Monday, July 31st, 2000

A note for reviewers (11:16 PM EST)

New title announcements (10:26 PM EST): The folks at Right Stuf updated today with some new titles, though I'm waiting to hear a final yea or nay on them from ADV. Due on 10/31 (originally planned for 9/26) is Gasaraki Vol. #1. Gasaraki Vol. #2 also is listed as being ready for an 11/28 release date. Both volumes are listed with a running time of 75 minutes. That alone causes me to wonder, as the first VHS tape is listed with a 100 minute running time. As stated, these should be considered tentative information until I get a confirm.

Also listed, rather surprisingly as coming from ADV, is an adult dub only DVD entitled Lucinda's Spell. Release date of 10/3 for this title, which is 105 minutes long. If accurate, I have to wonder why a dub live action title is slated while some very popular and in demand SoftCel releases are being kept off the planning table for some time.

Newly reviewed 2 (10:25 PM EST): We've got one more episode of Cowboy Bebop to watch tomorrow before we can review that fully, but we definitely like what we see. In the meantime, our review for Tenchi Universe Vol. #2 is now complete and online.

Newly reviewed (06:35 PM EST): We got in a few bundles of goodies today, such as Cowboy Bebop 4, Blue Submarine No. 6, Tenchi Universe 2 and a couple of sweet import CD's (Gasaraki OST 1 and Escaflowne movie). We've got our review of Blue Submarine No. 6 Vol. #3 up now for you and should have TU2 later on tonight with CB4 tomorrow.

Urusei Yatsura update (03:00 PM EST): If you're like me, and you haven't gotten your Urusei Yatsura set, you spend a good part of your day longing for you Lum-chan fix. According to the AnimEigo DVD mailing list, Luray Carroll imparted some new information today; "The replacement UY DVD disks should be in by end of the week. The complete sets should be here no later than Monday of next week. We will resume shipping immediately upon receipt."

Contest results 3 (10:45 AM EST): The final two contests have been decided and the results are now posted. Check out the Love of Bandai contest and my personal favorite of all the contests, Design a Jubei-Chan DVD cover!

Contest results 2 (09:36 AM EST): So Jubei-chan is late for school and has to come up with an excuse.... what's the best one? Check out this winning entry along with a few honorable mentions!

Contest results (09:36 AM EST): We're now going through all the results from the various Jubei-Chan contests that Bandai sponsored through us this past month and will have them all up late this morning. Right now though, we've got the first two completed and up. Check out the Random Entry winner and the Cosplayer winner!

New title dates (08:31 AM EST): Bandai Entertainment has updated their release schedule through the end of the year on their site, mostly fixing some erroneous dates. Note that the Outlaw Star Collections will be released bi-monthly, with the first set due on 10/3. For those who aren't paying attention, 10/3 looks to be a huge day, especially if you're buying those statues Bandai's putting out. Our upcoming confirmed section has been fully updated.

Sunday, July 30th, 2000

Alternate angle 2 (09:16 PM EST): Another alternate angle review has slid into our mailbox today. Check out Justin Emerson's thoughts on the first Patlabor movie.

New title announcements (06:35 PM EST): The folks at Pioneer Entertainment surprised us with an earlier than usual posting of their weekly update. There's a couple of new anime titles listed. You can click here to see the full release list including non anime titles. Anime titles include:

Amazing Nurse Nanako Fire-crackers Vol. #2; Tradeshows and Psychos! Dr. Ogami's new patient is accused of being a serial killer, and his blood holds far more secrets than just the truth. Meanwhile, Dr. Ogami's old rival wants nothing more than to destroy Dr. Ogami's Power Suit Prototype II at the high tech weapons exhibition, but our lovely nurse, Nanako, is inside! The patient and the rival both pursue Nanako for more than her good looks, and if she's not careful she won't be able to bounce back from their advances!

Black Heaven, Legend of Rock Bottom Vol. #1; Hard Rock Saves Space!! Life can crush your dreams. Oji is a middle-management drone whose only grip on sanity in the drudgery of his corporate lifestyle, are the few shreds of hope surrounding his past life as the amazing guitarist of Black Heaven, a heavy metal band that almost made it. In his bleakest moment, the magic of performing is restored to him when a beautiful mysterious woman informs him that only his special sound can save the universe from an evil alien invasion. A limited edition chromium insert included on every volume (while supplies last).

Both titles are due out on bilingual DVD on 10/31.

Essentially yours (03:44 PM EST): With thanks to Danny Hong, we've got a new entry in our Essential Collection today with the addition of Macross Plus!

Alternate angle (03:41 PM EST): Roman Martel has sent in his latest missive today, this time taking a very fine and detailed look at Amazing Nurse Nanako. The disc too! Check it out!

Saturday, July 29th, 2000

Newly reviewed III (11:23 PM EST): Our backlog is almost complete! We've completed our review for Pioneer's wonderful new release of Panda! Go Panda! and took a look at what's left in our to-review pile. We've got Demon Beast Invasion and three more discs of Pokemon to go. Of course, in a day or two we'll have more coming in from Bandai and be backlogged again, but isn't it better than a drought?

Newly reviewed II (10:01 PM EST): Catching up on the new releases a bit more, we've completed our viewing of Key The Metal Idol Vol. #1.

Newly reviewed (08:13 PM EST): Since it's a Saturday, that means it's time for a couple of digest Pokemon reviews! Check out Pokemon Vol. #15: Charizard!! and Pokemon Vol. #16: Totally Togepi.

Price changes (08:11 PM EST): The Pioneer repricing continues to make its way through retailers. The folks at Express let us know today that they've repriced the appropriate titles, such as Battle Athletes/Victory, Tenchi movies, Dragonball Z to the newer lower price. They also let us know that the next batch of discs due from Pioneer for these titles is 8/29, which is more than likely the same for all retailers. Current stock out in the retailers will likely be depleted soon, allowing Pioneer to put the next pressing run out at the lower price. So if they sell out, more are coming at the end of August.

On the charts (08:05 PM EST): After the large release week last week, Express updated their overall top fifteen list, and anime continues to make a splash there. Rurouni Kenshin Vol. #1 makes a big and worthy landing at the #4 spot, Gundam Wing Vol. #2 makes it to #5 and Trigun Vol. #3 hits at the #9 spot. A great week all around for anime titles.

Friday, July 28th, 2000

Date shuffle? (05:52 PM EST): According to an update on Express.com tonight, Central Park Media's release of Photon is set for a 12/5 release date. We had previously thought this disc, containing all six episodes for 39.99$, was due to arrive on 11/7, but apparently not.

