Album Review (Obscurus Metalus) - Devin Townsend's Christeen + 4 Demos

Welcome, fellow Otaku & Metal Heads, to my second Obscurus Metalus review!

It’s certainly been a while since I did the first “test” Obscurus Metalus article. Finding obscure metal albums is tough because.....well, it's obscure! It’s not easy finding albums that have been pushed to the wayside, but when you find one, you typically luck out! But what about iconic artists? Can a mainstream musician release albums that can be overlooked by more popular releases, and become obscurer titles in their discography? Well, perhaps today’s review can answer this question. Without further delay, let’s look at the EP for Devin Townsend’s 1998 release Infinity. Let the review begin!

Background***
Normally I’d say something here, but I think I’ll let Mr. Townsend speak (Apologies for any swearing):

“Nowadays, when I record too much music for a single disk, it comes out in double disks or bonus editions etc, but at the time, (without a label or management to guide), I would put out the bonus songs as things like this, or the 'Ass-Sordid' stuff. Japan wanted to make a video for Christeen with a famous photographer that ultimately got edited by someone other than him and was a disaster. The inclusion of the video, however, seemed an appropriate excuse for me to put the additional songs into one place that existed in tandem with the Infinity sessions. Some interesting stuff here, with the final song 'Love Load' causing quite a ruckus among friends and band mates as being a horrible statement. A statement that distanced myself from the things that actually defined Infinity in the beginning. (Selfishness over community)”

Couldn’t have said it better myself!

Basic Description
Bite-sized insanity!

If you listen to Christeen + 4 Demos before you go into Infinity, you are only clipping the tip of the iceberg. As with Infinity, this little release is chock-full of maddening brilliance! The EP is a whirlwind of sound, color, and mind-opening songs that only Devin Townsend could have come up with. This is the kind of music that can really change you if you let it. Even if you don’t let it transform you in some way, it’s still fantastic to put into your CD Player or transfer to your MP3 Player.

If Christeen + 4 Demos had anything over Infinity, it would be control. Make no mistake, you can tell that these songs were most definitely from the Infinity recordings! They have that’s album’s energy & intensity, but because they’re only concentrated on this album, they have more stability as you go through them. If you listen to Christeen + 4 Demos, then Infinity, you’ll get two different but excellent musical journeys.

Best Song
Much like it’s  parent album Infinity, Christeen + 4 Demos has one normal sounding song. One song that is quite sane when compared to all of the others, and in a way anchors a more normal minded listener. I would have chosen Christeen in this case, but I’ll leave that for the eventual Infinity review. No, in this case I’m going to choose Sit in the Mountain, the middle track, as the most normal song of this album. Highly melodic, Sit in the Mountain contains some of Devin’s best vocal work, and is also one of the most atmospheric songs of his entire career. As you’re listening to it, you almost feel like your on a mountain, taking in Nature’s beauty. Truly a musical gem!

Sit in the Mountain

Worst Song
Like Devin said, Love-Load caused a ruckus, and after listening to it I can understand why. It’s eerie, it’s creepy, and most certainly conflicts with the rest of the material on this album. There really is a selfish aspect to it, and is one of the few songs in Devin Townsend’s entire musical library that really made me feel uncomfortable. Almost as uncomfortable as when I was listening to Rammstein’s Sehnsucht (See my Metal Overview from January for more details), in a manner of speaking. Ironically, I have Love Load on my MP3 player, if only to appreciate Devin’s talent for making weird songs.

Love Load

Also, Christeen + 4 Demos suffers from an availability issue. Unlike it’s parent album Infinity, this EP is actually much harder to find in a store or online. Apart from Devin’s official webpage, the only place you can probably get it with any reliability is from Amazon. I managed to get a copy late last month from my Dad for doing some housework, but it had to be imported. Luckily, the cost wasn’t horrendous, as it was in the low 20 dollar range (Excluding shipping & tax). Apart from downloading it, buying Christeen + 4 Demos from Amazon or Devin’s webpage is probably going to be your only bet.

