Home entertainment releases have yet to pick up much steam in 2012, but there are two very interesting anime releases, a new season of cult hit Hetalia and a unique Japanese/Russian co-production, plus the second half of the often overlooked new animated series based on Mad Magazine, the third season of Merlin, and The Ides of March, one of the most trenchant political thrillers of recent years.

 

 

The top release this week is the cult hit Hetalia Axis Powers Season 3: World Series (Funimation, “17+,” 120 min., $34.98), the outrageous series in which the countries involved in World War II are represented by stereotyped anthropomorphic characters—not very politically correct, but loads of fun.  This 24-episode release includes the first half of season three, which contains 48 five-minute episodes.

 

Also new this week and very much worth checking out is First Squad: The Moment of Truth (Anchor Bay, “13+,” 75 min. $24.99, BD $29.99).  This anime feature film is the result of a collaboration between Studio 4*C and Russian authors of the Molot Entertainment group.  The film’s plot, which follows a group of Russian teenagers with special powers who fight against the Nazis during WW II, should appeal to superhero fans as well as anime lovers--and the film's visual style is pure Studio 4*C.

 

Repriced re-releases include the Kaze no Stigma Complete Series (Funimation, “14+,” 576 min, $29.98) and Nabari no Ou Complete Series (Funimation, “14+,” 650 min., $29.98).

 

 

One of the TV series that is most directly inspired by a comic book is also one of the least known and appreciated. Mad: Season 1, Part 2 (Warner Bros., $19.97) is a sketch comedy series from Warner Animation that captures the irreverent spirit of Mad Magazine and especially its jugular-slashing parodies of movies and commercials.  If you haven’t checked it, it is definitely worth your while. Included in this set are devastating Mad versions of Yo Gabba Gabba, The A-Team, Pokemon, Smallville, The Big Bang Theory and many other iconic contemporary shows.

 

Equally quirky is the deadpan Adult Swim series Delocated: Seasons 1&2 (Warner Bros., 348 min., $29.98), a live-action Adult Swim series, which mocks the conventions of the reality show with a tongue-in-cheek, The Office-like humor.  The seven first season episodes had an eleven-minute runtime, but the show expanded to twenty-two minutes thereafter.

 

Also of more than a little interest to the geek audience is Merlin: The Complete Third Season (BBC, 571 min., $49.98), which manages to capture a fair amount of the magic, adventure, and even a bit of the romance of the Arthurian legends.  The BBC series originally aired here on NBC, but has found a home on Syfy. Back when Syfy was “Sci-Fi” one of its major hits was the time-traveling series Sliders, and now Sliders: Season 5 (Universal, $34.98), which includes 13 episodes of the once-popular series, is making its appearance on DVD.

 

Another series of interest from Britain is Waking the Dead: The Complete Sixth Season (BBC, 690 min., $39.98), a very interesting police procedural, though real murder mystery aficionados will likely prefer Inspector George Gently Season One (Acorn Media, 265 min., BD $49.95).  Debuting on Blu-ray, this mid-1960s series starring Martin Shaw as Commander George Gently, an incorruptible cop transferred from London to the desolate North East of England.  This series features psychologically probing feature-length mysteries with great performances from strong casts that include major guest stars.

 

Animated offerings this week include Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Valentines Collection (Bagdassarian Productions, 82 min., $14.99), a single-disc collection of valentine-themed episodes of the TV series, and Babar: Out of this World (E1 Entertainment, 92 min., $14.98), which contains four episodes of the French created animated series for young viewers.

 

Vintage series out this week include Adam 12: Season 6 (Shout Factory, 570 min., $34.93), and Webster: Season Four (Shout Factory, $29.93).

 

 

The top release this week is The Ides of March (Sony, “R,” $30.99, BD $35.99), a behind-the-scenes political slice-of-life drama set during a hotly contested Ohio Democratic presidential primary election.  Conservatives might be put off by the progressive talking points that the characters mouth, but they are supposed be liberal democrats, and ideology isn’t the subject matter in director George Clooney’s film.  The focus in The Ides of March, which earned a strong 85% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes, is on the hubris and the Machiavellian machinations of the political strategists, the professionals who run all the campaigns, and the fun for audiences is in watching a strong cast led by Ryan Gosling, Paul Giamatti, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Clooney make the most out of a literate script, which is based on Beau Willimon’s play Farragut North.

 

Viewers who enjoy watching sprawling epics based on 19th Century novels should seek out Mysteries of Lisbon (Music Box, “Not Rated,” 257 min., $34.95, BD $43.95), Chilean director Raul Ruiz’s four-and-one-half hour adaptation of 19th Century Portuguese writer Camilo Castelo Branco’s sprawling novel, is a model of straightforward classical moviemaking.

 

Koji Wakamatsu’s Caterpillar (Lorber, 85 min., $29.95) is among other things, a searing indictment of Japan’s militaristic traditions.  Based on a banned story by Edogawa Rampo (who brought the murder mystery to Japan and inspired the Detective Conan character), this saga of a horribly wounded soldier who returns home to Japan after serving in China is hard to watch at times.  The soldier’s wife is the film’s focus and Wakamatsu’s unflinching camera doesn’t shy away from recording every aspect of their lives as she assumes virtual sole care of her wounded husband.  Caterpillar will clearly do better with the critics (90% positive on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes) than with a mass audience, but those who enjoy antiwar art films will want to see Caterpillar.

 

At the other end of the quality spectrum is Abduction (Lionsgate, “PG-13,” $29.95, BD $39.99), a failed attempt to turn Twilight’s Taylor Lautner into a breakout star that could only earn a pathetic 4% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

--Tom Flinn: ICv2 VP-Content

The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.