[Looking Back]  Cased Closed on the Big Screen
Written by: Jason Fetters

It was springtime in Japan in 2000, cherry blossoms in full bloom, and I was a college kid with a lot of free time and nothing to do.  I walked over to my school’s bookstore to pick up the latest Kansai Walker, a travel and entertainment guide, to see what was playing at the movies.  I scanned past the usual American movies, I could see them much cheaper back home anyways. Looking past that, I saw an ad for the Detective Conan movie called Meitantei Conan: Hitomi no Naka no Ansatsusha (Better known as Cased Closed: Captured in her Eyes in America).

Read more: [Looking Back] Cased Closed on the Big Screen

Did you ever wonder what would happen if Conan Edogawa (Case Closed) faced off against Kira (Death Note)? Josh Dunham put both of manga’s greatest tacticians against each other in a winner takes all battle of the minds. This is the first new feature on A3K in our new video initiative. Click here to visit our new media section or go directly to the video.

Case Closed:  Captured in Her Eyes
Review by:  Jason Fetters
Director:  Kanetsugu Kodama
Production by:  Toho Animation
Distributed by:  Funimation
 
Have you ever wanted to go back to being a kid knowing what you know now?  You would probably hesitate to do so after watching Captured in Her Eyes. 

Jimmy Kudo is an intelligent high school student who is forced to take a poison that transforms him into a kid.  Kudo takes the name Conan Edogawa and helps Detective Richard Moore by solving cases that Moore can’t on his own.

Read more: [Review] Case Closed: Captured in Her Eyes

[Review] El Cazadore del la Bruja Part 1
Review by: John-Paul Natysin
Director: Koichi Mashimo

Animation Production: Bee Train
Distributed by: Funimation

Long, long ago, a man named Koichi Mashimo founded the animation studio, Bee Train. Since 1997, they have brought us a myriad of anime titles, wildly diverging in quality. Among them are all of the .hack// titles and some arguably mediocre “girls with guns” shows like Noir and Madlax.

Read more: [Review] El Cazadore del la Bruja Part 1

From I"s & I"s Pure Complete Set

Review by: Sean "Pants" Mitchell

Director: Yousei Morino (From I"s), Mamoru Kanbe (I"s Pure)

Animation Studio: Studio Pierrot

Distributed by: Viz Media



"Dirty thoughts are very bad!"




I"s is a story about love, but not the heartwarming love that would make sense.  Rather, it's about that kind of awkward love that exists between a borderline stalker and his semi-willing prey.  Don't try this at home kids, unless you desire prison or, at the very least, a restraining order.

Read more: [Review] From I"s & I"s Pure Complete Series

The Law of Ueki: The Complete Series
Review by: Jd Banks
Directed by: Hiroshi Watanabe
Animation Studio: Studio Deen
Licenser: FUNimation Entertainment

Remember waking up on Saturday morning, flinging off your covers and racing for the TV hoping to catch the latest English-dubbed anime episodes? Though the (precious few) anime series on Saturday mornings don’t have the appeal they once did (no more pre-Freeza Dragon Ball Z dubs to watch multiple times), picking up a box set, in a way, can be a time machine to those weekend mornings. If you pick up the right one, that is.

Read more: [Review] Law of Ueki Complete Series

[Review] Cased Closed The Phantom of Baker Street
Review by: Josh Dunham
Director: Kenji Kodama
Animation Production: TMS Entertainment
Distributed by: Funimation

If a Sherlock Holmes-worshipping little boy with a magnifying glass and Jack the Ripper, where to fight, who do you think would win? I’d put my money on Jack the Ripper for sure. After all, he’s actually killed people and gotten away with it. But what if that little boy was Conan Edogawa? Then maybe I’d be owing some cash.

Read more: [Review] Case Closed The Phantom of Baker Street

 
[Review] Bardock: The Father of Goku
Review by: Josh Dunham
Director: Daisuke Nishio
Animation Production: Toei Animation
Distributed by: Funimation

In the beginning there was Dragonball Z, the story of an alien martial artist named Goku and his endeavors to defend Earth from the other evil aliens who want to destroy it. Before that there was Dragonball, which recounts the story of Goku’s childhood collecting all the dragon balls. And, (canon-wise if not creatively) before all of that was Bardock: The Father of Goku. Like the Colonel says to Snake, “You’ve created a time paradox.” And what a clever paradox it is, using the sequel’s fighting as a prequel to its more comedic beginning.  

Read more: [Review] Bardock: The Father of Goku