I normally try to be spoiler free when I review a series, but I need to put a SPOILER ALERT on “Waiting in the Summer,” a new series from Sentai Filmworks. It’s out this week in a 12-episode, complete-series set. The packaging makes it sound like your typical coming-of-age story, a nice little high school … Continue Reading →
A new film by Makoto Shinkai is always cause for celebration in anime circles after the success of “Voices of a Distant Star,” “The Place Promised in Our Early Days” and “5 Centimeters Per Second.” So while his latest, “Children Who Chase Lost Voices” (from Sentai Filmworks and Section23 Films), is perfectly fine, it’s more … Continue Reading →
“Someday’s Dreamers” was one of my favorite series of the last decade, and now a sequel, “Someday’s Dreamers II: Sora,” has made its way to these shores thanks to Sentai Filmworks and Section23 Films. It doesn’t have the same charm of the original, which Sentai Filmworks kindly re-released earlier this year, but it’s pleasant enough … Continue Reading →
A shady government lying to the people, forcing blind loyalty and manipulating information? Nope, that could never happen. But it does in “No. 6″ (and, well, lots of places), only in the Sentai Filmworks series debuting Tuesday, it happens in the future and gives us a pretty cool drama. It’s a story of haves and … Continue Reading →
With a silly name like “The Legend of the Legendary Heroes,” you’d expect an all-out comedy, but you get something more dramatic in this new series from Funimation. Two dubbed sets are being released today, but the series has been available subtitled for streaming for a while now. This was my first chance to sit … Continue Reading →
“Masterpiece” and “classic” are words I sometimes think are thrown around to make people feel guilty if they don’t like the work of art the words describe. That’s how I’m feeling after watching Sentai Filmworks’ dutifully remastered “Grave of the Fireflies.” It’s one of those seminal anime films that tops everyone’s list of greatest anime … Continue Reading →
Sentai Filmworks is re-releasing “Xam’d: Lost Memories,” including Blu-ray this week. The actioner originally came out a couple years ago. And since I’m taking on some extra duties at work this month and posting will probably be a little light, I thought I’d dip into the old, now publicly unavailable archives and dig out my … Continue Reading →
The great thing about one-off anime stories is that they allow creators to experiment with story and art, and we often get beautiful little stories like “Voices of a Distant Star.” Sentai Filmworks recently released a nice little science fiction double feature. While it doesn’t quite hit “Voices” heights, it’s not a bad way to … Continue Reading →
I don’t usually blog about individual anime series announcements (I leave it to my Twitter account for that), but I just got this one and couldn’t resist. (And I want to prove that I don’t hate all anime about teen girls, just some that I’ve seen recently. :-) ) I loved “Someday’s Dreamers” when it … Continue Reading →
“Night Raid 1931: Complete Collection” (Sentai Filmworks) – I love a good period piece, and “Night Raid 1931″ certainly seems like a good period piece. Set in Shanghai in, well, 1931, it’s got drama, action, intrigue, great clothes, cats and psychic powers. What’s not to like? Sure, that sounds like an unusual mix, but it … Continue Reading →