Tiger & Bunny – Set 1 (Blu-ray Review)

Published on May 12, 2013, by Sebastian Meier in Reviews.

Tiger & Bunny – Set 1 (Blu-ray Review)

Tiger & Bunny prove what it means to be heroes

Story:

Tiger & Bunny is an anime series produced be famous studio Sunrise (Cowboy Bebop). The series centers around two heroes: Tiger aka Wild Tiger is a middle aged hero who has seen his best days. His new partner is Bunny, a young hero who has the same superpowers. While Tiger is more idealistic than Bunny the latter is certainly more capable in tense situations. Together they team up to save the metropolis of Stern Bild City and uncover the mysteries around the death of Bunny’s parents. The clou to this story is, that these heroes don’t work like the Avengers but have big corporations as sponsors. Their adventures are always broadcast on TV and they are ranked on a leaderboard for every deed they do. So they must decide: Do they rake in the points or let TV be TV and do everything to save lifes?

My Take:

Tiger & Bunny is a fun little anime that is heavy on action and beautifully animated. The heroes look a bit sterile in their robotic suits but the colourful cast of other characters makes up for that. For example there is the drag queen Fire Emblem, the sexy teenage hero Blue Ice or the pompous Sky High (not to be confused with the movie of the same name). The banter between Tiger & Bunny is also often quite funny: Tiger, whose real name is Kotetsu T. Kaburagi, always wants to get on Bunnys good side, which mostly leads to silly results. Bunny on the other hand, whose real name is Barnaby Brooks Jr., just wants Tiger to quit his “meddeling”. Over the course of the first 13 episodes included in this set the two unlikely partners slowly develop a friendship.

While Tiger & Bunny is mostly an action-packed adventure with a lot of humour, it even contains a bit of social criticism. The whole documentary aspect reminds the viewer of voyeuristic TV shows like Big Brother, Simple Life and The Osbournes. Even though there is a bit of slapstick involved here and there Tiger & Bunny can also be quite dramatic. Bunny’s backstory is tragic and his quest to find the murderer of his parents can even be dark at times.

All in all I’d advise every superhero fan to tune in and give Tiger & Bunny a chance. It is a fine little series that should appeal to many comic fans.

The Blu-ray:

I bought the American blu-ray by VIZ Media. This set contains the first 13 episodes in 1080p / 1,78:1 encoded with MPEG4-AVC for the picture. The episodes are spread over two discs (Region A locked). The picture quality is excellent with bold colours and a lot of detail to the animation. There are no compression problems and I give the PQ a solid 9/10.

The audio is lossless DTS-HD Master Audio but sadly only in stereo. This goes for the English dub as well as the Japanese original. The sound quality is good but I feel this action-packed anime could have greatly benefitted from a surround mix. So the audio is more like a 6/10.

For those bonus lovers there is even some extra material here. The Making of Tiger & Bunny grants insight into the production process and is even in HD. There are also clean opening and closing sequences as well as some trailers.

Overall this is a great blu-ray set. Fans of anime in general and superheroes in particular should definately give Tiger & Bunny a shot.

Tags: anime, superhero, Tiger & Bunny

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Roger Ebert has passed away

Published on April 5, 2013, by Sebastian Meier in Silver Screen Lining.

Roger Ebert has passed away

Renowned film critic Roger Ebert has died yesterday

I did not always share his opinions – but I always respected them. Yesterday the famous film critic Roger Ebert passed away at the age of 70. Ebert made his last Twitter post on the second of April. He regularly updated his website close to his death and contributed thousands of reviews to the Chicago Sun Times over the years. It was Ebert who “invented” the thumbs up and thumbs down rating for movies together with his colleague Gene Siskel. In my opinion the movie scene has lost one of the greatest reviewers of all time.

While I often disagreed with Roger Ebert’s reviews, I always admired his style of writing. He was always to the point, funny and showing his deep love for and knowledge about movies without rubbing it under the nose of the reader. His reviews were never pretentious but always clever and honest. Mostly he stayed fair and he rated every movie by itself and by it’s genre. For example he explained you can’t compare a comic book movie to a drama and must measure them with different standards. Otherwise one could complain “Transformers” does not feature a dramatic deep story but could also frown upon Rain Man for not having any action scenes. I agree with this review philosophy and respected Ebert’s well written reviews. For example when looking into the section “Critical Response” in an article about a certain movie on Wikipedia, I always searched for the quotes by Ebert.

