http://minitheatre.org/x264-completed/12-ai-yori-aoshi.html
Sometimes humorous, occasionally brutal, and nearly always fun, the complex plotting and voluminous casting, combined with strong dubbing, animation, and musical score, make this a must-see series for fans of American mobster stories. If the remaining three volumes (space in the art box suggests that there will be four total, which presumably means that all three bonus episodes from the Japanese DVD releases will be included) are as sharp as this one then this could be one of the year's best series.
Then in A Crowning Performance by the Gratan the nefarious Lord Gargoyle makes a cameo appearance and traps the Nautilus in a mine field. As the title suggests, the Gratan plays a key role in its escape. New Recruits for the Nautilus and Grandis and Her First Love show the adjustments the group makes to life on the Nautilus and Grandis' new hobby: pursuing the affections of Captain Nemo.
Working!! Anime OP ED Opening Ending OST Character song Lyric
Wagnaria ann
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Star Driver Episode 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
http://minitheatre.org/x264-completed/3757-star-driver-.html
The first volume can be obtained separately or with the cardboard art box, with the cover of the DVD case offering an amusing attempt to use period speech patterns in the advertising. The inside liner includes similarly-styled brief profiles on four prominent characters, while textless songs and an audio commentary for episode 4 constitute the on-disk Extras. The latter features the English ADR director and English VAs Caitlin Glass and Brian “Ladd” Massey in a discussion mostly about series content, performance style issues, and inspirations for this effort, which include the mobster movie Miller's Crossing.
After facing the threat of world annihilation in the previous volume, the whimsical adventures of this volume provide a nice interlude. In Nemo's Secret Nadia, Jean and King are stranded on the Gratan with the Grandis Gang. Having teamed up in the last volume the truce between them seems to be holding. Because of the state of disrepair the Gratan – or Catherine, as Grandis calls it – is in, the Nautilus picks up the group of hitchhikers.
The first volume can be obtained separately or with the cardboard art box, with the cover of the DVD case offering an amusing attempt to use period speech patterns in the advertising. The inside liner includes similarly-styled brief profiles on four prominent characters, while textless songs and an audio commentary for episode 4 constitute the on-disk Extras. The latter features the English ADR director and English VAs Caitlin Glass and Brian “Ladd” Massey in a discussion mostly about series content, performance style issues, and inspirations for this effort, which include the mobster movie Miller's Crossing.
After facing the threat of world annihilation in the previous volume, the whimsical adventures of this volume provide a nice interlude. In Nemo's Secret Nadia, Jean and King are stranded on the Gratan with the Grandis Gang. Having teamed up in the last volume the truce between them seems to be holding. Because of the state of disrepair the Gratan – or Catherine, as Grandis calls it – is in, the Nautilus picks up the group of hitchhikers.
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Episode 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
http://minitheatre.org/x264-completed/198-tengen-toppa-gurren-lagann.html
J. Michael Tatum and Caitlin Glass steal the show in every appearance as Isaac and Miria, but theirs are not the only good performances. The dub script also sticks surprisingly close to the original (by Funi standards) everywhere except in the Next Episode previews, with most modifications involving use of appropriate period/setting slang and even a couple of tricky translation issues being handled smoothly.
The third volume of the DVD series does not leave quite the impression that the previous two did. There are few major plot advancements made in these four episodes and they seem to be mainly light-hearted filler. Which is not entirely unwelcome though.
J. Michael Tatum and Caitlin Glass steal the show in every appearance as Isaac and Miria, but theirs are not the only good performances. The dub script also sticks surprisingly close to the original (by Funi standards) everywhere except in the Next Episode previews, with most modifications involving use of appropriate period/setting slang and even a couple of tricky translation issues being handled smoothly.
The third volume of the DVD series does not leave quite the impression that the previous two did. There are few major plot advancements made in these four episodes and they seem to be mainly light-hearted filler. Which is not entirely unwelcome though.
Futari Ecchi Episode 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
http://minitheatre.org/x264-completed/165-futari-ecchi.html
Funimation's English dub cast represents a mix of long-time Funi stand-bys and fresh voices, as several important cast members are doing only their first or second prominent voice role. Aside from an occasional shaky accent, though, the dearth of experience in some roles does not hamper the dub at all. The casting is surprisingly close in sound to the Japanese originals and the performances follow the delivery styles of the originals while infusing them with accents and speech patterns more appropriate to the settings and time period, the lack of which are the biggest weaknesses in the Japanese dub.
