  Majestic Prince - Episode 16 - Your Hero Jul 25th 2013, 15:00 
Izuru is finally released from the hospital and the first thing he wants to do is throw a real welcoming party for Ange! After that, he's lined up for a private meeting with Teoria over dinner... Is that a date?!
 | | Badges of Fury – Review Jul 25th 2013, 00:04 
Badges Of Fury, a crime thriller featuring one hell of a martial arts trio with Jet Li (needs no introduction), Collin Chou (The Matrix Reloaded, Flashpoint) and Wu Jing (SPL / Kill Zone) in the lead roles. When a spate of eerie murders erupts across HK two troublemaking cops are assigned to the case. Young maverick WANG and grizzled vet HUANG who is fed up with his reckless younger partner always landing them in hot water. Reaching a dead end after discovering all the victims were former boyfriends of aspiring starlet LIU, the detectives must play a deadly game. One of them must go undercover as Liu’s lover to lure the killer out. Li, Chou and Wu are three of the finest screen fighters in the world and with Kung Fu Hustle and Crouching Tiger vet Po Chu Chui in the producer’s chair here’s betting they’re put to good use. The fights are mostly spectacular with Jet Li not showing any signs of aging. It's a shame it's let down by such appalling CGI/visual effects at some points. Martial arts movies don't need special effects to be awesome, just human skill. It's not like Jet Li or Wen Zhang can't fight; they both have several scenes where they do some breathtaking fighting moves. It should be noted though that Jet is in a bit of a smaller role; he still has plenty to do but the main character is played by Wen Zhang. He actually gets pretty annoying rather fast because he's such an idiot and you're almost counting the seconds until Jet comes and saves the day. It references the Police Story movies and a few others too which does get tedious as self reverential humor is always lame. 
Badges Of Fury is unabashedly lowbrow, but even judging the movie by its own standards, the comedic scenes are shoddily set-up and highly repetitive. It’s like watching a lobotomised Charlie Chaplin: cast members slam into windows, doors, buildings and glass panes with the frequency of suicidal fruit flies, their gross buffoonery accentuated by cheesy visual effects. Oh and if you were wondering about the header image of this review: The impeccable casting crew to include the baby face Michelle Chen, boob overloading Ada Liu, and the beautiful and elegant Liu Shi Shi completes the female actress lineup while Jet Li and Wen Zhang are often outshine, they provide that decent support role. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NF7czH1m_I The cameos appearing in the movie are a true gem, down to familiar extras and big names taking on minor rolls, it’s just a box full of surprises and when you are able to identify 90% of them, you know you were once a Hong Kong Entertainment fan. There are possibly two (count ‘em!) entertaining fight scenes in Badges Of Fury, and an NG sequence that’s more entertaining than the rest of the movie put together. We’re not recommending Badges Of Fury based on those dubious merits, however… after all, you’d have to have the fortitude of Jet Li to put yourself through torture for mediocrity.
 | | Natsume's Book of Friends [Season 4] – Review Jul 25th 2013, 00:02 
We are pleased and overjoyed to see that a Season 4 was being created. In many animes, you’ll find that the male main character has an overpowering personality and is lively and physically strong. Now with Natsume Takeshi, it’s different. He’s strong in a different way. More in-tune with his emotions and morals and even though the ones who bullied him came back into his life he didn’t hold it against them. He befriended them instead. He’s not loud and obnoxious, but soft and quiet and it really stuck out to me. Natsume, who has been dealing with spirits through his entire life, seeing him adjust to his new home, school, friends, we see him become this much outgoing. Still in possession of his grandmother’s Book of Friends, Natsume spends his days returning the names of yokai to their rightful owners. He has been learning how to deal with the yokai and humans that surround his life, but the time has come for him to deal with something even more difficult–his own past, and future. While Natsume Yujincho is definitely more of a relationship driven anime then an action adventure, it packs quite the punch when it needs to. One of the shows strength is how characters flow in and out of the story as season plays out. Nyanko Sensei, the lucky cat, is just adorable and it is great to see how he grows as a character, even with all his complaining. The story on its own may not be remarkable to some as it doesn’t involve massive battles with fantastic swordplay and magical abilities, but I do think it gives some insight into Shintoism here in Japan, a religion based predominantly on the belief that all things have a spirit that dwells within (like a boulder, for instance). The story is also simple, yet elegant. The show revolves mainly around Natsume, a boy long misunderstood for his ability to see these spirits and lesser gods around him that most of Japan by this point has long forgotten. The show is actually more about Natsume finding his way in the world as a person with a special ability more than it is about the yokai he encounters. 
I enjoyed watching Natsume go from being someone who felt he had to show a pleasant, normal mask to everyone in his life to being someone who could relax and occasionally lean on his friends a little. It took a while, but he eventually learned to trust that Touko, Shigeru, and all his friends wouldn’t leave him at the first sign of weirdness and trouble. Originally, I expected him to eventually tell Touko and Shigeru the truth about himself and thought that would be how he would demonstrate his trust in them. They never did find out about his abilities, at least not in the anime (I haven’t yet read the manga), but I was satisfied with the explanation given for why he didn’t want or need too. Serious anime fans will be inclined to appreciate the fact that this is a character-based show, and not altogether focused upon the plot machinations. It’s a series with an actual story but it spends a lot more time on focusing on the character developments and these moments are at the core of the series. You learn more about Natsume and it helps the show achieve long-term success. This is a highly episodic series and one that will appeal those looking for a fun journey. The artwork impresses, the direction is sublime, and the characters are fascinating to behold and get to know. Natsume’s Book of Friends is a true success as an anime series. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5p3iMVx5qc The fourth season of Natsume was exactly what everyone expected it to be, nothing more or less than be itself and continue to develop Natsume's character while telling some great stories at the same time. This season really made Natsume confront his feelings about getting other people involved in his problems and of course the issue of his parents. The episodes in his past shows why being able to let people in is so tough for him. It's hard when he's lived his life with no one believing in him to suddenly tell everyone what is going on. This season was good to the characters of Takuma and Natori. Both are important to Natsume though in different ways. Takuma is the same age friend that understands the world that Natume is involved in. He has normal friends who are important to him, but Takuma knows about the youkai and wants to help him. Natori really is a kind of mentor figure though in a sense both have helped each other grow. The series isn't going to wow with action or major battles, but it will make you think and get emotionally invested. Whenever a fifth series happens I already know it's going to be good since the last four seasons have proven that trend.
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