Kino's Journey/Kino no Tabi movie?

I just learned today that there's a movie for Kino's Journey/Kino no Tabi that covers part of the story the anime series didn't. Has anyone seen this, and is it any good? And more importantly(because I love Kino enough to suffer through a bad movie if I must and therefore will probably watch even if told it sucks) has it been licensed yet. I found it to DL, but I can hold out for a DVD if there's one headed my way...

For those who don't know what I'm talking about: Kino is a whimsical, sometimes light, often sad, anime about a young traveller named Kino, who, with a talking, snarky, motorad(cycle) named Hermes, travels the world, never staying longer than three days in any country(the countries rather resemble city-states) learning more about humanity, both good and bad, in each country. Though not as manic and fast paced as most anime, it's one of the best.(IMnsHO) For what it's worth, one of the things that originally atracted me to Mushishi was that it reminded me of Kino in feel.

Here's the opening credits:

Watch on YouTube

Kino's Journey/Kino no Tabi movie?

I just learned today that there's a movie for Kino's Journey/Kino no Tabi that covers part of the story the anime series didn't. Has anyone seen this, and is it any good? And more importantly(because I love Kino enough to suffer through a bad movie if I must and therefore will probably watch even if told it sucks) has it been licensed yet. I found it to DL, but I can hold out for a DVD if there's one headed my way...

For those who don't know what I'm talking about: Kino is a whimsical, sometimes light, often sad, anime about a young traveller named Kino, who, with a talking, snarky, motorad(cycle) named Hermes, travels the world, never staying longer than three days in any country(the countries rather resemble city-states) learning more about humanity, both good and bad, in each country. Though not as manic and fast paced as most anime, it's one of the best.(IMnsHO) For what it's worth, one of the things that originally atracted me to Mushishi was that it reminded me of Kino in feel.

Here's the opening credits:

Watch on YouTube

reading icons

 Reading the first volume of Spiral last night, I decided that Hiyono and her handy dandy blackmail dossier notebook would be good fodder for reading icons.

They aren't much, but take any if you like.

   

And then this was just cute:

reading icons

 Reading the first volume of Spiral last night, I decided that Hiyono and her handy dandy blackmail dossier notebook would be good fodder for reading icons.

They aren't much, but take any if you like.

   

And then this was just cute:

*drowns in sugary sweetness*

I have been bingeing(now on ep 10) on Ai Yori Aoshi.  I have no idea why I'm bingeing on it.  It's one of those shonen harem romances like Love Hina...but not as good.  Or interesting.  Or funny.  Mostly because I can't stand most of the female characters, and I normally have far, far fewer problems with female characters in anime and manga than most seem to.  The american, Tina, is annoying in the extreme, the "cute and clumsy" one, Taeko is a fanservice character with more fanservice the the entirety of Love Hina, and the heroine, Aoi, is so amazingly sweet and perfect and traditional and shy and polite and ladylike that I want someone to shave her head or slash her clothes or something just to see if there's some spirit or personality under there.  Though I do like the hero, Kaoru, and Miyabi, Aoi's uber strict keeper.

But mostly IT IS SO AMAZINGLY SWEET AND SACCHARINE THAT IF I DON'T READ OR WATCH SOMETHING SOON WITH ANGST AND PAIN AND DEATH AND SNARK AND MAYBE SOME EMO I SWEAR I CAN'T BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR MY ACTIONS!!!!!

Hmm...and OTP interferer has appeared in ep 11...I may like her(but why does her being raised in England make it so that it makes sense and is normal for her response to seeing Kaoru a huge deep kiss?) 

