Oh come on… when am I ever going to be able to use a pun-tastic phrase like that ever again?

Birdy the Mighty: Decode – Part 1

Label:

MangaUK

Certificate:

12

Format:

DVD

Discs:

2. (13 episodes)

Running time:

4hrs 55mins approx

Subtitles:

English

Video:

16:9

Sound:

English 5.1, Japanese 2.0

Release date:

11th July 2011

RRP:

£24.99 (Average £15ish)- Amazon - Play

Birdy the Mighty: Decode – Part 2

Label:

MangaUK

Certificate:

15

Format:

DVD

Discs:

2. (12+1 episodes)

Running time:

4hrs 58mins approx

Subtitles:

English

Video:

16:9

Sound:

English 5.1, Japanese 2.0

Release date:

19th September 2011

RRP:

£24.99 (Average £15ish)- Amazon - Play

Brief synopsis:

Interstellar space agent Birdy Cephon is a woman on a mission. She’s here on Earth to track down a group of nefarious space criminals who are hiding out amongst the Earth’s native population. What she’s not here to do however, is accidentally kill any humans who happen to get in here way, which is a shame as that’s exactly what she’s just done. High-school student Tsutomo Senkawa has just had the misfortune of being in Birdy’s way during her fight with an alien criminal, and now his short life is over. Or is it? Rather than let Tsutomo die along with his mangled body, Birdy draws his psyche into her own mind, sharing with him her body – disguised to look like his own – until her superiors can regenerate his original human body.

So now Birdy not only has to help Tsutomo lead a normal human life while they’re time-sharing a body but she also has to maintain her cover identity as an up and coming Japanese idol… and all the while the alien criminals Birdy was sent to apprehend are still running loose here on Earth.

Comments:

Mixing romantic comedy with and sci-fi action/adventure, Birdy the Mighty: Decode is a remake of the long running Birdy the Mighty manga, which itself was a reboot of an earlier short lived 80’s manga (and 90’s OVA) of the same name. Like many other anime adaptations, Decode starts off kinda like the original manga, then wanders off on it’s own after a bit in order to blaze it’s own trail. In this instance this “re-imagining” has been helmed by Hiroshi Ōnogi, who previously had a hand in steering the likes of RahXephon, Kekkashi, Eureka 7 and Full Metal Alchemist, so you know he’s probably not going to cock it up. And he doesn’t, which is nice. Whilst keeping the story familiar enough for previous fans to still feel at home, he’s also made it enough of it’s own animal that you’re never too sure where it’s going to go, which keeps the interest levels up.

So, the script’s decent, what about the rest of it. Well for the ears there’s a polished soundtrack, excellent work from the original Japanese cast and what’s definitely one of FUNimation’s better Dub jobs. But for the eyes… well, that’s not so great. If I were being generous I’d call it “average” and leave it at that… But I’m not so here goes. While there’s nothing inherently bad about the animation, it’s just there’s so much good, really good, and downright excellent animation been floating around over the last few years –Eden of the East and Xam’d as examples - that it’s pushed the bar higher and higher, to the point where now if an animation even wants to be counted as average then they’ve gotta be putting their money where their mouth is... which unfortunately these guys haven’t. Also, several of the instantly forgettable character designs fall resoundingly flat and there’s a couple – naming no names – that seem to have been pinched almost whole cloth from other shows.

So, taking the series as a whole, even with the slightly disappointing visuals, it’s still good but with just a bit more work could have been so much better.

Extras:

None what-so-ever. Yes, I was surprised too, not even trailers or those Textless OP and ED animations - but there you go.

Birdy the Mighty: Decode Part1 and Part 2 are available now.

