ThunderCats! HO!!!

Rumors have abounded on the CyberNet about an anime re-imagining of one my favorite cartoons, ThunderCats. I chose to not participate in the rampant speculation until there was a concrete example that the project was actually going forward. And now, a full length trailer has been released for the new ThunderCats series. Watching this, a great many fears of mine have been alleviated. First, the project is actually going forward, so that's a big step. Secondly, and more importantly, they are taking the subject matter seriously and giving it a solid treatment. The animation looks really good and smooth, but that's anime for you, I've never seen an anime that didn't look amazing! Even if I didn't like the story, the animation was always top-notch. In either case, check out the trailer at the link below:


Thunder, Thunder, Thundercats!! HO!!!


Most of the original group is shown here, Lion-O, Tigra, Cheetara, Wiley Kit & Kat, even Snarf. The notable absence is Panthro, but there wasn't a great deal of tech in this trailer, so I can let that go. I saw some of the publicity stills released (which included Panthro) and I liked the updated version of the group. Seeing them in action, re-enforced my appreciation. Some of the old villains also make an appearance: Sabertooth, Slythe (looking more decidedly blue, but given that part of the trailer is taking place at night/dusk, that could just be a shading thing), and of course, Mumm-Ra, the Ever-Living!!!

Just the small bit of the transformation shown is enough to make me want to watch this show! And it looks like they've upped his power since even his transformation is now potentially lethal!

I'm also liking the epic scope of the trailer, but I do have some misgivings. Part of the appeal of the original series was having the ThunderCats learn to adapt to a new and strange world. Learning to work with the indigenous people and dealing with the natural threats of that world. The dialogue here puts 3rd Earth as either the origin world of the ThunderCats or a well-established planet in the ThunderCat empire. Which in my eyes, would diminish the show somewhat.

Still this is just a trailer, so over speculation on the storyline is premature at best and at worst ill-advised. There's a great deal of amazing work here, and unlike other remakes of 80s cartoons (He-Man, anyone?), this one stands a solid chance of surviving. Surprisingly enough, I'm looking forward to seeing this!

Supernatural: The Anime

Two things you should know: 1) I have always been into Supernatural. From the first episode, the show owned me. 2) Ever since I first heard about it, I've been into Japanese anime. Recently, I found out some fantastic news. These two passions of mine will soon be coming together! Warner Bros Studios has announced the release of Supernatural: The Anime!

The animation will be done by one of the greatest animation studios in Japan: MadHouse. This studio has produced some of my favorite animes of all time: Ninja Scroll, Batman: Gotham Night, Vampire Hunter D:Bloodlust, Gungrave, Claymore, and Black Lagoon. The creator of the live-action show, Eric Kripke, will also be working on the anime.

It looks like there'll be a 22 episode run which takes place over the first two seasons of the live action show, animating some of the best live action episodes, as well as presenting new adventures, new enemies. The episodes will also filling in back story with prequel episodes & filling time with secondary characters.

The first episodes of the anime should be released in January 2011. In the meantime, check out these character designs. The Winchester brothers look awesome!

Dean





Sam

Abandon all hope, ye who enter here...

I first heard about the animated version of Dante's Inferno by the purest accident. I was doing a web search and saw a link for the trailer. I watched it and was blown away! But that was nothing compared to watching the actual anime. This anime will stand as one of best features ever created.

EA tapped six of the best directors in anime to bring one of the greatest literary works of all time to life. It may have started as a mere companion piece to EA's video game, but through the talents of each director, The Animated Epic has surpassed a mere video game tie-in and become a classic itself.

The animation is nothing less than top-notch. Each of the six segments is distinct & masterfully drawn, yet they all blend virtually seamlessly to convey the power of Dante's Inferno with awe-inspiring style. Granted, the anime makes a great deal of departures from it's literary namesake. The original work was more contemplative with Dante's journey slowly opening an awareness of Dante's sins through conversations with damned souls in the nine circles and the memories these talks awaken in Dante. This adapation, however, has an exponential increase in overt violence as it focusses more on the actions Dante takes throughout his sojourn in hell and the battles he must overcome, creating demons and fights that lend themselves to a video game, but aren't part of the original poem. However, the core themes Aligheri presented in the original work still hold strong in this adaptation: Dante's recognition of his own personal sins, his eventual acceptance of his own part in causing the plight of Beatrice, the power of true repentance, and giving oneself over to will of God. These themes play a great part in the events of the anime.

The voice acting was incredible. I have to give much props to Graham McTavish who voiced Dante. It can get tiresome hearing someone yell over and over again during the course of a movie. (See Braveheart) Yet, McTavish never went over the top and kept me interested in all Dante had to say. That being said, the one who stole the show was Steve Blum, who voiced Lucifer. He put charm, anger, resentment, love, hate, and fear all in one voice. Always interesting, always powerful. The man could have read the phone book and made it compelling. It went beyond acting. In fact, I would not be surprised if he had actually been channeling the fallen angel itself.

Literary scholars and die-hard fans of Aligheri's work will find much to disect in this anime, but I see it as a fantastic introduction to the original work. Like the movie Se7en did for the seven deadly sins, The Animated Epic is a great way to introduce the themes and basic points of the original poem. A powerful first step towards further understanding Dante's Divine Comedy.

If you want to watch an all out, no holds barred, heavy-duty anime, pick up Dante's Inferno: The Animated Epic. You'll have a good time.

THE YEAR OF THE GEEK

Most you who know me out there in the BlogSpace (subset of Cyberspace) know that I am not a huge fan of the holiday season. I'm not out there campaigning against them, but I can't really bring myself to jump into all the so-called merriment and spirit of the season. In that light, I have decided to look ahead into next year!

Why? That's simple because, I believe that next year will be a major milestone in what is becoming known as "The Age of the Geek". I hereby dub 2010, THE YEAR OF THE GEEK! Not since 2003 (the Year of The Matrix) has there been so much upcoming goodness for all geeks everywhere! For example:

Horror geeks have the following to look forward to:
The Wolfman
Predators
A Nightmare On Elm Street (my favorite here)

Fantasy geeks get:
Alice In Wonderland
Clash Of The Titans
Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows 1
The Last Airbender (The REAL Avatar!!)
Prince of Persia: The Sands Of Time (YEAH!!!!)

Eighties Geeks get:
The A-Team (I love it when a plan comes together!)
The Karate Kid
Footloose
Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps

Anime Geeks get:
Black Lagoon: The 3rd Barrage
Blade
Iron Man
Planet Hulk
Wolverine

And Sci-Fi geeks get:
Iron Man 2
Tron: Legacy (Soon to be the GREATEST SCI-FI FILM OF ALL TIME!!!!)

And that's just what I was able to find in about 20 minutes of looking around! What are you going to be geeking out about in 2010?