NEWS: 11/30/98
Pioneer has announced
Tenchi in Tokyo Vol. 2
for 02/16/1999.
Bringing up the last day of the month (my goodness, almost December
already!), I've provided my
Look Ahead: 1999 editorial for your reading pleasure.
For the astute among you, you may have noticed I added a poll to the left
column here today (just scroll down a bit). It's just a bit of curiosity
on my part of how many readers here don't have a player and are doing the
old information gathering routine. If you're one of them, thanks for
stopping by, and be sure to drop us a line about yourself in the forum and
what you're looking for.
Starting off today, we have the
1999 Wish List from Roman
Martel in our columns section. He's also provided us with a review of
Seven Samurai in
our "Other titles we
rave about" area.
And for the hentai among you, Pete Plank has sent in a review of the
Lyon Flare PLUS region 2
disc, complete with the cover AND English subtitles!
NEWS: 11/28/98
Curiously, DVD Express doesn't seem to be carrying Demon City Shinjuku or
Grappler Baki. They are out, as verified by Mark over at
Digital Eyes where I did order
them. I'll do a spot check on them Tuesday night...
Here's one sweet looking show, brought to us by Pete Plank,
Virgin Fleet Vol. #1.
Same crowd that did Sakura Wars... I hope ADV picks this up and does a
simultaneous release!
I also put up some new graphics for the covers to
Arslan,
Takegami and
Wind Named Amnesia. Wind
is the same as we've always seen, but the covers for the other two are
showing some promise of well done artwork. To check out a full sized pic,
head over to Animenation and take
a gander.
NEWS: 11/27/98
Never underestimate the power of anime... In an interesting turn, DVD
Express seems to have taken the route of listing on their titles just how
many copies are left in stock. Only 50 left of the second Darkstalkers
disc, and the overwhelmingly popular Bubblegum Crisis is completely sold
out and awaiting a second batch due in on the 2nd of December. It looks as
if very few of the titles are in stock, with such titles as Fist of the
Northstar and Legend of Lemnear completely sold out, and even Ghost in the
Shell is down to 40 copies (Darkstalkers 1 is down to 2!). Even better, it
looks as if the majority of anime titles are now in the 30% off range,
making even the pricey 29.99 titles down to 20.99... Definitely a good
time for an anime and DVD fan. Due out Tuesday should be Demon City
Shinjuku and Grappler Baki.
All right, now that we're in a lazy post-turkey mood, let's bring up a few
new reviews. First off, I've updated my
Bubblegum Crisis review
with some comments on the subtitles and the DVD ROM aspect of it. And,
Pete Plank has provided us with a review of the Region 2 disc
Kite Vol. 1 as well as a
Region 0 disc of Sakura
Wars!
NEWS: 11/26/98
No rest for the wicked on this holiday, as I bring about my review of the
Bubblegum Crisis DVD Suite
from Multimedia 2000. And not only that, but the
Queen Emeraldas page has
also been set up... here's hoping for more information to come soon on
more DVD releases from AD Vision!
NEWS: 11/25/98
Talk about an exciting day! Bubblegum Crisis arrived, so there'll be a
review up in a few days as I try to get through enough of it. I will say
right up front that I'm very mixed on the packaging. On the one side, it
is very cool. On the other, it won't be seen on my shelf at all.
We also got a big announcement today from AD Films, so be sure to
check it out here if
you haven't already.
I'll try to do my best with BGC, but the new Legend of Zelda N64 game came
in today as well, so the wife has taken control of the home theater for
what will most likely be the majority of the weekend. Either way, Happy
Thanksgiving to all the U.S. people out there celebrating, and keep safe!
NEWS: 11/24/98
My review for Night Warriors,
Darkstalkers Revenge: Omega is now up.
I just spoke to a rep at DVD Express, and there's good news and bad
news. They got in their shipment of 200 copies of Bubblegum Crisis
yesterday, but a lot of orders were not filled until today due to timing
with pickups (mostly FedEx related). So it's there! The bad news? as for
3:00 PM today, there's only 16 copies left. The rep was surprised that
they sold that many, since I wanted to make sure they have some in stock
before referring people there from here. So, if you're waiting, call them
first (888 383 9700) to make sure it's actually still in stock.
The latest Pioneer announcement came out today, this one only contained
the final Battle Athletes
volume, #3 "Go!", which is now scheduled for February 9th, 1999.
