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Baby Assassins Franchise – Friendship, Mayhem, and the Future of Japan’s Funniest Hitwomen

In what makes the Baby Assassins franchise unique is its blend of over-the-top action with sitcom absurdities, showing how Mahiro and Chisato juggle odd jobs, bills, and bullets. And we talk about its spin-off TV series too!

Well GO USA
Check out the reviews for the second flick, Babies, and the third one, Nice Days.

Now that Yugo Sakamoto’s Baby Assassins 3 is available on home video in North America, watching all three films back-to-back shows just how uniquely fun this franchise has become. Better still, the story isn’t finished. It’s not over yet for the Baby Assassins franchise!; a 12-episode spin-off mini-series aired on TV Tokyo in September 2024. It is available for import through YesAsia, but without English subtitles, leaving fans to hope the North American distributor will secure international rights.

What makes the series stand out is its mix of action, deadpan and comedy. Imagine Laverne and Shirley—if they were professional killers. That’s the dynamic between Mahiro (Saori Izawa) and Chisato (Akari Takaishi). One is outgoing and impulsive, while the other is more laid back and prefers to avoid action unless persuaded. Their partnership feels like a live-action twist on the “girls with guns” formula, with classics such as Dirty Pair and Noir serving as touchstones. The franchise succeeds because these stories balance buddy-cop banter with constant clashes against the criminal underworld, keeping the familiar tropes fresh.

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Baby Assassins 3 Is Finally Coming to Home Video!

Baby Assassins 3 is headed to North America to satisfy fans of the girls with guns genre, and they got some biggums here!

Well GO USA
Release Date: August 26

After Baby Assassins 3 successful run last year at Fantasia Film Festival, Well GO USA is finally releasing this killer action movie to home video! It’s a fun ride to chart what’s next in the relationship between Akari Takaishi (Chisato Sugimoto) and Saori Izawa (Mahiro Fukagawa), and our movie review can be read here. These girls may seem like today’s answers to the Dirty Pair from long ago, but they have other issues that go beyond being trained by professionals to be the best trouble consultants, often hired to take down targets for one reason or another!

Writer/Director Sakamoto Yugo (A Janitor) and action director Sonomura Kensuke (Ghost Killer) return to keep this franchise going, and in this latest chapter, what they have to deal with isn’t too hard to follow. Continue reading “Baby Assassins 3 Is Finally Coming to Home Video!”

MediaOCD Prepares Romeo’s Blue Skies For Mid-Summer Release

Perseverance and hope are two key themes wonderfully explored in Romeo’s Blue Skies and for those who missed the broadcast run, it’s coming to home video!

Romeo's Blue Skies DVD Cover — Also available to preorder on Amazon USA

Anime distributor AnimEigo and parent company MediaOCD announced today the home media Blu-ray release of the anime series Romeo’s Blue Skies on July 29th. And for fans of the 1941 Swiss novel “Die Schwarzen Brüder” (“The Black Brothers”), by Lisa Tetzner, this adaptation is quite the emotional journey. This second release under the new Ruined Childhood label shows there’s plenty of classics to go around, and after Nobody’s Boy Remi (review link), perhaps it’s best to stock up with plenty of boxes of tissue nearby!

From the Press Release:

One of the best loved installments in Nippon Animation’s legendary World Masterpiece Theater line of TV series that spanned generations, Romeo’s Blue Skies makes its North American debut in a remastered wide-screen edition. This 33-episode series was produced in 1995 by Nippon Animation and was directed by Kozo Kusuba with screenplay by Michiru Shimada and character designs by Yoshiharu Soto.

Pre-orders are available now at:

https://www.mediaocd.com/romeos-blue-skies

When You’re Feeling Sad
and Lonely, Look to the Sky

Romeo, a poor kid living in a Swiss village, bravely sells himself into servitude as a chimney sweep to save his family. On his way to Milan, he meets a mysterious boy named Alfredo, and they become fast friends. Life as a chimney sweep is hard and dangerous. But together, and with the help of some new friends – the “Black Brothers” – Romeo and Alfredo find themselves striving for a better life.

Romeo's Blue Sky Still

A Series That Captivated The World

Romeo’s Blue Skies was never released in English. American broadcasters deemed it too emotional for domestic audiences. But worldwide it was loved and was broadcast in Italy, Spain, Morocco, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Qatar, Indonesia, South Korea, Bahrain, Iran, and U.A.E.

