El Hazard 2: Promise for Reunion
Genre: comedy/fantasy
Length: 60 minutes (2 episodes)
Audience Age: 13+
Opinion: No El Hazard fan should be let down by this bonus story to the anime universe.
This is a review of the subtitled VHS version.
Techi Muyo! In Love 2
Techi Muyo! In Love 2
Tenchi Forever: The Movie
Genre: dramedy/sci-fi fantasy
Length: 95 minutes (Theatrical Film)
Audience Age: 16+
Length: 95 minutes (Theatrical Film)
Audience Age: 16+
Opinion: The only addition to the series that can make any anime fan respect "Tenchi Muyo!".
This is a review of the dubbed VHS version.
Die Hard Game Fan's critic's favorite anime of 2000.
Like every other "Tenchi Muyo!" theatrical addition, the film starts with a seemingly normal day for Tenchi that is until an argument between Ryoko and Ayeka forces him to flee into the forest near their house. Looking for some peace and quiet, to his surprise he sees a bud of a camellia tree, but it is out of season. He searches for and finds this beautiful plant which seems to draw him into it.
Six months later, Tenchi has yet to return from his trek into the woods. Ayeka and Ryoko have gone to Tokyo to find him while the other girls have gone to Planet Jurai and the Space Science Academy to find out where he could have gone. Could Tenchi have gone to another world or, as Washu has hypothesized, another dimension? What does Yosho know about the tree he planted? If you recall why Tenchi ran off, does he even want to comeback? Despite no one's life maybe on the line, this could be one of the gravest scenarios.
No matter how tedious Tenchi Muyo! is, I never mind seeing new stories about the series' hero. Tenchi never seems to disappoint its fans, so when "Tenchi Forever" came out, I had to pick it up. Surprisingly, I did not expect it to be so great and that it also earned the 16 Up rating by being the most mature and sophisticated Tenchi installment ever.
What a brilliant film for a TV/OVA (Original Video Animation) series. Tenchi Forever's colors are bland (possibly for dramatic effect), there are not many technical advances over the other series, and by no means is it as funny as the lamest Tenchi episodes. But its ability of finding how to use the main characters to their full dramatic potential puts it above the rest of the series.This film nearly being a total drama justifies its Japanese theatrical release by having the essential dark and dreary plot, but it makes it work which is a rarity for spin offs to the big screen. Perhaps some characters are under utilized and I found the ending somewhat disappointing (an issue of personal taste/ideals), nothing else from the film can bring it down from being the top release of all Tenchi series.
Episode 108: B-Fest 2023: Kaiju & Blobs & Roller Disco & Dafoe Leather & Uwe Boll
B-Fest 2023: Kaiju & Blobs & Roller Disco & Dafoe Leather & Uwe Boll
CatBusRuss returns to Northwestern to challenge his cinematic endurance with the 40th Edition of AO B-Fest. “American Ninja” with a crowd sounded fun, but Willem Dafoe in the “Rock ‘n Roll Fable” “Streets of Fire” made it clear that this 24-hour marathon was a must attend. And surely “Xanadu’s” infamy was over blown…right?
CatBusRuss returns to Northwestern to challenge his cinematic endurance with the 40th Edition of AO B-Fest. “American Ninja” with a crowd sounded fun, but Willem Dafoe in the “Rock ‘n Roll Fable” “Streets of Fire” made it clear that this 24-hour marathon was a must attend. And surely “Xanadu’s” infamy was over blown…right?
Allow me to get out of third-person. Happy Prof. Shurtleff of Illinois Central College? I (CM Darth) will try not to make so much light of violent death in this summation. This is my declaration of changing perspective.
Life has been pretty hectic recently. I have just started a second job, so finding time to write the blogs for each podcast episode has obviously been difficult. So far, Mondays have been free, but that is just the prelude to a 50-hour work week. By Sunday, catching up on all the AEW Wrestling programming is what comes first and foremost.
I am still determined to keep up the podcast, but the past week was tough. There was a recording scheduled, but other people have lives, so it did not pan out. Unless guests want to stay up late, Sundays are the only day that I am certain can be made for podcasting. With that said, if you have a movie or topic that you want to chat about, send an email to russthebus07@gmail.com.
Or, if you cannot be on the show, let me know of cool cinematic events that I can attend. Or, give me some feedback about the idea of a Patreon. I have to get gas money to drive up to the Music Box Theater every weekend. Two more stays are necessary for me to remain a gold member with Hilton Honors as well.
The actual solution to my issues is, again, to move up to Chicagoland. My landlords upping my rent another $50 like the prior year. What happened to consideration initially provided for the red stain that knocked $50 off my initial rent? What could that substance be?
So I think that means B-Fest was a success for me this year. I am bitching more about my life than enduring what is essentially a double feature in "Xanadu" and Uwe Boll's "BloodRayne". Regardless of the quality of the closing features, fun was still had throughout the two films. That is a step up from last year's "Godzilla" cartoon and "Beast from Haunted Cave".
It may have been the larger crowd. The audience must have been three times larger than the 2022 crowd. In other words, I did not get a couple of Italian exploitation films as a door prize. This larger crowd did allow for some shadow casts and other odes to "The Rocky Horror Picture Show". More importantly, I got to see Rick Moranis try to stand up to a leather suspender-sporting Willem Dafoe in "Streets of Fire".
"Big Man Japan" was awesome and "The Children" and "American Ninja" are the type of films that drive this podcast. With how hectic my life is, I am proud to say that I am already pumped for "B-Fest 2024". See you then.
