After reading comments and praises of Gantz for awhile now I finally decided to check it out… And have to admit I’ve come away with some mixed feelings on the show. The plot does sound very interesting… People die and wind up in an apartment with nothing but a large black sphere only to discover that to get out and back to “normal” life they must hunt aliens. They also get cool weapons and suits that give them superhuman powers. At this point it sounds pretty good, and I’m totally in.

Unfortunately… The show is also burdened with some major flaws (in my opinion). First being the insanely long drawn out dialog scenes that seem to go nowhere. And I’m not talking a few scenes here and there… There are whole episodes made up of seemingly pointless dialog, or long drawn out explanations of things the audience has already seen and likely figured out for themselves. I found my self yawning and my mind drifting to other things during many of these scenes, and there were a few times I thought about quitting watching the show altogether. Seriously… People joke about A Certain Magical Index and Touma’s monologues, but they have nothing on Gantz’s insanely long dialog scenes.

Another issue I had was looking forward to the action scenes, and then finding them to be more “action-less” scenes. Rather than fighting the monster these people are… Still just talking… Do you really have a ten minute dialog about whether you should save this guy being killed by an alien while watching him being killed? There were a few good action scenes in the show, but for a show that is essentially a repetitive monster battle show you would expect more. The creators could learn a few things from other repetitive battle shows like Yu Yu Hakusho, Inuyahsa, or even Pokémon. These battles seem like they would be more suited to still frames on a page than on screen.

And finally… The Evangelion style wtf?! ending. I’ve read some comments that suggest that the show follows the manga up until around the last few episodes at which point a rather unintelligible end was tacked on. It just makes very little sense and nothing is really resolved. Aside from the fact that the manga was still ongoing it made even less sense to give the show a rather definitive end. Many fans have commented that the show should have just stopped at the last story arc that followed the manga and left it there. I rather agree. It was actually a nice spot to stop, was no more wtf?! inducing than the ending they made up, and it still left the series open to future series. Unfortunately this happens when the animation companies stray completely from the original material. It is never a good thing. I do understand that the show ending rather abruptly might seem awful, but anyone who wished to continue the story could simply read the manga to find out what happens next.

So my points listed above aside the show was somewhat entertaining. The concept of the show is really awesome, but the execution was poorly done. While I have not read the manga I have heard that it is vastly superior to the anime, and the fact that the manga is still ongoing after 11 years tells me that this may be true.

Now for the technical details… The show is animated decently, although there are points where the CG is blatantly obvious. But it still looks pretty overall. The English dub is pretty good, and Chris Ayers does give a great performance in the lead role. Since it is an ADV dub it can be fun picking out the usual suspects in the supporting roles like Luci Christian, Monica Rial, and Greg Ayers. Also one of the redeeming points of this show is that it has really great OP and ED songs. The OP song is Super Shooter by Rip Slyme and has an edgy fast hip hop beat while the ED song Last Kiss by Bonnie Pink is a rather sweet ballad.

If you ask would I recommend this show to people??? Yeah I would… It does have some interesting bits, and touches on some very gritty and edgy subjects like murder, rape, and violence. Interestingly there are characters in the show that are more monstrous than the monsters. All in all I think the show could have been great if it had addressed some of the issues I listed, but it’s still a decent show. I would recommend that one might wish to skip the last three episodes… Or actually watch them, but keep in mind that that is not how the real story goes, and then read the manga if you want to find out what happens next.

Oh yeah… I guess I should put a warning here that there is quite a bit of nudity, and some seriously graphic sexual scenes. If these things bother you then maybe you might consider avoiding Gantz.

So right off the bat the name might give someone false impressions of this show… I mean… School Rumble??? You might think it’s another Ikki Tousen type of show (which is funny that the name would be more fitting to ikki tousen), but no there is very little rumbling in School Rumble. Rather than a fighting show it is a romantic comedy with extra emphasis on the comedy. While there is some fighting it is mostly in parody of other more serious shows (Japanese period dramas in particular). The anime is based on the manga of the same name by Jin Kobayashi, and they have been pretty faithful to the style and source material.

To describe the plot is a rather tall order… A girl named Tenma Tsukamato is in love with the class geek Karasama while the class delinquent Kenji Harima is in love with Tenma. Already starting off with a love triangle is usually enough for most shows, but School Rumble has only gotten started. You also have Haruki Hanai who is in love with Tenma’s sister Yakumo, and of course the Japanese tradition of using last names causes tons of misunderstandings between Harima and Hanai. Not to mention the rest of Tenma’s friends and class thrown into the mix. It’s one crazy situation after another on a non stop roller coaster ride.