*drowns in sugary sweetness*

I have been bingeing(now on ep 10) on Ai Yori Aoshi.  I have no idea why I'm bingeing on it.  It's one of those shonen harem romances like Love Hina...but not as good.  Or interesting.  Or funny.  Mostly because I can't stand most of the female characters, and I normally have far, far fewer problems with female characters in anime and manga than most seem to.  The american, Tina, is annoying in the extreme, the "cute and clumsy" one, Taeko is a fanservice character with more fanservice the the entirety of Love Hina, and the heroine, Aoi, is so amazingly sweet and perfect and traditional and shy and polite and ladylike that I want someone to shave her head or slash her clothes or something just to see if there's some spirit or personality under there.  Though I do like the hero, Kaoru, and Miyabi, Aoi's uber strict keeper.

But mostly IT IS SO AMAZINGLY SWEET AND SACCHARINE THAT IF I DON'T READ OR WATCH SOMETHING SOON WITH ANGST AND PAIN AND DEATH AND SNARK AND MAYBE SOME EMO I SWEAR I CAN'T BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR MY ACTIONS!!!!!

Hmm...and OTP interferer has appeared in ep 11...I may like her(but why does her being raised in England make it so that it makes sense and is normal for her response to seeing Kaoru a huge deep kiss?) 

Crashing Paradise by Christopher Golden and Thomas E Sniegoski

 Crashing Paradise is the 4th book in the Menagerie series, which is essentially a dark urban fantasy version of superheroes, about a group of fighters from the supernatural, half of whom are only slightly less bad than what they fight.  They're led by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, one of the world's most powerful(and well preserved for a guy who's been running around since the Victorian era) sorcerers.  He's more than a bit on the arrogant side, but he's earned it.  Then tere's Ceridwen, his girlfriend and a fay princess, and Dr. Graves, the ghost of a scientist and adventurer.  Then there's Eve, mother of all humanity and all vampires(yeah, Eve/Lilith threw me too, but it makes sense in context.)  She loves shopping and expensive clothes and could make Dracula pee in his pants and run screaming to his mommy.  Except she is his mommy, so it wouldn't do him any good, and Clay, and immortal shapeshifter created and discarded at the dawn of time.  In the non-pretty people arena, there's Danny, the changeling demon with a potty mouth, and  Squire, their surly and snarky hobgoblin chauffeur.  The ghost and the demon's(human0 mom have an almost thing going on and the mother of all and shapeshifter have a near symbiotic codependent abandonment issues thing going.

This volume involves a demon and an angel joining forces to invade the garden of Eden using Eve.  As this involves kidnapping Eve, a few armies are sent for the job.  The book involves the bad guys learning it's really stupid to kidnap Eve as she will escape and destroy them all.  While Clay is busy destroying all the ones who are out in the field.  And that if they aren't left a few to kill, Danny and Squire will come and do unpleasant things to the corpses out of annoyance at being left out.  The other's will be properly heroic while Doyle proves he's smart and kicks butt.

Honestly, there is a plot, and it's a good one and a well written book.  But lets face it, that's irrelevant.  These books are about a group of badasses doing two things: annihilating losers who think their badass but are nothing in comparison, and taking down guys bigger and badder than they are while looking and acting cool and snarking.  It more than admirably succeeds on that front.

Crashing Paradise by Christopher Golden and Thomas E Sniegoski

 Crashing Paradise is the 4th book in the Menagerie series, which is essentially a dark urban fantasy version of superheroes, about a group of fighters from the supernatural, half of whom are only slightly less bad than what they fight.  They're led by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, one of the world's most powerful(and well preserved for a guy who's been running around since the Victorian era) sorcerers.  He's more than a bit on the arrogant side, but he's earned it.  Then tere's Ceridwen, his girlfriend and a fay princess, and Dr. Graves, the ghost of a scientist and adventurer.  Then there's Eve, mother of all humanity and all vampires(yeah, Eve/Lilith threw me too, but it makes sense in context.)  She loves shopping and expensive clothes and could make Dracula pee in his pants and run screaming to his mommy.  Except she is his mommy, so it wouldn't do him any good, and Clay, and immortal shapeshifter created and discarded at the dawn of time.  In the non-pretty people arena, there's Danny, the changeling demon with a potty mouth, and  Squire, their surly and snarky hobgoblin chauffeur.  The ghost and the demon's(human0 mom have an almost thing going on and the mother of all and shapeshifter have a near symbiotic codependent abandonment issues thing going.

