Cowboy Bebop Remastered Review

There are few things in this world that can automatically connect you to an emotion response.  Sounds are one way and when I heard the bass start to twang and then the voice counting down "3,2,1 let's jam" and the horns kicked in I suddenly had a warm happy feeling come over me. I was back in my old apartment watching Cartoon Network's Adult Swim and it was the first time I saw Spike, Jet, Faye and Ed grace my tv screen. It was magical as I had been out of Anime for so long. And this wonderful series of bounty hunters and rocket ships brought me back to the genre. And it brought me back in style.

Cowboy Bebop is one of those timeless anime classics. It combines just the perfect amount of action and wit with a dramatic element that connects you and the characters.

Madman has presented a beautiful new set of the first 13 sessions of this great show. The updated BluRay versions brighten the colors and fill the stereo with the great sounds of that wonderful jazz soundtrack. 

BRING ON SESSIONS 14 to 26!!!!

There is not a lot here in terms of extras but that is ok because do you really want to hear a load of commentaries while you are trying to enjoy the story. Ok sometimes I do but here not so much. I just want the fun wild ride that is Cowboy Bebop. There is a beautiful art book included with all the main cast and the extras. Wish could get some of the prints for my walls.

So do I recommend this new updated BluRay version of the crazy bounty hunters? Yes, yes I do. So stop reading this and go buy it already.

Thanks Madman this BluRay made my dull week. You are welcome to send more. Now on to more Bebop.

Now to add all the techno bits for Madman: 

Cowboy Bebop Sessions 1 - 13 

2 disc BluRay 

1080i Pillarboxed

Dts-hd sound English 5.1 (Japanese 5.1)

Extras

DVD and BluRay Commercials

Music Videos

Textless Opening

Audio Commentaries

And a beautiful booklet of Art of Cowboy Bebop

So much BluRay goodness from Madman. 

You can purchase it online here

© SUNRISE This product is manufactured and distributed by Madman Entertainment under the license by Sunrise, Inc.

Madman acquires SPACE DANDY - Series to stream in simulcast in AUS & NZ with Japan broadcast

Madman is proud to announce the acquisition of SPACE DANDY, the hotly anticipated new space comedy from director, Shinichiro Watanabe and the creative team behind COWBOY BEBOP. The series will premiere simultaneously online in Australia and New Zealand as it airs on Japanese TV, streaming on the Madman Screening Room (madman.com.au/screeningroom) in January, 2014.

SPACE DANDY is a dandy in space! This dreamy adventurer with a to-die-for pompadour travels across the galaxy in search of aliens no one has ever laid eyes on. Each new species he discovers earns him a hefty reward, but this dandy has to be quick on his feet because it’s first come – first served! 

Accompanied by his sidekicks, a rundown robot named QT and Meow the cat-looking space alien, Dandy bravely explores unknown worlds inhabited by a variety aliens. Join the best dressed alien hunter in all of space and time as he embarks on an adventure that ends at the edge of the universe!

SPACE DANDY will begin streaming on the Madman Screening Room (madman.com.au/screeningroom) in January 2014, exact date TBC.

SPACE DANDY will also release to home and further digital formats in 2015.

About SPACE DANDY

Get ready to blast off with Space Dandy, a dazzling new anime from the entire creative team behind COWBOY BEBOP! General Director: Shinichiro Watanabe (COWBOY BEBOP, SAMURAI CHAMPLOO), Director: Shingo Natsume (FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST: THE SACRED STAR OF MILOS), Screenplay: Kimiko Ueno (CRAYON SHIN-CHAN movie), Dai Sato (COWBOY BEBOP, EUREKA SEVEN), Keiko Nobumoto (COWBOY BEBOP, WOLF’S RAIN) and many others, Character Design: Yoshiyuki Ito (STAR DRIVER), Spaceship Design: Thomas Romain (Satelight) (BASQUASH!), Theme Song: Yasuyuki Okamura. Animation Production: Bones Inc. (FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST BROTHERHOOD, SOUL EATER, EUREKA SEVEN AO).