At first the extreme slapstick comedy of this show might seem a bit much and way too over the top, but once you come to understand the physics of the world you’ll just accept that these things could happen there. It’s kinda like The Three Stooges and The Little Rascals got together and invaded Japan.

One interesting aspect of this show is the dub. I’ve always said that this show has one of the best English dubs ever created, and it actually fits the characters better than the original Japanese dub. The characters are so good that you can’t help but like them all. They get to feel like family, and it’s a show you wish had continued. Alas we only got two full seasons consisting of 52 episodes plus 2 OVAs. There was a pseudo third season which was only two episodes meant to end the series, but they kind of fell flat with those, and personally I like to pretend they never existed, and that somewhere the series continues on. Since those two final episodes never released in the US it’s quite easy to pretend they were just a bad dream and not real.

If you want to check out School Rumble for yourself all the episodes are streaming on Funimation’s site free, and the DVDs are way lower now than when I purchased them. I whole heartedly recommend that everyone watch this series… At least twice. I personally think this is one of the funniest shows ever created.

Oh… Almost forgot… The show has a really cool soundtrack as well. The music in the whole series is pretty amazing.

For a die hard Zelda fan the First 4 Figures  1/4 scale Wolf Link & Midna statue is a “must have”. For those of us who are just regular Zelda fans it’s a “must want”. The detail on the statue is rather impressive, but for the price it had better be… The regular version will run you $329.99 and is limited to 750 pieces worldwide. The Exclusive version which adds a light feature to Midna’s hair will cost you $349.99, and there will only be 350 pieces made. These are scheduled to be released in Q2 of 2011, and First 4 Figures is taking pre-orders on both now.

“Midna wears her distinctive helmet and reaches out her arm as a warning. Wolf Link turns and snarls. They are working in perfect unison. The Wolf Link and Midna statue captures every aspect of this iconic duo with stunning realism. Each piece is individually painted and finished to exacting standards. They are an amazing addition to your Zelda display.

At 1/4 scale, they measures approximately 15 inches tall and 15.5 inches long. Cast in high quality poly-stone, the statue is hand finished and hand painted. Working with the official Twilight Princess game files has allowed First 4 Figures to faithfully recreate Wolf Link and Midna’s distinct style and add fine detail.”

For those of us who can’t afford the hefty price tag we can still revel in the glory of the pictures.

My annual winter gaming binge this year started with Monster Hunter Tri… Actually I picked this up back near the end of August, and am still enjoying it. I’ve been aware of the Monster Hunter games for a long time, but having no PSP the previous games were unavailable to me. When I realized Tri was on the Wii I grabbed it up.

The game is pretty impressive… Game play is pretty smooth once you get used to the controls (particularly the camera which is controlled manually). It takes some time to learn all the controls, but that is true of all games. I do recommend the Wii Controller Classic Pro with this game. Capcom worked with Nintendo to co-develop the controller specifically for Monster Hunter Tri, and it works amazingly well. There is also a bundle with the controller included (which I was unable to find until after I purchased the items separately). I recommend the bundle since it will save you $10 (US) compared to buying the controller and game by themselves.

The Monsters in this game are… Just freaking huge!!! It’s one thing to see a boss take up most of the screen, but then you realize that compared to your character these things are like city buses or some even the size of buildings.  The other thing that you immediately notice is that these critters are fast. They don’t sit around waiting to be hit. Although they do have defined attacks and patterns that can be figured out and anticipated in most cases.

One thing that seems to bother many casual gamers is that you have to grind for everything in the game. While it’s not as bad as a typical MMORPG it still turns many of the “I want it now!” crowd off. Your weapons and armor come from items that you gather by foraging and mining as well as parts of monsters you hunt. It can get a bit tedious, but once you learn the basics it’s fine. Use the fishing boats to gain “resource points” and the farm to make money or farm-able items you need. Everything else you have to go out and find.

The graphics are pretty amazing. The background scenery is beautiful, and the monsters are very well designed and rendered. The water areas are impressive and actually “feel” like you are swimming… Well… Aside from the unbelievably long and generous air supply that you have.

