Ancient Chinese Series Sub-titled in English

Live action series from China with a very anime vibe ready for consumption

I grew up watching various badly dubbed king-fu shows and movies on early Saturday and Sunday mornings. These shows along with series such as Robotech, Transformers, Galaxy Rangers, Voltron, Silver Hawks, Thundercats, (need I continue?) helped create my love for anime and manga that took off as an adult. Now at the tender age of ‘none of your business’ I’ve been introduced to yet another brand of live action cinema that merges those kung-fu flicks with anime themes.

These Ancient Chinese Series touch on many of the same themes and core elements that many anime, even US cartoons touch on with good vs. evil, fantasy epics and sci-fi galore. I would be doing a disservice if I did not share something so enjoyable that is so close to what I love, to what I started this blog about. The trailer below shows off some nice highlights so make your own decision. Here are some of the series that have been shared with me, would love to hear what you think.

• Chinese Paladin 3 and 1 – Comparable to Final Fantasy 
• Legend of the Condor Heroes – Comparable to Naruto, fighting based series.

Disney Epic Mickey Disneyland to Wasteland Trailer

Take a behind the scenes look at how Disneyland goes to Wasteland in the upcoming Epic Mickey for Nintendo Wii.

Disney Epic Mickey Character Overview Trailer

Many of these characters have not been seen in decades but in Epic Mickey on Wii they are front and center with the mouse that rules the house.

Disney's Epic Mickey Gameplay Trailer

Take a look at some of Mickey's Epic action on the Nintendo Wii

Soul Eater English dub episode 3

Simple post, sweet clip from FUNimation on YouTube for Soul Eater, check it out ...

Marvel vs. Capcom 2 Trailer

Old games become new again thanks to tweaked graphics and downloadable content on PSN and Xbox Live. The latest, on my radar, is Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes which goes back to a simpler time of gaming where it was all about flash special moves and over the top action. Here are two trailers, strategy for Zangief and the Hulk that really highligh the over the top action. Good times, old gaming is back.

The Punisher: No Mercy on PlayStation Network

(Also published on The Examiner)
The Punisher: No Mercy is a first-person shooter to be played on the PlayStation 3. The cost, about $10, the hook, it’s downloadable. For quite a few years the downloadable space consisted of puzzle games, add-ons and just smaller apps. Now gamers are seeing the evolution of downloadable content thanks to better connection speeds and the desire of publishers not to spend on physical disc productions. For ten bucks, roughly two rentals, gamers get a pretty robust shooter with a great FPS license attached in The Punisher. Marvel heroes have had a mixed bag when it comes to games and this release is a low risk approach that works. No shipping, production, shelf space cost, no worries about the mature content (which Wal-Mart for example tends not to carry) or the shoddy past of Punisher games. This is right there in digital format for gamers for an easy price. The trailer below shows off what seems to be a fairly engaging FPS built on the Unreal Engine 3 this title is offering up some fun multi-player that again does not take a $60+ commitment from gamers and their buddies. There is single-player also but let’s take a look back at the point we started with.

Gamers are now getting full, downloadable, less expensive gamers to play online with their buddies or alone that are not some schlock from the backend of big name publishers. This is the beginning of something truly special for gamers so take a look at The Punisher: No Mercy, download if desired and enjoy where the gaming landscape is headed.

The Punisher: No Mercy - PSN Trailer

Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone Trailer

Many times when watching an older, from the 90’s, anime I wonder what it would be like if recreated today. Dragon Ball Z for example looks mega sharp in video game form now but the older episodes just don’t’ hold up. Gundam is another great example with the new Seed series vs. the original look and feel. Animation quality changes and it impacts how our beloved series look. Robotech and Transformers come to mind also. For me Evangelion was always one of these series, but no longer. The story of Tokyo-3, NERV, Shinji and the Eva’s is about to get an outstanding makeover in Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone. The trailer is hot and shows off the points I mention above. This series is getting revamped in a great way. The voice work is very familiar but the animation is rock solid with tweaks to the Angels, looks sooooooo good. Anime fans should be very familiar with the series but now noobs can get on board with one of the best anime of all time and hopefully they get to avoid the sad sack original ending (Death and Rebirth was solid). So check out the trailer on Apple and check back with FUNimation for more detail. This is going to be so money!

