Monday, June 18, 2018

XXXXXXX!!!!!!

Does anyone even read this anymore?  I know the bots do because I see my comments section is full of annoying spam comments.  At least I'm still getting hits!

I did a movie order from Hong Kong a few weeks ago, although all the titles were Japanese.  Their shipping is getting really good, the past couple orders my movies have arrived in a week, and I always use the cheapest shipping option.


I got Ultraman X the series, in two volumes.  Volume one is three discs of 12 episodes and volume two is three discs of the final 12 episodes.  I just finished watching volume one and while the A/V is pretty good, and I only spotted one error in the subtitles, the packaging could've been better.

I'm not sure why the three discs have to be in three separate cases when each discs only holds four episodes.  There isn't much in terms of extras, except a lone trailer and the episodes are only 25 minutes each, so they probably could've put six episodes on one disc and put the entire Vol. 1 in a single case holding two discs.  Instead I'm going to have two box sets with six cases total taking up valuable shelf space.

Aside from the bulky packaging, the series is pretty good so far, lots of fun monsters and big monster fights.  I'm sure people would complain about the "guys in rubber suits", but it looks real, way better than some CGI stuff.  There is a lot of CGI in the show, but usually it's used to enhance stuff and make it cooler.

Ultraman doesn't get much exposure over here in North America which sucks if you want to watch it.  I know there is a niche steaming company has started offering multiple Ultraman series to watch plus lots of other Japanese content, but unfortunately it looks like it's only available in the US.  I'm assuming due to rights issues or something.  


The current trend in Japanese cinema is to make movie based on popular manga/anime series and Attack On Titan is one that came out a few years ago.  The movie was split in two parts and reviews were mixed for the movies, but I had only seen the first episode of the anime, so my knowledge of the material was limited.   That is probably why I liked it more than a fan of the manga or anime would, I'm not going to be too critical.  It's not perfect, but it was a fun way to spend a couple nights, plus lots of goopey deaths.  It is probably on Netflix, so check it out if you are bored.

Unlike the Ultraman X series, this one does it right, putting both movies on one disc with a few extras, like trailers and a photo gallery.



Okay, I know Gantz: 0 is on Netflix because I watched it on there a while ago.  Hopefully, it's still on there.  I haven't watched this one yet, but I'm getting to it.  I picked it up just to add to my Gantz live action movies, even though they aren't directly connected.  Just more monsters, shiny suits, crazy sci-fi weapons and more goopey deaths.

The weird thing with these discs is that while they are all region A, they won't play in my Sony blu-ray player which doesn't make sense.  I've never had a problem with it before, when I put in the Ultraman X and Attack on Titan discs it played the warnings that all discs have on them when you load one up, but instead of going to the disc menu, it just kicks back to the player main menu.  I thought maybe it was the disc, but I tried them in my X Box and they played fine and the X Box can be finicky.   Maybe I'll have to upgrade my player soon.