Right Stuf new titles (05:31 PM EST): While waiting ever so patiently for release news of Irresponsible Captain Tylor, His & Her Circumstances or even Imma Youjo on DVD, Right Stuf has announced the first two volumes of Flint the Time Detective to be released on 10/24 on the shiny format. Both will be dub only (presumably as the license dictates) but will be retailing for the very nice price of 14.98. 

Honorific this! (05:29 PM EST): LadyCat serves up some tasty treats this time around with her latest column. Inside you'll find a ton of information on honorifics and much much more!

Heads up! (05:26 PM EST): For those who keep track of such things, Image Entertainment recently changed their Eight Man After title to discontinued, so only discs currently in warehouses and shelves are left. It's likely the license ran out on this or it just isn't selling enough to keep in their catalog. If you want it, now's your time to try and find it.

New reviews (05:20 PM EST): Some new stuff added today for your reading pleasure. Our own review schedule has been tossed to the wind this week due to real life interfering with my wired existence here, but in the meantime you can read Sean Kemp's review of Panda! Go Panda,  Roman Martel on Trigun Vol. 3 and Robert Worne sent in something for you region 2 fans, Maha Go Go Go DVD-BOX 1st Leg and some Gatchaman!

Thursday, July 27th, 2000

Otakon business (06:24 PM EST): We've gotten in a confirmation for Otakon and our place within it this year. In 1999, we followed the opening ceremonies directly with our panel being at 7 PM. This year, we're going to be on the big day, Saturday, at 3 PM. And after our panel is over, Pioneer comes into the room. Anyone want to lay bets on how many people leave?

For those who ordered the special t-shirts for this occasion, if you asked for yours to be shipped, they'll go out early next week. Those who are picking them up at Otakon make sure to attend to Anime on DVD panel to pick it up if you don't see them being handed out beforehand. Word has it that they look great!

Miscellaneous (06:01 PM EST): The latest release list from Viz has come in for their November releases. We've updated the link for the Flame of Recca petition, which has moved to it's own server. Check out this story running in the wires about Sailor Moon phone sex naughtiness, courtesy of Mike Toole. 

More in English (05:08 PM EST): Another step has been taken in the growing world of anime. This time around, it's the premier Japanese magazine, NewType, published by Kadokawa Shoten. They've just launched the beginnings of their English language website for their magazine. It's starting off quite good, with plenty of pictures of such hot properties as Ah! My Goddess movie, current net fan  favorite Love Hina and the up and coming buzzworthy Gatekeepers. Click here to check out their press release as well as their site link!

New next week (05:06 PM EST): A few new things out that will make plenty of people happy. August 1st is another in the series of big Bandai release days, and they've got a trio of titles this time around. Due out is Blue Submarine No. 6: Hearts, Cowboy Bebop: DVD Session 4 and Jubei-Chan The Ninja Girl Vol. 1: Secret Of The Lovely Eyepatch.

Date change (05:05 PM EST): The good folks at Urban Vision have let us know that their first DVD release, the original Vampire Hunter D OVA, will be released on 10/17, not the originally announced 10/03 date.

New reviews (05:04 PM EST): A few new reviews have cropped up today, including Bubblegum Crisis and Cowboy Bebop Session 1 from Jme Wheeler.

Wednesday, July 26th, 2000

Chat time (08:22 PM EST): Just a reminder, New Generation talks about Nanako with Anime.About.Com tomorrow night at 7:30. Check out all the details here.

Bridging the Galactic Divide (06:56 PM EST): Every couple of years I decide to take on a pet project of some kind. The last one happens to be this site. With some recent news that's been coming out, I've decided it's time to take on a new pet project.

Nearly every anime fan has a series that they love beyond nearly anything else that hasn't been licensed for distribution in the U.S. yet. That one show that just strikes an emotional chord in you, something that speaks on many levels to you. For me and a segment of U.S. fandom, that series is Legend of Galactic Heroes.

A science fiction series over 150 episodes between the main series and two side stories series with intense character studies, complicated interstellar politics and wonderfully choreographed epic space battles. Frankly, you can see why it's had a hard time being licensed over here. 

What makes this even more disheartening to the fans of this show is that the owners of this property (which is still producing new work), Tokuma Shoten, is trying to sell it over here. At the Anime Expo '00 panel that they had, they indicated that they've tried shopping it around some and have had one or two companies eye it, but that's about it. They've asked for fans to petition for it. The biggest resource I know of is currently running a petition that just started, which you can go here to read about and hopefully sign. 

We've also started a discussion forum here on the site, titled Bridging the Galactic Divide, to spur discussions not only about the series itself, but to talk about ways in which this show can be brought over. Fans have helped bring series over before. Can it be done again? I certainly hope so, as this series is something that should be seen properly translated and available here in North America. 

Rayearth listings (06:55 PM EST): There've been a few listings recently on some sites including Amazon.com that the Rayearth OVA's will be released on three separate DVD's. The information that they're going on appear to be the VHS release listings and are being attributed to DVD instead. We've heard nothing indicating this, as Manga has said as recently as Anime Expo that all the OVA's will be on one DVD. Order at your own risk.

Dragonball Z information (06:35 PM EST): Steve Simmons, who worked on the newly released Dragonball Z DVD's, has posted some notes on Toriyama.org regarding their releases.

Tuesday, July 25th, 2000

Comic Con important update (06:35 PM EST): We received a follow-up very quickly from Media Blasters regarding the Kenshin episode issue that was reported in rec.arts.anime.misc from the San Diego Comic Con. We've been told that this is dead wrong, and no episodes are being cut at all. Very good news indeed. If you see this rumor propogating elsewhere, please tell them that the information was wrong. We've removed it from the list below.

Comic Con news (05:05 PM EST): Bits and pieces of news from the San Diego Comic Con are coming out. Here's some highlights from a post in rec.arts.anime.misc:

• Bandai's Saber Marionette J DVD will have a Spanish language track
• No Bastard DVD as of now
• Pretty Sammy OVA sold so bad, that the retailers will not accept any new tapes with that name on it
• Tenchi Universe DVD 2 will be delayed a month due to sub timing issues
• Hyperdoll and Phantom Quest Corps will be 14.99 and released in November
• Akira will be released in a year from now, have many extras, 5.1 sound, full remastering, a new dub with possibly famous voice actors, anamorphic and a possible theatrical release.
• Armitage the 3rd sequel is in the works
• Rurouni Kenshin OVA and TV series will have a different voice cast.
• Vampire Hunter D DVD will have many extras, and 5.1 audio for the dub, stereo for the sub. dual layer. Making of will be included. Trailers.
• Financial negotiations on Berserk are in progress. Alexander near closure. Both will definitely be on DVD. No Sub VHS, but a Bilingual DVD.
• Ayashi no Ceres will be released Spring 2001
• Ranma 1/2 TV DVD's next year.
• Royal Space Force (Wings of Honneamise) will have more extras than Perfect Blue
• Eva movies will be anamorphic, delayed until next year due to contract problems and the fact that Gainax hasn't sent any of the materials

Some good stuff in there provided it turns out accurate.