Weapons in the game are… Well they pretty much are the game… Every monster in the game has weapons that can be made from it’s parts, and with the different weapon types that makes for a lot of weapons that are available in game. You have great swords, sword & shield, hammers, switch axes, long swords, and bow guns. Not only that you can use them all as you see fit. One thing I notice about people who play this game is that they seem to be used to standard RPGs where you pick a weapon type and you are stuck with it. Not so with Monster Hunter games. They allow you to use any weapon in your arsenal at anytime. Certain weapon types are better against some monsters than others, and while many choose to stick to one weapon type I find it’s much more fun to try and learn them all… Or at least a few rather than sticking with one boring weapon for the whole game.

Now in offline mode there is quite a lot of playable content, and you can get more value out of the game than many other games just playing offline single player, but this game also has online multi player with up to 4 persons per hunt. The online mode consists of a set of quests somewhat similar to the offline quests except more challenging to cater to 4 players, and there are also special online only events as well as a few monsters that can only be fought online. And did I mention that online is included for free??? (At least in the US/Europe).

All in all Monster Hunter Tri is a fantastic game, and I agree with some who opine that it is currently the best game that has been released for the Wii.

So a couple days ago I received a package from Amazon with the Funimation S.A.V.E. sets I had ordered. One thing about these editions is that there is very little actual information about the packaging to be found online, so I thought I’d share what I discovered upon actually seeing the sets in person for the first time.

First off… For those unfamiliar with the Funimation S.A.V.E. program… These are somewhat older series that Funimation has repackaged for a rather insanely low price (usually $22-$30). The S.A.V.E. stands for Super Amazing Value Edition, and they aren’t kidding. These are sets that typically run $40-$60 in the standard box set releases like The Viridian Collections.

It’s even better if you happen to find them on sale. I picked up  Pani Poni Dash, Kanon, and the Air Movie.

Now on to the packaging, and more to the point everyone’s biggest concern (aside from the DVDs themselves). The big green S.A.V.E. label. This has got to be the ugliest thing ever put on a DVD cover… Even uglier than the Evil Dead Book Of The Dead Edition. Thankfully you can rest easy. There are a couple of variations to the label, and Funimation has made it convenient to get rid of them (or at least remove them from your sight.) In the case of Kanon the label was a rather small green sticker that was actually stuck on outside of the cellophane, so when I unwrapped the DVD that one was solved right there.

The other type of label made me a bit more concerned. The full length spine S.A.V.E label is actually printed on the DVD art, but Funimation shows their ingenuity once again by making the DVD art reversible (which they have used on several regular sets in the past like School Rumble and Suzuka). In the Case of Pani Poni Dash the DVD art on the reverse side was identical to the “front” side (see the gallery images below) minus the S.A.V.E. logo, so simply flipping the DVD art around solves the problem. On the Air Movie it was slightly different, as the inside art was different than the outside, but it was still not too concerning as the inside art was much nicer than the outside art anyway.

Now… On to the DVD case itself. It’s a rather generic clear case that sort of reminds me of the old VHS cases you would rent movies in… Which I find kind of cool, but the coolest thing to me is the way the DVDs themselves are stored. The disc’s are contained in little flip out “pods” inside the case… Sort of like the extra disc’s they sometimes have on Disney/Pixar movies. It might seem a bit wonky to some, but to me it far exceeds the dreaded stack pack cases that ADV/Sentai are using now. Since there is one disc on each side of each pod it means the disc’s are not touching or rubbing against each other.

The DVDs themselves seem to be about what you’d expect. I have only watched the first volume of Pani Poni Dash so far, and can say that the visual quality (on an HD screen) is about the usual for Funimation DVDs. They did jam quite a few episodes on each disc, so they couldn’t fit much else (they did manage to cram a trailer onto each disc though). Menus are very very basic (see the gallery below), and special features seem to be non-existent. Which is not too big of an issue as most Anime special features are kind of lousy anyway. One note on that is that Funimation has claimed that they have not removed any special features, and supposedly the disc’s are the same as the last release of the DVD (typically the Viridian Collection release). In the case of Pani Poni Dash the last release was done by ADV, and since there never was a Viridian Release I suspect they compiled this version specifically as a S.A.V.E. edition which may explain the lack of any features. However… I notice that on the other two (Kanon & Air Movie) there is no mention of any features on the package, and these have both had a Funimation release in the past. I guess I will see when I get to those disc’s if they have any of the features from the last regular release. Not that it’s too big of a concern… You are already paying around $1.25 or less per episode so what more do you want?