New and arrived today is the second Night Warriors disc as well as the
English only Lupin movie. Due in tomorrow is Bubblegum Crisis. I chatted
with someone at DVD Express yesterday, and they did receive them yesterday
morning, and I was assured a copy was going to be overnighted to me last
night, but it wasn't for some reason, so I'm trying to get in touch with
them now about it. But they definitely have it, and my copy is in the
"Ready for shipment" phase.
Magic Knight Rayearth fans should definitely be checking out the forum
today, and then hustling right over to the petitions to sign it!
NEWS: 11/23/98
Now appearing here at Anime on DVD is my glowing review of
Fist of the Northstar!
Thanks to Adam Schenker, we now have full information for contact
Media Blasters to get
them to be more receptive to putting their anime on DVD. Thanks Adam!
Bubblegum Crisis is now listed as "Ready to ship" at DVD Express - and a
pleasant surprise for international fans (who now make up 20% of our
readership here); it's a region 0 disc set!
NEWS: 11/21/98
Hmmm, interesting tidbit in the forum today. Anyone interested in
a 1998 Anime DVD Awards ceremony? I think it might be pretty keen. Post on
the forum with what you want for categories and entries, and we can work
from there on it.
NEWS: 11/20/98
Here's the latest I've found on new releases. Lupin III and Night Warriors
#2 are definitely available online for order. My regular vendor, DVD
Express, lists Bubblegum Crisis as Monday, which makes sense since they
didn't start shipping it until today to retailers. Once it's in stock
there, I'll be sure to pass on the word.
Anime Works has apparently acquired Magic Knight Rayearth; If anyone has
some good contact information for them, let me know. In the mean time, be
sure to add your name to the new petition for it as well as the Peacock
King series, Battle Angel Alita and the Rumik World OVA's.
NEWS: 11/19/98
Quick update here. Check
out this page for some scans posted to rec.arts.anime.misc today with
the box artwork for Record of Lodoss War. I'm drooling already!
Also be sure to check out
the breakdown on some upcoming CPM titles with Jeff Slipko!
NEWS: 11/18/98
I just spoke with someone from Multimedia 2000, and according to him, the
champagne will be flowing there very shortly today, as they're getting in
their copies of Bubblegum Crisis and it will be available through them
directly as early as tomorrow most likely. This means that it will
definitely be available as of the Friday listings on most online
retailers. Major hurdle number 1 has come, with only Lodoss left in the
running as the big early announcements. Though Lodoss now looks to be a
Spring '99 release, I'm definitely going to relish having BGC to watch
over the Thanksgiving holiday.
Confirmed releases according to Laserviews for next week:
Bubblegum Crisis,
Lupin III,
Night Warriors: Darkstalkers
Revenge Vol. 2
New official announcements today include:
Cybernetic Guardian,
Heroic Legend of Arslan
compilation, Judge,
Revolutionary Girl Utena,
Strange Love,
Takegami, Guardian of
Darkness: War God, and finally,
Wind Named Amnesia.
And to top all of this off *pant pant*, Roman's provided us with a new
review of Roujin Z
NEWS: 11/17/98
Per request, I've created 9 buttons that can be found on the
banners page for use
to promote the petitions and bringing more attention to getting these
shows on DVD. Check 'em out and spread them to the net.
For those who may have noticed, I removed the Blue Seed petition and the
Gunsmith Cats this morning, due to the fact that I didn't notice that
Edwin had it on the ADSC page. If you haven't signed it there, get over
there!
NEWS: 11/16/98
Barely over twenty four hours since the new petitions went in, and already
several have broken hundred! I gotta say I'm pretty pleased to see it.
Next weekend, I'll add a second batch of titles to the list, though not as
large most likely.
One thing that can help in getting more notice for the new petitions is,
if you visit a site that is about one of the shows (Oh My Goddess for
example), send the webmaster a note asking if they could place a link to
the page. Let's see if we can get the interest up and going even more! I'm
still hoping to see Otaku No Video break 500 to beat the laserdisc
preorder...
NEWS: 11/15/98 - 13:45 PM
Now here's a cause worth looking into. While browsing through the Animeigo
catalog, I had forgotten about the Otaku No Video preorder that was going
on. Fans wanted this true fan show done on laserdisc, but they need the
magic 500 number. Do you think we can get that number here on our
petition? If so, we may be able to gain more notice for the demand for
anime DVD's. This is a truly excellent show/satire, and I'd certainly love
to retire my VHS tape.
As a side note, I'm taking peoples suggestions for new petition additions
and adding several of them at a time, so be sure to check the petition
page every few days (if not more often!) to see what new titles have been
added.
