Culture e the other press © Prétear I know, more Prétear, but these DVDs are out once a month and since it’s such a short series each vol- ume is jam-packed with plot. In the last volume, the series actually made an effort at character development rather than simply using it as filler. But Prétear has started to take its dark turn from ‘the happy, magical, girl anime to the deeply disturbed. As with all DVDs in which I review each volume, pointing out the technical aspects of the disc is pretty much just more of the same. Although, when you think about it, isn't another volume of a series just more of the same in a way too? It’s like a metaphor for my review I sup- pose. The visuals have retained their sharp crisp look, and the transfer to DVD is flawless. The sound has also maintained its high quality with the English sound track’s 5.1 channel mix, as well as with the Japanese 2.0 channel mix. Now getting on to the extras, which are different. Finally the com- panies have figured out that clean opening-and-closing animations arent really impressive extras, although they are on the disc as well. And also standard are another set of production sketches, these were of rather high quality, and the art war- ranted another viewing. Where the extras get interesting are with the four separated 10- minute interviews with some of the English voice actors. The one with the infamous Spike Spencer was quite a laugh. For those who don’t know, it seems Spencer signed some sort of contract putting him in pret- ty much every anime ADV dubs. He’s also had main roles in a few very well known series, like Neon Genesis Evangelion and Martian Successor Nadesico, as well as various parts in just about everything else. Overall, it was interesting to put faces to the voices of the people who I got so used to hearing in other anime series. Where Prétear sets itself apart from most magical girl anime, is first the pace at which this series moves. It’s extremely fast moving, and is advancing the plot by great leaps in every episode. Second, it’s gotten real dark real quick, any sort of happy exterior you've seen before is gone, faded away, like so much drained Leafe. The evil villain, so to speak, the Princess of Disaster Fenril, has final- ly appeared. But it’s her origin that’s more original in respect to this genre. Her struggle and fall to the dark side are portrayed extremely well. Fenril’s prior relationship with Anime Laser two of the Knight’s of Leafe, Hayate and Sasame is revealed, and we find a bitter-sweet love story full of betrayal and self loathing. And. that’s barely scratching the surface of what's going on. There is also the depressing downward spiral of self-doubt and depression Himeno is on after discovering the origins of Fenril. I’m glad to see more of a fleshed-out character design, especially since the magical girl genre tens to be made up of a lot of filler episodes. Prétear gets right to the point, and gives us something new and fresh for this genre. Now this still isn’t going to be for everyone since it is still a niche genre. However, this series has vast- ly exceeded my initial expectations, its very rare to watch something that can tell this condensed of a story without making it feel rushed at any point. These last three episodes have made quite an impres- sion on me, and I have to say if you skipped over this before because you though this was more of the same old magical girl stuff, you should seriously reconsider Prétear. This sets a great example on how a 13- episode series should be done, and I can't overstate how impressed I’ve been with the story in this volume. Prétear will definitely make my top ten series list this year. The weekly focused look into what’s going on in the anime world. What’s Hot Right Now: We have the ever-popular Kiddy Grade, well I'm not so sure that it’s popular but I sure as hell know it’s overadvertised. I can’t go to any of my usual sites without seeing the banner ad for this. The general con- sensus seems to be it’s the best thing since Sliced Bread, but Sliced Bread had a much more of intricate plot line, and extremely cool robots. What's Going to be Hot: Azumanga Daioh, this one’s due out whenever ADV hurries up and fin- ishes the dubbing. Could they take a little longer? I’m sure they could if they tried. Everyone loves a series about high school, and here it looks like they combined that with every- one’s second favourite topic— drugs, because this series gets a solid 7.1 on the weirdness scale. Gravion also makes the up-and- coming list with its special brand of combining robots with women whose breasts are so large you'll swear they'll fall over face first at any moment. But it does have a guy in a mask who kind of looks like Char, so at least it’s trying to be cool. Prince of Tennis What’s Hot in Japan: After doing considerable research on the subject matter, with over 100 episodes under its belt we have Prince of Tennis. Basically it’s about the royal family of tennis, more specifically the Prince of Tennis. And that considerable research I mentioned earlier mostly consisted of me finding out the name of a series with over 100 episodes. Seriously, did you think I was really going to watch 100+ episodes of tennis for the sake of my readers? THE 24 HOUR FILM RETURNS APRIL 3, 2004! CONTEST’S MOVIEMAKING MARATHON persistence and organization, may eventually get their work out to enthusiastic festival audiences. However, making a film through the 24 Hour In its fourth year of operation, after ten filmmaking events that have brought together nearly 1000 film- makers to craft over 150 films, the 24 Hour Film Contest starts its 2004 season on April 3. The contest’s mandate is simple—to make a film. To get people out of the comfortable chairs in their favourite coffee shops or pubs, and stop talking and start doing. From first-time student filmmakers to polished local indie filmmakers, the cinematic com- munity unites to make and show their wares. Sure, with the accessibility of gear, technology, and a few eager friends, anyone can make a film. But what the 24 Hour Film Contest offers is structure and goals. Filmmakers become so vested that not fin- ishing is not an option. What the event really delivers is an audience. More often than not, films that do get made by students, and even more established filmmakers, are screened to a small cast and crew and then destined to a life on the living room circuit. The more ambitious film- makers might go the indie festival route, and with http://www.otherpress.ca Film Contest’s event, puts your work in front of over 500 sets of eyeballs from the local film community at the contest’s Gala screenings. In addition, all the films are hosted on the 24 Hour Film Contest’s web- site, so your agoraphobic, internet savvy uncle in Red Deer, Alberta can enjoy viewing your masterpiece from the comfort of his own home. With each of its 10-filmmaking events to date, the number of participating filmmakers has explod- ed. Regularly, the event organizers are regrettably turning interested auteurs away. Some do it for the prizes, some do it for the fame, but most do it because with the event’s mandate, its way more like- ly their film gets made and gets seen. The Next 24 Hours of adrenaline-fueled marathon moviemaking is on April 3. Interested filmmakers can get involved by purchasing a producer ticket on The 24 Hour Film Contest’s website or at The Celluloid Drug Store (Commercial Drive at Grant). For complete details of the April 3 event as well as a very interesting film library, check out . Page 15