We’re at 20 days before Disney+ tries to grab the streaming service crown off Netflix’s head and I have to say, it might be harder than the Mouse thinks. Seis Manos is a great example of how the reigning champ might defend its title…by rolling the dice on more daring programming than Disney’s safer properties.
When it comes to Anime, I’m really indifferent. I was a huge fan as a kid/teen/college student but there wasn’t much available in the States and what little we did receive tended to be the stronger titles. Thanks to cable, streaming, the Internet, DVDs, etc…we are flooded with a ton more and honestly, not everything the Japanese produce is worth the electrons on my TV.
I do think the partnerships Netflix and others shepherd do make better shows as per this. You get the style and action the Japanese are known for with the more cohesive narrative a Western audience will understand without heavy editing; trust me, as much as I love Starblazers (aka Space Battleship Yamato), they’re practically two different shows after translation and modifications for cultural expectations.
I’ve digressed long enough…
Seis is an awesome hybridization of the Shaw Brothers (major Kung Fu film makers) and Robert Rodriguez (Dusk Til Dawn, el Mariachi) but animated and set in the Seventies. It’s a tale featuring three Mexican orphans avenging their adopted Chinese father/sensei while discovering some freaky secrets he kept from them. An American agent, a fortune teller and a Mexican constable join the fight in helping the orphans take down the main villain (Danny Trejo!), a local drug lord backed by his witch mother.
I highly recommend Seis if you love all the elements the show combines. There were a few surprises too: other enemies of enemies, the mixing of different cultures’ magic/myths and it ends on a cliffhanger. I think Netflix will be bring this back for a second season and they must get Bruce Campbell to do a voice!