All righty! Here's my review for Pokemon Vol. #4: Poke-friends! And just to do a little bit more house-cleaning, here's the review for Pokemon Vol. #5, Thunder Shock!. And for those of you who have entered the Memorial Day Weekend contest (all 300+ of you so far), my wife and I find it amusing the sheer number of people claiming that they want them for their younger siblings or cousins. Very amusing indeed. :)

Depending on your point of view, he's either a lucky person or someone you want to hate. But Christopher Pluta has sent in an alternate angle review for the Tenchi Muyo Ultimate DVD Edition before your own humble webmaster has gotten his own! How humiliating!

Checking into our Region 2 section today, Michael Toole of Anime Jump (expect new updates on his site soon!) sends in an excellent review of the Shin Getter Robo! Check it out!

Curious how those International Editions of the Bubblegum Crisis series holds up? Check out this review from Robert Loo.

NEWS: 05/29/99

So, now that I have realized that I over-extended myself and a few other bits of things, does anyone have some suggestions on what to do with the Anime Showcase site? I'm unable to get the petitions to work properly, so I was thinking of some sort of webmag style, focusing on all formats and releases both here and in Japan. Providing of course people want to do things with it. Essentially, I've got the name and the space, looking for fans who want to contribute content of all types...

Special Memorial Weekend Madness Contest! For those of you who haunt here on the weekends, and a holiday weekend at that, here's a short contest! One winner, drawn at random, will get a copy of Pokemon: I Choose you! Pikachu!, Pokemon: Mystery of Mount Moon and Pokemon: Sisters of Cerulean City! To qualify, send an email to me here at this address and include your address. I won't use your address for anything other than shipping the discs out Tuesday morning! The winner will be drawn on early Tuesday morning. Entries will be taken until I do the drawing.

NEWS: 05/28/99

All right guys, here it is, the announcement you've all been waiting for from ADV Films. The DVD that will make it all worthwhile...

Sonic The Hedgehog!

Sorry. Pardon my while I restrain my enthusiasm. January to September will see the release of four DVD's from ADV. Two of them game conversion, two of them regular anime titles. Be still my heart.

It's true, it's really really true! Shipping has begun for several retailers. No, not for that pesky Alien Legacy box set (though that'll get some competitive play with me), but the Tenchi Muyo Ultimate Edition! Also shipping is Battle Athletes Victory #3, Dragonball Z #4 and #5.

Want to get a clue as to what we'll see in the coming months in regards to the Sailor Moon movies? Diamond Previews has the information on the subtitled tapes, all 3 of which are due in August. We'll see the DVD's as the dubs are done. You know, I never thought I'd see Sailor Moon R, S or Super S here in the states...

NEWS: 05/27/99

Some retailers seem a bit spotty, but Animania Entertainment let me know that they got in their copies of Battle Athletes Victory #3 today, so we should see a fairly wide release of it next week. This is, of course, in addition to two more Dragon Ball Z discs and some little show called Tenchi Muyo....

The semi-official word on the forum today is that the Queen Emeraldas DVD is currently in production from ADV, but day and date is not going to be possible, though they had wanted to, due to various issues. At least we know this one is coming...

NEWS: 05/26/99

Not too much in the way of news today, but let's get a couple of rumors out of the way. I've gotten a couple of conflicting pieces of email in regards to Viz. We know their output has been minimal so far this year (the only real title was Fatal Fury back in January), though there have been indications from conventions that we should see things like Ranma OVA's, Video Girl Ai and Key the Metal Idol sometime this year. In this past week, I've gotten emails with replies from Viz that most of those titles are possible, but probably not until 2000 sometime. Does this mean no more output from Viz this year? Quite sad, as they have a bunch of titles that would look and sound great. Less money from me for them if true.

I've gotten another tidbit from a reader email in regards to Animeigo. With the wacky way information comes out of there, some people are never sure how to take them. From what I've been sent, and this was in a couple of emails, we should definitely expect to see AD Police Files, Bubblegum Crash, Oh My Goddess, You're Under Arrest and Vampire Princess Miyu on DVD, as well as some Lone Wolf & Cub and Zatoichi. Definitely some keen titles in there!