Overall Impression & Rating
It’s really sad that this EP has fallen by the wayside. Since the “Demos” weren’t put onto Infinity, they’re not talked about as much. This is a big shame, since the music on here is definitely main album material. Despite how quick this goes by, Christeen + 4 Demos is powerful experience. Although recorded during Infinity’s creation, these 5 songs create an album that’s has it’s own identity, but meld with it’s parent album nicely. If you can find a physical copy, or if you’ve managed to download it, you have a good selection of music in your hands.

Christeen + 4 Demos gets a 8.5 out of 10.

Well, this concludes Kids Month. I hope you all enjoyed it, and if any of you have ideas for other themes for me to do, please send them my way! Any case, see you all soon, when I’ll get Metal Overview number 3 up here!




***
Taken from Devin Townsend’s official website:

http://www.hevydevy.com/

Anime Review - Princess Knight

Welcome to Part 2 of Kids Month, fellow Otaku & Metal Heads!

Our first foray into kids anime began with Pokemon the First Movie, a film for young people of my anime generation. It wasn’t perfect, but it’s still held in the hearts of fans who treasured that feature. But what about the older fans of anime? Did the generations before us have shows of their own that they deeply loved, and did they share that love with those around them, including their own children? Well, today covers a classic series from the generation of my parents. A show that in recent years has received a revival of sorts. So sit back, relax, and enjoy my review of the treasured Princess Knight!

Story/Setup
In the kingdom of Silverland lives Princess Sapphire (Known as Prince Knight in the show), the child of the king & queen. Due to the law of the land, women cannot inherit the throne, and thus must disguise her gender. This is especially important, since the diabolical Duke Duralumon (Who’s strangely enough sort of looks like an evil Mickey Mouse) would repress the people of Silverland if his son inherited the kingdom. Despite this, Princess Sapphire carries herself with courage, bravery, grace, and honor.

Early on in her adventures, she comes across an angel-in-training by the name of Choppy (Other names include Tink, Ching, & Chinky). He tells her a most interesting tale: when Sapphire was born, God had given her a girl’s heart, while he gave her a boy’s heart. Due to this incident, Choppy was sent down to heaven in order to ger her boy heart back. However, because she doesn’t give it back to Choppy, and when he realizes how much she needs it in order to protect the kingdom, Choppy becomes her sidekick. The two go on many adventures across Silverland, as well as other kingdoms & lands, meeting some interesting characters along the way.

On the surface, Princess Knight looks like a typical fantasy anime, and to a certain extent this is true. There’s swordplay, magic, dragons, and just about any other western fantasy troupe you can probably find. Beneath the surface, however, is one of the deepest & most mature storylines ever written for a children’s anime. Perhaps even more so that Kimba, and that was a surprisingly mature show at times! There’s plenty of times where silliness & lighter topics come into play, but the morals & lessons that this show teaches is nothing short of impressive, and the issues that Princess Knight tackles are things you almost never find in children’s anime today. Heavy in all the right ways, and very mature!

Animation
Like Kimba the White Lion from a few weeks ago, Princess Knight was a series worked on by the legendary Osamu Tezuka, and it definitely shows. This series looks & feels rather similar to Kimba, as they both share a certain style & color palate. What separates Princess Knight from Kimba the White Lion is it’s medieval theme: there’s more of a gothic look & feel to everything, but there’s still an childish aspect to the entire spectacle. Faces are of particular excellence in this series, as they are incredibly expressive at times, especially during emotional scenes. Even the eyes are striking, as you can read a character’s emotions just by looking into them.

Perhaps one great aspect of this series is it’s remastered imagery. Color has been fleshed out, and appears to be much more vibrant than the original. Even movement seems to be a tiny more fluid because of this remastering. If you don’t believe me, check out an official video comparison straight from Nozomi Entertainment’s youtube page!

