Vampire Princess Miyu: Volume 2 (1988) – DVD Review
Vampire Princess Miyu, or Kyûketsuki Miyu, is an interesting tale about well, a vampire. The movie broken up into four “episodes” over two DVDs, so we’ll be breaking up our review the same way. This interesting little anime has a nice twist on the vampire sub-genre and really plays more in drama than in horror (which is definitely not a bad thing). Director Toshihiro Hirano (Devil Lady) does an excellent job bringing a fresh look into the tired vampire genre. Note: This review is for the second two episodes in the series.
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Vampire Princess Miyu: Volume 1 (1988) – DVD Review
Vampire Princess Miyu, or Kyûketsuki Miyu, is an interesting tale about well, a vampire. The movie broken up into four “episodes” over two DVDs, so we’ll be breaking up our review the same way. This interesting little anime has a nice twist on the vampire sub-genre and really plays more in drama than in horror (which is definitely not a bad thing). Director Toshihiro Hirano (Devil Lady) does an excellent job bringing a fresh look into the tired vampire genre. Note: This review is for the first two episodes in the series.
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Saikano (2002)
Imagine a world full of death; full of destruction and full of despair. Imagine a world where war is destroying cities one by one, until it consumes entire countries. Imagine a world where you could see your best friend one day, and the next, they could be dead. This is reality for the characters in Saikano, one of the most emotionally gripping anime series I’ve ever seen.
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Sword of the Stranger (2007)
The whole reason I got into anime was because it was so much cooler than any other cartoons were when I was 12. I first saw Vampire Hunter D back then (it was the first time I was watching anime and actually KNEW it, Robotech and Voltron aside), and I was completely blown away by the violence and darkness of it all. My love affair began, and a lot of the stuff from the late 80’s/early 90’s was pure ultra violence, and it definitely appealed to my teenage sensibilities. Demon City Shinjuku, Wicked City, The Guyver, Fist of the North Star, Akira…I loved all of them. Then along came a little ditty called Ninja Scroll in 1996, and pretty much smashed all other action-anime films into bits. It oozed cool, had a killer story, and amazing animation. Outside of Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust in 2000, there really hasn’t been a straight-up action anime film that came close to equaling the pure awesomeness of Ninja Scroll…until now. Sword of the Stranger, a film I didn’t even know existed until a couple weeks ago, captures the raw, unbridled mayhem of the aforementioned films, and infuses it with a maturity and class that brings the anime action film into modern times.
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Princess (2006)
Being an anime fan, I’ve always wondered why the rest of the world rarely takes animation films seriously. Seeing the praise for films like Satoshi Kon’s Perfect Blue (or any of his films, for that matter) and Isao Takahata’s Grave of the Fireflies, I find that odd. They show mature, serious subject matter can come across in animated form just as well as live-action. Yeah, sometimes someone gets a clue, like Todd Solondz with his excellent Happiness, but more often than not, the animated film is heavily relegated to children (not to say some of those films aren’t very good as well). So I was happy a couple years ago when I discovered 3 animated films being released that certainly weren’t child’s play.
The first of the trio that I saw, Frank Sudol’s City of Rott, didn’t exactly deliver the goods. The second however, Christian Volckman’s Renaissance, was pretty damn good. The third and final film that was brought to my attention, Anders Morgenthaler’s Princess, which was the film that sounded the most intriguing, had eluded me for some time. I’ve finally gotten the chance the see it and I’m happy to say it pretty much lives up to the expectations I had for it. It’s far from kiddy-fare, and one of the more disturbing animated films I’ve ever come across.
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That looks like one of the dumbest movies of all time!! That trailer puts it in at... - 
I must admit I’m not to sure about this casting bit, Downey seems... - 
Wow. I’m digging it. Fucking love PA movies - 