Always remember though, when using the contact information for the companies, it's important to be polite! Be honest, but be civil. You're likely to get a) a response and b) an informative response this way.

NEWS: 05/25/99

Dueling reviews! Check out my very own review of Battle Athletes Victory Vol. 2: Doubt & Conflict, and then check out the alternate angle review by Jacob Hurtado!

Pioneer updated their corporate site today and announced two new DVD's. Look for Dragonball Z Volume #6 and Volume #7 on August 10th.

Late yet early, Wrath of the Ninja, the Yotoden Movie is now available at Animenation. They've gotten in their copies of Odin as well, for those interested.

Bits of Animeigo news/rumors floated in today. You're Under Arrest and Oh My Goddess! should both be released this year, though they're undecided on how best to release them in terms of price/volumes. A higher priced single volume or a lower price two volume set seems to be where it's at. You can, of course, make a difference by emailing Animeigo or posting on their DVD mailing list. It also sounds like they're considering doing some compilations of single shows, like Otaku No Video, Spirit of Wonder, etc. etc., onto a couple of discs. Some pairings might work well, but I'd rather see Riding Bean on one disc for 19.95 list on DVD Express. That would be sweet.

In an effort to help out the importers and others, I've started to redesign and update the Region 2 title listing. While by no means complete, it should start giving Region 1 owners an idea of what's been done and what companies in Japan are actively supporting DVD. If you know of titles that aren't on my list but are available, send me an email. I'll add them as soon as I can, and I'll be adding upcoming titles as well to the list. And if you own titles on this list that don't have reviews, by all means, please send in one! Everyone loves to read about how the Japanese are getting their discs done!

Following up on the recent information about Akira being released in Japan by Bandai, a site called Daily Sci-Fi believes as well that Manga may be the most likely candidate for it. As I said earlier, that would seem to be a good choice, but their comment that Manga is the second anime DVD friendliest company outside of Pioneer leaves me a bit miffed. Two anime DVD's makes them 2nd? I don't think so...

Actually, this bit prompted me to write them and to set them straight a bit. In terms of releases, right now Central Park Media is definitely the most anime friendly, with 32 individual discs released to date. Pioneer is a close second with 27 discs. And heck, when Animeigo actually releases the Urusei Yatsura TV 1 box set, they'll be ahead of Manga's planned output for the rest of 1999! This isn't to slight Manga in any way, but just to point out what anime friendly companies are out there.

NEWS: 05/24/99

All right, another showing of The Phantom Menace out of the way, and another anime DVD review for you! Check out the recently released DVD, Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer!

Here's an interesting piece to add to the rumor mill. Backing up stories reported earlier about ADV wanting to do their catalog on DVD, it seems like some game development companies, which will be the next big group to move into the DVD platform, are vying for the spot to do a lot of them. Whether this is true or not is debatable, but would you be terribly surprised? I wouldn't...

NEWS: 05/23/99

I've managed to pull myself away long enough from The Phantom Menace to review another anime DVD today. Dragonball Z TV Vol #3: Snake Way is now up. Check it out!

NEWS: 05/22/99

What are the anime DVD's that belong on the shelf of every anime DVD collection? Join us for this discussion and help build the library for new fans to pick from!

Though they don't really seem to say much that hasn't been said here before, Animeonline.org has some news regarding Akira on DVD. Who will pick it up now that the rights are slipping from MGM's hands? They seem to feel Manga would be a likely candidate, and I'd have to agree with that, though I wonder if Urban Vision might manage some sort of surprise, considering the number of old Streamline titles that have.

NEWS: 05/21/99

The Right Stuf has posted that Catnapped! will be coming subtitled to VHS this summer. No dub was announced, but I'm sure one is planned, with the DVD release being this fall from what my sources tell me.

