Deadman Wonderland (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
So not much to report insofar as completed shows, but I am impressed with some of the new(ish) anime that's been uploaded and added to Netflix lately, including the English dub of the acclaimed series Madoka Magica. I also started in watching Deadman Wonderland on Netflix. While I do own it on DVD, now I can watch episodes at lunch on my phone when the opportunity presents itself. Of late I tend to watch an episode or two of Deadman Wonderland before I move on to watch another episode or two of Psycho-Pass. They fit well together thematically and tonally. I usually reach a good stopping point in each show then transition to watching something else, like continuing my re-watch of Knights of Sidonia in Spanish for the hell of it. I also note that Season 2 of Samurai Jack is now on Netflix streaming, so I've resumed watching that as well. Though I'm pretty sure I saw most of this show when it aired on TV, every now and then I stumble upon an episode that's new to me, but even when it's a re-watch, it's hardly a waste of time--it's still good to re-visit old episodes of this classic cartoon. I've also been checking out the re-dub of the original Sailor Moon on Neon Alley. I had thought it was Sailor Moon Crystal but evidently not. I had known that VIZ/BangZoom! had re-dubbed the original Sailor Moon to re-release on DVD; the new dub is more faithful to the Japanese original and not censored for U.S. television, etc. I recognize a lot of the BangZoom! voice talents in the cast, like Stephanie Sheh as Usagi/Sailor Moon and Michelle Ruff as the magical cat Luna. Todd Haberkorn voices one of the bad guys, and I'm almost certain I've heard Johnny Yong Bosch at least once already. I never watched the original Sailor Moon (I'm not in the target demographic), but the new dub on Neon Alley is mildly entertaining & amusing. I'm not rushing to finish it, I only watch maybe one maybe two episodes in any one sitting. Plus I have to sit through advertising, which is kind of a drag.
I've put on hiatus my two Crackle.com shows, Ruroni Kenshin and Viper's Creed because there's so much quality stuff back on Netflix now to watch instead. Once I'm finished with Psycho-Pass and Deadman Wonderland, I intend to resume watching those Crackle.com shows and maybe get caught up on some of the Sentai Filmworks shows I can only watch on DVD that I still haven't started or finished, OR, I'll go back to some of the FUNimation shows on their Roku channel that I still need to finish up, like Aquarion EVOL Season 2, and Fairy Tail, to name just two. I also need to finish up Season 2 of Baka & Test.
For the future, I really hope FUNimation will re-release the original Fullmetal Alchemist series on Blu-Ray someday. I own Brotherhood on Blu-Ray and I love it, but I've also seen the original series and love it too, for different reasons. The whole tone & flavor of the original anime is very different. Not superior, just different. I did pick up the Blu-Ray edition of Conqueror of Shamballa, which is tacked on to the *original* Continuity and not the Brotherhood continuity. Also coming up this week I get to attend a screening of the first four episodes of Tamako Market, new from Sentai Filmworks. Then on Thursday this week I'm going to be screening the first few episodes of Princess Jellyfish for a small circle of close friends. I look forward to this very much. I'm also trying to get caught up a little on Attack on Titan (part 2), and I need to get caught up on Space Dandy as well. I need to do that also because I'm way behind on the Toonami Faithful Podcast as well.
In manga, I just finished up volume 2 of Flowers of Evil, which finishes up around where the pivotal Episode 7 leaves off in the anime. I've already put in my Interlibrary Loan request for the next volume. Ditto Knights of Sidonia, which I finished the 2nd volume of this weekend as well. Both manga are published by Vertical.
Speaking of manga, I'm very happy to see that Houston Public Library has enabled its users to now check out short-term loans of digital graphic novels and bona fide manga from VIZ Media, which is frigging amazing. I played with a few volumes and they look great on my iPad. I wish my own home county library district did the same, but alas we're not there yet. I wish Yen Press would partner with this digital library program as well, but as yet they're not yet participating. I can always hope. It only makes sense and should help cut down on piracy of digital manga and give the publisher a revenue stream from library subscriptions and give end users a legitimate way to read their favorite manga digitally on their PC or mobile devices. Kudos to HPL for forging ahead with this, and to VIZ Media for being willing to play ball.
I'm still stuck on Vol.6 of the printed manga for Toradora!, featuring Aisaka Taiga's deadbeat father. I'm also still not very far into Vol.1 of the Haganai manga. I'll finish these eventually but for right now I prefer reading Flowers of Evil and Knights of Sidonia respectively.
Anyway, that's what I've been up to lately with respect to my anime viewing and my manga reading habits. Not enough to podcast about, but worthy of a quick blog update, more or less.
