with cases that range from a couple of haunted houses to a high school crawling with curses to a secluded villa that bears a striking resemblance to the real-life Winchester Mansion.

This isn't Ghost Hunters, where the usual trace of the supernatural is few and far between- the anime takes license and there is pretty much no doubt that ghosts exist, along with stuff like telekinesis, psychic powers, spirit beings and even demonic beings. To combat any particularly dangerous attacks on the investigators, the exorcist members of the group, Housho, Ayako and John, are usually able to use their faith and skills to ward off spirits, giving Buddhism, Shinto and Christianity equal powers. Shibuya and Lin also seem to have their own talents, which are revealed as the series goes on.
The series is mostly seen from the eyes of Mai Taniyama herself, who starts off with apparently no powers but is eventually revealed to have some sort of exceptional sense for danger (found out when during a test she manages to get all 1000 attempts of an ESP test wrong). But even more than any latent psychic powers, Mai brings to the table her kindness, honesty and uncannily intuitive dreams... special gifts which even the cold Shibuya seems to appreciate every now and then.

Ghost Hunt is a title which enthusiasts of the supernatural should enjoy for the likeable characters, intriguing stories and well-directed, eerie atmosphere. It's not an action-packed title, and the story arcs have a very deliberate pace to them, but anyone liking this subject matter should like tagging along with the Shibuya Psychic Research team on their many cases, particularly the last couple of story arcs- The Blood-stained Labyrinth is so far my favorite and the creepiest so far.

The first and current season of Ghost Hunt ended at episode 25 this year, but the manga is still ongoing. Another season of ghosthunting with the SPR would be pretty cool, I'd say. There are tons of unanswered questions and issues still to be learned and revealed, and of course more mysteries and enigmas to be uncovered.

So for a dash of comedy, drama, mystery and a whole lot of spine-tingling chills, go out and hunt down this title at your favorite anime dealers in the Metro.

One Bad Mutha of an Anime


Samuel Jackson makes his animated debut in Afro Samurai.

Last night, I was able to acquire and watch the first episode of Afro Samurai. Originally a manga by Takashi Okazaki, the title has now been adapted into a 5-episode anime featuring the voice of Samuel "Bad Mutha" Jackson as the titular big-haired hero. Also lending their voices to the show are Kelly Hu (Deathstrike in X2) and Ron Perlman (Hellboy). Fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender may also recognize the voice of Grey DeLisle(Princess Azula) in the cast. The musical score was produced by Wu-Tang Clan member RZA.

The story is simple, seemingly. A legend states that there are two headbands in contention by all the greatest warriors; one is marked with the symbol for 'Number One', and whomever wears this can rule as a god. The only one who can challenge the Number One is the wearer of the cloth headband with the symbol "Number Two"... the problem is, ANYONE can challenge Number Two. The titular character, Afro Samurai, is the current bearer of the Number Two headband, and he's on a mission to avenge his father's murder at the hands of the current Number One- a demonic gunslinger named Justice. Of course, he has to face hordes of rogue bandits, mercenaries and other unsavoury dudes along the way, many of which are packing some serious firepower. All Afro has on his side is a very talkative tag-along named Ninja-Ninja (also voiced by Jackson) and his trusty sword.

As to be expected, Afro Samurai is a pretty bad-ass piece of animated action, featuring some graphic violence in the form of lethal swordfights and skirmishes aplenty, with lots of the red stuff flying around (which gives a bit more color to the often black-and-white or dull general grey tones of the visuals), along with decapitated heads, severed limbs and what not. It's very much like the anime portion of Kill Bill, very stylized violence which is at least quick enough to be artistic and not totally gruesome. Aside from the blood, there's a wee bit of titillation, some colorful language and quite a bit of smoking done by several characters of what suspiciously looks like pot. Well, at least Afro only drinks lemonade, it seems.

The first episode of Afro Samurai ends with a cliffhanger, and generally this leaves me wanting to see more. I'm still hoping for the story to get deeper, more intriguing characters to be introduced (at least give us a hot babe fighter) and funnier (or more colorful) Sam Jackson lines in the next episodes. For now, you can try to find your Afro Samurai online or at your favorite anime dealers.