Bit of the usual unpredictable news from E3 in regards to ADV Films. The gentleman who emailed me said that the reps at the booth gave the "we're doing our whole catalog" story, which we've heard conflicting reports on, and the new tidbit is that this fall ADV will release the Sonic Anime show (series?) day and date with the U.S. release of the Dreamcast system from Sega. And this day and date release should include a DVD release as well, probably similar to Tekken where the DVD is the only subtitled version, but hopefully not dubtitled. Not even Sonic deserves that.

NEWS: 05/20/99

If you didn't see this coming, you must be new here. Image has bumped the release of Project A-Ko from early June to July 6th. Cool, a year from the original street date? Nah, but it certainly feels that way!

Let's see, what do we have today. Looks like the two discs from ADV Films, Slayers: The Motion Picture and the Legend of Crystania movie will be delayed, with no new date. Scuttlebutt says it won't be too long of a way, as it's just tweaking.

The Save Our Sailors site broke the news the other day about Pioneer having the rights to do the Sailor Moon movies. Though the details are sketchy in regards to who is actually doing what (in terms of translation and what not) there will be a DVD release once the movies are dubbed. No release dates were mentioned, but I'll figure either a late summer or early fall for the first one, with the rest spaced across a few months into 2000.

You may have noticed I'm trying something a little different with some of the more recent reviews, in doing some basic polling on the titles at the bottom of the page. I hope you'll share your opinion in them!

Pioneer also made their weekly announcements this week, giving a street date of 08/03/1999 for Battle Athletes Victory Vol #4.

Due to an overwhelming response, the Yawara on DVD page (conveniently located on the bar to your left) has shed its old home and moved on to bigger and better things, and is active once again. If you haven't checked out this page and this series, you better just get on over there right now!

In a move that's surprised the heck out of me, and causing me to wonder how long they'll actually do it, Reel.com started offering 40% off of all pre-ordered DVD's. While their anime record has been spotty, though improving, this is definitely a deal for those who don't mind waiting for their discs a little bit, and definitely a great deal for those (like me) who order a lot of live action Hollywood fare.

I'll probably post some kind of in-depth piece over the weekend after I see it one or two more times, but I'm definitely a big fan of the new Star Wars movie, the Phantom Menace. Worth the price of admission for many sequences.

NEWS: 05/18/99

All right, first things first. Expect less updates over the next few days. I'll be posting information I get, but the majority of my post-work evenings will be dedicated to a rather large cinema screen and my regression to a young lad again.

My review for Dragonball Z: Volume 2 is now up for your dissection.

I'm hearing rumblings from around that the two upcoming discs next week from ADV Films won't be out on time. No word on when we should expect them, but we're hoping to hear word by the end of the week.

NEWS: 05/17/99

A little bit of new information has come out on the Utena release, thanks to a press release that Tom Smith alerted me to. Looks like the first of the two releases, priced at 39.99$, will contain the first 7 episodes, a song section, and the other usual bits we see from CPM discs as of late. For the price and having both English and Japanese, this disc looks to be a big hit to me. Look for it on July 20th.

My review of the Dominion DVD from CPM is now up for your dissection.

Be sure to check out the in-depth review of Tenchi in Tokyo Vol. #3 from Steve Brandon today!

Kenneth Lee sent in this excellent review of the Japanese region 2 DVD movie, Spriggan. You may recall that ADV Films had picked this up recently, and are very keen on it. One thing I hope that they manage to do (besides doing it on DVD) is to use the 16:9 anamorphic transfer that's on the Japanese one. Otherwise I'll invest in the region 2 release myself.

Curious as to what else is coming out in region 2? I was sent this list of titles recently by Takeuchi Shouichi. Notice that there are a lot of Bandai Visual titles, which backs up rumors many months ago that Bandai was looking to ramp up production on their titles. Hopefully this will affect region 1 releases in a positive way.

NEWS: 05/15/99

A change of plans with Urban Vision? The last we had heard was they were looking at "sometime in 2000" for DVD releases, but their site FAQ (no listing on when it was last updated) now has this tidbit:

What's going on with DVD?
- We are currently budgeting and comparing DVD manufacturers. We anticipate a DVD release at the end of this year.

