Shinobi no Mono 2 - Vengeance dvd review

Director: Satsuo Yamamoto
Starring: Raizo Ichikawa, Shiho Fujimura, Mikiko Tsubouchi, Tomisaburo Wakayama, So Yamamura
Genre: Japan, action, action, educational
Release Date: May 13, 2008
If you read my review of the first Shinobi no Mono, you probably remember I was more than a bit smitten with its tale of clan intrigue and ninja heroics. Shinobi no Mono 2: [...]

Shuffle!, vol. 3 anime review

Episodes: 9-11
Genre: romance, comedy, educational
Release Date: May 6, 2008

And the Shuffle! coverage continues. If you haven’t already, check out my reviews of volumes 1 and 2.
At the end of the last volume I was finding my interest in Shuffle! to be waning. Episodes 5 through 8 were interesting bits of animated relationship education, [...]

Black Kiss — AVP: Requiem — Species: The Awakening — Timber Falls — movie reviews

So I’ve seen a few titles over the past month, but just haven’t had any time to review them. So, rather than let them fall to the wayside, here are a few quick capsules. As for regular film/dvd reviews, I’ve just received a flood of titles, including Bohachi and Shinobi no Mono 2: Vengeance. Look [...]

Witchblade, Vol. 6 anime review

Episodes: 21 - 24
Genre: ANIME, action, Animation, Asian, Bad Ass Chicks, Japan, Manga, supernatural,
Release Date: April 29, 2008
(If you haven’t already, please check out my previous reviews of the Witchblade Anime, volumes 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5)
First off, I made a mistake. Looking at the number of discs [...]

Operation Pussycat movie review

Director: Ryuichi Honda
Starring: Kei Mizutani, Nao Iguchi
Genre: Indie, Bad Ass Chicks, Japan, Action
Let’s start with the positives first. I think, outside of experimental art and music DVDs, Operation Pussycat boasts THE best DVD cover art of the past few years. It’s simple, clean, instantly catches your eye… It just pops. Cult DVD distributors would [...]

Love Psychedelico — This Is Love Psychedelico — music review — early!

I’ve been trying to figure out a way to handle this review in a non-fanboy sort of fashion, and I realized I can’t. I love Love Psychedelico. They’re one of my favorite bands. In fact, they’re one of the few bands that have prompted me to purchase multiple albums in these days of rotten popular music and lossy MP3s. And, keep in mind these are import CDs (Yes, I dig Love Psychedelico that much.) [...]

Sukiyaki Western Django movie review

Director: Takashi Miike
Starring: Kaori Moimoi, Hideaki Ito, Yoshino Kimura
Genre: Indie, Bad Ass Chicks, Japan, Action
This film has been covered ad-nauseum on other websites, so I’ll make this relatively short. For those of you not in the know, Sukiyaki Western Django is Takashi Miike’s Japanese western. Now, each and every film student knows about the [...]

Dragon Ball Movie Box Set (2, 3, 4) dvd review

Movies: 2-4
Genre: Romantic, Comedy, Action

Greg’s back with yet another anime review. Looks like this will be the second ever Dragonball article to be featured on Dreamlogic. I guess, if you’re reading this, and are a fan, you might want to also check out a few stills from the American Dragonball Movie [via]. That is, [...]

April in San Francisco - Nikkatsu Action Cinema, Zombie Strippers, and more!

Just received this Dead Channels press release in the mail, and figured a good number of you would be interested. Heck, I was already planning on writing up something about the Nikkatsu films myself. And, provided work and school calm down enough for me to take a daylong break, I might just be able [...]

Funky Forest: The First Contact movie review

Directors: Katsuhito Ishii, Hajime Ishimine (aka: Aniki),and Shunichiro Miki
Starring: Tadanobu Asano, Susumu Terajima, Kazue Fukiishi, Rinko Kikuchi
Genre: Japan, Comedy
I’ve come to dig the works of Katsuhito Ishii over the course of his three previous theatrical releases. Sharkskin and Peach Hip Girl was endlessly hilarious. Party 7 was a bit of a nosedive, but [...]

Zigeunerweisen dvd review

Director: Seijun Suzuki
Starring: Toshiya Fujita, Yoshio Harada, Naoko Tani
Genre: Japan, Drama
Believe it or not, I think I have just witnessed my favorite Seijun Suzuki film. And this isn’t an idle claim of a Suzuki newbie. I’ve seen a good number of them (close to 8, plus or minus a few), but Zigeunerweisen has to [...]

Wakeful Nights movie dvd review

Director: Masahiko Tsugawa
Starring: Junko Fuji, Takashi Sasano, Yoshino Kimura, Kiichi Nakai, and Ittoku Kishibe
Genre: Japan, Comedy, Educational
I’ve reviewed Masahiko Tsugawa’s Wakeful Nights previously, under its original title, A Hardest Night (aka: Nezu no Ban). However, the version I originally saw featured a completely different translation, AnimEigo having gone back and given the film the [...]

Hoshi — restaurant review — California

Damn, forgot the camera again. Hoshi is not a place to order sushi rolls. You probably will be disappointed. And you might be taken aback when their grilled fish entrées reach your table as it is the whole fish, head, bones, fins, tail and all. This is a place to drink [...]

GocHi Japanese Fusion Tapas — restaurant review — California

There’s something wild happening in Cupertino, the education-centric mecca for droll family life and ethnic fairs held in the duck-ruled pond/park because they don’t even have a Downtown to party in. Well, they’re all partying over at GocHi now.
I’ve heard about the horrendous wait for a table there. I’m not stupid; I do [...]

Black Blood Brothers, Chapter 2 - Emergence anime review

Episodes: 5-8
Genre: vampire, supernatural, action
Release Date: March 25, 2008
So, maybe I spoke too soon. After the somewhat derivative and forgettable first installment, Black Blood Brothers has turned into something fresh, original, and quite possibly something good. If you haven’t already, go on and check out my review of Black Blood Brothers Chapter 1.
This second [...]

Tanto — restaurant review — California

I was pretty much jazzed about any plate of raw fish set in front of me until I moved to the Bay Area, where sushi is prevalent, but good sushi is rare (so you know if I, the human garbage disposal, am saying that, then there must be something amiss). Even some yummy stand-bys [...]

Nightmare Detective movie review

Director: Shinya Tsukamoto
Starring: Hitomi, Ryuhei Matsuda, Shinya Tsukamoto, Yoshio Harada, Ren Osugi
Genre: Japan, Horror, Supernatural, Splatter

Note: This was originally going to be an “in-brief” review, but it soon ballooned out of control. It’s not as polished as I would like, but it is what it is. Enjoy.
Taking cues from Nightmare on Elm Street, The [...]

DVD REVIEWS . Solty Rei, Peach Girl, Speed Grapher Box Sets

Funimation has sent us a number of impressive box sets in the past couple months, but my increasingly hectic schedule hasn’t allowed me much time to sit down and evaluate them in their entirety. However, in an effort to give some of these the attention they deserve, I’ll just go ahead and give you my [...]