Sunday, December 31st, 2000

Meow! (10:32 PM EST):

Alternate angles (10:17 PM EST): Ah, the last posted reviews of the year 2000. While our final review was the Spirit of Wonder on Friday, the last alternate angles this year come from a good friend of mine, Roman Martel. Closing out the year, he takes a look at Bubblegum Crisis 2040 Vol. #2 and Sol Bianca Vol. #2.

Saturday, December 30th, 2000

Looking back (11:24 PM EST): Throughout the day today, we've put to page our thoughts on the year that has passed. We've been mulling it over for the past month or so, watching the last releases of the year come in as well as going through what's come out earlier. 2000 was one hell of a year and it's been great enjoying the ride with everyone. Check out what we thought of it.

AoDCam (01:29 PM EST): Continuing with the slightly odd pages here lately, we've put up an Anime on DVD webcam! woo! I can tell how excited y'all are.

Friday, December 29th, 2000

Contest ends (09:54 PM EST): Yes, the complete Cowboy Bebop contest has ended and a random winner drawn! We wanted to make sure we read each and every entry. I must say, there's a really great crowd of people who hang out around here! Thank you one and all for your contributions over this holiday season and for letting us know!

SMJ tidbits (09:02 PM EST): A few tidbits, some probably already known, have surfaced today regarding the first Saber Marionette J double disc set due out late next month. In addition to being a trilingual disc (English DD2.0, Japanese DD2.0, Spanish DD1.0 audio), it includes as extras for disc 1 Character Specs/Galleries and a Full-length Lime Musical Circuit DD5.1 music video. We've also been told that the music video will have English, romaji and Japanese subtitles! Sweet!

Digital Omake (08:45 PM EST): Though the disc isn't out for another week or so, someone managed to get an early copy of Jubei-Chan Vol. #4 and sent in a piece of omake from it...

Checklist (08:39 PM EST): The Anime 2K Checklist has officially been retired, and the Anime 2K1 Checklist is now on the sidebar. The new list does contain a link to the 2K list, so fear not!

Press (04:55 PM EST): The folks at Central Park Media have sent out their latest batch of press releases, which we've put into one large list for easier reading. Nothing new, but bits about what each show is about.

Newly reviewed (04:41 PM EST): We got in our copy of Spirit of Wonder today from the final production run, complete with keepcase, and have posted our full review of it.

R2 reviews (02:01 PM EST): A few new ones have been added to the growing library today, such as Paul Coddington's look at Gunbuster Vol. #1, Victor Kim's look at the great DTS edition of Jin-Roh (due in region 1 as a Viz/Bandai co-production), Sammy Soliman on the first volume of Hakkenden and Carlos Salgado on FLCL Vol. #2.

Odds & Ends (12:57 PM EST): We're making a bit of a dent in our backlog of email, and have a review up for the Toshiba SD5109 and a review of the Chicago area anime retailers.

New in R2 (08:44 AM EST): The latest release list came in from CD Japan this morning, and there's a few classics mixed in with a lot of CD's that will interest a few folks. High on my list? Dagnabit, the Berserk TV series box set, completely remastered video. With the apparent stall in Urban Vision licensing this show, this is a huge temptation for more than just me I'm sure.

Thursday, December 28th, 2000

Tidbit (10:51 PM EST): The Anime 2K Checklist had what is likely its final update for the year today with entry #148 for Demon Fighter Kocho. I think there were probably 30 or 40 discs the year before that? Talk about a serious spike, especially towards the end of the year. It'll be interesting to see how 2001 will go, though it'll definitely be more than that, especially with 13 volumes of Votoms in January alone...

Newly reviewed (10:48 PM EST): Fans of US voice actors may be rather interested in some of the extras provided in Media Blasters latest release that we've just finished reviewing, Demon Fighter Kocho. Fanservice fans may be interested as well.

More menus (10:07 PM EST): The folks at TRSI are busy replicating away on their Tylor set and have sent us a few more scans of the menus, this time from the Empress' pages!

