Well things are coming to a head across all three manga at the moment, each seem to be competing for our attention. In the Naruto manga we fairly recently saw the conclusion of a massive battle between Naruto and Pain and after a few chapters of plot building we see Sasuke accompanied by the newly re-formed and re-named band of rogues, Taka (鷹 Hawk) which was formally known as Hebi,  heading toward the summit of the Five Kages.

Well in case you didn’t know or maybe couldn’t tell we are still very much in the filler. For the uninitiated that simply means the current storyline/arc is not manga canon and by that I simply mean, it doesn’t follow the manga and the manga pretty much dictates the direction of approximately 90% (that’s just a guesstimate) of the anime out there.

What normally happens with filler is that they brew up some strange storyline based on a set of villains that will obviously be defeated in a way that ultimately upon returning to canon, can in no way corrupt the direction the manga intends to take things. So don’t expect to learn anything new about any of the characters or for any seemingly new abilities they pick up to be carried through. Nor should you expect to have anything particularly revelatory revealed to about anyone, least of all any of the central characters.

Goku fights to protect the Universe and to stop the bad guys from obtaining the mythical DragonBalls.

Ah Dragonball Z. I don’t think I know of an anime that has polarized anime fans quite like this one has. If you trail the internet for a while and ask a few different types of people what they think of this show then you’ll probably find two camps: Ignorant and stupid fan boyZ/girlZ (you see what I did there?) and closed minded, overly opinionated Otaku. I’ve sat in both camps before albeit the less extreme ends of both but I’ll try and keep this review level headed.

Oh One Piece, you’ve run on longer than Dragon Ball Z and yet you still remain entertaining, exciting and enjoyable. How is that possible? Well, that’s not the answer I’ll attempt to answer on my lonesome but I would like to take some time to review the recent episode. The plan will be for this to be regular in time with each airing of the TV show. Please note that from here on out, there will be spoilers. I can only hope the title is a sufficient deterrent for those that are not quite this far in the One Piece saga.

There are very few films that I’ll watch more than once, simply because any twists or surprises would not hold the same interest and excitement as when I watched it the first time round. Despite me saying that, I always end up noticing small things that I failed to pick up the first time round.

Zatoichi (AKA The Blind Swordsman: Zatôichi), is one of the even fewer films that I can comfortably say, I’ve had the pleasure of watching more than once.  I watched it for the first time in about 2006/07, when I was just getting into Asian Cinema and absolutely loved it. Every moment of the film was exciting and suspenseful as the story unfolds and elements of various mini-story lines begin to weave and intersect resulting in a crescendo of sword fight/blood bath as the mystery and intrigue continues to unravel before you.

Cars, Trucks, Planes and even a blender are all robots in disguise in this Blockbusting sequel.

In 2007 Transformers was released on the world as a live action movie. It wasn’t a stop motion flick with the original Hasbro toys or a longer episode of the 1980’s animated series, this was a high def, CGI action fest, directed by the king of action fests Michael Bay. The movie was a hit and it grossed something stupid like $70,000,000 in its opening weekend. Now never one to let a cash cow graze peacefully for too long, Hollywood has now given us a sequel, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

It should be noted that while Peacemaker (AKA Peace Maker) Kurogane, as with all good anime, began life as a manga, this review is only for the anime adaptation which aired between 2003 and 2004 and lasted 24 episodes.

I have to confess at the offset that I have a fondness for samurai -themed anime, particularly those series that take place during the Meji/Bakumatsu (Last Shogunate) period. So anything in the vein of Sumarai X/Rurouni Kenshin would normally get my immediate approval. This however is no Kenshin remake. Whether that is a good or a bad thing in my humble opinion, read on.

Ok, so it’s been about 19 episodes since by last post and I’ve neglected this blog for sometime and I have to say thanks to those people who took the time to comment/spam on the last review as it’s prompted me to return (that and the fact that this episode was, in a word, immense – but more on that later!).

Well since Bleach #200, we were in the throws of another massive show down between Nnoitra Jiruga and Kenpachi Zaraki. Since then a number of the Espada have fallen and Sōsuke Aizen, along with his cronies (Gin Ichimaru and Kaname Tōsen) have made their way to Karakura Town, albeit the fake Karakura Town.

Before we dive in, a little excerpt:

My Neighbor Totoro (となりのトトロ Tonari no Totoro^?), is a 1988 Japanese anime film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced byStudio Ghibli. The film follows the two young daughters of a professor and their interactions with friendly wood spirits in postwar rural Japan. The movie won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize in 1988.

This has to be one of the most enjoyable movies I’ve had the pleasure of seeing in recent years. This movie now almost 20 years old, has received a new lease of live from the release of several Miyazaki films referred to collectively as the Studio Ghibli Collection.

The bleach anime at the moment has nothing short of dire. Oh where, oh where have the those gripping storylines disappeared to? Those ones that used to keep you begging for more, those once where you couldnt get enough of seeing Ichigo rip a hollow in two with his Bankai?

Well, this is the 200th episode of the Bleach saga, and for those that need to catch up — you’ve not missed much. Since the collosal fight between Ichigo and Grimmjow in episode 1xx (need reference!) and the commencement of the filler which featured the lovable Captain Amagai amidst a fairly weak storyline, especially for Bleach filler, known commonly as The New Captain Syūsuke Amagai arc. If you really want to know more about it see here.

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