Gakuen
Basara - Samurai High School
(2018)/Haikyu!!: 3rd
Season (2016)/Is
It Wrong To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon?: Arrow Of The Orion
(2019)/Seven Senses Of The
Reunion (2018/all Sentai
Complete Collection
Blu-rays)
Picture:
B/A-/A-/B+ Sound: C/B+/B+/B+ Extras: C/C*/C/C Main
Programs: B+/A-/A-/B+
For
the holidays, a rich set of anime releases to check out, including
the continuance of two hits...
Welcome
to Basara High where everyday is literally a battlefield. Be it
academics, sports or high school drama, all the students, faculty
members and teachers are ready to rumble and armed to the teeth. It
is literally an education of blood, sweat and tears as friends,
rivals and classmates battle for their grades and high school
domination in Gakuen
Basara - Samurai High School
(2018).
High
school is war, or is war is a bunch of people with high school egos?
At Basara High, characters from Sengoku Basara fight for club rights
and who should be the supreme ruler of the school. But everything is
being manipulated by the Evil Principal Nobunaga, all classes, school
activities and events are designed to force the students into trials
by combat, but everyone is so busy fighting one another are they just
playing into the hands of the Principal or is he really just trying
to teach them through tough love, battle and combat? Who will become
the champion/hero and save the school?
This
is a parody of the hit video game Sengoku Basara, a
hack and slash game with historical fictional samurai warriors ...in
a high school setting. All the characters are stereotyped Japanese
drama/soap opera high school characters making fun of high school
deviants with crazy teachers. Extras include clean opening and
closing animations and trailers.
Episodes
include:
The
Fateful Battle for the Playing Field - It's the student council
elections and everything comes down to a baseball/soccer game.
Espionage!
Sasuke Gets to Work/Treasure Hunt Capriccio - Sasuke gets roped
in to checking up and investigate all the clubs 'activities'. The
students are sent on a scavenger hunt to find buried treasure.
A
Storm Hits the Mound/The Road to Badness - Everyone tries to
cheer up Date Masamune from depression after losing a game. Yukimura
tries to prove he is the most bad ass person in school.
The
Fiery Cheer Battle/Operation: Midterms of Love - It's a battle of
the bands (in more ways than one) and the school orchestra will not
be underestimated. Maeda must score 80 points on his midterms in
order to get a date with Magoichi.
Clash!
Mr. Basara/Who Will Be Iron Chef Basara? - All the boys enter who
is the handsomest man at school contest. The school has a cooking
contest.
A
Maiden's Banquet/Let's Go on a Class Trip - All the girls talk
about which boys they like. The students come up with ideas on where
their school trip should go.
Burn
with Passion! Basara Fest - It's time for the school festival and
all the clubs want to show off who has the best stall and win the
MVP.
Prithee
Let's Party/Kanbei's Long, Hot Night - Yukimura and Masamune
switch bodies. Kanbei wonders if his 'character' will ever be free
from bad luck (and his shackles).
And
the Bell Will Ring for... Who!?/Welcome to Sengoku Basara - The
students sing and compete on what their school anthem should be.
Yukimura and Masamune get stuck together in a dream world of Sengoku
Basara.
A
Silent Uproar !? Sally Forth! Sekigahara Intrigue - A lost baby
is found at the school gates ...surely all the students can take care
a single baby. The students being picking sides on who to vote for
in the up coming election.
Evacuation
Drills Come Without Warning/Party of Fools - The students
practice evacuation drills ...with booby traps. Both sides of the
election make PR videos to boost the number voters, but it soon turns
into videos of them pranking each other.
and
The Longest Day at Basara Academy - It's election day at
Basara High, who will win and is there any way it won't end in a
battle royal or destroying the school?
Karasuno
Volleyball team plays in the prefecture championship for a chance at
the Spring High School National Volleyball Championship. They must
however face last year's champions, the Shiratorizawa Academy High
School. After their summer training, are they ready to play against
Shiratorizawa's ace player Ushijima with his unstoppable power spike?