UY delay? (09:25 PM EST): According to a post on the forum, a customer service rep at AnimEigo indicated to them that the 2nd Urusei Yatsura box set (TV volumes 6-10) won't be ready until March and not the tentative January release.

Wednesday, December 27th, 2000

Miscellaneous (07:20 PM EST): It's been a pretty light week here at AoD with practically no news due to most people being off on extended Christmas breaks. We're still going through all of the entries for the Cowboy Bebop contest (we got a ton of great entries and they all need to be read, there's so many great things folks have done!). We did get one tidbit from an #animedvd irc regular today though, in the form of a letter he got from Bandai. It indicates, "[Mobile Suit Gundam: 08th MS Team] starts it's release [mid to late 2001] and the others are towards the end of the year." Presumably the others mentioned would be the 0080 and 0083 titles as I hope we'll see the original Gundam TV series a little earlier.

In slightly related information, some indication has come out recently that Bandai will not be releasing the 3 compilation movies onto DVD here in the US. The movies are condensed versions of the original TV series but with some added footage and slight reworkings. They were however just released in completely remastered format on DVD in Japan in 5.1 and with English subtitles. Of course, they've got a high price tag of around 8100 yen, but if you're a fan, they're worth it from what I've heard.

Sunday, December 24th, 2000

Newly reviewed (03:00 PM EST): Melanie and I have taken a little extra time this weekend to catch up on our backlog and get a few reviews done.

1. Escaflowne Vol. #2
2. Generator Gawl Vol. #2
3. Imma Youjo Vol. #2
4. Imma Youjo Vol. #3
5. Imma Youjo Vol. #4
6. Imma Youjo Vol. #5
7. Jubei-Chan Vol. #3
8. Photon
9. Princess Mononoke
10. Rurouni Kenshin Vol. #3
11. Rurouni Kenshin Vol. #4
12. Shinesman
13. Trigun Vol. #5

Yeah, even with 13 new reviews, we're still behind on a few things like Record of Lodoss War TV, Slayers Next, Bubblegum Crisis 2.0 and a few dub only titles along with a bunch of region 2 titles. We'll start hammering away at those slowly but surely. Thanks for your patience.

Friday, December 22nd, 2000

Digital omake (09:27 PM EST): A new piece has been added to the digital omake page, this time for the Wings of Honneamise disc.

Tylor update (06:30 PM EST): Chalk this one up to mother nature... After much effort to get the Tylor discs done in time to ship prior to Christmas, the disastrous weather that's afflicted the Midwest, where Right Stuf is located, has caused them to not be able to get the set prepped completely in time, so it will likely be very early in 2001. Everything's ready, just no discs! 

On the bright side, a few bits of information have cropped up regarding what we can expect as extras on the disc in the bio department. "The Bios on the disc have LOTS of extra material on the characters which was NOT available from the series. We had a bunch of stuff translated from the Tylor books, art books, and others.." And as an extra treat, they sent along scans of a few of the menu screens!
 

New search (02:44 PM EST): With us referencing the folks at Right Stuf so much, we've added a search on our left column to help people get right to the things that you're looking for. We've also updated how quickly the site search refreshes here as well.

Newly added (02:23 PM EST): The first of the entries for the Essential Collection has arrived in the form of Princess Mononoke.

Thursday, December 21st, 2000

We're expanding! (11:21 PM EST): Actually, we've just added a page that I find a bit fun and cute, and rather addictive as well...

More delays (09:06 PM EST): Tis the season for delays. According to some emails passed along to us from readers who inquired directly with Media Blasters, two f their three December titles (Fake and Gestalt) appear to be delayed "a few weeks". Dates will be known when they ship probably, similar to how Kenshin 3 and Shinesman went.

So close you can taste it (05:32 PM EST): According to a post in the forum today in regards to a conversation with on of Right Stuf customer service folks, "they have about 915 copies [of Irresponsible Captain Tylor] en route to their warehouse. Once TRSI gets them in they'll ship to the direct preorders. The CSR couldn't give me an exact date, but it looks like Tylor's coming soon."