Ebert fought a long battle with cancer and finally he lost it yesterday. As you can see he even twittered two days ago, so I don’t suppose he expected his treatment to fail. Although Ebert announced a “leave of presence” he had a lot of plans for the future. It is sad that he does not have the opportunity to follow his dreams anymore.

I for one will miss his reviews. I was not an “avid reader” who soaked up all of his reviews but liked to look what he wrote on certain titles. For example when a film polarised audiences and critics alike it was always interesting to see what he had to say on the matter. I especially love his review for “Planes, Trains and Automobiles”. While I wholeheartedly disagree with his extremely negative review for “Kick-Ass” for example. Still both reviews are well written – as his reviews always were. And that is why I always had fun reading them.

Rest in peace Mr. Roger Ebert and thanks for all the years of fantastic movie reviews. You will be remembered.

Tags: Death, film critic, Roger Ebert

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Why I hate steelbooks

Published on March 4, 2013, by Sebastian Meier in Silver Screen Lining.

Why I hate steelbooks

A few reasons why I hate steelbooks

I know that the guys from the US love steelbooks. Well, I often trade blu-rays with guys from North America, since it’s a win-win situation: They get German exclusives from me and I get great imports from the US . And most of the times my friends ask: “Hey, Sebastian, can you buy title X as a steelbook for me?” Reason is that almost EVERY blu-ray is released in steelbook packaging in Germany. Yet almost no steelbooks are available in the US. Why? Well, there is only one manufacturer making them officially. That would be the Danish company Scavano. And which country is close to Denmark and a big market for media? Bingo! Germany!

While I understand that many people like steelbooks I simply hate them. Collectors might scream in amazement now, but let me explain why:

1. They are easily damaged

I own only very few steelbooks – in a collection of almost 500 Blu-rays only about 10 are steelbooks. And for good reason: During the last few years I had to move plenty of times. Of course my movie collection moved with me. Almost nothing was damaged – except for the steelbooks. Yes, almost every one of them now either has scratches or slight dents. Especially the paintwork seems pretty fragile to me. That is why I avoid steelbooks today: They get damaged too easily. A simple amaray is much more durable.

2. They are a hassle to ship

As already mentioned I love to trade blu-rays with US citizens. But I have to be especially careful when packing and shipping steelbooks – which are the most requested. Because they get so easily damaged you have to pack them very carefully. Otherwise they get dented before they even reach the shelves of the happy collector.

3. They are more expensive

I get it: Except for me most collectors love steelbooks. That is why the studios release so many! But you have to pay premium to get them. Often steelbooks are about 10 US-Dollars more expensive than the regular amarays. Also the steel editions sometimes sell out really fast and then are only available for ridiculous prices on the second hand market.

4. Sometimes steelbooks replace the regular amaray edition completely

In Germany steelbooks are so common that some movies are ONLY available in a steelbook edition. In my opinion that is a mistake. It is a nice option for collectors but it should always be an additional option with a regular amaray as the standard. For example Finding Nemo comes out in Germany as a steelbook only at first. The regular amaray will be released two months later.

Well, there you have it…I am not very fond of steelbooks. None of my reasons are of aesthetic nature. Steelbooks look cool, I agree! But they have plenty of disadvantages and that is why I completely stopped buying them for myself.

Tags: Blu-ray, steelbooks

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Soul Eater – The Complete Series (TV Review)

Published on February 24, 2013, by Sebastian Meier in Reviews.

Soul Eater – The Complete Series (TV Review)

Soul Eater might be the best anime you have never seen

Story:

Young girl Maka is a meister and her mate soul is her weapon. They hunt evil souls called kishin. If they manage to collect 100 evil souls Soul is bound to become a death scythe for Lord Death. The later is the headmaster of the Death Weapon Meister Academy (DWMA) where Maka and Soul are students. They are friends and also rivals with the arrogant Black Star and his weapon Tsubaki, Lord Death’s son Death the Kid and his pistol weapons Liz and Patty Thompson. Together the friends face witches, evil kishin and sometimes even ridiculous situations like a sexy human cat taking a bath…

My Take:

I am more of a “casual” anime viewer. I know my Shōnen from my Shōjo, but that is about it. My introduction to the anime genre was Akira. I also like shows like Highschool of the Dead and Eden of the East. Oh, and of course I am a big fan of Studio Ghibli in general and Hayao Miyazaki in particular.

