What time is it? Yup, you heard it. It's about that time. Real life issues can wait because it is time to return to writing. I welcomed to my dvd collection a long-time series on my wish list. I never thought it would ever see the light of day. I watched it in syndication when it was not pre-empted or kicked around the schedule. It usually aired at 12am or 1am in my area. What is this show I'm talking about? Is it any good? Prepare to be surprised. The show in question is Total Recall 2070. Yes Virginia, there was a tv show in the universe after the infamous Arnold movie. However, the show has less in common with the movie than it does with Blade Runner. This series is very under-rated with deliciously paced subplots and wonderfully engaging characters. Previously, the pilot was released on dvd in a decent uncut version. I have yet to watch this new release but it shall be done in the next few days. There is a slight drawback. The series is a Canada release only. For us residents of the US, you can have this shipped to you for an overall price of around $30-$32 at the most. This includes shipping costs. It's a great deal and costs about the same price shipped as most shows already in the US. Take a look at the pictures included and stay tuned for a review of this release. :)
I think the tagline of the show is apt for the description of the show. I’ve had this series in my backlog for awhile and finally had some time to sit down and watch it. I found it worth it to write up a review and share my thoughts on a deserving series. I love the Batman universe and super-heroines were right up my alley this day. Not to mention I’ve been buying comics again, there could be some reviews coming soon for those. On to the review…
Don’t be too disappointed; we have a matted widescreen transfer here. This is unfortunate as the show was shot in widescreen. It would have benefited from a true anamorphic transfer. The series was rather deserving of it. I did notice a little aliasing in some of the more intensive CGI scenes but it’s few and far between. There were no other issues of note. It wasn’t a bad transfer but it could have been much better. Take solace in knowing that the show looks pretty good on a PS3 upscale to an HD television.
The audio sadly lacks a 5.1 punch and instead comes in very basic 2.0 television style. It’s rather too bad the series didn’t come with full surround sound. The worst part is that the music on the series has been “tweaked” due to licensing issues. We don’t really need to get into why as that could take forever. The new Birds of Prey intro isn’t bad but it’s not good either. I feel it changes the mood and impression of the series. There are more music changes than that but it doesn’t make fans of the show feel any better getting Birds of Pre- lite. This is the one area of this release that I’m highly disappointed in. Warner Brothers, shame on you!
Three simple words describe the packaging of this 13 episode series; simple, slim and sexy. The series is packaged in a lite-box with a slip cover over the case. I am a fan of slipcovers for releases. Some can be beautiful and some can be mediocre or worse. Birds of Prey is of the finer variety with its embossing and use of the cool dark colors on a foil finish. It’s strikingly beautiful and stands out. The picture featured here doesn’t really show how amazing this is. The cover art of the discs features the cast individually including the Detective. If only the finish could have used the same kind of foil that the slipcover did. It would score high marks across the board.
Is the show worth my time and my money? I give a resounding yes. What really sold this show were the character relationships, chemistry and Ashley Scott. The Birds of Prey gave a sense of family once they got through the introductions and setup. The first couple of episodes felt slightly forced but everyone settled and found a sense of familiarity and family. Ashley Scott is what really drove the series home for me. She felt like she was the daughter of Bruce and Selena, capturing traits from both while creating her own identity. Intelligent, sexy and bad ass… Her portrayal was spot on. The other actresses fulfilled their roles successfully but she was the true stand-out. An honorable mention will go to both the well choreographed fight scenes and the inclusion of characters from the DC universe ala Black Canary, Clayface, etc…
The complaints I do have involve characterizations, writing and sometimes mediocre acting. I’m a huge Harley Quinn fan. Now, I have no complaints about Mia Sarah (she’s a good actress) but she wasn’t the right actress for the role. I do feel that Sherilyn Fenn was best suited, damn those scheduling conflicts. Not only that, the writers rather missed the point of who Harley Quinzell really is. She’s a little more insane, perky and devious. This is the chink in the armor of the show but it wasn’t enough to turn me off completely. A little more consistency (primary story arc) and equalization of characterizations (Harley Quinn) would have pushed this over. For the most part the acting was decent, but, at times it was fairly mediocre. I think it has more to do with actors and actresses growing into their roles. It’s hard to do that in 13 episodes. Not many shows can pull it off, it’s that rare.