In
Haikyu!!:
3rd
Season
(2016),
Karasuno High School is the underdog high school volleyball team, but
this year they have Hinata and Kageyama and their lighting quick
spikes. They dream of playing on the national level. They first
must however beat last year's prefecture champions, Shiratorizawa
High. Shiratorizawa's playing style is simple and is built around
their ace, Ushijima. Ushijima's herculean spikes are powerful and
even if blocked knocks down opponents., but Karasuno has plans to
prove it's not always the tallest or strongest players that win, but
a team working together can over come any challenge.
This
is a sports anime, it captures the essence of sports, teamwork, and
sportsmanship. The episodes actually take longer than real games
with all the upbeat music, slow motion, flashbacks and explanations.
Watching the series makes you want to play the game and understand
why people love the sport. It reminds people of what it was like to
be in high school and to dream of becoming a star. Extras include
clean opening and closing animation and trailers, though a more
elaborate, expensive Premium edition (pictured with this
review) offers much more and it is the ones serious fans will want to
buy.
Episodes
include:
Polite
Greetings - Karasuno faces off with last year's champion
Shiratorizawa and learns how powerful Ushijima's spike are.
The
Pressure of the Left - Karasuno looses the first set to
Shiratorizawa, but they begin to slowly adapt to Ushijima's powerful
left handed spikes.
Guess
Monster - Shiratorizawa has another secret weapon, Tendou who has
an uncanny instinct to block Karasuno's spikes and taunt his
opponents.
Full
Moon - Tsukishima begins to get the timing to block Ushijima's
spikes and Nishinoya gets used to catching and return his spikes.
One
Versus Many - With the entire team working together they win the
second set against Shiratorizawa with the Ultimate team defense.
The
Chemical Changes of Meeting - Shiratorizawa's coach remembers his
youth and how Volleyball was once determined by height and strength
alone. As the games continue, the game becomes more of an endurance
challenge for the players.
Fixations
- Karasuno has gotten used to Ushijima's attacks but when Tsukishima
gets injured he is forced to go the infirmary. Karasuno loses their
defense and begins falling behind.
A
Disagreeable Man - Karasuno buys time until Tsukishima is able to
come back and manages to tie up the score until he returns.
Fools
for Volleyball - It's the final round, both teams have used up
all their time outs and only one team will walk away as winners.
and
A Battle of Concepts - Hinata delivers the final attack and
Karasuno wins. Afterwards Karasuno begins preparing for the spring
national tournament.
Long
ago the Gods came down from heavens to live among man. Now, they
live with mankind exploring dungeons, fighting monsters and demons
and finding treasure. Bell Cranel is 'The Little Rookie' the fastest
and rising star among adventurers with the Goddess Hestia and their
small band of adventurers, but after winning a free vacation trip he
finds himself the champion for the goddess Artemis, Hestia's best
friend. There something more to this adventure than a vacation? No
way is Hestia going to let any other goddess (or girl) to steal her
Bell-kun's heart, Bell is joined by his Goddess and friends on an
adventure that will change the fate of their world in Is
It Wrong To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon?: Arrow Of The Orion
(2019).
Bell
Cranel is a novice adventurer, but he finds himself with Goddess
Hestia (a.k.a. the loli big breasted goddess) who also happens to
have a major crush on him. After winning what seemed to be a lottery
vacation trip turns out to be an epic adventure to save the world
they love. Fate has chosen Bell to be loved by many goddesses and
girls (to Hestia's frustration), including becoming Artemis'
champion. Their quest is to stop an ancient demon that has acquired
the power of the Gods. Bell Cranel becomes the chosen one to wield a
weapon forged by the Gods and will have to do what no one has done
before ...to kill a God.
This
was a one shot movie based of the Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up
Girls in a Dungeon? anime series. You can watch the movie
without having watch the series, it is just an add on to the series
and doesn't change the overall story. It follows the typical anime
harem troupe with a dungeons and dragons motif. Extras include
Japanese promos and trailers.
Finally,
Haruto and his friends were playing an online virtual MMORPG, but
after a member of their team Asashi died while playing online, the
game was immediately pulled from the net and the team split up. Six
years later, while playing 'Reunion', version 2.0 of the game Haruto
discovers a virtual version of Asashi online. However, without a
body to log out to, 'Asashi' is trapped online. Haruto and his former
teammates must now work together to find out who killed Asashi, why
they trapped her online and somehow free her in Seven
Senses Of The Reunion
(2018).