Anime fans are invited to discover why this gem is still beloved 30 years after its original broadcast.

Romeo’s Blue Skies Blu-Ray Features:

$59.95 USD (SRP)
33-Episode Series Remastered in HD Widescreen
Series Presented in Original 4×3 SD
Clean Opening and Ending (SD)
Original TV Promos (SD)

1080p / Japanese 2.0 Stereo DTS Master Audio / English Subtitles / 3 discs / dual layer / AVC @ 17 MBPS / Region Free

When Nobody’s Boy Remi Is Heading “Home” In The Warm Month of May!

When 19th-century life was harsh, what options were available? In Nobody’s Boy Remi, this French country boy learns what the true meaning of family is after getting sold off by his mean spirited father…

Nobody's Boy Remi Slipcover Box Art Back in the 70s, I often tuned into CBC’s French channel to get my daily anime fix. They often featured films and series more often than the other channels, and two such works included Sherlock Hound and Nobody’s Boy Remi. As for The Mysterious Cities of Gold, that did not arrive until the early 80s, and together they defined a part of my childhood. ‘

Flash forward to the present, I’m thrilled to see that anime distributor AnimEigo and parent company MediaOCD have announced the home media Blu-ray release of Nobody’s Boy Remi. This series will become available for purchase on May 11th.

Before advances in technology reinvented the three-dimensional effect for modern day televisions, some production houses used a built-in illusion without having to change anything. The Pulfrich Effect (more information below) created the sense that objects appear closer than they are. This technique preserves the visual image, allowing viewers to see both flat and pronounced images with or without glasses.

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On How My Dearest Fu Bao Will Be Sadly Missed Far and Wide

Look out Po, My Dearest Fu Bao may well beat you out for cute and cuddly. This adorable panda literally grows up for everyone to see before going home to China

Available to stream on VOD

I wonder, in this modern age, whether we need zoos. Not every one knows about what goes on behind the scenes, and those handlers who live by Steve Irwin’s credo deserve a lot of hugs too when one animal dies or must move on. When My Dearest Fu Bao thoroughly details all that affection from all those individuals who have been with her since the beginning, it’s best to have a box of tissues nearby!

To say goodbye to this adorable panda is tough. That’s because she is South Korea’s first giant panda bred and born in captivity. In an agreement made with China, all the pandas loaned to other country’s reserves (to expand the gene pool) must “come home” to live at the Wolong National Nature Reserve.

When archival footage gives viewers a look at her life at Everland’s Panda World, everyone assumes she is happy. Although they know the handlers must send her home to live with others of her kind, that journey to get to that moment will have many folks feeling misty eyed. Unlike Lucy, who must live out her life at the Edmonton Zoo (my movie review can be read here) and cannot join a proper herd, the contrast is heart-wrenching. Anyone curious about this pachyderm’s current health crisis can easily google up the latest news. I learned about the problems that can arise when moving animals to better habitats. Continue reading “On How My Dearest Fu Bao Will Be Sadly Missed Far and Wide”

Finally Watching White Snake Afloat! A Touching Review and the Quest to Find This Lost Tale of Love

Although there’s still no proper North American release for Light Chaser Animation’s White Snake Afloat, thankfully eBay has come to the rescue! And I got info regarding the two types of Blu-ray releases available. Meanwhile Warner Brothers Malaysia is handling distro.

White Snake Afloat in this package release The home video release of Light Chaser Animation’s White Snake Afloat is now available in China and select surrounding regions. When I saw a limited edition box set released back in December, I wanted to buy it—but I didn’t have the funds saved.

Fast forward to now: it’s still attainable through eBay, albeit at nearly double its original retail price. Unfortunately, it’s not listed on official English-language retailers like YesAsia or Amazon, and Light Chaser hasn’t made it available on international streaming platforms either. For those willing to pay a premium, the set is a visual treat. It features beautifully illustrated packaging and includes a bonus booklet. While I hoped for additional extras, it appears that beyond the artwork, there’s little else included. Still, I’m relieved the Blu-ray comes with English subtitles.

As for whether Bianca’s (White Snake’s) journey concludes in this final chapter, I’d say yes. Her arc comes full circle. However, I hope the Fox Demon’s story continues. Her subplot remains unresolved and full of potential. She’s a manipulator, often acting as a mysterious merchant of souls across all three films. But just who she’s serving—and why—remains unanswered.

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