Birds of Prey is a fun and enjoyable series, that had tremendous potential. As far as the writing and acting goes, I just feel that with more time and development the series could have amazing. It could have been miles better than Smallville. So don’t let anything fool you from this review; I believe it’s worth owning despite the drawbacks from the release and minor complaints about the series. I give it 3 and ½ Huntress kisses out of 5.
It's been a nice couple weeks of anime and video games. There is one in particular I just finished watching that just blew me completely away. I pretty much stopped in my tracks of gaming, writing and reading. The series I am referring to is none other than Chrome Shelled Regios.
The animation quality by Zexcs is simply amazing. The world that Regios is set in maybe be simplistic in thought but is realized with breathtaking detail. An apocalyptic world in which mobile domed cities travel through. This in mere thought could almost never be realized in live action, it would be very expensive. Everything from beautiful scenery within the city, architecture of the buildings and design of the dite's (weapons) to the desolate frontier traveled by the domes.... very well done for something I see as an ambitious subject to tackle. The character designs and models are beautiful and not so cookie cutter. I felt like I was truly watching something new and fresh.
The audio, despite being 2.0 for my viewing, was very powerful. I can only imagine that 5.1 would rock my home theater. Fortunately my computer and streaming meant 2.0 was my only choice. The combination of hard and soft music through the series made the atmosphere of the show complete and even more intricate. The voice acting on this series is another outstanding aspect of the series. Handling the seriousness and the comedic elements to lighten an other dreary world is required and they performed admirably. The subtitles were sufficient and very informative. I don't recall who did them but they atleast took the time to provide definitions to words and terms. Not to mention the timing was perfect, to this day any anime streamed usually is off just a little or rushed. I could follow the action on the screen and read knowing what was happening. I won't usually remark about subs like this but I couldn't help but notice how well it was done.
I covered pretty much everything that was very good about this series... thanks for reading... oh, damn...wait a second... that was just the very good aspects. The best aspect of this series is not the animation, it's not the music, it's not the action... it is in the writing that I found Chrome Shelled Regios truly excelled in. A show can look and sound beautiful, but if the writing is weak then all of that means nothing. What I fell in love with was not just the world, but with each of the charactes. All have a tremendous background and dichotomy between each other. Ofcourse we follow Layfon's story as well as Nina's, but from Felli to Haia. Despite what you initially think of certain characters you find that there are reasons for being the way they are. In an anime with a large amount of secondary cast that is something that could be easily pushed aside in order to focus on the main plot. If you want to know about the plot, you'll be happy to know that Regios doesn't lack. It's complex without being so convoluted that you get lost watching the series. It's dark without being depressing. It's fast paced but never leaves you wondering what the hell just happened.
You might be asking yourself, "ok, but is there anything wrong or lacking in this series?" or "where's the shoe that drops with almost all series?" I'd say you'd find it with wanting another season. It's an open ended finale, you won't feel cheated but I can almost promise you'll be saying one thing. "That was awesome but there's another season right? right?" This is a no-lose situation. Chrome Shelled Regios is a one of a kind series. It's the best series I have watched this year...
Chrome Shelled Regios would be a great show brought over to Region 1 land. It's not a series that would need a dub, but would be nice if it did. I'd recommend New Gen or Bang Zoom, and ideally TRSI to release but for a dub... we'd be looking at Funimation, since they are the only company continuing consistent dubs of series. I haven't fallen in love with a show like this since Shakugan no Shana. I thought 07-Ghost was great, but it doesn't hit this level of awesome and wicked fun. I give Chrome Shelled Regios 5 out of 5 Felli shin kicks, which also comes with 5 kisses.
