DVD - Tweeny Witches teaches true magic

The third volume of "Tweeny Witches" closes the heroic tale with Arusu saving the witch's world from total destruction.

Of course, this isn't news from the start. In the first two volumes, everyone predicted that the end of the magic world was coming. However, I never expected such a remarkable display of apocalyptic imagery. But there are many, many spoilers in this review. You have been warned!

First of all, Arusu discovers who her real mom is. Lennon spills the beans in front of Arusu's witch brigade when he threatens to kill Triela, the sage of the witch town. Triela reveals that she is Arusu and Lennon's mother. So that's why Lennon kept saying that he was Arusu's mirror.

Second, Arusu returns the deadly magic book to Grande, the head of the warlocks. Grande wants nothing but destruction. He has no love for the magic world at all, and based on the flashback where a warlock was swallowed by Grande, he must be a demon too.

Third, one of the witches in Arusu's brigade becomes Grande's lynchpin for using dark magic to destroy the world. Here's a hint: it's not Sheila. I never expected that Eva would get entangled within the demonic monster that Grande transformed into. But Arusu soothed the savage beast with her motherly love. In other words, she feeds Eva her favorite food.

The ferocious monster is very reminiscent of the forest gods in the Hayao Miyazaki film "Princess Mononoke." The ending also involves pleasing a savage beast. However, "Tweeny Witches" somehow manages the daunting task of displaying grotesque monster imagery and keeping the material appropriate for children.

This is also a wonderful series that criticizes the apocalyptic genre of anime for the recent trend of disturbing psychological dramas and extreme violence. For example, the dark wizard in the series is Eva, which is already a reference to another apocalyptic series, "Neon Genesis Evangelion." Eva always had a desire to use magic, even though she couldn't use it for most of her life. That desire manifested in her role in destroying the magic world. And the series turned that destruction into a disastrous form of genocide, rather than a rebirth of mankind.

Lately, anime directors have lightened up on their apocalyptic tendencies with more optimistic anime. And "Tweeny Witches" is of these positive anime series that proves that it's okay to be young and a little uncertain about the future. After all, everyone can use magic. Although magic in the human world is more invisible, it is the magic of love, nonetheless.

Image courtesy of hirvine.com

Back to business

I haven't posted very many series reviews, but I'm getting back in the hang of things.

This fall on the anime blog, look forward to a review of season one of One Piece! I'm so happy that Netflix put the series up for rental release on Sept 23. Now I get to watch pirates with elastic arms and other goofy superpowers.

Other series reviews to look forward to are "Tweeny Witches," "Batman: Gotham Knight," "Hellsing Ultimate," "When They Cry," "Code Geass" and "Welcome to the N.H.K." I'm especially happy that "When They Cry," one of my absolute favorites, was picked up for release in September by Funimation. Be prepared for some of the best anime reviews to date.

DVD Classics: Get Your Boogiepop On

"Boogiepop Phantom" is easily one of the scariest anime series ever made, with violent ghosts, scientific drugs and exploding kitties (I kid you not).

The series starts off with a beam of light stretching through the sky. Without giving too much away, a hunter vanquishes a demon in an electric beam to save a city. But remnants of the demon still haunt the unknown city in Japan, where the story takes place.

Rumors are abuzz at Shinyo Academy about a man known as the Boogiepop Phantom, who kills students at night. Although it appears to be only a rumor, more and more schoolkids are either killed, killing each other, or killing themselves.

All these murders circle around a drug at a prefectural hospital administered to students, causing them to see and hear phantoms. And these ghosts are definitely not as friendly as Casper.

Although many of the mysteries remain unanswered in the series, the cinematography of "Boogiepop Phantom" is incredible. The entire series is shown through a grainy camera effect and the color is faded to a pale green. And this series is oh so dark. Viewers will undoubtedly jump at the screams, intense loud noises out of nowhere and the bloody deaths of students.

And while nobody may ever figure out the entire mystery of the Boogiepop Phantom, they will be fascinated with the scary transformations caused by pharmaceutical drugs, the secret organization fighting these phantoms and the shocking scares.

But everyone will be shocked in episode nine, "Until Ure In My Arms," where a boy appears to use his mind to maim and explode students' body parts. Or is someone else killing them?

Image courtesy of espvisuals.blogspot.com

DVD Review: Black Blooded Vampire Fun

"Black Blood Brothers" is an adrenaline-filled romp that makes up for its uneven storytelling with superhero vampire action and heartbreaking romance.

Each episodes opens with flashbacks, revealing that the main vampire hero, Jiro, failed to protect his girlfriend from being assassinated. He is a Kowloon child, but Jiro is on a mission to eliminate the members of his vampire clan. The Kowloon are bloodthirsty murderers who only live to suck to kill humans or convert them into more Kowloon.

The series lacks much needed direction, especially through the first episode. In that part alone, Jiro is forced to defend his brother Kotaro from the Suppression team of the Special Zone, which eliminates vampires. The fight gets interrupted when Kotaro falls into the sea and Jiro dives to rescue him. Jiro emerges with Kotaro at a nearby beach in episode 2, meeting with his tour guide, Mimiko Katsuragi. Katsuragi is set to welcome Jiro to the city, if she and Jiro can avoid run-ins with the Suppression team. In future episodes, Jiro's enemy, Cassandra Jill Warlock, is willing to do everything she can to enter the Special Zone.

As one can see, this is a confusing plot that leaves more questions than answers. "The Organization" has to be the lamest name for a city council that I've ever heard. However, this is one of the more impressive action series, with plenty of heated sword and gun battles.

Most of all, however, the love story between Jiro and Katsuragi is strong and heartbreaking. Katsuragi clearly likes Jiro, who is handsome and likes to keep other people out of trouble. But it's going to be a struggle for her to get Jiro away from his violent assassin life, especially when the Kowloons are ready to take over the Special Zone.

By the way, I really want to date Katsuragi. Her face is so lovely...












Images courtesy of animecafe247.com and black-blood-brothers.com