Panic Films

The fine folks over at Prymal have sent me this amazing link to the Evangelion 3.0 trailer today and I’m very happy. There’s a lot happening here with more Angels attacking, new characters, and a wireframe piano segment. Let’s not forget the snazzy music. Happy Monday!

Funimation has been releasing some really high quality blu ray’s lately. Next on my list to check out is TO which got a great review from blu-ray.com. Of course with a name like TO, it wasn’t easy finding a youtube clip.

This was about half of the audience that I saw Evangelion 2.22 with at the Music Box Theater a couple of months ago. Sad that more people didn’t go see it that night but an interesting note was that they used the blu ray with an Oppo player according to the screen as the curtains were being pulled back. It held up well on the big screen and even though I wish it was film, I didn’t have a problem with blu ray projection. I still highly recommend it as well as Evangelion 1.11 as a great way to pass the time before part 3. Till then, check out this 720p clip of Evangelion 2.22.

I went to my first Anime Central. today with my friend Steve. Here’s some photos I took. I kind of wish I had more time to see the rest of what was going on because the event was so damn big but for a day of fun, awesome costumes, toys, anime, and good times, this was great.

We got some good and bad news today here at Panic Films HQ about one of our most awaited animes, Evangelion 2.22. First the bad news (along with a mini review) from io9: the film is getting a limited US theatrical release but only in select cities, and Chicago is not one of them. Good news for some, not so much for me. Now the good news, brought to us by the fine folks at Prymal.net is that Funimation has March 29th as the release date for the DVD/Bluray. Info and preorder can be had here.

The far too short first season of Titan Maximum is out on DVD. I really hope the second season comes soon. This is the first 2 minutes of the series.

There’s seriously a lot to like about this show. The animation is well done, the writing is hilarious and crude, and it’s got awesome references (Voltron, anime, etc..). I hope the Robot Chicken crew get time and budget to make more seasons.

I spent the evening tonight watching the new 2 disc DVD of Halo Legends. All in all, I liked the stories, but I’m still not sure about the watercolor effect in “The Duel” especially since it’s by Mamoru Oshii who directed the first 2 Ghost in the Shell movies, which are 2 of my favorite anime. I did really like the history lesson about the Flood and Spartans, seeing ODST’s, and the female Spartans kicking all sorts of ass. It was cool to see this as anime and the 3D animation in “The Package” reminded me of the Final Fantasy movies. This is the teaser trailer:

The Cowboy Bebop marathon I had recently inspired me to look at Best Buy’s anime section for new movies, and I came across the new Evangelion 1.01 DVD and picked it up. I’ve always been curious about Neon Genesis Evangelion but never got into it since it was such a long series. Now it’s being revamped as a series of 4 movies with new animation, story surprises, and 3D effects/animation. If 1.01 is a sign of what’s to come, I can’t wait for Evangelion 2-4. More giant robots!

I also found this clip of “Tank!”, the Cowboy Bebop theme song redone with Mario Paint. Awesome.

In my post-surgery recovery, I’ve discovered a british show called Modern Toss that’s showing on the IFC channel. It’s pretty hilarious with bits of Monty Python, and lots of animation mixed with live action. They go for a more crude drawing style instead of polish and style, which come out in the writing and comedy. Here’s a clip:

Cowboy Bebop is an anime series that’s still on Cartoon Network’s adult swim. I received the whole series on DVD for Christmas and finished watching it last night. It’s pretty damn good, with bittersweet tones in the story, and an awesome jazzy soundtrack. I wish I had caught on to it years ago but I did see the movie when it came out and thought it was great. I hear there’s a live action movie in the works. I hope they don’t fuck it up, and they pick a good Faye Valentine.