"Actor: Yuzuru Fujimoto"

• Sonic The Hedgehog - The Movie | DVD | (15/12/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Dr. Robotnik claims that he is hanging around the beautiful Land of the Sky because he has been booted from the Land of Darkness! An incredibly evil Metal Robotnik came out of nowhere drove him from the twisted city of Robotropolis and then sabotaged the high-voltage power-producing Robot Generator. Dr. Robotnik claims that if the Robot Generator isn't stopped it will blow all of planet freedom to smithereens! He needs some help - fast! Can Sonic trust his worst enemy? Should he rush headlong into an obvious trap and possibly save the universe? Or just smack the egg-shaped nightmare across his flapping moustache? The President's absolutely adorable daughter Sara says that she will marry Sonic if he saves the universe. So that settles it. But wait! Is she in love with Sonic or the never-before-seen Hyper Metal Sonic! You could turn blue just thinking about it or crack the entertainment barrier with ADV Films' Sonic the Hedgehog.

• Appleseed | DVD | (22/07/2002) from £11.01   |  Saving you £8.98 (81.56%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Violence, nudity, terrorism and swearing are not the usual cartoon fare, but with Appleseed we find ourselves firmly in the cyberpunk territory of Manga cinema. Based on the comic series by Masamune Shirow, the film's story takes place in a post-World War III future, in particular within the mega city of Olympus. With the city administered by the Biodroids (a race of perfect half-human, half-robot hybrids), there begins a human resistance to a society that offers little in the way of real freedoms. As with most of the Manga genre, the deceptively simple animation (reminiscent of Pokemon) conceal more than a few complex issues. Appleseed proves to be a thought provoking, if a little confusing, examination of the "one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter" argument, particularly as it somewhat blurs the moral borders by instilling both sides in the conflict with a degree of sympathy. Definitely one for Manga fans, but also recommended for SF buffs and those curious to try something a little different. On the DVD: Appleseed on disc has various language options, with the possibility of watching the film in either the original Japanese or dubbed English. The picture is bright and clear, as is the soundtrack. Highly recommended is the audio commentary from voice actress Larissa Murray and Manga expert Jonathon Clements, which not only fills in many of the gaps left by Shirow's original film but also provides an invaluable and often humorous insight into the genre as a whole. --Phil Udell

• Ghost In The Shell 2: Innocence | DVD | (01/10/2018) from £10.85   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  When machines learn to feel, who decides what is human? It is the year 2032 and Earth is a world where the few remaining humans coexist with artificial replicants, cyborgs and robots. Batou, a cyborg detective and his partner, Togusa are charged with investigating the bizarre case of a malfunctioning female sex droid that has murdered its owner. As they delve deeper into the investigation they are forced to confront violent Yakuza thugs, devious hackers, influential government bureaucrats and powerful corporate criminals. Painstakingly created by Production IG and director, Mamoru Oshii (G.I.T.S, Avalon, Patlabor) Innocence seamlessly combines groundbreaking 2-D and 3-D CG animation techniques to produce an action-packed, sci-fi fable of a solitary cyborg struggling to retain what's left of his humanity in a world where the human soul is gradually fading into obscurity.