Subaru
was once know a the legendary team that couldn't be beaten, but after
the tragic loss of Asashi, one of their teammates, the game was
frozen and the team was split up. Haruto was leader of team Subaru
but his teammates blamed him for getting Asashi killed and getting
the team disbanded with his reckless leadership. Six years later,
Haruto discovers Asashi in an online conspiracy was killed by a
mysterious organization Gnosis and the game was a testing site to
find and train those who had the 'Sense' the ability to see the
future in online and real life ...and Asashi was the perfect subject.
Now, Haruto must some how find his former teammates and rebuild his
team (as deal with the fact all the girls on his team had secret
crushes on him, which he was somehow totally clueless) to stop those
who would abuse their characters and the game.
This
anime series follow the typical 'trapped online in a virtual world'
genre. The story is about a fallen hero, mysterious plot as well as
a bit of drama in between everything. All the characters a
ridiculously overpowered and all the villains have god complexes
(which begs to ask the question is a fantasy world or playing god
really healthy? But then reality sucks and it's not all that
different either). Only after making up and mending fences is the
main character able to stop the bad guys from taking over the
'virtual' world. Extras include clean opening and closing animations
and trailers.
Episodes
include:
Reunion
and Restart - Six years later, Haruto discover Asashi is still
online (and trapped) in a game while her real body no longer exists.
Hidden
Feelings - Haruto and Asashi reunion with one of their former
teammates Satsuki, but Haruto is completely oblivious to Asashi and
Satsuki romantic rivalry for him.
The
Promise from that Day - Asashi and Satsuki continue to compete
over Haruto. Haruto retrains himself after six years hiatus.
Discord
- Haruto learns all the guilds are after Asashi for her 'Sense',
including their former teammate Takanori who is the leader of the
Illuminati group. Takanori declares Haruto is unfit to be with
Asashi and warns him to give him Asashi and quit the game.
Swirling
Plot - The guilds set aside their differences to capture Asashi,
but when one of the guild backstabs the other guilds and takes
everything, Haruto and Takanori both realize Asashi is in danger.
The
Lion and the Dragon Join Forces - Haruto and Takanori set aside
their differences to rescue a brainwashed Asashi from the Southern
Cross guild.
Searching
for the Sword - Haruto searches for a legendary sword, but on
finding it they are betrayed by another former teammate Clive.
Future
Choices - Haruto finds himself trapped in another alternate
reality and must break free of it's illusion. 'Clive' turns out to
be a fake Clive and a member of Gnosis, a secret society who wants
Asashi ability to predict the future.
The
Reunited Stars - Haruto, Satsuki and Asashi is reunited with
Nozomi another former teammate of Subaru, but before she is able to
join, she is tricked into joining Gnosis.
The
Girl Who Disappeared - Haruto and his friends searches for Nozomi
but they discover she is has been brainwashed by Gnosis into being a
dark mage.
The
Creeping Nightmare - Takanori fights Nozomi to free her from her
brainwashing. Asashi gets captured by Gnosis and is brainwashed into
shooting Haruto.
and
The New Legend - Haruto revives after a near death and
remembers his promise to Asashi and awakens his special attack and
easily defeats Gnosis. Afterwards, Subaru is reunited as one team
while Gnosis' crimes are made public.
The
1080p
1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfers on all four sets
look great, especially on Haikyu
and Girls,
all of which are likely 4K possibilities down the line, but have
great color, depth, detail and warmth throughout. Sound is a little
different, with Girls
a very rare Sentai release that offers DTS-HD
MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes in Japanese and slightly lesser
English. The other three sets offer Japanese DTS-HD MA (Master
Audio) 2.0 Stereo lossless mixes, though Haikyu
also has a DTS-MA 2.0 Stereo English dub, probably added since it is
so popular if not as effective as its Japanese track. Basara
is the sole sonic disappointment here.
-
Ricky Chiang