Digital omake (01:43 PM EST): A new piece of hidden goodies have shown up today, this time on the newly released Patlabor movie!

New petitions (01:43 PM EST): A couple of new petitions have been added today, as two groups are seeking to bring a huge and quite wonderful series to distribution here in region 1. Click here to check out the two petitions for the Legend of Galactic Heroes series!

Caught in the act (01:37 PM EST): The folks from the chat and forum who attended Anime North in Canada earlier this year finally sent in the pictures. And in case anyone asks, the bottles in their hands is cola. Yeah, that's the ticket. Ladies, this is your chance to see just what kind of studs read the site. What do you think, a personals section next? 

Press (01:36 PM EST): Viz has sent out their latest release information, which you can read here.

Monday, July 24th, 2000

The long run (08:31 PM EST): This coming month, Anime on DVD as a .com will be two years old, so renewal time is up for us. Should we continue? Should we simply say that we've set out to do what we wanted and just enjoy the upcoming releases and the shift in the marketplace? Or just exit the stage while we're doing good.

Nah. I don't think so. We've renewed the domain for another three years. There's plenty more work to be done! Here's to another three years of fun!

Pioneer updates (08:25 PM EST): The folks over at Pioneer Entertainment updated today, and you can read the full listing here. Of interest to anime DVD fans is Bandai's release of Blue Submarine No. 6 Vol. #4, day and date with the final VHS volume on 10/3, and just a week before it's broadcast on Cartoon Network if I recall correctly. In addition to the episode itself, the full running time of the disc is 50 minutes, which contains a brief recap of the previous volumes as well as a self contained feature entitled, "Making of Blue Sub 6 - Minasoko/The Ocean Floor". I believe this was released as a separate disc in Japan or was included in the DTS release. Very cool to have this making of feature though.

Diamond updates (03:35 PM EST): Diamond Comics has updated with their latest catalog, though there's hardly any surprises at all for the October release period. Listed for this timeframe is Amazing Nurse Nanako Vol. 2, Black Heaven Vol. 1, Cardcaptors (dubbed version, 24.95), Card Captor Sakura, Gundam Wing Vol. 3, Outlaw Star Collection 2 (should be delayed till December), SiN The Motion Picture, Tenamonya Voyagers (my personal hot pick) and the Vampire Hunter D movie. 

Newly reviewed (03:13 PM EST): Though a tad late, we've got our review up for one of the highlights of my collection, Please Save My Earth.

Contests (01:25 PM EST): Just to bring people up to date, overall the contests for Jubei-Chan and our logo contest is going very well. We're still getting a lot of people sending in incorrect entries for the Jubei contests though, which are simply being deleted.

On the disappointing side, we've gotten very few entries in the praise contest and none at all in the cosplayer contest. A small number of good entries in either and someone could clean up easily! We've also gotten some very good entries on the create a DVD cover contest, done by some really talented individuals. We promise to revisit this contest style next month with another title that has more available web graphics though.

So take a few minutes, read the rules for each Jubei-chan contest, and enter today and win a copy of the DVD and get the t-shirt for it over 6 months before anyone else can!

Sunday, July 23rd, 2000

Talking to the 'cat (03:59 PM EST): LadyCat is back this week with another column packed with your latest questions and her researched answers!

Chart topping (03:45 PM EST): The top ten for July has been updated today, and there's a ton of movement on this months chart. Bandai's Cowboy Bebop 3 is facing a serious challenge from Rurouni Kenshin and several new titles make their way onto the chart. Check it out!

Newly reviewed (02:54 PM EST): We took 200 minutes out earlier today to watch the newly released Rurouni Kenshin: Legendary Swordsman in both subtitled and dubbed forms, and now have our review online.

Saturday, July 22nd, 2000

Urusei Yatsura update (04:51 PM EST): AnimEigo CEO Robert Woodhead made a posting to their mailing list today explaining what they've found out regarding the problems that have been found on some Urusei Yatsura discs, how they're going to handle getting you new discs as well as several other questions. Since I know a lot of people dropped off of that list, you can find it in full here.

The charts (04:49 PM EST): We'll be updating our top ten section later this weekend after all the new titles start shipping, but until then we've got the Express top 15 to go by. Though it held on for a few weeks, Cowboy Bebop Session 3 has dropped off the list (probably due to them being completely sold out), but Viz has managed to make a showing on the list with current cult darling, Please Save My Earth, at the lucky number 13 spot. 

Con bits (04:47 PM EST): The currently running San Diego Comic Con usually isn't a big bastion of anime news, though some does trickle in. From a few sources who've dropped us a line overnight, we've heard the following:

• Reports out of Comicon indicate that Bandai Entertainment has imposed strict enforcement of the Gundam copyright. Reportedly, over 6 cases of bootleg Gundam merchandise has been seized from four separate dealers ranging from wallscrolls to t-shirts. 
• The Cartoon Network has officially announced that Endless Waltz will air on October 20th 2000 and that Blue Submarine No. 6 will air one week prior to that, showing on Monday through Thursday with a special tied feature Friday. 
• It was also re-confirmed that the DVD release of Gundam Wing Endless Waltz  will feature a premium edition containing all 3 uncut OVAs plus the theatrical Gundam Wing movie - slated for release next year. 

The Blue Sub delay isn't too much of a surprise; why show the series in full when not even all the tapes are out yet (I believe #4 is still being worked on for VHS). The Gundam Wing Endless Waltz bit is good to hear again; anyone know what aspect ratio the theatrical version was shown at? 

Checking the programming guide, I don't see much mention of anime related panels and the like on Saturday. Time to start the countdown for Otakon! 

Newly reviewed (04:44 PM EST): While we do have a backlog of titles to review, we snuck in some small stuff here and there and have completed our digest reviews of Pokemon Vol. #18 and Pokemon Vol. #20.

Dragonball Z (04:42 PM EST): For those like myself who can't bring themselves to go down to Suncoast and pay 24.95 each, Express is now listing the two new discs. Dragonball Z: Captain Ginyu #1: Assault and Dragonball Z: Captain Ginyu #2: Double Cross are listed with an 8/15 date. This is probably due to the poor solicitations that were made for this product. If you can't wait, Jeff Green has sent in a review of the first disc that he picked up!

Pressing news (04:41 PM EST): Catching up in our press section is three new bits. First, TRSI has some new announcements for VHS, VIZ Welcomes Rumiko Takahashi at the San Diego Comic Con and ADV Films announces Lost Universe. We're trying to get a confirm on part of this announcement where it indicates that DVD volumes 1 and 2 will arrive on 9/12.We've known about volume 1, but this is the first instance of volume 2 having a date. If indeed it's accurate, it'll be pretty sweet having that many episodes at once and another day and date DVD title!