Megan Fox Video Game Trailer

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - Megan Fox Video Game Trailer

She is easy on the eyes and not too bad with her voice either. Megan Fox takes on some voice work in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen The Video Game. In this video, if you listen and don't just look, she chats about being involved in not just the movie but the game also. Can you guess who her favorite character to use is ...

Trailer: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - Shia LaBeouf & Peter Cullen

So the movie is out in just a few days, ditto for the video game. These two video game trailers for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen are just fun to watch. First up is Peter Cullen (Optimus) and Frank Welker (Megatron) chatting about coming together for the second game. They don't discuss any ground breaking news, but hearing and seeing them do the voices is timeless for fans of the show.

The second trailer is Sam himself, Shia LaBeouf, taking the game for a spin and talking about his involvement, something gamers should be used to by now, that being talent involvment in games tied to movies. He really shows some nice insight into the storyline possibilities of the games, looking at it from both good and evil perspectives as well as how the story can be expanded. Not bad at all I must say. The only odd thing is the trailer stops rather suddenly, you just feel there is more, but not a bad few minutes. Check it out and enjoy, the movie is almost here.

Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes Game Trailer

Just like Street Fighter before it now Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is getting a full makeover just for download on PlayStation Network and Xbox Live. This game looks hot and the best of this series was seen on the Dreamcast and Saturn. Now gamers can delight in an excellent gaming experience that will get a bit more pub thanks to the remakes of Street Fighter, release of Street Fighter IV and of course the Wolverine X-Men movie. Check out the trailer below ...

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Game Trailer

Aerialbots, Seacons and Combaticons in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen?

Are they in the movie ... maybe but if you combine the movie trailer and the game trailer (below) and the movie trailer then fans can assume that the Aerialbots, Bruticus, Seacons and maybe Stunticons are all in a crazy Combiner fest to go along with Devestator and Soundwave (his voice is halfway through the game trailer). So here's the deal, the game trailer looks good, full of third-person melee and ranged action on the ground and in the air. So the game looks hot, but what about more characters, lets speculate ... and remember that games can add in bonus content for fans so I could be reading too much into this, but ...

Aerialbots - At about the 1:28 and 1:30 mark of the trailer there is an F-16 with very familiar lighting bolt marks on it's wings. In the movie trailer there is a pyramid scene where (assuming) Sam is face to face with a very large jet transformer but not running.

Seacons - A big stretch, not from the game trailer but rather movie trailer. Who else could fish out Megatron (three bots underwater in trailer) than the Seacons, another Combiner group.

Combaticons - A Decepticon tank burning everything in the game trailer and it's not the new Megatron form. In a movie, possibly, filled with many Combiners why not think the Combaticons are making an appearance.

Stunticons - Nothing real solid here but a lot of cars in the movie, why not the Stunticons?

This is of course speculation, heck the trailer looks like it has Jazz in it also, but with so many fireballs coming to Earth in the latest movie trailer this is going to be one crazy movie and can't reveal all during teasers.

Blood: The Last Vampire Live Action Movie Trailer

Saya is the last of her kind, a half-breed destined to hunt those very real monsters that do more than bump in the night. They are called Chiropterans, more than vampires, they are monsters that thirst for blood and can disguise themselves as human. Saya’s past is a mystery but her ties to these monsters leads her to hunt as part of a secret government agency, her latest mission, infiltrate a high school in post WWII Japan on a US Military base, find the monsters and kill them.

Saya’s story first hit US shores with the animated Blood: The Last Vampire feature in 2000. This 45+ minute masterpiece gave otaku just a taste of what the Blood novels carry in droves. Next up is the ongoing Blood+ anime from Sony, manga from Dark Horse. A longer, retold version of Saya not related to the Last Vampire Movie. Both are excellent and are among the best anime available today, especially for vampire fans looking for something a little different.

As for the live action movie, here is what we can tell from the trailer. This movie seems closer to the animated Blood: The Last Vampire opposed to Blood+. Saya is in the same school uniform, looks like a US military base due to her younger sidekick, American girl who replaces the school nurse from the anime. There are many more Chiropterans in a few scenes surrounding Saya which leads one to think they are not as tough as in the anime where just one monster is a handful. The movie also looks to flesh out the history a bit more showing scenes from the past. Saya herself looks spot on how fans would view her and her thick accent leads to one who has lived for a long time. Hands down this movie looks hot, a truly good reproduction of one of the most beautiful (too short) anime in the past 10 years. Check out the trailer and chime in, for this fan this movie looks mega hot.

Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 Space Battle Trailer

This is just a guilty pleasure. Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 continues the over the top story where everything ever Gundam collides in one pretty look Dynasty Warriors title. So tasty. Again, I'll chime in on this puppy very soon on The Examiner.

Dragon Ball: Evolution PSP Game Trailer - Goku vs. Gohan

The Dragon Ball: Evolution movie hits theaters on Friday and the game has already rolled out. I'll be chatting about it on The Examiner very soon but for now check out this video for Dragon Ball: Evolution on PSP where Goku faces off with his grandfather Gohan.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine game trailer Impression

X-Men Origins: Wolverine tells the history of Wolverine and from the looks of the movie trailer it’s much more than just a quick cash in by the studio. The movie looks to surpass the original X-Men movies in every way from the action to the characters introduced. The video game also appears to be on the same path as seen in the trailer below. For a very, very long time movies based on games, comics or other geek salivation properties have always been bad, but Spider-Man began to reverse this trend. Sure the original Batman was great, but Tim Burton ruined the sequel and it was all downhill from there. Spider-Man, X-Men, Iron Man, Batman Begins (Dark Knight) the second Incredible Hulk … these have all been very enjoyable if not great movies and their gaming counterparts have been fairly good also. Of this group only Spider-Man was a top tier game but Spidey will have company soon is Activision gets Origins rights.

From the trailer below gamers will be taken through Wolverines enhancements at the hands of the government, travel and fight in jungle settings and faceoff with Sabretooth. The graphics look as excellent as would be expected from the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC while the action sequences are ripped right from the movie with Logan flying through the air at opponents, choppers, having cinematic angles as a truck flies over him … no leveling up here it seems. There is one spin move Wolverine unleashes but otherwise the fights look like a bar room brawl. Voice work is on par with the movie, ditto for story from what can be seen. Only seeing Sabretooth in the trailer and a bunch of cookie cutter grunts leaves a nagging feeling that the game won’t have everyone in it, but heck, it’s the first trailer.

Activision has a very promising looking game on their hands with X-Men Origins: Wolverine as if they can nail the controls the action and story seem to be set for Logan to join Peter Parker as the star of a great movie based game based on a comic … which it seems only someone named Uwe can butcher properly.

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja 4 Gameplay Trailer

Namco Bandai is giving PlayStation 2 owners a treat only the next-gen gamers can dream of right now. Ultimate Ninja 4 looks and plays in improved ways over the prior Ultimate Ninja titles but there is one major hook ... it's Shippuden. This is the first game to hit our shores (in the states) that includes Naruto's new, older adventures and not the filler material the anime offers up. This is true bliss for Narutards (like me) so check out the video content below and check back soon for more on the gameplay itself.

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja 4 - Neji vs. Asuma



Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja 4 - Kankuro vs. Shikamaru



Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja 4 - Itachi vs. Naruto



Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja 4 - Deidara vs. Naruto



Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja 4 - Tenten vs. Shizune



Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja 4 - Sasori vs. Tenten

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Video Game Trailer

During the Super Bowl there were two movie trailers that just tickled me pink. First was G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra the second ... Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. While there are many questions to answer about the movie one thing is clear, there will be a video game and Activision confirmed this by releasing the trailer. The game will mirror the movie and it should allow gamers to play as both sides, standard fare as seen in the first game. The setting looks to be Japan (based on street signs) but no sign in this trailer of that big behemoth from the movie trailer. More to come but for now check out the trailer below.

Street Fighter IV Trailer Impression on The Examiner

Over on The Examiner I've posted my impression of the SFIV trailer released today. Check out the trailer below then head over to see what I've ranted about, but know this, I think this game looks sick, not new but very well done. The SF formula has survived on strong game play and memorable characters and SFIV just seems to get better. So money I must say.

Dynasty Warriors Gundam 2 Trailer

One of gamings oddest combinations gets the follow-up treatment with Dynasty Warriors Gundam 2. I don't know too much about the plot, but when you take everything Gundam and throw it into a blender mixed with fan-served gameplay then guess there ain't too much to plot about. This game is going to be great fun with great achievements just like the first, just more polished. Good times as anime based video games continue to get better and better ... now we just need Dynasty Warriors Shonen Jump.