Animation/Video Comparison

Voice Acting
Also like Kimba, the voice acting of Princess Knight is.....dated, at best. Not quite as dated as Kimba, however. The show got syndicated in the 1970s & 1980s, and thus there’s a little more quality in the voices that the actors provide. That said, it’s still incredibly hokey. There are some goofy lines characters say throughout the series, but when compared to Kimba, it somehow works a little to it’s favor. If I had any other complaint about the voice acting, it would be how it sounds. While they definitely worked on the show’s animation, I’m not completely sure they worked on the audio. They definitely must have done some work, as it doesn’t sound so scratchy as it probably did back in the day. That said, with a little more polish, and it probably would sound as close to crystal clear as an old school anime can.

Characters
Among all of the parallels between this show & Kimba is it’s bevy of characters. Princess Knight has a who’s who of primary & secondary cast members, many of which propel the story along in some way. There’s such a collection of secondary characters, listing them would take up more room than I want. Suffice it to say that many of them help with the story, and a couple of them return from time to time.

Princess Sapphire/Prince Knight is most certainly up front & center in this entire series. At times, she’s very much like a boy: strong, brave, courageous, and has a deep sense of justice & honor. Other times, she’s true to her feminine nature: gentle, kind, caring, and full of love & warmth. Throughout this entire series, she’s constantly walking a tightrope between both sides of herself, and never strays too long in either. Truly, one of anime’s strongest female characters! Prince Frank (Also called Prince Franz Charm) is essentially Prince Knight’s male counterpart: because of their similar background, Frank can swordfight with the best of them, and has many of Sapphire’s male mannerisms. His relationship with Sapphire is a bit on the complicated side: he’s good friends with her, in love with the “Princess” (An alter-ego that Sapphire becomes when out in public as a girl), and dislikes the “Phantom Knight” (Another alter-ego that Sapphire becomes when fighting crime at night) because he thinks that the knight is after the princess’s affection. Together, the two are a great team, and actually become a cute couple later on.

On the other end of the scale is the show’s villain, Duke Duralumon (aka Duke Jeralmin). He’s not a sinister kind of villain, but more of a goofy villain with a hint of sinister. He’s constantly plotting to expose Sapphire’s gender, and alongside his minions Baron Nylon & the “Black Hats” (A gang of thuggish highwaymen), are constantly failing & bumbling in their plans to takeover Silverland. It really isn’t towards the second half that Duralumon gains a sinister edge, but that doesn’t really ruin how silly & over-the-top he can be.

There’s other characters that Prince Knight comes across as well. Choppy’s the first encountered, and given his angelic nature, is Sapphire’s companion almost from the beginning. He’s stuck in a mortal body, but that doesn’t mean he can’t do any good. Knight’s mother & father, the queen & king, act as her moral compass. Again, there’s a host of character within Princess Knight, and it would take another post to cover everybody else.

Oh, and the Devil is in this show. The freaking devil! He’s got a daughter too, by the way.

Availability & Pricing
For the longest time, Princess Knight was unreleased on VHS (There was a Laserdisk collection of the show released in 1997 by Pioneer, and some older DVD editions that have since become difficult to locate). Come 2013, and the series has finally been re-released on DVD. Sadly, it wasn’t on one big collection, but instead was put out on two separate collections. This makes buying the whole series a little expensive, but if you go to the right source, it might not be as you think.

F.Y.E. is the most expensive of the options, costing $33.98 each, with members only paying $30.58 each. Best Buy is the 2nd most expensive, as it will cost you $27.99 each. Amazon is the least expensive, but the most interesting of the options. A new copy of part 1 of the series starts at $17.85 dollars, while pricing starts at $19.60 for a new copy of part 2. Again, Amazon is your best bet, but any of the options here can be a viable route if you have the right amount of money. 