Please note that the Anime on DVD & Anime Showcase T-shirts are now unavailable for order. We're still going with the tentative printing date of late May, to allow time for everyone to get their checks/money orders in on time, though we may start earlier providing enough show up quickly. I've emailed everyone I've gotten checks from, so if you haven't gotten a response, I haven't gotten a check yet.

NEWS: 05/14/99

Looks like Voltage Fight Gowcaizer will definitely be out next week. I mean, if Reel has it listed, you know it's close for an anime DVD. Image is also indicating that Project A-Ko may be out on June 1st. Will this finally clear out the Image backlog of CPM titles? One can only hope...

Ken Cranes is listing Odin as a 05/25 release, though others are still listing it as a 5/18 release. DVD Express has the cover artwork on their site, which means it's likely to show up from them at the least though. Where will it land? Nobody knows....

Speaking of DVD Ltd. titles, I got some feedback from CPM regarding the lack of reverse liner notes. Looks like it was something that just got past the DVD Ltd. crew in the proofing stage, and it seems like there were never any liner notes intended to begin with.

And going back to CPM titles, I got the skinny on why the Utena DVD's have gotten... well, skinnier. Apparently there's some amount of retailer resistance to stocking expensive box sets. Arslan didn't go over too well with retailers who want to keep things close to the 29.99 range naturally. The Utena breakdown is CPM's test to see how that price point will go over as opposed to the 69.00+ range. I'll just be glad to finally get some of this show in my grubby little hands.

Hurm. I feel like I'm forgetting something. If I remember, I'll post it later on! Have a great weekend folks!

NEWS: 05/13/99

News around the net and our own little forum today... the upcoming El-Hazard: The Alternative World TV series will definitely contain all the openings and endings, eye-catches and have yellow subtitles. If the video quality is as good as my current reference disc of Tenchi in Tokyo #3, then this disc will be easy to grade and a shear pleasure to watch. Hopefully this trend will continue with other upcoming shows such as Serial Experiments Lain, Nazca and others that are in the pipeline.

Looking for a clue regarding the original OVA's for El-Hazard? Ken'ichiro Shirono sent me some information that it will be released as a box set in Japan on June 25th, similar to other Pioneer releases, in that it will contain the English dub but no English subtitles. Running price is about 6,800 yen. Expect to see this later this year in region 1 for about 70$ or so, but with English subtitles and hopefully a goodie or two.

Elsewhere around, we've got up the preliminary information reported a few days ago about Image Entertainment's release of the classic anime Megazone 23 #1 which is sure to be a hit with the older crowd, especially if there is a good transfer and accurate subtitles. Also of news is that Right Stuf has listed a change in the Utena release, which I'm following up directly with CPM to find out more about. Instead of the previous 90$ box set containing all the episodes, it looks like they're splitting it in half and dropping the price down to 40$ for the first six episodes of this series, and a new date of July 20th. I hope it makes it, I need to see this show after snagging and loving the soundtrack. Also added into the system is the Castle of Cagliostro DVD release, due on July 27th.

According to DVD Empire, CPM will release the Wrath of the Ninja: The Yotoden Movie on May 18th, but I haven't been able to confirm that with any other retailer. DVD Empire has gotten CPM product early before, and they do have the cover graphics online, and they look snazzy. DVD Express has it listed for a date of June 15th. Moving targets indeed!

There looks like a lot of titles that are being released right around now and into next week. I've seen indications that Odin will definitely be out next week, and there's a slim chance that the ever mythical Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer might make it as well. Add into that Pokemon Vol. 4 and Vol. 5 releases from Pioneer and the Dominion Tank Police from CPM. Ah, if only the Tenchi box had made it. Soon though, my friends, soon...

For those who read a lot of forum messages, you may have noticed that one of the Pioneer participants mentioned that we should be seeing a lot from them over the next year. Can you say double the output? They can and did. We're going to see a lot of product from Pioneer in the next year, and it's impressive. The one thing that looks to be important (at least to those who know how retail and business works) is that there will be a lot more if not complete day and date announcements for new releases. Does this mean that VHS releases are being slowed down to accommodate the DVD releases, or are they spacing themselves properly for all the things that they have in store? Could be a mixture of both. Stay tuned as more information becomes available.

