Digiboy’s Acadime Award for Best OP

Simoun – Released and Relinquished Part Three

A post in the ‘Released and Relinquished‘ series.

(In case you missed it, go see Part 2: GaoGaiGar over at The Gaming Dungeon) Simoun is one of the most recent anime we’ll be talking about here, having aired in 2006 in Japan and been released between November 07 and 08 here in the states by Media Blasters. In my opinion, and in the opinion of many of the people who’ve seen it, Simoun deserves to be called one of the greatest anime of our decade. Let’s check it out!

Eden of the East is Overhyped, Overrated Bullshit, but I Guess it's Okay

Eden of the East is not a great anime. Almost every review I’ve read of the first episode has paraded it as the second coming of anime Jesus. I can’t say that many things have filled me with more rage. The same people who will insult more deserving, excellent shows turn around and treat this shit like a diamond. I can’t comprehend why. I don’t understand the appeal. Eden of the East is horrible.

Shingri-La Opening Has Me Spraying My Pants

The opening video for Gonzo’s upcoming conservationalist anime Shangri-La has been leaked and reported by Moetron who lets you watch it here.

I already had plenty of reason to watch Shangri-La – first of all, I love Gonzo (I may be the last one) and second of all, the designs are by Range Murata, who is without doubt one of Japan’s great artists. (his site here, links are thankfully in English). Murata and Gonzo collaborated in the past on both Last Exile and Blue Submarine no. 6 which are both ten kinds of awesome. Shangri-La doesn’t look terribly original, and I’m a little leary over the amount of seriousness which may be present. It’s based on a novel, though, and that’s usually a good thing.

The preview has me very psyched. The animation is pretty much drop-dead gorgeous, as expected from a Gonzo op, but much more exciting is the lush art which brings back memories of Last Exile. If the show’s art is as good as the op, this will be an instant favorite for that alone. The buildings covered in moss were like a shoutout directly to me, haha. Really looking forward to this.

EDIT: Oh, and I guess the song was okay too.