Hardware review (04:38 PM EST): Nick Sanders has sent in a review of the Sony Playstation 2, a unit that will surely increase DVD exposure here in the US when it's released later this year.

Alternate angles (04:36 PM EST): A couple more alternate angle reviews have arrived today for your reading pleasure. Justin Emerson takes a look at Ruin Explorers and Rurouni Kenshin 1: Legendary Swordsman. We're also hearing a variety of issues with the audio for the Kenshin disc, with some people not being affected to others having only BGM and sound effects audible. This is pretty reminiscent of the troubles people had with Sakura Wars. When we know more, we'll be sure to pass it along.

Friday, July 21st, 2000

Newly reviewed (08:08 PM EST): Making our way through the pile of anime goodness, we've finished watching Trigun Vol. 3 and have our review up for it now.

New alternate angle (06:07 PM EST): It's truly hectic here at AOD central, with tons of things going on that's keeping me from my TV! We got in our review copy of Key The Metal Idol today, and a quick look at that shows a promising looking disc. We also glanced briefly at our newly arrived Kenshin disc, and though the video quality doesn't look as great as Nanako, it looks good. We'll have our review of it up later this weekend (sometime after with finish Trigun 3), but for now you can check out the detailed review by Kenneth Lee of Rurouni Kenshin Vol. #1: Legendary Swordsman!

Thursday, July 20th, 2000

New next week (05:20 PM EST): There's a potential slew of titles due out next week, and we know a few are definitely going to hit while some others are up in the air. What can you hope for? How about Amazing Nurse Nanako #1: Memories Of You, Demon Beast Invasion, Key The Metal Idol #1, Panda! Go Panda!, Patlabor 1: Mobile Police, Sakura Diaries #1, Sword For Truth and Trigun Vol. 3: Wolfwood. Though still listed for next week, Tenchi Universe Collection #2, this release has been pushed back with no known new date yet. As an aside, we had the chance to watch the first two episodes on Trigun Vol. 3 this evening, and not only am I enjoying this disc more than the first two, Pioneer seems to have gained a good amount of control over the rainbow problem that plagued the second disc. The video quality looks much better, though there are still a few visible rainbows. We'll have a full review tomorrow evening.

ADV in the press (05:20 PM EST): Continuing to build their presence in the press release world, a trio of new releases splashed across the web wires yesterday and into today from ADV Films. We've sliced 'em from Yahoo since they don't last long, so check our press section for information on the Reboot DVD release (the first non-adult title in our special interest upcoming section), SiN's DVD release and the cancellation of some high profile subtitled VHS releases.

It's in English! (05:20 PM EST): Reader Geir Friestad sent us in a tidbit today in regards to a just released region 2 anime title. Kochira Kameari kouenmae hashutsujo The Movie was released on 7/19 in Japan in anamorphic widescreen with both Japanese and English subtitles and Japanese 5.1 and 2.0 tracks. It's region 2 encoded and has a price of 4700 yen. You can see it here at CD Japan, here at Pony Canyon, or you can click on this part of that site and read an English description of the movie from its Cannes 2000 showing!

Pahk the cahr (05:15 PM EST): A note for you Boston area readers, the Brattle Theater is showing the dubbed version of Princess Mononoke again this weekend. Regardless of what you think of this dub or dubs in general, this is definitely a movie to be seen on the big screen. Thanks to Jonathan Sainsbury for passing along this great info!

Wednesday, July 19th, 2000

Advance review (07:29 PM EST): Our latest early review is for the much anticipated Amazing Nurse Nanako, which met with enthusiastic response to both the trailer on the recent Wanted 2000 trailer DVD and it's brief showing at Anime Expo. With luck, we should have a review up tomorrow evening for Trigun Vol. 3.

Pioneer price drops (05:21 PM EST): As mentioned during Anime Expo, Pioneer will be repricing several titles this year, such as Battle Athletes Victory, Tenchi Muyo movies and Dragonball Z to a pricepoint between 14.98 and 19.98. According to Right Stuf, this repricing will occur on September 29th. 

More on Mononoke (05:21 PM EST): There's been more reports today from Digital Bits and DVD Talk and from retailers themselves about Princess Mononoke. The title itself for DVD has been canceled and will be resolicited later on with the new features, such as Japanese and subtitles. The rental priced VHS will still arrive on schedule on 8/29. If you missed this movie during the limited run, I do encourage you to try and rent this movie as it definitely is a must see. 

New reviews (05:21 PM EST): Up today is Roman Martel's review of Nazca Vol. #4 and Jean-Sébastien Sullivan takes a look into the Tenchi Manatsu No Eve DTS release from Japan.

Tuesday, July 18th, 2000

New title news (02:29 PM EST): The Right Stuf site has updated today with several bits of information. On 11/7, we'll see the Slayers Next box set for an MSRP of 129.99, which will contain the entire series. Also on 11/7 we'll see the Photon series all on one disc for an MSRP of 39.95. Now that's a savings I'll wait for. In our special interest category, Media Blasters has slated Zero Woman for a 10/31 release date.

Region 2 goodness (10:20 AM EST): For those of you who have it in you to get region 2 discs, there's some good news. CD Japan is currently doing a give away where anyone who buys more than 3000 yen in an order will be entered, and there's a ton of prizes (to be given away in one fell swoop on the 7th of September). Additionally, another region 2 disc has been announced with English audio, and it's a true classic; Robot Carnival! The English will be in 2.0 while the Japanese has been remastered to 5.1. Since the majority of this disc is simply short stories mostly made of music, it should sound wonderful. It also comes in two flavors, regular and first pressing limited edition. The limited edition (which runs 10$ more) doesn't list what the extra goodie(s) are, but they're usually quite good. This is a true classic of US anime releases.

Redesign mania (10:19 AM EST): AnimeNation did their big change over recently with the newly designed site, and with the new banners and links now available here under the new affiliate program, they've given us a coupon to pass along to you. It's good until midnight on 7/21 and is worth an extra 5% off your order! The code to use is: MDVD-123524N98

Alternate angles (09:19 AM EST): We've got two new alternate angles up this morning, both of the same title. Andrew Fors takes and Michel Martial both took a look at the Urusei Yatsura TV Box Set 1. Where's my review you ask? Haven't gotten my set yet.

Monday, July 17th, 2000

New title announcement (09:16 PM EST): Pioneer Entertainment updated tonight with one new anime announcement, Tenchi Universe Vol. #5, which will arrive on 10/17. You can read the full release and their other DVD/VHS releases here.