With Gargoyle's terrible weapon, the Tower of Babel, destroyed, Jean, Nadia and the rest find themselves once again rescued by the Nautilus. Grandis and her henchmen are now apprentice members of the crew, and everyone else pitches in to help too. However, Nadia finds it difficult to trust her former enemy and the people on this strange ship. Now hot on the tail of a fleeing Gargoyle, the pursuers become the pursued. Will Hanson and Sanson be able to save the ship alone? Why was Captain Nemo so shocked to meet Nadia? What are the memories the Nautilus has triggered within Nadia? Watch four more wonderful episodes and find out for yourself!
Funimation's English dub cast represents a mix of long-time Funi stand-bys and fresh voices, as several important cast members are doing only their first or second prominent voice role. Aside from an occasional shaky accent, though, the dearth of experience in some roles does not hamper the dub at all. The casting is surprisingly close in sound to the Japanese originals and the performances follow the delivery styles of the originals while infusing them with accents and speech patterns more appropriate to the settings and time period, the lack of which are the biggest weaknesses in the Japanese dub.
With Gargoyle's terrible weapon, the Tower of Babel, destroyed, Jean, Nadia and the rest find themselves once again rescued by the Nautilus. Grandis and her henchmen are now apprentice members of the crew, and everyone else pitches in to help too. However, Nadia finds it difficult to trust her former enemy and the people on this strange ship. Now hot on the tail of a fleeing Gargoyle, the pursuers become the pursued. Will Hanson and Sanson be able to save the ship alone? Why was Captain Nemo so shocked to meet Nadia? What are the memories the Nautilus has triggered within Nadia? Watch four more wonderful episodes and find out for yourself!
Shiki Episode 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
http://minitheatre.org/x264-completed/3106-shiki.html
Brain's Base, whose other work can be seen in titles like Demon Prince Enma, Innocent Venus, and Shin Getter Robo, gives its characters and setting a distinctive look heavily influenced by classic caricatures of mobsters and American Depression-era cities and mostly devoid of anachronistic elements, unlike the similar time period Chrono Crusade; it looks like character designer Takahiro Kishida (also from Koi Kaze) actually did his homework on appropriate period costuming. The artistry also uses a lightly muted color scheme that avoids any hint of typical anime garishness. The animation stands on the high end of the scale as TV series go, including a couple of impressive point-of-view shots in certain fight scenes, some nice fight choreography, and minimized short cuts.
Although Bang Zoom! Entertainment already has a strong reputation for its quality dubs, they've outdone themselves on this disc with an English track that shows no faults from start to finish. The characters don't always have unique, individual voices, but that's really more a fault of the story than the voice acting; the entire cast does a solid job of performing the serious, militaristic dialogue in this series. Even in emotionally charged moments, nobody falls into the trap of overacting, and the young characters all sound natural and realistic. This would have been a great DVD for a voice actor interview/commentary/making-of section, but instead viewers will have to settle for a cleaning opening and ending as extras.
Brain's Base, whose other work can be seen in titles like Demon Prince Enma, Innocent Venus, and Shin Getter Robo, gives its characters and setting a distinctive look heavily influenced by classic caricatures of mobsters and American Depression-era cities and mostly devoid of anachronistic elements, unlike the similar time period Chrono Crusade; it looks like character designer Takahiro Kishida (also from Koi Kaze) actually did his homework on appropriate period costuming. The artistry also uses a lightly muted color scheme that avoids any hint of typical anime garishness. The animation stands on the high end of the scale as TV series go, including a couple of impressive point-of-view shots in certain fight scenes, some nice fight choreography, and minimized short cuts.
Although Bang Zoom! Entertainment already has a strong reputation for its quality dubs, they've outdone themselves on this disc with an English track that shows no faults from start to finish. The characters don't always have unique, individual voices, but that's really more a fault of the story than the voice acting; the entire cast does a solid job of performing the serious, militaristic dialogue in this series. Even in emotionally charged moments, nobody falls into the trap of overacting, and the young characters all sound natural and realistic. This would have been a great DVD for a voice actor interview/commentary/making-of section, but instead viewers will have to settle for a cleaning opening and ending as extras.