Wednesday, December 20th, 2000

Cracking the whip (10:33 PM EST): Well, apparently someone didn't like the long release schedule for the Escaflowne series on DVD. It was originally slated to end in December of 2001 according to the information we had. But now, possibly due to the cancellation of the series on Fox, things are being sped up quite a bit. According to an email sent from Bandai to a reader here, discs 3 & 4 on 2/6, discs 5 & 6 on 4/3 and discs 7 & 8 on 6/5.

Yet another delay? (07:40 PM EST): After listing the delay of 3X3 Eyes yesterday, some people have noticed that the Fatal Fury OVA disc is also starting to be pushed back to a 2/6 date from a few retailers. It's crunch time out there folks...

Bit of press (07:33 PM EST): A couple of nice glossy sell sheets made it to us today from Media Blasters. There's a nice foldout one for Kenshin, giving a nice poster inside. The other two are ones that I'm sure people are waiting to see on disc sometime. Virtua Fighter looks pretty snazzy for a video game based series, but no disc's have been hinted at yet. The one that I'm sure is going to pique curiosity in a lot of people is the Kitty Live release of the three live action La Blue Girl movies. Yes, you read that right. Live. Action. Sadly, only subtitled VHS tapes are being listed so far... but I sense I might have to break down and check it out. The question that comes to mind is just how they pulled this off!

A little Spirit (06:46 PM EST): AnimEigo is now taking orders for their Spirit of Wonder DVD which they'll ship right after Christmas. Price through them is 22.45 plus shipping. No word on the site about regular retailer sales.

And while it may or may not have been recently updated, there's some possibly new information that people may not have known about on their site as well. Baoh, Lone Wolf & Cub (first 2 movies), Urusei Yatsura TV Volumes 6-10 are being currently being authored, with Spirit of Wonder included in that batch. What's next? Oh My Goddess, Vampire Miyu, Bubblegum Crash, UY Movies and OVA's, and UY TV 26. They also say that, they'll "try to sneak Otaku no Video in there somewhere as well". 

And for the optimists out there like myself, "We also intend to release Kimagure Orange Road (Movie, OVA's and TV series) in the first half of 2001." I still think this is pretty easily done, as there's no dub track and the laserdisc set came out pretty great. Just getting Otaku no Video out will be high on my list, that way people will know who I'm cosplaying next year. Kubo needs more attention!

Honneamise update (05:55 PM EST): Well, of some sort. I spoke for a little while this afternoon with some of the folks at Palm Pictures, which is the company that's aligned (parent of?) Manga Entertainment. They've looked through the detailed analysis that was posted recently about the Wings of Honneamise disc, and likely combined with the numerous emails sent to them regarding problems people are having, are indeed actively investigating the issue. There's definitely a lot that's being looked into, so I doubt we'll have a quick resolution, but considering the efforts that Manga has gone into in the past with the problems with Macross Plus and Ninja Scroll, I'm sure we'll  hear something eventually.

As such, I've removed the analysis page that was up (as it was somewhat sketchy to post such information to begin with) while they are investigating. I was not asked to, coerced to, or any other conspiracy that one or two people may come up with. I'm looking at it as, they know there's something wrong, they're actively working on figuring out what, there's no need to beat them over the head with it.

As always, when we have new information, we'll let you know.

New title announcements (05:41 PM EST): They're at it again. Right Stuf is listing the 2nd Blue Seed DVD collection (containing episodes 8-14, 180 minutes) for 29.99 and due on 3/27/01. Also due on the same day is the first offering from Mixx, Spring and Chaos. In addition to the Japanese and English language, it will have subtitles for English, Spanish, French, German, Korean, Chinese. In the extras department, it will feature an interview with Director Shouji Kawamori and an introduction of Kenji Mayazawa. Price is 29.99 for 60 minutes running time.

Tuesday, December 19th, 2000

Alternate angles (09:30 PM EST): There's a bunch of them in our mailbox, but for now, we've got Kenneth Lee's thoughts on the Slayers Next box set. Darryl Adams has sent in a few brief words on two recent Australian releases, Burn Up W and Samurai X Vol. #1. Not enough? How about the newly released region 2 version of Grave of the Fireflies by Benjamin Andreu?