Casshern Sins Part 1

Label:

MangaUK

Certificate:

12

Format:

DVD

Discs:

3. (12 episodes)

Running time:

4hrs 48 mins approx

Subtitles:

English

Video:

16:9

Sound:

English 5.1, Japanese 2.0

Release date:

9th May 2011

RRP:

£24.99 (Average £15ish) Amazon - Play

Casshern Sins Part 2

Label:

MangaUK

Certificate:

12

Format:

DVD

Discs:

3. (12 episodes)

Running time:

4hrs 34 mins approx

Subtitles:

English

Video:

16:9

Sound:

English 5.1, Japanese 2.0

Release date:

18th July 2011

RRP:

£24.99 (Average £15ish) Play - Amazon

Brief synopsis:

On a decaying world, poisonous to both human and robot like, Casshern awakens with no memory of who or what he is. Strong, agile and virtually immortal, he travels the landscape searching for clues as to his past and his true identity making scant few friends but plenty of enemies along the way. In his quest for the truth, Casshern discovers that he may be the cause of the ruin, an affliction slowly destroying what life, human or machine – that still remains on the planet. If there’s a way to save the world it then as the one responsible for triggering it’s demise, it’s up to Casshern to find it, but what with the rumour spreading like wildfire that any robot who defeats and consumes Casshern will gain immortality, then it’s going to be a constant battle just to keep himself alive, let alone anyone else.

Comments:

As you’ve probably gathered by now, Casshern Sins is the latest reboot of the 70’s anime Neo Human Casshern. I say “latest” as there’s been a whole host of re-imaginings of the Casshern story over the years with what – if I was going to be generous – could be referred to as having “variable” results. But as Casshern remakes go, this has to be the best so far. Apart from things like the animation, the soundtrack ete which I’ll talk about in a minute, what really sets this one apart from those that came before is the story, which for once is actually pretty damn good. If you’re here looking for the action of the old series, well don’t worry as it’s also got that in spades, but what keeps you coming back is the plot.

What the scriptwriters have done is take everything that made Casshern what it was, dumped about 95% of it leaving just the (very) bare skeleton and then just started building it up from there. And instead of – like the live action remake of a few years ago - relying on the wow factor of big flashy effects and pretty-boy actors, they’ve instead gone for a solid plot involving questions about being human (or rather non-human), immortality (and the sudden lack of it) and the age old favourites of revenge and redemption. It’s been compared - favourably I might add –over the last few yeas to classics like Dante’s Divine Comedy or even some of the juicier parts of the Bible – and you don’t get much more “classic” than that. Where as before Casshern was mostly about a Hero protecting humanity from an oppressive robot army, there’s less of that this time. That’s not to say there’s no evil robot army, they’re still around, but the gist of it’s more about Casshern’s torturous journey across a post apocalyptic landscape than him being a Hero as if there’s one thing that this Casshern certainly isn’t, it’s a big ol’Hero.

So, the animation? It’s good… distinctive, strange, odd but good. There’s been a lot of effort made to make this series look different from almost any other anime you’ve ever seen. It’s not the greatest animation ever made, but its distinctive look – like a bunch of 70’s anime artists were sucked though time and given 21st century tools and a decent though modest budget to go play around with – allows a lot to be forgiven, especially when coupled with a soundtrack as good as this one. It also helps that, as with Birdy the Mighty: Decode, FUNimation have again laid out one of their better Dub jobs. It seems that what with many of the rising stars of a few years ago such as Briana palencia now becoming integral parts of FUNi’s voice acting stable, it’s spurned many of the old A-list alumni into stepping up their game, resulting in a marked increase in the average quality of Dub production, which can only be a good thing.

On the whole it’s grim, dirty and gritty; the good guys don’t always end up better off, most characters are left to their fates and there’s no guarantee that it’s going to end at all well. But hey, that’s life and if you wanted sunshine and buttercups then this is definitely the wrong series for you. But if you like you shows to have that grit and determination which makes it all worth-while and a plot which leaves you pondering long after it’s all said and done, then you can do far worse than Casshern Sins.

Extras:

Whilst not quite as thin on the ground as for Birdy the Mighty: Decode, it’s pretty darn close. There’s the Textless OP and ED animation, a music video…. And that’s it.

Casshern Sins Part1 and Part 2 are available now. Though to be honest you may as well wait until Xmas when the 6 disc box-set will be out.