Why I tell you this? To make clear while I like anime I am certainly no expert . And if you (like me) are more of a casual anime viewer then Soul Eater is a fantastic introduction to new stuff. Visually the show is an extremely cool hybrid of Terry Pratchett and Tim Burton. While Lord Death’s funny behavior reminds me of Pratchett’s Discworld novels the quirky art design of the show has a lot in common with Burton’s earlier works. To make it simple: Soul Eater is a stunning show with great visuals and perfectly chereographed action scenes. And action you will see a lot. The fights between Maka, Soul, Black Star and Co. are both high octane and also funny. You are really in for a visual treat here.

Yet I was also surprised how deep the characters are. While the first bunch of episodes also contain their fair share of fan service and the story is more silly than anything else later on the characters really show development. For example Soul’s “coolness” is often just a way to avoid his feelings for others. And the arrogant Black Star is not only a show off but also an extremely loyal friend who deeply cares about his companions. The whole plot around the witches Medua and Arachne becomes very dark at times as well. So I’d advise not to let small children watch this.

Soul Eater really is a beast of it’s own. Mixing fantasy, highschool drama, comedy and stunning visuals together makes for a fantastic and entertaining show. Not to mention the cool soundtrack with epic rock themes as well as some classic music. You can have a lot of fun with Soul Eater: The Complete Series and this should not be missed. Don’t believe me? Other reviewers like The Cajun Samurai and Otaku in Kenya fully agree. The only thing that bothered me was the English voice actress for Black Star. Yes, he is voiced by a woman and that does not really make sense. The rest of the English dub is excellent by the way!

My Score: 9 / 10

Tags: anime, Soul Eater

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Star Wars Episode 7 = retirement home?

Published on February 18, 2013, by Sebastian Meier in Silver Screen Lining.

Star Wars Episode 7 becomes retirement home?

Star Wars Episode 7 needs new heroes not old gramps

So right now there is a lot of noise about Star Wars. Disney has confirmed spin offs for ~~Salacious Crumb~~ Bobba Fett and ~~Jar Jar Binks~~ young Han Solo. Additionnally J. J. Abrams, Mr. Lensflare himself, will make a new ~~Star Trek~~ Star Wars movie as part of the main saga. And perhaps the biggest news: There are rumours that Harrison Ford will return to his iconic role as Han Solo in Star Wars Episode 7.

Sounds like overkill? Yeah, to me it already seems like Disney is gutting the Star Wars franchise. I mean it is natural they want to make money with it. At least they paid George Lucas billions of bucks for it. But a new trilogy and two spin offs with possible sequels as well? Sounds a bit too much for me.

Now don’t get me wrong: I love Star Wars – at least the original trilogy. The prequels? Let us not talk about those. I think the best thing that came out of the prequels is the great Star Wars: The Clone Wars TV series. Still I am pretty sceptical about the new Star Wars movies. I have multiple reasons.

1. J. J. Abrams is a great director, but I dislike that the same guy who made the Star Trek reboot now also directs new Star Wars movies. Also I think he has a very “clean” almost sterile visual style. I would have preferred a less conventional choice like Josh Trank. A young director who is still hungry. Someone who has built a reputation with his own style but still wants to prove himself. Abrams is an obvious but kind of “boring” choice if you ask me.

2. Harrison Ford is a fantastic actor. One of my favourite actors of all time! And how could not he be: Hell, he played Han also AND Indiana Jones! Those are two of the most iconic movie characters of all time. Still I want to remember Han Solo as the young dashing smuggler – not as old gramps. In my opinion it would be much more fitting to bring Hamill back as an old and wise old jedi master Luke Skywalker. But old Han Solo? Er, I don’t need that.

3. Disney is going into overkill mode. As said they are doing too much at the same time and I am not fond of that. Star Wars is a beloved franchise – don’t make a new movie every year or it might lose it’s magic.

Well, but there is still some time. Star Wars Episode 7 is said to be out in 2015 at the earliest. So there is still hope. And I doubt the new movies could be any worse than The Phantom Menace .

Source: Latino Review

Tags: Episode 7, Harrison Ford, Star Wars

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Tiger & Bunny – Set 1 (Blu-ray Review)

Roger Ebert has passed away

Why I hate steelbooks

Soul Eater – The Complete Series (TV Review)

Star Wars Episode 7 = retirement home?