You do get both the Japanese Subtitled versions as well as the English Dubs. I won’t really get into a review of the dub since with Pani Poni Dash it is an older ADV dub that most are probably already familiar with, but suffice to say that I could listen to Hilary Haag all day long… I just want her to call me Mr. Sagara over and over.

All in all I’d say the S.A.V.E. collections are a big win in my book. It’s a great way to expand your collection for much less than a typical release (usually new anime in the U.S. runs around $5 or more per episode), and with decent packaging, and fairly nice DVD art your other DVDs won’t be picking on your S.A.V.E. collections or calling them names. And if like I did you can find them on sale it becomes the Super Duper WTF You Gotta Be Kidding Me Value Edition.

Update: After checking out all the DVDs there were no special features on any of the discs in the titles I have. Still for the price paid you would be crazy to expect special features.

Continuing to highlight some older series anime watchers may have missed I give you Tsukuyomi: Moonphase. If one were to try and fit this into a single genre it would be difficult to say the least. You have comedy, horror, action, magic, and drama all in one package. It is technically a vampire anime, but most of the vampires are not very traditional, but at least they don’t sparkle in the sun… Wait… Maybe one does. These vampires transform, perform magic, and… Wear masks??? Like I said… Not very traditional, but still quite interesting.

The show is centered around the main characters Hazuki and Kouhei. Hazuki is a young vampire girl who is being held captive by the rest of the vampires in order to protect the secret she possesses. Kouhei is a photographer from a family of psychics and magicians although he has no apparent special abilities himself. When the two meet at a haunted castle in Germany the fun begins.

The show was produced by Shaft, so you can expect their usual touches. These are typically things like stage props poking into the scene, cut away views of buildings, cardboard cutout looking background elements and characters, spontaneous chibi transformations, and plenty of wash pans falling from the sky. Honestly these are the things I like about Shaft, and why I seem to be drawn to shows like Negima!? and Pani Poni Dash. The most awkward feature of the show is the opening sequence. It has what I think is one of the oddest opening theme songs ever. “Neko Mimi Mode” created by Dimitri From Paris, and sung by Chiwa Saito (the voice actress for Hazuki). That and the opening animation itself is just seemingly a compilation of randomness. When asked about the opening the director Akiyuki Shinbo said that he was given several openings to choose from, and he chose the most outrageous one on purpose. Gotta love rebels.

The show itself is a roller coaster ride to be sure. It can go from deadly serious to absolute hilarity in the blink of an eye, so it can work on the nerves occasionally when a really creepy suspenseful scene ensues only to end in a rain of wash pans or some visual gag. But if you simply take the show for what it is and just don’t overly think about the contrasting elements it is a lot of fun. The show is very much inspired by the TV show The Drifters (similar to The Monkees in the U.S. or Monty Python in the U.K.).

Tsukuyomi: Moonphase is available from Funimation in a DVD box set, and can be viewed for free streaming on Funimation’s video Portal as well as on Anime News Network and Hulu. All three sites have subbed and dubbed versions of all episodes, so everyone should be happy. One thing that I will mention is that this is one of the few shows (and I know I’m asking for it with this statement) where the English dub is actually better than the original Japanese. Funimation really went all out on this one, and I think Monica Rial really did an amazing  job voicing Hazuki.

So you have no reason now not to check this out. Besides… I get tired of people saying “WTF are you talking about” when I make Moon Phase references.

By the way… The original manga by Keitaro Arima is quite enjoyable as well.

There are a lot of views out there on the topics of anime and manga piracy these days, and just as with what I guess would be called “domestic” piracy there are are extremely polarized viewpoints on both sides. I like to think of myself as a middle ground type person. I kinda see the points of both sides, but the extreme viewpoints sometimes just leave me with nothing more than a nasty headache.

So I feel a lot of mixed emotion right now about certain events that caught my attention, and want to add my two cents into the mix. Unfortunately my long-winded-ness won’t allow this to fit into a 140 character Twitter post or even a dozen of them. The beginning of this article for me started with a post on Twitter which got my attention. Someone ratting out a manga scanlation site about having licensed material up. As I researched into the causes of the event I found some things which kind of knotted me up inside, but I decided to hold my tongue and go on with my life pretending to be blissfully unaware of the ridiculousness of what I saw. The second event was the proverbial “straw that broke the camel’s back” for me, and has spawned my own entry into this foolish behavior, and yes I am aware of how foolish it all sounds to the average person. This second event is something that is still on going, and will be my first point of discussion.