This volume involves a demon and an angel joining forces to invade the garden of Eden using Eve.  As this involves kidnapping Eve, a few armies are sent for the job.  The book involves the bad guys learning it's really stupid to kidnap Eve as she will escape and destroy them all.  While Clay is busy destroying all the ones who are out in the field.  And that if they aren't left a few to kill, Danny and Squire will come and do unpleasant things to the corpses out of annoyance at being left out.  The other's will be properly heroic while Doyle proves he's smart and kicks butt.

Honestly, there is a plot, and it's a good one and a well written book.  But lets face it, that's irrelevant.  These books are about a group of badasses doing two things: annihilating losers who think their badass but are nothing in comparison, and taking down guys bigger and badder than they are while looking and acting cool and snarking.  It more than admirably succeeds on that front.

Samurai 7 meme

*looks completely innocent*

What SAMURAI 7 Samurai are You? Your Result: KYUZO Swift. Silent. Deadly. As a bodyguard and master swordsman, you have never been able to let go of what it truly means to be samurai, even though you work for a merchant pig like Ayamoro. So sure, you'll fight for Kanna - only because after that, you can kill Kambei. If you both survive...
NASAMI
KATAYAMA GOROBEI
HAYASHIDA HEIHACHI
KIKUCHIYO
SHIMADA KAMBEI
SHICHIROJI
OKAMOTO KATSUSHIRO
What SAMURAI 7 Samurai are You? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Samurai 7 meme

*looks completely innocent*

What SAMURAI 7 Samurai are You? Your Result: KYUZO Swift. Silent. Deadly. As a bodyguard and master swordsman, you have never been able to let go of what it truly means to be samurai, even though you work for a merchant pig like Ayamoro. So sure, you'll fight for Kanna - only because after that, you can kill Kambei. If you both survive...
NASAMI
KATAYAMA GOROBEI
HAYASHIDA HEIHACHI
KIKUCHIYO
SHIMADA KAMBEI
SHICHIROJI
OKAMOTO KATSUSHIRO
What SAMURAI 7 Samurai are You? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Canon Vol 2

Volume one of Canon set the series up to be a very good, if standard in concept, book about a girl who wanted revenge revenge on the vampire who killed her friends and was joined by a vampire who also wanted revenge against the same man.  The main thing that made it stand out from the norm was that Sakaki, the hero to Canon's heroine, seemed to be just as bad and as ruthless as Rod(I shall never stop loving that he is "Rod, the Vampire Lord"...I feel confident it sounds MUCH better in Japanese...rather like Oh! Great! is probably a cool name for a mangaka...somewhere...)  Volume 2, however, rather turns that idea on its head.

( spoilers )

Canon Vol 2

Volume one of Canon set the series up to be a very good, if standard in concept, book about a girl who wanted revenge revenge on the vampire who killed her friends and was joined by a vampire who also wanted revenge against the same man.  The main thing that made it stand out from the norm was that Sakaki, the hero to Canon's heroine, seemed to be just as bad and as ruthless as Rod(I shall never stop loving that he is "Rod, the Vampire Lord"...I feel confident it sounds MUCH better in Japanese...rather like Oh! Great! is probably a cool name for a mangaka...somewhere...)  Volume 2, however, rather turns that idea on its head.

( spoilers )

This is proof I say, PROOF!

 Of vampire oversaturation that is.

Because I just realized that I'm starting my THIRD BOOK IN A ROW featuring vampires, none of which I picked up for vampires.

Crashing Paradise thought process: "OH! New menagerie book!  Super badass urban fantasy superheroes!"

