Moonlight Mile's second season "Touchdown" was one of those shows I wanted to watch when it came out because I really enjoyed the first season and was really looking forward to the follow up season.  The only problem is that because of the nature of the show it only had a few episodes subbed before it was dropped in favor of some more moe or fanservice rich series and I was left feeling bummed as I didn't think I'd ever get to finish the series.  Then along came a savior in the form of a fan subber who also like the series and started subbing it again.

I had a happy and I started watching it again.  Touchdown is the second part of the series and while the opening makes you believe that there will be some series action this season after finishing the season I can tell you that the opening is a lie and while it does have an occasional bit of space marine combat it is definitely not the big part of the show.

No the big part about Moonlight Mile Touchdown is about the stories of the life and adventure of a tight group of astronaughts and their families as the work to reach the surface of the moon to give Earth an unlimited power supply to help ease the world's energy problems.  In the background of course the constant military conflict between China wanting to claim a chunk moon for themselves versus the United States who have built up a secret military presence on the moon and in space to combat any and all aggressors in space.

Goro and Lostman are still the shows main characters and all the mini arcs revolve around them somehow be it Goro's family back home Lostman's adoptive son and the troubles he goes through to them both interact with the people around them.  The stories are the bigger picture in this show compared to the sci-fi wonderment and cgi effects.  The stories that are well played out and engaging and leave you looking for the next episode are what drives this series not the odd looking star fighters or the robot army on the moon.

And that's what I think makes this one of the most overlooked but great anime series that should be watched for a good story.  Not everything out there is moe blob or bouncy bounce fanservice and Moonlight Mile "Toughdown" proves that.  The first season was released in the states but I don't know if the second season has or not.

Check out the trailer


Even better yet check out this video as well

What the hell do you buy with a lame $15 Wal*Mart Gift Card that you recently got for a Christmas Bonus? Well thankfully just released on DVD(and Blue Ray) for a lovely price of $14.95 is the latest in the Family Guy Star Wars Spoofs Something, Something, Something, Dark Side a loving remake of The Empire Strikes Back movie. SCORE!

So lame Christmas Bonus spent, package unwrapped and watched the minute I got home this morning I have to say just like the original Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back movie this outing of the Family Guy spoofing is better than the first one as well. I was laughing so much through out the hour long episode that I can forgive this one for not coming in a Widescreen version. I mean really Full Frame who does that anymore. But that is the only bad thing I have to say about this show.

Extra content is alright. I'm not a big commentary person but there is another version of the show that has interesting popup facts which made the second viewing just as enjoyable as the first viewing. Even if some of the longer content ones were harder to read since they weren't always on the screen long enough to read them completely. Another one of the extras is a short table read of the third film currently titled "We have a bad feeling about this" which is the spoof of Return of the Jedi and from what you see there you know that it's going to be funny as well.

There are a ton of running gags though out this show including the classic fall and knee grab skit and it's done by an AT-AT, oh yeah and baby AT-ATs. A lot more of the show's cast make appearances as well as some extra characters. There is just a lot of stuff going on and it's just so much fun to watch as both a fan of Family Guy and a big Star Wars geek. You definitely can't miss this.

Check out the trailer here.

Gurren Lagann Guren Hen is the first movie that combines the first 15 episodes of the series into a nicely condensed movie format which includes some 20 minutes of new animation. It was released on DVD April 22nd in Japan and was shortly subbed and watched by myself and others. As a huge fan of the series I must say that it rocks and I'm impatiently awaiting Bandai's US release. I know I've said that the series is a must buy and while I just haven't had the money to do so my self I've been watching it (twice now) on Scifi channel, getting the DVDs from Netflix and buying some stuff here and there to support my Gurren Lagann (and more honestly Yoko) addiction. However with a movie edition I can easily afford that and hey it even has new animation in it too.

I wont really bore you with the details of the stuff that you've already seen and honestly it wraps up a lot of the crew gathering episodes (but short changes us the bathhouse fanservice goodness) into a short lil' montage but leaves in most of the battles up until the big boss battles. That's where a lot of the new animation comes in. The ending boss (the four generals) battles get rolled into one massive combining mecha slug fest that is just freaking epic. Kamina still dies and I still shed a tear because of it. We get to see a lil bit more of the lovely Yoko (rumors are her nipples make an appearance in the second movie...WOWZERS) and we leave off at the end of the movie right before the attack on Lord Genome himself.

I WANT THIS DVD BADLY! Not only is it the movie but it might also include the new Yoko music video as well. That's what the Japanese version came with, I'd like that and a DVD copy of the Parallel Works stuff as well. Those were awesome little shorts. Anyways more Gurren Lagann stuff is always appreciated I just wish it would all make it here to the states ASAP so that I can buy it and enjoy it while supporting the arts so to speak. I also need more Gurren Lagann revoltech figures as well dang it.

Just because I <3 Yoko that much here is the preview for the Yoko Idol CD/Music Video that apparently is getting released next month and not with the DVD of the movie I guess I don't know actually, I wish they would just make up their mind already.