And finally today, for those of you lucky enough to get the Action Channel, be sure to check out the information Kevin Cook at DVD Animania unearthed regarding anime being broadcast on the station and how you can influence what may go on in the future!

NEWS: 05/12/99

The only new announcement in this weeks Pioneer update was for the first volume of the new El-Hazard TV series, The Alternative World. The date listed was for 7/27, but the Pioneer Anime webmaster has let us know that that date is incorrect and will have the accurate one put up very shortly.

I've also been told that Animenation has in bunches of new DVD's, including Pokémon 's, DBZ and the so far excellent looking Dominion Tank Police. Check 'em out!

NEWS: 05/11/99

Just a reminder - 05/15, i.e. this coming Saturday, is the last day we'll be taking orders for the T-shirts we're doing here. If you've sent in an order, but no check yet, get on the stick! I've sent emails to those who've sent them in that I've received so far, so you'll know that I've gotten it. We're still on track to have them done up close to the end of May, and have them shipped in early June.

Manga Entertainment has updated their website to reflect the changes made to their release schedule that I reported last week, at least through August. In the next four months, we can expect to see the Castle of Cagliostro, Wings of Honeamise and the first of two volumes of Macross Plus. I've updated the street date information, though we all know dates are fluid, but lets hope we get these when promised. I'm pretty psyched for all of them; I can't even decide which one I'm the most excited about!

NEWS: 05/10/99

I've just finished my review for the region 2 DVD release of Memories. Why not take a gander? And after that, check out this other region 2 review of the first Steam Detectives DVD by Mike Richardson!

Some days you just can't win. All I wanted to do today was to sit down and watch this past weekends episode of Deep Space 9. Not too much to ask. Of course, my TV decided that everyone would look much better with red skin and that I really didn't need that green color anyway. Pshaw! So out it goes, and off the wife and I go to Best Buy (never to Circuit City!). After some price comparing and feature checks, we settled on a nice 36" Toshiba set. You know, it didn't look quite so big in the store! After the efforts of getting the new toy home, we set the new baby up and plugged in the Fifth Element. How sweet it is! Next up? Memories. Mercy! Time to watch all my discs again!

In the meantime, why not check out my new review for the Pioneer DV-414 Codefree player I just put up? I mentioned what kind of player I had while at Best Buy, and the good natured salesman mentioned that they would be selling such codefree players from Pioneer in the next few months. Could there be a change in the wind, my friends? Let us hope!

NEWS: 05/09/99

After a bit of cross checking with various pieces of hardware (and having sent the disc off to Central Park Media for problem verification), I can now present you my review for Cyber City Oedo 808.

Be sure to check out this interview over at the Akira Toriyama Super Database with the CEO of Funimation. There's some DVD news there of course!

Peter Weber's sent in a great review of the Rayearth Memorial DVD box set that's out now in Japan. I wonder if Media Blasters will keep this in mind when they do theirs?

NEWS: 05/07/99

Looking for some information about Media Blasters and their highly sought after Magic Knights Rayearth? Check out this page on their site for some information on it, including DVD information. The only thing that they can confirm is that if they put it to DVD, it will be as a box set and not as individual releases. Ah well. That'll please 50% of the people and annoy the other 50%!

The fine folks over at Animania Ent. have let me know that Battle Athletes Victory #2 has come in and it should see a wide release next week. The next two Dragon Ball Z DVD's are also on target for next week. Odin still looks MIA from what I can tell however.

I was also sent an email this morning that the Tenchi box set now has a firm date of June 1st. All the checkdiscs have been approved, and things are rolling forward with all the other aspects of pressing, etc etc. The Pioneer site even has a countdown from what I've been told!