Unconfirmed! (06:48 PM EST): I'm currently tracking down some information regarding the current hot topic, Princess Mononoke. From an extremely reliable source, I'm hearing that it will have a Japanese track and subtitles. It will also likely be delayed to accommodate these changes. Please don't ask me for more information because that's all I have at this time. If true, expect to see information about it very soon on other more mainstream sites who have better access to Disney.

Slipped (06:38 PM EST): I got in a confirmation today that Ruroni Kenshin has slipped from a 7/18 date to a 7/25 date. There appears to have been some miscommunication somewhere and retailers weren't fully informed. Thanks to "Alex" for starting me into this investigation.

More on D (05:49 PM EST): I've gotten a bit more information regarding the audio formats for the Vampire Hunter D DVD OVA release. The OVA was originally recorded in mono (back in the late 80's if I recall correctly). Urban Vision has remastered the Japanese audio track to stereo (which is good) and have taken advantage of the new dub to create a 5.1 track for that. 

Something to look forward to (05:47 PM EST): At least in my mind, these are worth looking forward to. A quick peek over at Nightjar, LLC, the folks behind some of Pioneer's recent dazzling menus, lists some of their upcoming works we can see their magic being worked on. In addition to the final Sailor Moon movie, the next 6 volumes of Trigun and the next two volumes of Sol Bianca, they'll be working on Panda! Go Panda, Amazing Nurse Nanako and Black Heaven. Having already high expectations of Nanako, I'm even more eager to see it now. You'll also note some reviewers from this site are listed in their quotes section at the beginning. Here's hoping these guys get more work with other anime studios!

New title announcement (02:45 PM EST): And a new DVD supporting anime company as well. Check out this press release for what looks to be a truly solid anime special edition release of Vampire Hunter DVD OVA from Urban Vision. Also check out their press release for the San Diego Comic Con appearance with the indication of new news on their licensing of Berserk, a title glory bound for the essential collection on this site once it hits DVD. Urban Visions official entry to the DVD market marks the last studio on our media watch page with the no DVD spot. All prominent anime studios are now producing DVD in various fashions. Welcome to the fold!

Little bits (09:10 AM EST): A couple of little things to cover this morning. The folks over at Toriyama.org have given notice of their involvement in the new Dragonball Z DVD's (which are available at some brick and mortar chains, but have been much harder to spot online). Meanwhile, both Anime News Service and DVD Animania are reporting some information on the upcoming Starblazers release in region 1. Apparently the master is at the replicator and the artwork for the first volume is being finalized. Much like the Dragonball Z DVD's, I'd expect this to just kind of end up out there in a real sporadic fashion. 

Cut! (09:01 AM EST): Jim Lazar over at Anime Prime has updated his No Editing Zone with information on a Battle Athletes Victory, Battle of the Planets and Fencer of Minerva.

Delayed! (09:01 AM EST): According to a post in the studio feedback section, the second volume of Tenchi Universe currently has a TBA date. They've discovered something amiss in the subtitles for this volume and awaiting on checkdiscs to ensure it's quality before sending it off for full replication. At this time, it does not seem like it will affect future volume release dates. Thanks for keeping us up to date guys!

Sunday, July 16th, 2000

Big contest update (03:14 PM EST): So far our five new Jubei-Chan contests are going quite well, but there's something amiss. A large number of people are not reading the rules. I've had a lot of people think all five are the same and are sending email entries without doing what's required for all the contests. A lot of people aren't sending their address, which is required for prompt shipment (all emails will be deleted afterwards, no addresses harvested). And a lot of non North American entries are coming in. Please take the time to read the rules for each contest!

Saturday, July 15th, 2000

Big contest! (05:10 PM EST): With it now being the middle of July, we've got our biggest number of contests running at one time! In participation with the good folks at Bandai, we're able to offer FIVE Jubei-Chan DVD's and FIVE official Jubei-Chan T-shirts! They're tied together in a total of FIVE contests. Each contest is unique and allows almost everyone to participate! You're only allowed to win one of the contests though, so don't think you can win all five! Click on the banner below to check it out!

Friday, July 14th, 2000

Big numbers (07:01 PM EST): Express has updated with their new stock of anime discs for next week, and things are going very good. Bandai scores big with 2250 copies of Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: DVD Operation 02, Nazca: Eternal Power clocks in at just under 1000 and Ruroni Kenshin: Legendary Swordsman makes some serious waves at 1800 copies. Demon Beast Invasion seems to have slipped to a 7/25 release date.

Press stuff (05:48 PM EST): CD Japan has a few new release announcements today, including the much anticipated Gundress and the next English subtitled version of FLCL from Gainax. Check them out here.

GitS in the UK (05:46 PM EST): Yoav Felberbaum wrote in recently to talk about some of the oddness associated with the UK Release of Ghost in the Shell. Read on:

"Recently I got my fixed GitS R2 DVD from Black Star & thought I would put here how exactly these DVD's differ between batches, so those still considering buying the UK GitS could check.

In the original batch, the DVD did not have its anamorphic info encoded correctly, and so when played in a DVD player, it displays incorrectly in full screen mode and not widescreen. This batch can be identified by a lack of the identifying characteristics that is present in the fixed GitS DVD, which can be found below.

The fixed batch has now been fixed and a neat touch is that Japanese audio/English subtitles are selected by default, as opposed to the "broken" batch where English audio was selected. The fixed DVD also has a 15 certificate printed on the disc, along with the product code (I think) underneath, "VFB08484". This is on the left side of the disc, directly opposite the Manga logo on the right. Finally (pure speculation), the fixed batches does not have stickers on the front saying "BONUS ROM CONTENT" and "Widescreen, Dolby Digital 5.1" on the back, although this might just be a small mistake by them forgetting to put stickers on my new DVD.

Unlike the Macross DVD's, there seems to be no discernable way to tell if a GitS DVD is fixed or not, apart from opening it (I'm not promising that the omission of the aforementioned stickers is a foolproof way)"

Bandai bits (05:41 PM EST): We're in the process of finalizing a new contest in association with Bandai, and Jerry Chu passed along a few tidbits for everyone. Blue Submarine No. 6 is delayed on Cartoon Network until October due to production issues. The Outlaw Star First DVD Collection has been delayed until October due to unforeseen circumstances. Each subsequent volume will be released on a bi monthly basis (October - Dec - Feb).

Thursday, July 13th, 2000

Ghibli stuff (07:14 PM EST): The folks over at Home Theater Forum, one of my usual haunts, had a chat last night with some folks from Criterion. As one would hope, anime and Ghibli specifically came up. Here's the section in particular:

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[StevenA] Firstly, thank you for consistently producing the most exceptional discs for the true cinephile. We are forever indebted to you!! My question relates to the brilliant animated films from Japan's Studio Ghibli (Princess Mononoke et. al.) Since you have a relationship with Disney, who appear to hold the rights to these films, is there any possibility that Criterion could ever release some or all of them. I am very fearful that the less well-known Ghibl

[Lee_Kline (Criterion)] I'll look into it.