Overall Impression & Rating
Princess Knight is but one point on Osamu Tezuka’s holy triangle of classic children’s anime. Alongside Kimba the White Lion & Astro Boy, Princess Knight is a series that is a must for any kids out there to watch. Whether you’re a parent reading this & you want something wholesome for your kids to watch, or you’re a younger person who wants a great show to watch, or even if you’re someone like me, you can look no further than Princess Knight. Even if you aren’t a kid or younger individual, this series will certainly entertain you!

Princess Knight gets a 9.5 out of 10

See you all next time for the conclusion of Kids Month, when I’ll review an album that wasn’t made for kids, but doesn’t mean kids can’t listen to it!

***
For a look at another point of Osamu Tezuka’s holy triangle, check out my review of Kimba the White Lion below:

http://heavymetalotaku.blogspot.com/2015/05/review-kimba-white-lion.html

Also, apologies for posting this up later than usual. There was some wicked weather around my area, and it knocked out the telephone & internet for a few days. In fact, things got restored just a couple minutes ago. Hope you didn’t mind the delay!

Anime Review - Pokemon the First Movie

Welcome, fellow Otaku & Metal Heads, to Kids Month!

From way back during it’s inception, to recent times, there have been anime that have been especially made for the younger audience. Shonen anime for boys, and Shojo anime for girls, these are the kinds of genres that have helped define our early experiences. But what about those shows that are meant for one group, but somehow manages to straddle the line for both? Such is the case with the world-wide phenomenon known simply as Pokemon.

Yes everybody, Pokemon. I’m sure that some of the older parents that saw the name are shaking their heads at the sight of the name. For anyone younger that maybe 13 reading this, let me just tell you that back in the Mid-to-Late 90s, Pokemon was everywhere! Books, trading cards, the tv show, you name it! It was everywhere, and you almost couldn’t escape it. The popularity grew so much, that it was only a matter of time before Pokemon made it’s way to the silver screen. Today’s review looks at the first movie of this series. A childhood classic from my generation, it helped many of us onto the road known only as Anime. So grab your Meowth plushie, find your trading cards, and plop into the chair for a look at a review for Pokemon the First Movie. Gotta catch em all!

Story/Setup
Ash & his friends, along with some other Pokemon trainers, are invited to the mysterious New Island by the so-called “Greatest Pokémon Master” for a party. As they arrive at the docks, a sudden & brutal storm forms, deterring all but the toughest of the trainers. When the trainer arrive at the island, they find that the “Greatest Pokémon Master” is none other that Mewtwo, a genetically-engineered pokémon who desires vengeance against humanity for the pains of the past. During his plans, Mew, the beings who’s base DNA was used for Mewtwo’s creation, appears to defuse the situation. During this entire debacle, Team Rocket is wandering around, trying to make sense out of the chaos, while providing some much needed comedic relief.

If it looks like the story above is a little streamlined & thinned-out.....well, that’s because it is! The American version of the movie had a little bit of content trimmed off because some thought that said removed content would be “Too dark” for some young people. Don’t get me wrong, because even with the content taken out, you still have a good story. The problem in doing so makes the movie more simplistic (In a bad way), and not quite have as much punch or depth. This movie will still entertain, but by the end you may be scratching your head, asking yourself “Was that it?”

Animation
You can immediately tell the difference between this movie, and the show. With the original TV series, there’s always been this mild grainy look & feel to it, giving it a dated aura. With the movie, there’s a smooth quality to it. Characters move more fluidly that the show, and the backgrounds are some of the best that’s ever been produced for the medium. Even the special effects look fantastic, and overall the whole movie looks great! Sure, there’s some dated looking moments, but for the most part Pokemon the First Movie still is a gorgeous feature.

Voice Acting
This was back during what I considered the “Golden Age” of the Pokemon series. All of the original voice actors are back, lending their work to the characters that brought joy to kids around the world. The effort put in was essentially that of what they put into the original tv series. I don’t know if it was just me hearing things differently, but I could have sworn things sounded smoother. Maybe it was because of the recording, or maybe it was because of the voice actors themselves, but everybody in here had a slightly silkier quality to their voice.