NEWS: 05/06/99

Just a brief update today. I got in my Pioneer 414 region free player this afternoon, so needless to say I'm "in deep" with it at the moment. So far, other than the region free plus, I'm considering the player a trade-off with my Panasonic A110. There are one or two things I don't much care for (for example, the disc tray is too high for my tastes, since my player is at the top of my cabinet, over the TV, making it near impossible to put a disc in), but my previously unplayable Air Force One (due to a scratch & dirt) now plays flawlessly. Expect a full review this coming Sunday, as well as full reviews of Cyber City Oedo 808 and Dominion Tank Police.

For those who are yelling and screaming bad things regarding the mention of dubbed/subbed & DVD releases of the Sailor Moon movies, while I am not at liberty to say much of anything on it at this time, I can say that this is something we will see this year. And the regulars here should know I pretty much try to keep rumors to a minimum unless I have some kind of information. I'll hope to have more soon on this and some other exciting news.

Looks like Image still has a few anime titles hidden away. They snuck in an announcement for Megazone 23 #1 last night, thankfully a sub and dub, though whether it's an accurate sub or not is completely debatable until we have it in our hands. Look for it on August 3rd.

NEWS: 05/05/99

Kenneth Lee sent in this great review of the region 2 release of Rurouni Kenshin: Tsui Oku Hen ("Recollection") OAV #1. Be sure to check it out, as well as the Yawara page he and Michael Motoda have set up (link on the sidebar!).

I've also gotten very vague emails from one or two people I consider very reliable sources confirming what Animenation put up in regards to the Sailor Moon movies. Take it as you want, but I'll be curious to see how it plays out. I've also heard that the Black Jack movie from Manga may very likely see a DVD release by the end of this year too!

NEWS: 05/04/99

Pioneer updated their site today, adding in four titles for the month of July. On July 13th, you can look for Dragonball Z TV Vol. #4 and Vol. #5, and then on the 20th, Pokemon Vol. #6 and Vol. #7. I'd expect at least one more announcement out of Pioneer for July. And for those keeping track, here's the number of TV series Pioneer is currently producing on DVD: Battle Athletes Victory, Dragonball Z, Pokemon, Tenchi in Tokyo and in July introducing Serial Experiments Lain and the second El-Hazard TV series. Remember this time last year wondering if we'd even get one TV series? And even if you don't want to count the kiddie shows, that's still four TV series running at one time. I again tip my hat to Pioneer. Now, all we need to work on is some consistency... :)

Adding fuel to the fire? From the Animenation news today came this tidbit that might get a lot of people really psyched (myself included):

Word we have from a fairly reliable source is to look for the Sailor Moon movies R, S, and SS to be released sometime in the next year in dubbed, subtitled and DVD formats. Can't say right now which company or provide any additional info(do not email us about it).

My apologies for the lack of an update yesterday. I had Star Wars figures to buy. 'nuff said.

I got in the official release list for 1999 from Manga yesterday. As usual, all dates are naturally tentative and may not indicate the complete schedule:

07/27 - Castle of Cagliostro, Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honneamise 08/31 - Macross Plus (volumes 1 & 2 on one disc) 09/28 - Macross Plus (volumes 3 & 4) 10/26 - Devilman 1 & 2

If you're curious as to what titles they've picked up on the VHS front, they include more Fist of the Northstar TV episodes, Virus, Ghost Sweeper, Rayearth OVA (due in October) and a couple of live action shows like Lady Ninja and Tokyo Fist.

Noteworthy is that on August 6th, they will kick of their limited theatrical run of Perfect Blue in NYC. If this makes it to Boston, I hope someone lets me know, I'll make it to that showing!

NEWS: 05/02/99

From the Animeigo DVD mailing list, Robert Woodhead mentioned that the next pressing of the BGC series will be sometime this summer (most likely late summer). How many of the fixes will be implemented? Apparently the Japanese audio track will be, because they've received a new version. We'll see what else develops!

T-shirt orders seem to be trickling off at the moment. Odds are, we'll be taking orders through the 15th of May. That Monday is when I'll actually deposit the checks/money orders sent, and then get the shirt production rolling. I've been told it takes roughly 6-7 days, and then they'll be shipped to me. With luck, everyone will have their shirts by early to mid June at the latest.