Still hot after all these years...After reviewing Bastard!!, I'm still on a bit of a fantasy kick this week. If there is one thing anime lends itself well to, its fantasy. Fun designs, good animation and a knack at great presentation are the hallmarks of anime fantasy.
Before I subject you to a couple of themes, lets check out this week's releases.
To get this out of the way at the start, I won't be discussing CPM's Manga line or Asian film line here as I didn't have much experience with these titles. Except for the Kei Mizutani movies. She was dreamy. Anyway, if you wish to read a little bit more about this from a manga editor's perspective, I suggest you check out Erica Friedman's guest blog post at Anime Vice.
As everyone as heard by now, Central Park Media has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Which means liquidation. It was no secret that Central Park was just hanging in there since 2006 after the bankruptcy of Musicland which ripped a huge hole in just about every anime studio here in the US. After that, they were re-releasing their titles at a lower price point and weren't releasing anything new. They found some success in their Be Beautiful line of manga, but they were hit with another blow over a disagreement of the licenses in the manga line.
This news was met with a general malaise in the fandom.
"They were still in business?"
"Well, they didn't adapt."
"Can't say I care."
You get the drift. Well, I care. You see, without Central Park Media, I honestly don't know what kind of anime fan I would be today. Their titles, both good and bad, have shaped me into the fan I am today just as much as AnimEigo's, Pioneer's or AD Vision's work. Were they perfect? No. Not at all. Were all of their titles great? Hell no. A lot of them were though. Even the bad ones made an interesting impression on me over the years. At least, the more interesting bad titles. Besides, how can you just let the company who unleashed M.D. Geist upon the US go without so much as a crack of a smile?
I want to take a look back at the titles, both good and bad, that I'm glad I got a chance to see because of Central Park Media's work. Perhaps you should do yourselves a favor and check them out as well?
Central Park Media 
Geobreeders is a weird show to watch. Not weird in an obtuse way. Just that it throws many different things at the wall in the hopes that something sticks. Perhaps this is result of not being familiar with the manga (by Akihiro Ito) is it based on. For most part, some things do stick. At least in the first set of OVAs simply called Geobreeders. The second OVA series, Breakthrough, is a mess that nearly drags down the entire thing by taking what was fun out of the first series and dousing it in a big vat of stupid.
"No love for kick-boxing! ProWres forever!"At this point in time, it would truly surprise me if someone hasn't seen Ayane's High Kick yet. I still see this title almost everywhere at sells anime in my small town as I know it can found quite cheap at online retailers. It's probably been re-packaged at least three times by now as well. If, by chance, you haven't seen this two part OVA yet then I can safely say that you're not missing much. Not that the OVA is bad, just that looking at it now, it feels like it was a missed opportunity for something more.
Disgruntled Veteran Animator vs. Novice Animation Runner!Directed by Akitaro Daichi (Kodocha, Fruits Basket) with character designs by Hajime Watanabe (Kodocha, School Rumble), Kuromi is about Mikiko Oguro's (or Kuromi for short) adventure as she is thrown straight into the fire in her first job at an animation studio. Inspired by the fictional anime series "Louis Monde III", Kuromi found herself pursuing a career in anime and thought she landed her dream job at Studio Petit. Instead, she's found herself in hell as the studio is woefully behind on it's second episode of "Time Journeys". As the newly appointed Production Desk Manager, it's now her job to rally a group of eccentric animators together to finish the key animation of the episode or they will miss their air date which will mean big trouble for the studio.