[Sean_Anderson (Criterion)] Probably not Mononoke, Miramax has got that covered. Maybe some other titles - any suggestions?

[Lee_Kline (Criterion)] the floodgates are open...

[StevenA] Only Yesterday is a masterpiece and a Criterion GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES would be wonderful (Disney doesn'y have that one)
 

---

You can read the entire transcript here.

July contest (07:00 PM EST): We've got a new contest up this month, though it does limit the entrants a bit, it's a really good one in my mind! Check it out!

Early digest review (06:00 PM EST): We've got up our early digest review of Pokemon Vol. #19: Our Hero Meowth for your reading pleasure.

A tip of the hat (05:57 PM EST): The folks at Bandai must be pleased once again as their two latest releases have reached high marks on the Express top 15 list. Cowboy Bebop Session 3 ranks in at number 5 while Blue Submarine No. 6 Vol. 2 comes in at number 14. Congratulations guys, and keep 'em coming!

AnimEigo notes (05:07 PM EST): Robert Woodhead made this announcement to the AnimEigo DVD Mailing list today regarding the UY TV 1 DVD set.:

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We are finalizing details with the pressing house to get some extra DVDs made to replace any defective discs. Just give us a few days (early next week at the latest) to get everything lined up and we'll be able to get you replacements. From what we can tell from the reports, it looks like the pressing house got a bad batch of blanks, but we don't have a definitive answer yet.

What we DO know is that EVERYONE will get a good set. One of the bonuses of the direct-to-fans model we use for these sets is that you should and will get extra service to ensure your satisfaction.

ALSO, we are a bit behind on shipping because one of our office staff members (Twanna, who was doing the invoicing) quit on 1 day's notice to take another job, and picked the absolute worst possible day to do it. This is compounded by the fact that at least 1/2 of one of our remaining shipping staff's day is taken up fielding "where's my DVDs?" calls!

Finally, Luray asks me to mention to you all that if you are wondering what the extra "flippy" DVD holder in discs 1,3 and 5 is, it is so that you can move your even #'d DVDs into the odd #'d cases and save space. She's getting phone calls on that one too.

---

So let's ease up (myself included!) on wondering where the UY discs are for those that haven't received them yet. They're on the way and AnimEigo is ensuring that everyone will have a good set. Concern is definitely understandable though, for those like myself who haven't yet been billed and then hear of people being billed as far back as 6/23.

New next week (01:38 PM EST): What's on the docket for the middle of the month? Just a few things to amuse. The seemingly delayed Ruin Explorers finally arrived today. What should be out for titles due on 7/18 (yes, even though some have streeted early in some areas) is Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: DVD Operation 02, Nazca: Eternal Power, Pokemon Vol. 19: Our Hero Meowth, Pokemon Vol. 20: The Final Badge and Ruroni Kenshin: Legendary Swordsman. For the more mature minded among you, CPM will be releasing Demon Beast Invasion. After that, just sit in fear of the 7/25 release date.

She's back (01:09 PM EST): Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the site, LadyCat is back this week with another round of answers to your burning questions! 

Time is running out (12:49 PM EST): Just a reminder to you last minute folks, today is the last day to get your hands on the only Anime on DVD t-shirt to be produced this year!

Chit chat (07:18 AM EST): New Generation Pictures will be heading up another chat over at About.com in the near future. Check out this press release and be sure to drop by for the chat!

Wednesday, July 12th, 2000

ADV hits the wires (03:48 PM EST): ADV has sent out their latest press release, and this time it's hit the wires (which is a good sign, as most Hollywood studios crow about their upcoming disc releases, anime companies should do the same). It looks like Gasaraki Vol. 1 will hit on 9/26 on both DVD and VHS and will contain four episodes. What also appears to be in this press release is that there will be no subtitled VHS release. This will mark the fourth title that ADV has done this with if true (Tekken, Sonic, Sakura Diaries and now Gasaraki). You can also read their Robotech acquisition press release here.

Advance review (03:33 PM EST): We've made it through our initial viewing of Gundam Wing: Operation 2 and have our review for it online for your reading pleasure. 

Miscellaneous (10:11 AM EST): We got in a box of love from Bandai this morning. In addition to an early copy of Gundam Wing 2 which we'll try to have a review for later today, we got one of the limited edition Jubei-Chan t-shirts. The shirt will be available to those who buy all four volumes of the series and sends in whatever Bandai requires. The back has an image of both versions of Jubei-chan while the front has a large circle with the kanji in it as well as the English language logo. We also got a copy of the Wanted 2000 catalog with all the nifty title information. We've updated a lot of dates in our confirmed section, so you'll want to check that out!

Stop the madness (08:18 AM EST): The folks over at Netflix have been putting some funny information into their release database lately. It looks like they got a copy of the ADV 2000 DVD catalog and decided that everything will be released on 7/11. Then it was changed to 7/25. Some of them have pictures, most done, and probably most annoying, the BGC 2040 listings have AnimEigo's BGC artwork. I've emailed them on this (since I've gotten a lot of "hey look!" emails over this in the past week) and hope to get some kind of resolution. It's rather annoying that you have to be a registered member to actually email them with something. 

Tuesday, July 11th, 2000

Advance review (09:34 PM EST): The good folks at Pioneer slipped us a few discs today. We've started in on Please Save My Earth (which looks very good!) but out first order of business is Nazca Vol. #4: Eternal Power.

T-shirts (09:57 AM EST): Tena and Riki have extended the deadline for the limited edition Divi-chan/Mill-chan t-shirts to Thursday 7/13!

Monday, July 10th, 2000

Gallery update (09:22 PM EST): We've added a few new pieces of artwork to our upcoming image gallery. Some of the newer pieces are VHS covers, which will be indentical to the DVD versions. Please bear in mind that cover artwork can and will change between what's released and the end product. The Pioneer Entertainment site is still showing the old outdated Nanako artwork.

CPM tweaks schedule (12:15 PM EST): The folks at CPM have tweaked there schedule a bit and added some nice stuff for fans. Agent Aika, Battle Skipper, Fencer of Minerva, Knights of Ramune, Silent Service, Sprite and Virgin Fleet have all been scheduled for a 2001 release. Photon will come out in November. On the adult side, Demon Warrior Koji, Pure Love, TriAngle, Urotsukidoji III and Urotsukidoji IV will all arrive in 2001. 

Alternate angles (11:10 AM EST): We've got one new alternate angle today, this time from Jacob Holowach on the Media Blasters release of Kite.

