This Week in Anime

Tubi or Not Tubi

Coop
As cool as the heavily sweating bottle of orange Faygo I just nabbed from around the corner, Chris. Also, I didn't grab this only because it would help us court the lucrative Michigander and Juggalo audiences—it's because it was cheap and Lynzee gave us exactly two dollars.

There's an old fandom saying: "You better watch out for when John Toei's about to knock on your door." But regardless of that ancient turn of phrase, uploading a series you don't own to an official platform and clapping back when people in the know are trying to tell you that you've stepped on a landmine isn't a great course of action.

This is the only Trinity I'm supposed to know about.

Despite that unfortunate gaffe, this is a great reminder of the amazing variety of titles on Tubi for both anime and tokusatsu fans. The platform's got viewers eating great with oodles of Ultraman series alongside landmark series like Kamen Rider Kuuga and Kamen Rider Ryuki; the latter of the two being a modern anime Rosetta Stone. Shifting back to anime before I have to put another dollar in the "bugman nonsense" jar, you can find so much interesting and legally questionable material on Tubi. With anime specifically, you might as well be Mike Toole digging through a Big Lots bargain bin in 2011. Alongside killer classics like Redline and Ghost in the Shell, viewers can plumb the deep wells of the old Bandai Visual, Media Blasters, Discotek, and AnimEigo catalogs. Needless to say, I'll be refraining from mentioning titles from those last two on my end.

Viewers can also discover The Room of anime fan films, Time to Duel.

I know the folks behind these fan films probably poured their souls into their work. Like for the joking we've done around Time to Duel, you can tell the folks behind it love Yu-Gi-Oh! However, the optics aren't great when you can find the film right next to officially uploaded seasons of Yu-Gi-Oh! on what is considered a mainstream streaming platform.

Flicking through the larger spread of Tubi's collection reminded me quite a bit of my days working at a Family Video. Heck, I remember seeing DOA and more than a few schlocky direct-to-video titles coming in and out of the return box all the time. If the store was still there, I could probably even walk to where we kept DOA without even thinking about it too hard. I want to say it was on the left side of the store, not far away from the saloon doors that led to the adult section.

Movie lovers loved Family Video.

At least your beloved Pretty Cure is there!

Oh, I don't feel so good, Mr. Farris.

At least Toei Animation has been uploading a much higher-quality version of Precure's dub on YouTube. It's cool to see crusty footage on occasion, but this presentation made me kind of nauseous. That bummed me out, because the first Precure series looks immaculate for the time it was made.

Looking at the opening credits, this seems to be from a 2004 Hawaiian TV broadcast of the series. Nippon Golden Network appears to be a Hawaiian television network, and with how much Honolulu loves Kamen Rider V3, this makes sense.

I'm not a huge fan of the subtitles' styling here (they're a little small and hard to read), but that's a personal nitpick. After all, it beats having to play the Out-of-Print Right Stuf Gundam Blu-ray Roulette.

With Gundam Wing's 30th getting some attention, I figure the show it allegedly sapped resources from to complete deserves its day in the sun...or moon in this case.

Now that you mention it, that's a good point.

Gundam X has an incredibly solid setup, despite its unfortunately short run. Garrod's scavenging his way into a rescue mission and the cockpit of the titular mobile suit is compelling. Kind of like someone got a dash of Trigun in my Gundam sauce. Not to mention that it's the only non-Universal Century entry in the series that seriously explores the concept of Newtype-ism. For instance, I know why this classic meme is terrifying.

Speaking of handguns and jump-kicking, the currently airing New PANTY & STOCKING with GARTERBELT has provided us with an in to talk about what could arguably be the Hiroyuki Imaishi uber text—Dead Leaves.

This flick is just dripping in the same manic and sticky creative juices that birthed Panty & Stocking, Gurren Lagann, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, and Imaishi's other works.

I agree. Sometimes the hit in video quality can be distracting, as it was with Precure; however, here, those quirks only add to the envelope-pushing MTV Liquid Television vibes on display. Also, that guy sure pierced the heavens, I tell you what.

Maybe not with how that first one shakes out, but that's the case for those other shows. Speaking of jiggles, if you're in the mood for more from the director of Project A-ko, Katsuhiko Nishijima, it looks like you're in luck with Labyrinth of Flames and Agent Aika. Dude spares no time letting you know what he's all about.

A salute to the fallen panty shot gags of yore.

However, on the topic AIKa, I found the series' production values to be super strong and feature great character designs. AIKa herself cuts a strong silhouette, making me want to watch her show even if the rapid-fire fanservice eventually overstays its welcome.

Same with Labyrinth of Flames. This kid has studied the blade AND rocks a solid design.

The freshest anime I found was Tasokare Hotel from earlier this year. So Tubi has at least two fairly new shows.

I was thrilled to see the handful of Spanish dubs featured on the platform. Heck, you want to watch Kaleido Star on Tubi, it better be en Español.

Mis amigos necesitan sus Dragon Pearls, mi hermano! And that's as far as my gringo Spanish will get me.

Minus some disorienting, Star Wars Special Edition style visual effects and a deeply unfortunate scene of Oolong in black face, Dragon Ball: The Magic Begins is a fun and unserious action flick. The bad guy is a wonderful translation of Toriyama's design sensibilities into live-action.

It's a super rough adaptation of a Dragon Ball movie (which is also a loose interpretation of the manga's opening chapters). Still, the series' mischievous spirit is here alongside a distinct, kung fu flick flair.

It would be oddly fitting if the Hunter x Hunter on Tubi wasn't the 2011 series, but the 1999 one. That feels like a Tubi move.

You saying that has me jonesing to do a proper rewatch of Transformers: Animated and blast the Japanese intro by JAM Project at a louder-than-socially-acceptable volume.

A sweet EMOTION, indeed.