Legend of the Legendary Heroes Episode 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
http://minitheatre.org/x264-completed/3060-the-legend-of-the-legendary-heroes.html
Although the inner workings of the story need improvement, the visual presentation is commendable. The environment of Fafner is a vivid, eye-catching vision of the future, much like Studio XEBEC's previous youth-and-robots series Stellvia. This time, it's an oceanic paradise instead of gas-tinted space, with beautifully colored sea and sky. The character animation and battle scenes are rendered proficiently as well, moving smoothly from moment to moment with hardly any drops in frame rate. The characters themselves are a matter of taste: fans of Gundam Seed will recognize the work of character designer Hisashi Hirai, whose love of big, intense eyes and hatch lines on the cheeks may be a bit too idiosyncratic for others.
The loopy psychopath Ladd, who skips down a hallway as he eagerly anticipates upcoming gunplay and promises his fiancée that he loves her so much that he will torture her to death last (as in, only after he's killed everyone else in the world) offers an entirely different kind of appeal, and there are many other options, too. The way much of the cast crosses paths on board the Flying Pussyfoot assures that future episodes will show an even livelier experience than the first four episodes, as that plot element is only starting to heat up as the volume ends.
Although the inner workings of the story need improvement, the visual presentation is commendable. The environment of Fafner is a vivid, eye-catching vision of the future, much like Studio XEBEC's previous youth-and-robots series Stellvia. This time, it's an oceanic paradise instead of gas-tinted space, with beautifully colored sea and sky. The character animation and battle scenes are rendered proficiently as well, moving smoothly from moment to moment with hardly any drops in frame rate. The characters themselves are a matter of taste: fans of Gundam Seed will recognize the work of character designer Hisashi Hirai, whose love of big, intense eyes and hatch lines on the cheeks may be a bit too idiosyncratic for others.
The loopy psychopath Ladd, who skips down a hallway as he eagerly anticipates upcoming gunplay and promises his fiancée that he loves her so much that he will torture her to death last (as in, only after he's killed everyone else in the world) offers an entirely different kind of appeal, and there are many other options, too. The way much of the cast crosses paths on board the Flying Pussyfoot assures that future episodes will show an even livelier experience than the first four episodes, as that plot element is only starting to heat up as the volume ends.
Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Season 2 Episode 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
http://minitheatre.org/x264-completed/117-mobile-suit-gundam-00-season-2.html
In a series where everything is named after Norse and Germanic legends, it's not too surprising that the music score turns out to be some kind of Wagner Lite. Although it doesn't quite match the virtuosity of the 19th-century masters, the soundtrack certainly has a dramatic and epic quality worthy of the full orchestra that's playing it. Kazuki's battles against the Festum are all the more stirring thanks to the music, which manages to add emotional weight to just about anything that happens in the series. However, the theme songs performed by Angela aren't quite as catchy and memorable as the ones they did for Stellvia.
The style and plotting alone might carry the production, but the storytelling also finds support from a great jazz-based musical score. The opener “Gun's & Roses” by Paradise Lunch, whose visuals include key scenes from the previous episode starting with episode 3, is an up-tempo jazz number so much in the spirit of Cowboy Bebop's “Tank!” that it has a similar potential to be an anime classic. Closer “Calling” is a melodic Yuki Kajiura arrangement with more ordinary visuals. In between the score liberally sprinkles period jazz themes with harmonica pieces and more intense numbers to create a balanced, easily adaptable sound.
In a series where everything is named after Norse and Germanic legends, it's not too surprising that the music score turns out to be some kind of Wagner Lite. Although it doesn't quite match the virtuosity of the 19th-century masters, the soundtrack certainly has a dramatic and epic quality worthy of the full orchestra that's playing it. Kazuki's battles against the Festum are all the more stirring thanks to the music, which manages to add emotional weight to just about anything that happens in the series. However, the theme songs performed by Angela aren't quite as catchy and memorable as the ones they did for Stellvia.
The style and plotting alone might carry the production, but the storytelling also finds support from a great jazz-based musical score. The opener “Gun's & Roses” by Paradise Lunch, whose visuals include key scenes from the previous episode starting with episode 3, is an up-tempo jazz number so much in the spirit of Cowboy Bebop's “Tank!” that it has a similar potential to be an anime classic. Closer “Calling” is a melodic Yuki Kajiura arrangement with more ordinary visuals. In between the score liberally sprinkles period jazz themes with harmonica pieces and more intense numbers to create a balanced, easily adaptable sound.
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