T-shirts (10:52 AM EST): A truly limited offer, but some resourceful readers are making shirts for Anime on DVD Otakon convention goers as well as site readers and chat room participants in general. Check out this link to find out more! The shirts will be handed out at Otakon by the women who are making them, and they will be in character as Divi and Mill-chan!

Retailers (10:51 AM EST): Michael Chu has sent in a more recent look at a Southern Californian Best Buy, adding another segment to our retailer reviews.

Sunday, July 9th, 2000

Alternate angles (03:21 PM EST): A couple of new reviews up today for the recently released Cowboy Bebop Session 3. Check out Roman Martel's review as well as Kevin Baylons.

Essential Anime (09:11 AM EST): It's been a bit since our last entry, but today we've added the latest piece to the Essential Anime Collection, the Record of Lodoss War OVA Series. 

Saturday, July 8th, 2000

T-shirts (01:21 PM EST): A truly limited offer, but some resourceful readers are making shirts for Anime on DVD Otakon convention goers. Check out this link to find out more!

Friday, July 7th, 2000

Ask Ladycat (06:21 PM EST): Christy survived her weekend at Anime Expo (though it seems nobody captured the moment to film), and today she's got a sizeable column!

My own crusade (06:15 PM EST): Not anime related, but related to comments from the various studios throughout Anime Expo. One of my personal passions as a home theater enthusiast is the audio. Dolby Digital is one of the best things to hit it in years. What I really love is DTS. Keeping the "is it really better" arguments to the side, anime studios have quite realistically not tried to acquire these separate licenses when they exist on Japanese DVD's. You're Under Arrest, Spriggan, Tenchi Forever and Blue Submarine No. 6 all contained DTS tracks, usually in special editions, in region 2. Since the DTS tracks are a separate license, domestic studios have not picked them up due to the smaller market for them. Keeping in mind that the anime market is much smaller than the over film market, it bears mentioning the latest high profile movie release that has separate discs for the audio tracks. According to Express.com tonight, the Dolby Digital version of Jaws got in 7500 copies. The separate DTS edition came in at 5000 copies. DTS is out there folks, and it is selling. Hopefully someday it will apply to the anime market as more Japanese studios start using it. And it gives the domestic studios something for the future; Pioneer could always license the DTS track for Tenchi Forever and re-release it as a special edition. I know I'd buy it again just for that, as I'm sure many others would as well. How many of you picked up the limited edition DTS You're Under Arrest movie? MSRP of 150$... not too many, but I know several people who did. Something to keep in mind.

Interesting article (06:08 PM EST): Chris Meadows has a new article up in regards to AnimEigo's shift to a DVD only provider. Check it out!

In the press area (06:05 PM EST): A couple of bits for folks to check out today. CD Japan has sent out the latest region 2 announcements and John Andersen has sent out an update on the Princess Mononoke situation and what you can do to help. For those looking to find out what happened with the Disney/Nausicaa.net meeting last Friday, click here.

Thursday, July 6th, 2000

New next week (05:46 PM EST): A couple of titles are lined up for next week. Pioneer will be bowing Please Save My Earth, an instant addition to our Essential Collection, and ADV will formally bow Ruin Explorers. Supposedly Funimation will have out the first two uncut Dragonball Z DVD's, but retailers are having a hard time getting solid information on these titles, so your guess is as good as any. As a side note, I found out how important it is to put up these notices on Thursday evenings. I neglected to do so last week and a lot of people were scrambling as they thought Cowboy Bebop 3 and Blue Submarine 2 were due on 7/18. 

AnimEigo speaks (05:46 PM EST): Ok folks, the Urusei Yatsura box set is now shipping. They'll be winging their way to you over the next couple of weeks, so sit tight. Keep in mind AnimEigo isn't a big operation that can mass ship these things in one day like a retailer. Patience. AnimEigo has also posted to their news mailing list today about their new announcements, their reasoning behind moving to DVD only (yes, no more VHS) and other bits. What's interesting to read is the comments about the subtitled VHS market, which is almost identical to what AnimEigo wrote last year about the Laserdisc market.

Wednesday, July 5th, 2000

Con report & more (06:58 PM EST): Jim Lazar has sent in his con report for the Anime Expo convention, which you can find here. Jim also just recently introduced his No Editing Zone on his site, which deals with anime shows that are cut when they're brought over to the US. Definitely a worthwhile read.

Region 2 review (06:54 PM EST): Richard Lee has sent us in a new region 2 review today, this time for Koutetsu Tenshi Kurumi.

50 point font: rumor (05:48 PM EST): Regular reader "Ferricide" wrote in today with some secondhand news. According to a friend who is good friends with someone at Gainax, volumes 2 - 6 of FLCL will contain English subtitles. This is essentially an experiment for them, and if it proves well for them, they'll do this with future releases. I personally find this to be a very good thing and I honestly think it will have a very minimal impact on the domestic region 1 market. Very few people, even with the allure of English subtitles, are willing to shell out 50$+ for one OVA episode, or 30 minutes of animation. The people who will do this are the ones who were doing it previously for things that didn't have subtitles. There will be more people who will join them on these titles, but the overall impact I believe will be minimal. That said, I truly hope this trend continues and that those who are interested in seeing it continue head over to the Gainax site, load up that English section, and send them a polite email telling them they've got your business. Besides, how many of us will then pick up something like FLCL domestically as well? I'm snaring the R2 discs and will pick up the eventual R1 release when it gets acquired. Anime fans are suckers I tell ya!

Daring to believe (05:44 PM EST): All right you studio people, I've updated our Anime 2K Checklist through 8/29. You're not allowed to delay anything as I don't want to rearrange dates. Got it? Good. :)

Alternate and region 2 reviews (05:41 PM EST): A good sized batch of reviews came in recently and we've got them prepped for your viewing pleasure. Justin Emerson tackles Blue Submarine No. 6 Vol. 2 and so does Taylor Shann. Justin Emerson also chimes in on Burn Up W. Mike Breen takes an in-depth look at the first UK Starblazers DVD and is followed up by Jeff Lemay's review. And finally, Elliot Logelin has sent in a great review of the recently released Aura Battler Dunbine DVD Memorial Box 1 set. With the potential growth later this year for European Region 2 anime DVD's, we've split our region 2 index page to have a section for those particular releases.

Tuesday, July 4th, 2000

Newly reviewed (05:24 PM EST): We've delved into the last of our pile of review discs and have come out with one for Cowboy Bebop Session 3. The goodness continues!

She's baaaack (01:28 PM EST): LadyCat is back from her first con appearance (where's the pics guys? Hmmm?) and she's got another mini-column up this week!

Statistically speaking (01:17 PM EST): We've updated a few of our lists today, with the top ten for June and July now up to date and we've also updated our top ten for 2000.

Newly reviewed (11:19 AM EST): Going through our pile of new anime goodies, we've got our review up now for Manga's 7/25 release of the Patlabor 1 Movie DVD.