Many may or may not be aware that several days ago Roger Ebert wrote an article reviewing The Miyazaki film Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Included in his article was embedded the entire film streamed from Google Video. Now several sites immediately began to carry this story, and several advertised it as “Free and legal”. There were some however on Twitter who question the validity of that. I myself question whether it’s something Google actually has permission to stream or simply something they missed when cleaning up after they stopped allowing users to upload videos. The fact that the film as well as several other Miyazaki works were uploaded 2 to 3 years ago seems to support my second theory. Just something Google missed, and could easily be remedied by someone reporting the video to Google. They would probably have it down within the hour, but the way of the world is that people decided that they would rather grandstand and bring attention to themselves by sending out messages on Twitter about it (the one that got my attention has wasted a couple days posting on the subject now).

Now some may say… Well… Why don’t you report the video yourself instead of writing about it. I could even be accused of grandstanding myself. But the truth is… I am not going to report it because I simply don’t want to. I don’t have a problem with the video being there. Personally I watched Spirited Away for the first time on Youtube, and it only made me want to go out the next morning as soon as the video store opened to purchase the DVD and a few other Miyazaki DVDs as well. Aside from the fact that it’s blown way too out of proportion by now to matter much. One of the funnier aspects of the story is that Anime News Network contacted Walt Disney Pictures to confirm whether the stream was legal, and basically got a response from Disney saying it was none of their concern and ANN is now contacting Studio Ghibli (rather than simply diffusing the entire situation by contacting Google about it).

All this leads up to one of the points I’m trying desperately to make… The current state of fan subbing and anime piracy in the U.S. If you go back a few years you would find a point in time where fan subbing was not all that controversial, and was actually sort of a noble thing to participate in. The reason for this was simple… Most fansubbers were only subbing unlicensed material thus bringing works to the U.S. that would otherwise be unattainable by legal means (not to mention a fluent knowledge of the Japanese language). Even licensors have mentioned on occasion that they “used to” like fan subs. It didn’t interfere with their business and they sometimes used it as a gauge to figure out which shows were popular among fans thus giving them a means to research which titles would be worth seeking licenses for. Now I can’t say what the feelings of the original creators of these shows in Japan thought about all of this… To be honest it seems many were unaware that piracy was even occurring until very recently, and even then it’s a rather difficult process for  persons in one country to seek a lawsuit against persons in another country which is why most issues of anime piracy have stayed for the most part in the domain of licensed shows with the license companies policing the industry pretty much on their own.

These days things have changed… Now that licensing companies are streaming simulcast episodes of new shows themselves the fan sub community is looking more like a thorn in their side. Especially since the newer breed of fansubber doesn’t seem to care whether a show has been licensed in the U.S. or not. One thing that has obviously changed is the disappearance of the fansubber’s “code” At the beginning of episodes there was always a message that asked that the episode or series stop being distributed once it became licensed. Whether it actually happened or not at least they seemed to care back then.

Another thing that has changed recently is the birth of the “rippers” as they are called. These people pass themselves off as fan sub groups, but they don’t actually sub anything. They rip the streamed subbed video directly from websites such as Hulu, Funimation, The Anime Network, Crunchyroll, etc. Once they have the video they either upload it directly to the internet, or they will time the subs to a high quality Japanese broadcast rip of the episode and upload that. So in essence these days anyone with a little software knowledge can become a “fan sub” group without even the slightest knowledge of the Japanese language.

Now there are still quite a few real fan sub groups out there, but even they seem to have been poisoned by the attitudes of the piracy/anti-piracy groups and their viewpoints, and seemingly sub things just for the sake of annoying one group or the other. Some these days don’t even seem to care about the shows they are subbing as much as who will get upset that they are subbing a show in the first place.  Which is a rather amusing concept in itself that someone would put forth the effort of subbing a show just to spite others.