Canon thought process: "Must...have...non...perfect...saccharine...princess...heroine...must...have....CHIKA SHIOMI BOOK!"

Dark Lover thought process:  "magicnoiresays they're like Dark Hunters, only on steroids or crack or something...I shall read the first one now."

And...vampires had NOTHING to do with my getting any of these...I started reading the menagerie books because I was recced them as dark urban fantasy superheroes, Canon based on my loving Night of the Beasts, and Dark Lover because I ended up with books later in the series at the booksale, and magicnoirerecced them.

Also, i am only on the first page of Dark Lover,reading the glossary, and already disappointed.  After much "blah blah cool blah blah badass blah blah tough blah blah" buildup, it say's this: "They may be killed only by the most serious of wounds, e.g., a gunshot or stab to the heart, etc."  Wwwhhhaaaatttt?  As sold to me and described on the jacket and rest of the entire, I expect gunshots and stab wounds to be shrugged off save for when True Love's Healing Hands plot contrivances are called for.  *mumbles about stab wounds and gunshot wounds not hurting the Dark Hunters*

This is proof I say, PROOF!

 Of vampire oversaturation that is.

Because I just realized that I'm starting my THIRD BOOK IN A ROW featuring vampires, none of which I picked up for vampires.

Crashing Paradise thought process: "OH! New menagerie book!  Super badass urban fantasy superheroes!"

Canon thought process: "Must...have...non...perfect...saccharine...princess...heroine...must...have....CHIKA SHIOMI BOOK!"

Dark Lover thought process:  "magicnoiresays they're like Dark Hunters, only on steroids or crack or something...I shall read the first one now."

And...vampires had NOTHING to do with my getting any of these...I started reading the menagerie books because I was recced them as dark urban fantasy superheroes, Canon based on my loving Night of the Beasts, and Dark Lover because I ended up with books later in the series at the booksale, and magicnoirerecced them.

Also, i am only on the first page of Dark Lover,reading the glossary, and already disappointed.  After much "blah blah cool blah blah badass blah blah tough blah blah" buildup, it say's this: "They may be killed only by the most serious of wounds, e.g., a gunshot or stab to the heart, etc."  Wwwhhhaaaatttt?  As sold to me and described on the jacket and rest of the entire, I expect gunshots and stab wounds to be shrugged off save for when True Love's Healing Hands plot contrivances are called for.  *mumbles about stab wounds and gunshot wounds not hurting the Dark Hunters*

yyyyyyyyyyyyyyeeeeeeeeeeessssssssssssssss....I am the most bestest(IT IS SO A WORD!) Ninja Turtle

BTW, funnest meme I've done in ages.

Your Score: Raphael / Blanche

Your ki is made up of 76% Vigor and 25% Wisdom

You're the most unpredictable of the Golden Girls, dashing into combat and romance with nary a thought for the safety of yourself or others. Quick to anger and slow to forgive, the other girls can't always count on you. You're a cynic through and through, looking at the downside of every situation. When the chips are down, though, you fight like a demon-possessed tornado on fire, tearing your enemies apart with a pair of deadly sai.

Link: The Which Golden-Girl/TMNT are you Test written by ChimericMouse on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

yyyyyyyyyyyyyyeeeeeeeeeeessssssssssssssss....I am the most bestest(IT IS SO A WORD!) Ninja Turtle

BTW, funnest meme I've done in ages.

Your Score: Raphael / Blanche

Your ki is made up of 76% Vigor and 25% Wisdom

You're the most unpredictable of the Golden Girls, dashing into combat and romance with nary a thought for the safety of yourself or others. Quick to anger and slow to forgive, the other girls can't always count on you. You're a cynic through and through, looking at the downside of every situation. When the chips are down, though, you fight like a demon-possessed tornado on fire, tearing your enemies apart with a pair of deadly sai.

Link: The Which Golden-Girl/TMNT are you Test written by ChimericMouse on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test