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.