The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya

Devil May Cry

the devil loves big guns

You can pick up this bad boy on Blu Ray (2 discs) for a mere £8.95 online these days and is next on my 'To Buy' list. Love the Devil May Cry videogames, imagery and the background stories. Dante is such a cool f**king character, the way he struts his stuff, Rebellion (giant sword) on his back and Ebony & Ivory (dual pistols with infinite ammo) always at the ready to blast some bizarre creature back to hell. And just look at the guy with his white long hair, smouldering good looks and long red coat. Half demon slayer, half rock star, thats Dante for you.

Corpse Princess

Just ordered the awesome looking Corpse Princess online and it looks right up my blood red river of gore and innards. Ive been busy sinking my pointy teeth into Manga feature lengths and not had much time to get into a series aside from Tokko so this will be a most welcome dvd when it arrives on my doormat hopefully by the weekend.
The plot revolves around Makina Hoshimura, who after being murdered turns into a 'living shikabane (corpse)'. Now to gain entry into Heaven Makina has to kill 108 shikabane. (Weilding dual MAC-11 submachine guns she's well equipped for the task). The murder/revenge theme sounds like The Crow but instead of Bruce Lee's sprog (RIP Brandon) we get a cute Japanese lass.

*And I have just recieved confirmation its been posted. Result!

Reasons to Love Manga

A word of advice, don't mess with Asuka. That is all.

Tank Police

One of my better freebies


The delightful Puma twins

The Last Vampire

Bloody good

Blood: The Last Vampire was the first Manga DVD I ever bought, and flipping great it is too. You want blood? Check. Want a fantastic moody atmoshphere? This vampire film has oodles of it! In short this is a MUST see, whether you are a fan of anime or not. And everyone digs vampire stories don't they?
It was directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo and starts off with Saya (films young lady protagonist) on a subway train hunting a suspected Chiropteran (blood sucker) for a hush hush organization known as the Red Shield. Unfortunately after being sliced like a fleshy cake, it turns out the man was just that...a man, nothing pointy teeth about him. Whoops!
After that little mess, Saya goes undercover posing as a shoolgirl in order to infiltrate a school adjacent to the American Yokota Air Base in Japan. Seems there has been Chiropteran activity in the area and its down to Saya, armed with a really big katana, to make 'em bleed. And because these critters can heal in seconds the only way to dust them permanantely is to cut big enough chunks out of them in order for them to lose massive amounts of Life's vino. Hence the big assed sword. (Swords with asses? Now theres a concept).
I won't reveal anymore in case a few readers have not yet seen it but I will say this; its a million times better than the film with real actors that Hollywood released a while back. That was an abomination compared to this sublime piece of anime and Hollywood should have left it well alone.
The artwork looks fabulous and brings everything to life in a dark, gothic style that captures the imagination. Seriously, do thyselves a huge favour and buy or rent this NOW. Regrets? You won't be having any. May Saya kick many more Chiropteran derrières.

Tokko

Tokko and friend

Tokko (特公) is a Japanese Manga series directed by Masashi Abe and written/illustrated by Tohru Fujisawa.
After the Machida massacre was found to have been the work of demons and mad alchemists (the 'Box of Dirge'), police and authorities set up the Special Public Safety Task Force, (or Section 2/Tokko) to deal with said nasties. Think X Files but with more swords, beheadings and super cool ninjaesque moves.
Superintendent Ryoko Ibuki recruits survivors of the Machida massacre for Tokko (who all save one have tattoos which protect them from demons) and so begins what turns out to be a really cool Manga series with lots of nice slashy, stabby, stabby goings on. I won't reveal anymore of the story here because that would be Spoilerific but if you happen to be into X Files/Men In Black stuff there is a good chance you'll enjoy Tokko. I certainly did. And when its on Play.com for a mere £3.85p (well it was before Christmas) it would be silly to ignore.