Final Fantasy VII Re-cap

I don't know about you, but I personally have not played Final Fantasy VII in I-don't-know-how-many years; and even when I had played it I never ended up finishing it. And from everything I've heard, you have to be familiar with the storyline of the game in order to enjoy (or at least understand) the Advent Children movie.

So with that in mind, I scoured the net in a desperate attempt to find some kind of re-cap material from the game. I ended up having some success, so I thought I'd share it here for all you who might be in a similiar situation. So here you go:

• First off, here's a list of the characters from the game who are supposedly going to be in the movie.

• The Final Fantasy Shrine is a pretty comprehensive respository of need-to-know FF7 info.

• If you own the game and just want to get through it quickly to experience the story, you can always to this quick walk-through.

• For those of you who don't own the game, or if you just don't have the time (or general inclination) to do the walk-through, here's the entire script for the game. (thanks to Bluemizu)

• And last but not least, here's some Wikipedia info on the seperate but related Last order anime, which may or may not be on the Advent Children DVD. Plus, as an added bonus, here a quasi-legal bittorrent link.

Stand Alone Complex 3rd season???

HUGE news! From AnimeNation:

Ghost in the Shell TV series director Kenji Kamiyama revealed at the recent 9th Annual Kobe Animation Awards that Production I.G. has plans for a continuation of the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex anime. However, what format the sequal will be in has yet to be decided.

And a collective cheer is heard round the anime fan universe.

I just finished watching the first DVD of SAC: 2nd Gig, which rocked! Having more Ghost in the Shell to look forward to is a great thing indeed.

SaiKano live action movie

From Anime News Service:

Toei Animation Ltd. announced their world premiere screening for the Live action Saikano (She The Ultimate Weapon) will occur at the Tokyo International Film Festival on October 29th. The venue will be the Bunkamura theater in Shibuya. Aki Maeda (Battle Royale) is cast in the lead role of Chise, a deadly war cyborg disguised as a schoolgirl. CG technology is intricately combined with live action photography to flesh out the film's heavy SFX's. Saikano opens nationwide in Japanese theaters from February 2006.

It's been a few months since I finished up the SaiKano anime series, and I honestly am still not sure how I feel about it. I know that it was supposed to be this really emotionally intense story, but I just could not get over the premise that the girl is supposed to be this ultimate weapon who can apparently drop full-sized missles out her backside. I mean, I can accept a lot in a story, but for some reason I could never totally suspend my disbelief on that one. Still, I suppose I can understand why people like the series because if you can get over that (as well as the fact that all the characters have a cronic blushing problem) the drama is pretty easy to empathize with.

Regardless, I'll be interested to see how they pull this story off in live action.

Trigun re-released with original opening animations

From AnimeNation:

Geneon has scheduled a November 22nd release for the first of two limited edition Trigun DVD boxed sets. The first Trigun limited edition boxed set will include 3 DVDs in thin pak cases with reversible cover art containing episodes 1-14 with their original episode specific opening animation sequences (for the first time in America), an exclusive "Bullet Necklace" engraved with the Trigun logo, and bonus DVD features. The DVDs will be packaged in a metal tin featuring new art by Trigun creator Yasuhiro Nightow. The limited edition set will retail at $89.98.

The second Trigun limited edition boxed set, containing the second half of the anime series, will be released on January 17, 2006.

I've already seen all of Trigun, but it's so tempting to get this re-release anyway just for the opening animations if nothing else. Is that so wrong?

Twitch reviews Open Your Mind

Twitch has posted a review of Mamoru Oshii's new project Open Your Mind.

The film was part of EXPO 2005 which was a sort of nature-awareness endevor. (I'm sure it's much more than that, but that's as succinct of an explanation as I could glean from the concept summary.)

The Open You Mind part of the event was a fully emmersive audio/visual experience.

Through the use of one of the world's largest floor video screens (roughly 600 m2), visitors will be able to stand on the floor and walk through an experiential video space. Video images will be presented on the walls and overhead as well, so visitors will enjoy being able to freely alter their visual perspective, and the combination of audio will make this a moving experience for the human senses. [from the EXPO summary].

The film is not meant to have a plot or narrative. It is more like a series of visuals that are tied together by common themes. The review covers the DVD version of the film which "will clearly not have the same immersive effect on DVD as it would in the actual installation" but "it is still a very impressive piece of work."

Not sure when/if this is going to be released stateside, so you may have to import it if you're interested (and have a Region 2 player). It's Oshii, so I'll probably try to catch it sooner or later if I get a chance.

Gankutsuou wins award

From Anime News Network:

Gonzo's 2004 series Gankutsuou has taken the "Best TV Series" title at the Animation Kobe fair. Further details can be found here.

I saw the first episode of this show -- which is based off the Dumas novel Count of Monte Cristo -- a while ago and it looked really promising. The visuals were like nothing I'd ever seen before. I'd go into more detail, but you'll probably find better descriptions by reading this review and this other review of the first DVD volume, which is due to be released in the US on October 25.

Advent Children US release date

From Anime Nation:

AnimeNation has been informed by wholesaler sources that Sony Home Video plans to release the Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children movie on American DVD on November 29th. The DVD will carry a 28.95 list price, but no details regarding content or language options has been released yet.

I don't know if the US edition is going to have all this crap, but here are some extensive photos of the Japanese DVD packaging and extras.

And lastly, Ain't It Cool News has has posted a positive review of the movie. (You'll need to scroll to the bottom of the page.)

Hellsing Ultimate OVA trailer

The first volume of the direct to DVD Hellsing Ultimate, a new adaptation of the horror action which will more closely follow the original manga than the original TV series, will be released in Japan on December 9th. [Source: Ain't It Cool News] The trailer for the show is now available on the the official website. And no, I still have not yet seen the original series. I promise I'll get to it eventually.

Live Action Initial D on Region 1 DVD

Holy Crap! Live action Initial D movie is available on Region 1 DVD with english subtitles right now! It's not a domestic release, but who the hell cares? I'm going to order this puppy right this second.

Reading the reviews on the website makes it all seem underwealming, but having lowered expectations means I be that much likely to not be disappointed, right?

Sweet!

Promising-looking Trailer

This one looks promising... From AnimeNation:

Animate.tv now hosts a streaming Windows Media format trailer for the Noein ~ Mou Hitori no Kimi e anime TV series. The trailer is avialable in narrowband and broadband resolutions.