Win DVD's! (07:13 PM EST): The folks at Right Stuf are having a contest and giving away three DVD's. The first prize winner will receive a special Animation Cel signed by Bio Hunter creater Kawajiri, PLUS a Bio Hunter DVD Screener. Second runners up will each receive a screener copy of the Bio Hunter DVD. And don't forget about our complete Cowboy Bebop contest!

Title delay (07:10 PM EST): According to several retailers, it looks like Pioneer's 3X3 Eyes double disc release is being pushed back to a 2/6 street date. And for those who do keep asking, yes, the set is indeed bilingual and has always been planned that way.

Monday, December 18th, 2000

Looking for passion (08:52 PM EST): No, we're not early for Valentines Day. With my recent lack of time to do some really in-depth things, I'm looking for people who are passionate about a few shows that would be interesting in providing additions to our Essential Collection page. We'd really like to add Blue Submarine No. 6 (DVD showoff and to me, a really great story), Perfect Blue (great story, great extras), Fushigi Yugi (both box sets), Princess Mononoke, Rurouni Kenshin OVA's, classic Bubblegum Crisis and Wings of Honneamise (superb story, great extras). If you're interested, please post in our forum feedback (mail is sporadic lately). And yes, Cowboy Bebop is already being penned.

Press (06:20 PM EST): There's two new press releases out today from Bandai, which we've combined into one since they both deal with Escaflowne. Apparently it is true and volumes 3 and 4 will be out on the same day, 2/6/01.

Sunday, December 17th, 2000

Quick peek (05:25 PM EST): The folks at the EMS side of the postal service outdid themselves again with a 3 day turnaround from Japan, which means we got our hands on the Grave of the Fireflies DVD that came out midweek. With only a few minutes to really give it a spin, it looks pretty good, bit soft and pixilated in some backgrounds. Of course, that might have been due to forgetting that it's distributed by Warner Bros. in Japan and seeing that logo come up. The subtitle translation does not look like the one used by CPM as done by Neil Nadelman. It looks like it's from one of the touring festivals, but it works well for the most part. It's somewhat interesting that they call the movie Tombstone of the Fireflies. I think I prefer the other translation of the title myself.

Exclusive review (05:22 PM EST): Jim Lazar of Anime Prime has sent us in a review of the upcoming release from AnimEigo, Spirit of Wonder. This disc is one of several beta DVD's that were sent out to people, so as Jim does indicate, changes are indeed possible.

Date changes (11:32 AM EST): Image Entertainment has updated with several titles being listed for the first time and there are a few date discrepancies worth noting. Sailor Moon S TV #1 from Pioneer looks to have changed from 1/23 to 2/6 while Bandai's Gundam Wing: Operation 5 has moved from 1/16 to 1/30. They also list both Escaflowne #3 and #4 coming out together on 2/6, but I'm still not sure how accurate this is or whether it's an error that keeps getting propagated.

Saturday, December 16th, 2000

Newly reviewed (11:17 PM EST): As promised, we've done a marathon session today of anime watching and have reviews up for the newly released Fushigi Yugi: Seiryu box set as well as the 1/23 release of Sakura Diaries Vol. #3.

Friday, December 15th, 2000

New title announcements (10:50 PM EST): Sean Kemp dropped us an email this evening, letting us know that Mixx updated their website and now lists their first DVD. Due out on 2/14, (Kenji's) Spring and Chaos with no listed price. Languages include Japanese and English with what appears to beSpanish, French, German, (Korean, Chinese) subtitles. More info as it becomes known.

Newly reviewed (10:33 PM EST): Having now finished the first two discs of Fushigi Yugi, I've taken a little bit of time to sit down and compose my feelings on Martian Successor Nadesico Vol. #2.

New region 2title announcements (06:00 PM EST): The latest slew of releases came in via CD Japan today, including one Transformers movie...