About Madman Entertainment

Madman is a leading independent film and television distribution and rights management company, with offices in Australia and New Zealand. Madman is renowned for its commitment to quality Australian and foreign film, factual content, as well as highly collectable categories such as Japanese anime, genre film, animation and cult television.  Madman's capabilities encompass end to end acquisition, marketing, creative, sales and distribution in all mediums and formats, from the silver screen to the digital realm.  Madman is also a proud producer of Australian film and television content. Put simply, Madman is mad for entertainment.

www.madman.com.au

Samurai Pizza Cats - Maxi Geek Review

If you were a child of the 90's there is a chance that you watched many classic shows, but one of them stands above the rest. Samurai Pizza Cats, its a show about three cats that deliver pizza and also battle a murder of evil ninja crows. And now thanks to Madman Entertainment, you can now purchase this show on DVD for the first time.

The show takes itself about as serious as a clown, with the show being full of really bad puns and lots of rhymes. However that is the charm of the show. The three cats are named Speedy Cerviche, Polly Esther and Guido Anchovy and when not fighting giant Sushi robots and crow powered dragons, they work in a pizza shop, where Francine runs the shop and sends the cats out on their mission. And she does this by shooting them out of a giant gun located on top of the shop.

Of course, for each hero there must be a villain, one of complete evil, one devoid of morality and this show does not contain anything remotely close to that. Instead we get The Big Cheese, a rat that leads the crows in ever fanciful schemes to take control of Little Tokyo. Thankfully, when he is defeated he loses his temper and blows up, and this serves as the comic relief to the end of each episode. 

The show is a product of the 90’s in almost every way. The character design is that of anthropomorphic animals, with cybernetic implants. Each main character does have a very unique look that means you won’t be able to confuse them, and the voices that each character has are also as unique. While some of the secondary characters change their base appearance each episode, they still maintain a common look.

Sadly the animation does not hold today as it would have back when it was made. The shows level of detail would not have been an issue when it was made, but today, with the clarity that DVD allows, you notice lots of artifacts on the screen, repeating of animation frames, and even the same shots being used in different episodes with a small change in dialogue. 

Madman have done a great job with the presentation of the collection, with a reversible cover to hide the over-sized rating logo, but sadly that's about all that comes with it

This show was part of my childhood, and growing up I remember watching it each and every day. The theme song is still something that is in my head, and it’s as catchy as ever. If you watched this when it first came out, nostalgia might be enough for the investment, but for new viewers, the 90’s pop culture references, old animation and bad audio quality might not be enough to convince you to get them.

© SOTSU • Tatsunoko Production

SAMURAI PIZZA CATS Hits DVD this October

Join Speedy Cerviche, Guido Anchovy, and Polly Esther at Pizza Cats, the most popular place in Little Tokyo. But the pizza take out joint is merely a front for their true job. A crime fighting secret ninja trio! Led by Big Al Dente, the Pizza Cats are tasked with keeping the scheming Seymour "The Big" Cheese and his evil Crow Ninjas, Jerry Atric and Bad Bird, from taking over Little Tokyo from the dimwitted Emperor Fred. 

                

 



The Pizza Cats are backed up by a Rescue Team, four other cats with their own restaurant who spring into action to help them out whenever they hear the rescue bell. The weapons of the Rescue Team can combine to form super weapons! And they will need them when evil undoubtedly shows up in every episode. Usually in the form of a gigantic monster-like robot used by the Big Cheese who has his mind set on controlling Little Tokyo! 


The following copyright line must be included when using Samurai Pizza Cats Collection 1 (Eps 1-26) content:
© SOTSU • Tatsunoko Production

Kenichi The Mightiest Disciple - Maxi Geek Review

Kenichi The mightiest Disciple Review

Story

The story follows Kenichi Shirahama, an average 17 year old high school student, who despite his good intentions, always ends up running away from almost everything. However on the first day of the new school year he meets a girl, Miu Furinji and decides after seeing her protect someone from some street thugs, he wants to be stronger to protect her.

Over the course of the series, Kenichi learns various styles of martial arts from his masters at Ryozanpaku, who instruct him using some extremely odd techniques as well as some very harsh and punishing ones. Throughout the series, Kenichi is pitted against stronger and stronger opponents and even manages to make others see that there is more than just being a street thug. Kenichi takes his training a whole new level when he moves to the Dojo, but his reasons for moving in are not exactly martial arts reasons, more like marital ones.