Monday, July 3rd, 2000

Newly reviewed (07:06 PM EST): The good folks over ay RykoPalm have sent us a care package of Manga titles due out this month. First up is our review of Sword For Truth.

Newly reviewed (06:12 PM EST): We got in our batch of weekly discs today from Express, and have our review up for the beautiful looking Blue Submarine No. 6 Vol. #2: Pilots.

Mononoke petition (06:11 PM EST): The folks over at DVD Talk have taken steps to help the fan community to get Princess Mononoke to contain a Japanese language track with subtitles. You can sign their petition here.

TRSI titles (04:39 PM EST): We got in an email this afternoon from the big guy over at Right Stuf, Shawne Kleckner, with a few title announcements made at Anime Expo that may have gotten overlooked in the convention reports so far. Flint the Time Detective,  Assemble: Insert and Dutch Wife 28 (hentai) are among their new acquisitions. While DVD isn't mentioned specifically, the reports from the convention indicate that they are going to go through their back catalog (much like most other companies), so it's likely that we'll see these on disc.

ADV titles (10:25 AM EST): In a rec.arts.anime.misc posting this morning, a few titles were listed as being acquired by ADV. Arc The Lad, Powerstone, Triangle Session, Daiguard, Wild Arms and Neoranga. Some of these were previously known, others not. What is really surprising is that the Sci-Fi channel series Farscape was listed. Having heard on Home Theater Forum that some really slick special edition DVD's are on the way, I have to wonder what's up with this and whether ADV is simply distributing them.

AX newsbytes (09:20 AM EST): According to Anime News Network, Pioneer has the sublicense for all 70 Card Captor Sakura episodes. They also indicate that the Mihoshi Special from Tenchi Muyo will likely end up on the Pretty Sammy OVA DVD release and that the Pretty Sammy TV series is likely to come to DVD as well, but not for some time. Hopefully that will give it a chance to be dubbed.

AX con reports (09:00 AM EST): You know, I don't even know where to begin with the flood of DVD news coming out of AX anymore. There's just so much of it, and people are emailing me telling me that the entire vibe from the studios is just very in favor of it now. AnimEigo has indicated that Urusei Yatsura Vol. 25 VHS will be the last volume on that format, and 26 up will be on DVD (possibly this fall). Robert Woodhead was quoted as saying, "...the sub VHS market has gone to hell..." To the folks still collecting on VHS, I understand your pain, I went through this with Laserdisc and anime. The time of change is here. For those who have been buying DVD since the beginning like myself - We're in the golden age here!

Central Park Media also indicated that their sub VHS releases will begin to truly phase out this fall/winter, with only certain titles getting sub VHS releases, such as something like Slayers would be my guess. They've licensed fully the 14-26 episode block of Revolutionary Girl Utena and have an option on the final block as well as being in the process of licensing the movie.

There's a ton more news to be deciphered here:

• Overview (IammeIam)

• Central Park Media (MegaZone)

• AnimEigo (MegaZone)

• Urban Vision (MegaZone)

• Manga Entertainment (MegaZone)

Sunday, July 2nd, 2000

AX newsbyte (04:54 PM EST): According to the Fans View site, Viz has licensed not only the manga version of Ayashi no Ceres, but the anime version as well. They are also actively pursuing the rights to the new Inu Yasha series based on the Rumiko Takahashi manga.

What do you say we get some gerbils and a bottle of olive oil and make a day out of it? (03:35 PM EST): Such was the dub outtake line in the "Fun in the studio with Coastal Carolina" bonus from Media Blasters' latest release and newly reviewed title, Legend of the Last Labyrinth. Dub outtakes are fast becoming my favorite extra.

Anime Expo panel reports (08:41 AM EST): Allright, let's just jump right into this. Let's lead off first with a report on Pioneer repricing older DVD's to 14.98 and planning to try this with some collections coming up. Next, let's break down the various panel reports as sent in by Megazone: ADV, Pioneer, Bandai, Right Stuff, New Generation Pictures and Viz. There is a lot to digest there folks... quite possibly the strangest and most surprising is ADV's acquisition of Robotech. But in the end it's not that surprising with their recent pickup of Reboot and other TV properties. But still, who would have thought? Also be sure to check out this small overview sent in by Dean Arashiro. And for a few odd bits of the panels, check out this report. 

Saturday, July 1st, 2000

AX newsbyte (12:17 PM EST): Another tidbit has arrived. Apparently Viz has licensed Yu Watase's latest, Ayashi no Ceres. It is unclear at this time whether this is just the manga or the anime.

AX newsbyte (10:51 PM EST): Chat regular "wolve" checked back in with us to let us know Bandai also announced their acquisition of the title Z-Mind, a retro robot show. Though a bit fuzzy on this part, he believes it was mentioned as a show destined for TV broadcast in the US. Bandai also informed those in attendance that Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket and Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory will arrive on DVD in 2001. 

AX newsbyte (10:36 PM EST): Bandai is going back to basics with their next Gundam license. Announced at Anime Expo today, Bandai has licensed the original Gundam TV series that started it all. It's currently available in 3 compilation movies, but Bandai is doing the full TV series itself. I don't believe this has been seen in Japan for many years either, as the movie versions have been considered the main release. Also announced was that the DVD version for Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz will contain the individual OVA's and the movie version. No hard word on whether this will be on the same disc or two separate releases. Thanks to "wolve" from the chat for the early word.

Alternate angle (08:10 PM EST): Sneaking in this weekend is an alternate angle review of the current fan darling title, Haunted Junction, by Justin Emerson.

AX newsbyte (06:01 PM EST): Friday was the host of many panels, one of them being the Maison Ikkoku panel. According to Anime News Network, Viz said, "DVD's of Maison Ikkoku will not be coming unless "[VHS] sales pick up considerably."

Anyone else see the absurdity in this again? If the VHS sales don't pick up, it's dead. Especially the sub VHS sales. Uh folks? Sub VHS is being phased out by several companies, and doing two episodes per tape is adding major insult to a major body wound. 

With Viz's Ranma 1/2 TV DVD series plans being put on indefinite hold and Maison Ikkoku nowhere to be seen, what else will they be doing this year besides Key the Metal Idol and Please Save My Earth?

Maison Ikkoku is a dead property folks. Don't even bother putting a fork in it, the maggots are ready to feast on the remains. Which is a real tragedy, especially after having just finished the emotional ending in the compiled graphic novels. Maison Ikkoku deserved so much better.

Get in the box! (05:55 PM EST): According to a post on the AnimEigo mailing list, the shipment of the UY box sets is taking a tad longer than expected due to the packaging and getting those durned Lum discs in there. They expect shipment on Monday, though with the holiday weekend, all bets are off in my opinion.