Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale (2017) - First Time on Hulu
So, I recently finished seasons 1-2 of the SAO series on Netflix and decided to go check this one out. Like the two seasons that came before it, and arguably even more so,
Ordinal Scale is rock-solid. It has a good story infused with enough mystery and and enough action, making it engrossing, so much more than you'd expect from a film about a video game, enough that its two-hour length isn't even within shouting distance of being a chore to sit through. The buildup is just amazing. A great cast of characters, the same characters the viewer becomes invested in over the first two seasons, helps, too. There's also the stunning animation and Yoki Kajiura's excellent musical score doesn't hurt, either. We also get a great English dub from Aniplex that features much of the same cast who dubbed the series. Bryce Papenbrook is once again excellent as Kazuto "Kirito" Kirigaya, an SAO survivor who, like in the series, serves as the main protagonist and also sets out to find out why SAO survivors are having their memories stolen. Minako Aino/Sailor Venus herself Cherami Leigh is also excellent as Asuna Yuuki, another SAO survivor who is now Kirito's girlfriend and pushes the plot forward when she forgets everything about SAO. Michelle Ruff also returns as Shino "Sinon" Asada ("There's no honor in murder! That's chicken s--t!"), who made her debut in season 2's Death Gun arc. Just for good measure, Kirk Thornton who voiced several characters in both dubs of
The Castle of Cagliostro (and even the villain Count Cagliostro himself in the Manga dub) returns as Ryotaro "Klein" Tsuboi, as does Patrick Seitz as Andrew Gilbert "Agil" Mills, and we also get Colonel Shikishima himself Jamieson Price as newcomer Dr. Tetsuhiro Shigemura, all of whom are also excellent. All the side characters and such are also up to par and the dub script is completely natural. This one's a winner for sure; I'm definitely looking forward to season three.
InuYasha: Affections Touching Across Time (2001) - First Time on Netflix
Okay, so, it's not quite up there with the series' best episodes - there were a couple of times where it felt like maybe the story was padded just to reach 100 minutes and Menomaru isn't quite as threatening a villain as Naraku, at least not until the second half - but it's still solid. The InuYasha gang's battle against evil is a compelling one regardless. Kaoru Wada's musical score is still a perfect match. These characters are still so very entertaining to watch and easy to become invested in. The story is good in spite of its flaws. Of course, this being
InuYasha, the animation is also up to par. The English dub is also a good one. Like
Ordinal Scale and SAO, much of the cast that dubbed the
InuYasha series has returned for this movie. Ranma Saotome himself Richard Cox is once again excellent as InuYasha, as are Moneca Stori as Kagome, Ukyo Kuonji herself Kelly Sheridan as Sango, Kirby Morrow as Miroku, Pam Hyatt as Kaede, and Willow Johnson as Kikyo. Vincent Gale isn't quite so threatening as Menomaru until the second half, but again, that's how the character is written rather than a criticism to place at Gale's doorstep. Venus Terzo, in quite the departure from her turn as Ranma's female half,
is appropriately threatening as Ruri, one of Menomaru's lackeys who is all-too advanced in duplication magic and even copies the wind tunnel that Naraku cursed all the males in Miroku's family to bear. Everyone else is also good and the dub script is completely natural. With all that said,
Affections Touching Across Time is solid and any
InuYasha fan should watch it for sure.
Reply to Topic