NEWS: 11/15/98 - 09:00 AM
My apologies for the lack of updates the past few days, but it's been
hectic. So let's dig right in!
My review for Babel II
is now up.
Tenchi Muyo and Fatal Fury were officially announced on Friday. Tenchi in
Tokyo is worth noting as it lists 100 minutes, or 4 episodes, on the disc.
With it being a 26 episode series, we're looking at the 7 disc release
(which I think will look really great on my DVD rack). This will only be
topped by a 14 disc release of Fushigi Yugi!
Fist of the Northstar is confirmed (and already in some people's hands)
for Tuesday. I'll do my best to review this disc as soon as possible.
And in what I consider truly great news, faithful reader Wayne Morris has
completed the new
automated petition script! This now frees up countless hours for me,
after keying in thousands of names over the past several months. It also
means that I will slowly adding more titles to the list. I've added
Oh My Goddess!, Please Save My Earth and Twilight of the Dark Master,
Video Girl Ai, Blue Seed, You're Under Arrest, Giant Robo, Macross Plus
and Key the Metal Idol for now. The lists are also sorted alphabetically,
so if you aren't sure if you signed up for one before, it's a lot easier
to check now. Wayne, you have my immense gratitude!
NEWS: 11/11/98
In following up with the information I sent to
Urban Vision earlier this
week, I've been asked to set up a variety of polls here so they can get an
idea of what the anime fan whose into DVD wants. There are currently 8
polls, some with multiple selections (such as what titles you want, select
one or select them all) as well as some general DVD questions. This is
definitely a good thing, as they want to make sure that they find out what
we all want on our DVD's BEFORE they start doing them. Make sure your
voice is heard (so spread the word!) and
fill out each of the polls
here!
NEWS: 11/10/98
Color me surprised. I was contacted by a Multimedia 2000 employee who told
me they saw my most recent article listed in the Monday news at the
DVD Insider site, which
is essentially a hard industry site. Granted, they didn't find it here,
but via the always excellent DVD File site run by Peter Bracke, who had
the article "The Evangelion
Factor" in the news this week.
Something worth checking out is the Bubblegum Crisis online site that's on
the Multimedia 2000 webpage. Very useful if you want to learn more about
the series before you purchase it.
NEWS: 11/09/98
Be sure to take our latest Anime Village poll over at the polling page....
and if you frequent the Urban
Vision website, keep an eye out for DVD related polls showing up there
in the future.
NEWS: 11/08/98
Seems like every few months we become Site of the Week from different
places. First it was DVD File, then the now-defunct Team DVD, and this
week, the fine folks over at
Virtual Urth DVD via their DVDWire has made us their site of the week.
Much appreciated guys! Keep up the excellent work over there!
New official Region 1 announcements came out from
Pioneer today. We can
now look forward to seeing the
Fatal Fury movie on
1/26 (as previously disclosed a few months back here) as well as
Tenchi in Tokyo Vol. 1 on
1/12/99! I'm getting excited now! This brings the new El-Hazard series as
more likely when it debuts next year!
And finally for today, we've got three new reviews up. Be sure to check
out the Art of Fighting,
Crimson Wolf as well as
the Legend of Lemnear.
NEWS: 11/06/98
More rumored titles from CPM?
Rumor is that Odin, Cyber City Odeo and Tokyo Babylon are slated for
release as well... and I have to admit, whether you like the shows or not,
isn't amazing that CPM is able to bring out so many titles? I mean,
Pioneer is easily understood with their own authoring and replication
facilities (which they now seemed geared to using), but what does this
tell you about the other companies who are releasing almost nothing? Once
again, CPM has my support...
Be sure to check out the latest
Iria alternate angle review
by Roman Martel, as well as the first review from Tommy Hwang for
Goodbye Space Battleship
Yamato over in our region 2 section.
NEWS: 11/05/98
Blue Submarine #6 review
is now up, once again courtesy of our new region 2 specialist Pete Plank.
I'll add my name to the list of people that's now drooling over this
title. Here's hoping not only that AV brings it over from their parent
company, but that they give it the full digital DVD treatment it deserves.
With more anime slowly coming out in 5.1 sound, is there any reason to not
release it on DVD?
While most likely nowhere near ready, I've had contact with Urban Vision
in that they're looking into seeing what fans want on their anime DVD's...
got a comment?
Send it
here so I can start working on something to send them over the
weekend, and be sure to check out their
forum on their page.