And now more on the first event which spawned this diatribe. (you didn’t actually think I was finally done rambling did you?) So I’m checking posts in Twitter and come across a post about a manga site that is uploading licensed manga to their site. At first I think well… Just another nosy person who can’t mind their own business. Out of curiosity I visited the site in question and found out this person was also trolling the site’s forum basically telling the site owner what can and can’t be on their site as if they had some ownership over the content. So while perusing the forum reading through this (rather annoying) busybody’s posts I found something that concerned me even more. Now I’ve never bothered with manga scanlations myself… I don’t have the time for that. Any manga I’ve read I purchase as something to read when I’m bored, so I’ve never had the desire to bother with scanlations.

What I started noticing was that these scanlators actually “demand” that a site gets their permission before they can upload a scanlation on a particular site. This strikes me as both audacious and plain and simple stupidity. These people are actually making demands about a product that they reproduced, translated, and distributed illegally. And they actually demand (or send their minions in their place) that sites take down works which they translated. I’m sorry, but I think it takes more balls than you’d find in a gay bath house to actually put limitations on something you did illegally in the first place.

Once I started seeing these things going on in the scanlation sites I start to understand why manga creators are lashing out at piracy, and even kind of understand why (one in particular) would wish cancer on those who pirate their works. It’s one thing to pirate material and distribute it, but it’s an entirely different matter when you start to treat another’s work as your own. I find that terribly insulting to the original artists.

So to sum up… You have the anti-piracy people being attention whores ratting out everyone on the internet… To other people on the internet rather than reporting it to the people who might actually do something about whatever they are whining about. Which frankly pisses me off a bit… This is exactly what is wrong with this country. You have a lot of people talking, but nobody actually putting forth an effort to do something even if it’s as simple as sending a message to the person who has your panties in a bunch. Instead of being pro-active I’ll just tell all my internet buddies about it so they will make a big stink that I can take all the credit for when someone actually does get around to fixing the problem. It reminds me of that commercial a few years back where a group of people stand around a piece of litter complaining about it rather than just picking it up and putting it in the trash.

On the other side you have the piracy folks who are getting sick of the anti-piracy people’s grandstanding… Their answer is to simply pirate more stuff and shove into the anti-piracy people’s faces… Even going to the extreme of pirating things that don’t even need to be pirated in the first place. Which is leading to more and more people on that side doing stupid things like showboating their activities, and basically downright insulting the original artists.

And then you have the creators and licensors trying to figure out exactly what the hell is going on, and the typical reaction to confusion is to lash out at the first opportunity that arises. It makes me think of someone being told to clean up a house that is filled with trash from floor to ceiling and that person standing there trying to figure out where to start cleaning.

I’m getting a feeling lately that things are coming to a boiling point rapidly, and that something interesting is bound to come from all of this. At any rate the meltdowns on all sides should at least be fun to watch. Someone pass the popcorn.

So after listening to the full Mitsudomoe OP I realized it reminded me of something… Which lead me to do something completely un-original with it:

I felt like I missed out on the whole Caramelldansen thing, so there is my one contribution to the foolishness.

It was actually kinda fun and killed some time though.

Kotobukiya will release it’s Mina Tepes figure from Dance In The Vampire Bund in November of 2010. Most retailers are taking pre-orders at around about $105 USD.

They are cute… They are fuzzy… And they are deadly.

After seeing the trailer for this around a year ago I have been patiently waiting to see this series. Based on the manga of the same name this is a made for Youtube series.  Although those of us in the US will notice right away that the page is blocked here (I assume it is only available to those in Japan).

The original manga was based on the Vietnam war, but the adaptation has been based on the 1979-1981 Iran hostage crisis. The American soldiers are portrayed as rabbits which is a bit of a pun as the Japanese word for “rabbit” is usagi which in this case also stands as an abbreviation of US Army GI (USAGI). The Iranians are played by… What else??? Camels.

The lack of political correctness in this show is what makes it so amazingly awesome. The accuracy of the weapons is surprising as well. From the M-4 rifle right up to the Hind M-24 helicopter. I found it quite interesting just to check out the detail on the weapons. But then… Who doesn’t enjoy seeing cute bunnies firing RPGs?

While Pixar and Dreamworks won’t be shaking in their boots over this the computer animation is rather impressive, and the action is quite good. Of course there is already one aspect of the show that is creating an uproar online… For those that saw the trailer there was quite a bit of blood splattering about, but apparently in order to appease (Youtube I’m guessing) the blood has been cut out in the webcast. If that detracts from your enjoyment of this show then you are probably going to have to wait until it eventually gets released on DVD/Blu-ray.

It is uncertain as of now how many episodes or what the release schedule will be.