But Kenichi soon learns the hard way that getting close to a girl who has studied martial arts all her life is easier said than done.

Quality

The overall quality of the animation is very clean, but it can be rough at parts. As the original series aired in Japan back in 2006-2007 It was created before the tools became wholly digital. As such there are some odd occurrences of artifacts on the screen. Sometimes they are just an odd line, other times they are the old gaffe of having a character hold something, it gone in the next shot and then back again. These minor quirks do not subtract from the overall viewing experience.

The fight scenes are also something to behold. Thankfully they do not go the Dragonball route and make them super fantastically, but base those in reality that shows it would be possible to fight with the same moves. Of course they do add in a level of fantasy to the fights so people don’t get the idea of actually attempting them. The character design is taken from the anime, and each main character has a unique look that if silhouetted would still make it easy to distinguish the characters.

Sound

Here is where the sound experience can vary. Because this show was created in Japan first, there are two audio tracks and it depends on your millage where you want to listen, but in both cases the Japanese and English audio tracks are sublime. With both casts putting in a lot of effort into making sure that the characters come alive. The effects for the fight scenes, or Kenichi’s training are also quite impressive.

If you listen to the Japanese soundtrack there are more examples of the transition period it was made it, with some parts being quite clear and others not, but for the most part the audio is just as awesome as the visuals that accompany it.

Packaging & Extras

Madman have over the years been able to perfect their packaging of the DVD’s they release, and Kenichi is no exception. While the collection is 8 discs in total, they take up no more room on a book case than 2 standard DVD’s. There are however some downsides to this collection. First up is that this is a repackaging of the volumes that were released earlier, and as such there are no new extras. In the original run you got 4 discs in a set, and the final disc contained all the extras, and as such those are the only ones you get here as well.

The other issue is that as a collection, you would expect a certain level of pack ins, but this is not the case. It does not draw away from the awesome series that you would actually buy it for, but it is a shame that nothing extra is provided.

Overall

In short, Kenichi The Mightiest Disciple is a great series, it shows that through hard work anyone can accomplish anything they truly desire. The quality of the show is amazingly detailed, and apart from a slight lack of extras is exceptional viewing no matter who the audience is.

Original Comic Books Created by Syun Matsuena © Syun Matsuena・Shogakukan/KenIchi Project All Rights Reserved Under License to MADMAN ENTERTAINMENT Pty. Ltd. Produced by TMS ENTERTAINMENT CO., LTD.

Attack on Titan Fan Art

The other day I made mention of a show called Attack on Titan, which is currently airing in the Madman Screening Room. The show has been getting some serious attention from all around the world, which has inspired some artists to make their own versions of the poster.

The Original Poster

The Fan Remake

Attack On Titan - Joins the Madman Screening Room

I have been watching this series for a while now and I can tell you its epic. If you want to be blown away then you should watch this.

One of the most highly anticipated releases of the year, Madman is proud to announce the local premiere of Attack on Titan – now streaming Mondays on www.madman.com.au/screeningroom.

Several hundred years ago, humanity was very nearly wiped from the Earth as they were hunted down by giant creatures known as Titans – beasts several stories tall who devour human beings for pleasure. The humans erected giant walls around their cities, which kept them safe until a colossal Titan – larger than any they’ve seen before - appears out of thin air and destroys their defences. When this destruction leads to the death of his mother, Eren Jaeger swears vengeance and an undying vow to hunt down and kill all Titans.

With its blistering action, relentless pacing and unpredictable storyline, the 25-episode post-apocalyptic series - which is animated by newcomers Wit Studio and helmed by the director of Death Note and High School of the Dead - has become THE hottest anime property across the globe.

Episodes 1-4 are available to view for free now on www.madman.com.au/screeningroom – with new double episodes being added each Monday.

My Teen Romantic Comedy Snafu - Watch here online

If you are someone who likes to watch the latest anime as soon as you can, and you don't mind reading subtitles, then check out this show. My Teen Romantic Comedy Snafu is quite funny, yet not one of those silly for the sake of being silly shows. I am enjoying it myself and i reckon you will too.



Check it out here, and more great shows here at the Madman Screening Room