Interested in learning more about DVD image quality and compression?
Check
this page out to learn more...
Pokemon issues flying up again... from a very reliable source, I've been
told that the first Pokemon disc will not have the Japanese
language on it, in order for it to make the street date with the VHS. This
also may apply to future volumes, as apparently the contract is not fully
worked out yet, and may not be for at least the first volume. Hmph.
NEWS: 11/04/98
Cowboy Bebop #0 PLUS is
the latest addition from our region 2 specialist, Pete Plank. Be sure to
check it out, and keep an eye out for more in the future.
As for region 1 news, could
Anime Village be ready to announce DVD or laserdisc titles? Reading
their latest daily news (the first update in over a month), they indicate
that several new titles and several new dubs are on the way, which is
naturally a good indication of a DVD worthy title. They also mention,
albeit very very briefly, a possible announcement soon on "other
formats?!?" as they liked to call it. I'm taking the wait and see
attitude, but it jibes with a few rumors I've been told lately...
All in all, I'm still reeling from the Pioneer and CPM announcements this
week. I hope some of you are too!
NEWS: 11/03/98
Just in case you weren't sure what was released recently, here's what I'm
aware of, though your distributor/supplier may not: Art of Fighting,
Crimson Wolf, Legend of Lemnear and Venus Wars. I'll be getting my Art of
Fighting review done soon, and will be checking out the other 3 discs for
quality in the next couple of days.
I'm still settling down from all the excitement of announcements last
night! I've managed to get together the beginnings of the region 2
reviews, which will be spearheaded by ace reviewer Pete Plank. The first
review is up, with a few more to follow within a week or two. Be sure to
check out the list
here or just jump directly to the
Ninja Mono review!
NEWS: 11/02/98 - 18:45 update
-
Pioneer's latest PAC de America
has come out, and they're following through on their promise! We've seen
announcements so far for Battle Athletes and Pokemon, but now they're
gearing up! Bastard!!, Tenchi in Tokyo & Fushigi Yuugi will be released
starting late 1st quarter 1999, with plenty more to follow! I must tip my
hat to the folks at Pioneer, because they're now putting me in the
position where I'll have to start cutting back on my mainstream Hollywood
DVD's so I can get all their shiny discs!
NEWS: 11/02/98 14:00 update
You'll note in the titles section that a couple of up and coming release
(so far unannounced) from Central Park Media are there, including the
complete Utena, Cybernetic Guardian and Judge.
All right, all the petitions are once again caught up. It's good to see so
many names and people interested in a variety of shows. Make sure you show
your support if you haven't already!
Brian Appel is certainly on the ball, as he noticed in the latest
Right Stuf catalog has the Heroic
Legend of Arslan listed as due out in February. List price? 80 bucks. I
went through and checked out the VHS releases. There were 4 tapes, all
running 60 minutes each. 60 bucks for the first three tapes, and 25 for
the final volume, which was released just last month. So, a list price of
85$ for 240 minutes of an entire series, and that's just the dub! The DVD
will contain both languages. I'm currently contacting Mr. O'Donnell
regarding the discs features (and number of discs), but with a 20%
discount found at most online stores, that'll bring it down to about 64$.
This is an even better deal if you were eyeing the laserdiscs, of which
only the first two ever came out. Way to go
CPM!
NEWS: 11/01/98 - 17:00
Though a day late, I'm sure you'll forgive me, but
October's editorial is
now up.
I finally got in my copy of
Ayane's High Kick from
Reel.com. Not terribly encouraging for getting new releases on time, so
I'm definitely sticking with my normal suppliers. Be sure to
check out my review of the
disc.
I'm also in negotiations (ok, I haven't pleaded yet!) to get multiple
reviews of region 2 titles from one of our regular readers. If I do manage
to get this done, I'll be creating a separate section for them so it'll
cause less confusion.
And just to follow-up on the end of last months news, I'm still quite
readily taking reviews of DVD players, so
send 'em
on in if you're interested!
NEWS: 11/01/98 - Midnight
Squeaking a few things in just before the witching hour of Halloween
night...
I've also added my first column, titled
The Evangelion Factor.
Don't worry, this isn't replacing my monthly editorial. I intend to get
that up and posted late Sunday night.
Be sure to check out the newly added features in the columns & info
section. We have a grudge
match between players brought to us by Todd Dissinger as well as
another detailed player
review of the DVL-909 from David Geeves. Be sure to check them both
out for some great information.
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