One of the problems of being from the UK is that the early wave of anime distribution often gave us films or ovas of popular anime of the time so I'm in a difficult position of reviewing the anime based on it's film rather than it's tv series, this has happened with Rayearth, Ghost Sweeper Mikami, Knights Ramune, Master of Mosquiton and Detective Conan although to give Conan some credit at least there's a recap of the premise at the start of each film, then you have today's subject Space Adventure Cobra.
Just a quick recap because I at least have two tv episodes experience of this going into the movie, Cobra is a bounty hunter who was completely remodeled after faking his death and along with his android partner sets out to reclaim his former glory, a very much plays up like James Bond in space meets Lupin the 3rd, with Cobra himself possessing the iconic Psychogun, a powerful arm cannon that would later inspire Megaman.
In this movie, Cobra has a run in with arch nemesis Crystal Bowie after pursuing a female bounty hunter of whom she falls in love with Cobra which mentally connects with her other sisters, however Crystal Bowie has one of them in mind control which sets up a plot that could decide a galaxy's fate.
It's 80s artistry at it's finest mixed with a story that asks more questions than it answers, I found with this movie I got a sense of what I could expect from the TV series as it falls into the Conan category rather than the Rayearth category so I find that I'm able to at least fairly judge the franchise, it's a good time but don't expect anything to immediately make sense, with a dub that for the time is exceptional.
Final Verdict: Cobra quite rightly is up there with other legendary anime heroes and I don't believe for a minute that you could do worse for an introduction than watching the movie before the TV series, in fact it covers Cobra's backstory quite well so if anything it gives you a heads-up before diving into the series proper
Gratuitous Italian awaits.
In the Italianish town of Regalo, the Arcana Famiglia runs everything as a good natured mafia ring with each of it's members possessing a power aligned with the Arcana Tarot cards. Felicita daughter of leader Mondo has come of age and it's put to her that the other family members will fight for leadership as well as Felicita's hand in marriage, not willing to do so, Felicita decides to forge her own path to becoming head of the family, along the way, the more unique members of the family showcase their back stories and powers with much centered on Liberta and Nova as well as Jolly who passes for an antagonist in this.
Based on a video game and it shows, but it's baffling premise cannot disguise the fact that very little attention was made in making the characters good, the group of Pace, Luca and Debito stand out as the worst of the bunch as they really didn't need to exist as they have zero chemistry with Felicita, this isn't helped by a dub that feels really flat in delivery but needlessly hammy especially with Jolly, Dante and Mondo, and there is no excuses for making Nova sound like a fem boy. It's a bad mishmash of baffling story telling, a confusing power system and lame duck characters voiced poorly in the dub, led by a supposedly strong female character who looks as lost as the audience.
Final Verdict: I wish this was better as the premise made it sound much more palatable than what we actually got, leaving this dish cold and disappointing
Chivalry of a Failed Anime more like.
Blazers are knights with special powerful abilities, due to his notoriously low magical ability ranked a lowly F-Rank, Ikki Kurogane is subjected to conditions that directly hinder his progress through school from his family, dubbed the "Worst One" however he's given the condition of being allowed to graduate should he succeed in the Seven Star festival, using some clever techniques to compensate his lack of magical ability along with a trusted friend group with new girlfriend Stella Vermillion, sister Shizuku and the sassy Alice, Ikki aims to prove his family wrong.
Yet another school for heroes with an Op main character and a fiery red headed love interest, were made to believe this is going to turn into a harem series or go heavy on the fan service but it quickly becomes apparent that the focus is fully on Ikki, and every other character is a side character or just another opponent, what's strange is that Stella Vermillion is given top billing on all the covers including the physical copy on Blu-ray, yet she does practically nothing of importance; apart from some impressive fight scenes, the story is incredibly mean spirited to the point of absurdity, it's the Food Wars problem of threatening expulsion every episode, the stakes lose their impact.
Dub is fine if predictable casting.
Final Verdict: Absurd plot only barely saved by decent fight scenes with a side cast that barely does anything, leading to a very unfulfilled anime you were likely tricked into buying because you saw a pretty red headed girl on the front.
It's taken me 30 years to finally watch Detective Conan.
Shinichi Kudo is a high school detective when one day he is poisoned trying to stop the mysterious black organization, instead of dying, Shinichi is shrunk into a child form, now living with Ran Mori and detective Kogoro Mori, he takes on the name Conan Edogawa, with gadgets in hand ranging from powered soccer balls, tranquilizer darts, voice changing bow ties and a rocket skateboard along with a willing group of child detectives, Conan sets out to solve mysteries to eventually lead back to the Black Organization to one day reclaim his previous form, although Kogoro seems to get all the credit because Conan is still stuck as a kid.
Seems like Detective shows always get the long runner treatment, Detective Conan posseses the same spirit as the likes of Doraemon but has enough grit to not alienate itself from an older audience, it's got a healthy load of action and each episode and movie draws well from a strong cast and strong writing, it does suffer from early era dubbing and it has the Lupin the 3rd problem of not having much to distinguish itself between it's episodes and movies, even turning up in Detective Precure could be considered a standard episode for Conan.
Final Verdict: Detective Conan is a decent watch with 30 years worth of content to keep you entertained for months just don't expect the ground to break.
Let's see how CGI stacks up.
Lupin is tracking down an artifact known as the Bresson Diary, a piece his grandfather failed to obtain many years ago.
Crossing paths with a young archeologist named Laetitia, it becomes clear that the treasure the diary links to known as Eclipse becomes a desperate race against the Nazi Organization Ahnenerbe to prevent the destruction of the world.
A typical extended Lupin plot with just enough absurdity to be film worthy and with it being CGI this time it feels more "film" than ever before.
It's not Cagliostro good let's be clear on that, the cast settle into their regular roles so well, the film acts like a Lupin bingo card, the voice cast is stellar as always.
Final Verdict: There isn't really a lot to talk about, this is Lupin at his finest and along with some now iconic moments will sit well within the Pantheon of this near 60 year old franchise