Of particular note was Mewtwo. Voiced by Jay Philip Goede (Credited under the name Philip Bartlett), his voice comes across as very operatic & stage-worthy. This is rather appropriate, as Mr. Goede’s prior experiences included work on Broadway, and is a well-trained actor. This voice helps develop the English variation of the character. Speaking of character.....

Characters
Pokemon the First Movie’s cast of characters are rather 50/50. On the one hand, you have the returning cast. Ash, Brock, and Misty are pretty much how you remember them from the show. Their goals are still the same, their personalities are intact, and they’re just as likable (Or unlikable) as they were in the show. Team Rocket are something a little different this time around. At first they’re up to their usual antics, but when they get to Mewtwo’s island, they take on more of lovable oafs, enough to the point where you actually kind of feel sorry for them when their lives are threatened. On the other hand, there are plenty of secondary characters that really don’t add anything. Sure, there are a few more trainers that Ash & the gang meet once they arrive at the island, but they’re really there just to give Mewtwo some ammo. Even the port authority woman that tells the trainers about the storm & what’s going on, is really there just to provide exposition.

As for Mewtwo, he’s a good villain, despite how basic his goals are. He’s absolutely heartless, colder than the norther glaciers, and has the power to back it up. Like I said above in the “Voice Acting” section above, Jay Philip Goede, he provides a voice for the character that’s dry & sinister, yet provides room for more louder & rage-filled moments. Complete with a condescending tone, and you have one Pokemon villain that’s remained quite memorable.

Mew is something of a wild card in this movie. There are plenty of times where he’s jokey, trying to have fun, and is very kindhearted. When the action heats up, however, much of that lightheartedness is put aside, and a tougher side of Mew appears. He can fight with the best of them, but still knows that peace & cooperation are routes to consider. The flighty nature of Mew might be confusing at first, but his motivations & character become more fleshed out by the end of the feature. His lighthearted nature towards the beginning will get girls to like him, but when he throws down against Mewtwo, the boys will definitely enjoy things.

Availability & Pricing
Oh boy, good luck finding this one!

Considering that this was released on DVD almost 2 decades ago (1999/2000, if I’m correct), sources will be rare to say the least, much less a copy. Your only reliable source in this case will be Amazon: a new copy will start out at a horrific 76 dollars, and goes all the way to an even more horrifying 125 dollars! Used copies are far more reasonable, as they start at a reasonable 23 dollars, and go all the way up to 69/70 dollars. Used is the best way to go in this regard. If you have a horde of cash, and want to spend it, then maybe new is the choice for you.

In 2009, there was a re-release of the movie (In a collection that included the 2nd & 3rd  movie), but that’s become even more rare. At this time, there are only 5 used copies on Amazon that are available for purchase. Pricing starts at 116 dollars, and goes all the way to the pants-wetting 4,112 dollars! Only go this route if you’re incredibly rich!

Overall Impression & Rating
Pokemon the First Movie is one of those movies that could only come out at the height of Pokemon’s popularity. If it was released around now, it would have been laughed at by anime fans, whether they liked Pokemon or not. It certainly was berated by movie critics when it first came out, and it definitely hasn’t necessarily aged well over time. The dated music screams late 90s & early 2000s, and the message is definitely hokey, but it must have done something right. Every once in a while, I hear this movie being talked about at cons, and even amongst my Pokemon-loving friends & acquaintances, I hear a little whispering from time to time. It may be a relic, but Pokemon the First Movie seems to be a beloved relic at that! 

Pokemon the First Movie gets a 7.5 out of 10.

So this was a review of kids anime from my generation. See you all next time, when I’ll look at a kids anime from the older generation. Until then, may the warm memories of the past come back to lighten up your day!



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For a more detailed account of the movie’s story & background, click on the link below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon:_The_First_Movie