New title announcements (05:53 PM EST): More new stuff and a pushed back date showed up on Right Stuf today. First up, the Saber Marionette J Collection 1 has been pushed back from it's 1/9 release to a 1/23 release. On 3/6, we'll see Crest of the Stars Vol. #1 (100 minutes) for 29.95, Saber Marionette J Collection 2 (200 minutes) and Outlaw Star Collection 3 (200 minutes) for 44.95. On 3/27 Orphen Vol. #1 (75 minutes) for 29.99 has gotten its second confirmation.

Thursday, December 14th, 2000

Bai Bai VHS (06:58 PM EST): It's getting closer and closer folks. According to an update at Right Stuf today, Bandai is dropping VHS versions of AWOL, Don't Leave Me Alone Daisy, Eatman, Eatman 98, Ehrgeiz and Haunted Junction. Three of these series are already on DVD in nice collectible fashion (as I believe all of them underperformed for Bandai). My guess would be that we'll see the same thing done throughout 2001 for the other series. With the way things are going, based on solicitations for upcoming months, Bandai looks to be the next DVD only anime company with the likely exception of their TV properties. 

Let's get technical (06:49 PM EST): And I mean, really technical. One of our readers has gone into an extreme amount of technical detail in trying to figure out why the Wings of Honneamise DVD is just as bad as it is. Click here to see the lengthy (and long loading) page that will definitely open quite a few eyes in how DVD's are made and where things go wrong. Due to the size of the page and the images, it's being hosted offsite, so you may need to reload certain images.

The crux of the argument presented in the document however is that the disc is plainly defective. There's an extensive and also very informative thread running in the main forum, which is the best place to go if you want to follow-up on this yourself.

How much for the doggie in the window? (05:20 PM EST): Though we knew about it previously, Urban Vision has sent out the press release for their 2/27 release of Pet Shop of Horrors, complete with audio commentary by the English language director and some of the cast. Looks to be a really sweet disc.

Also, the folks at Diamond have updated with their late Winter titles and the only real new thing in there is Angel Links from Bandai, which we were also expecting. No word on episode count yet though. With them updating their catalog a week earlier than they used to, chances are they're missing stuff that will still be announced.

Wednesday, December 13th, 2000

Pioneer music? (05:42 PM EST): While plans mentioned during the summer convention season were slim, Pioneer did indicate that they're going to try and move forward again with their anime music releases. According to the release list at Right Stuf  today, a "Tenchi Muyo Soundtrack" has been added with an unknown distributor of "Koch". No other details are given, though hopefully more will be available soon.

New title announcements (05:17 PM EST): The latest press release came in from ADV Films today, talking about Shadow Raiders, Reboot and a VHS Lost Universe volume. Normally we'd post these, but ADV has switched over to a PDF format for the file instead of straight text, we'll no longer be putting them in our press area and just pass along the pertinent details.

A golden opportunity (05:14 PM EST): We recently talked about some special Card Captor Sakura DVD boxes that were available in Japan and we got a ton of emails from people telling us just how cool those looked and how much they'd love to have them for a lot of their DVD's. Well, we got in our pair of boxes today, and also received some disappointing news about them.

Tuesday, December 12th, 2000

Advance review (04:12 PM EST): Not content with the few discs I've gotten through in the past couple of days, I've squeezed in an early review of Tenchi Universe Vol. #5 which is due from Pioneer on 12/26. Also, take a look at the very upbeat and positive article about Tenchi and the gals as seen on the LA Times website. Excellent exposure!

Checking my list (03:24 PM EST): It's something I've been a bit behind in keeping up with, but with a bit of help I believe we've gotten most of the missing titles back onto the Anime 2K Checklist. If you see any that were released prior 12/12 but not on the list, give us a heads up.

Newly reviewed (11:17 AM EST): After sinking my teeth into so many region 1 discs recently, we sat down this past weekend and took in the first Ghibli release in Japan, otherwise known as My Neighbors the Yamada's. The thing that cracked me up the most about this release is one of the advertising inserts provided. Showing just how different the marketing is, there's an insert with ads on one side for Fantasia 2000, Fantasia and the Buzz Lightyear DVD's. On the reverse side? Lupin III in the Castle of Cagliostro and some Ghibli Collection mugs. Can you see Disney US advertising Fantasia on one side and a shot of Jigen pointing his gun on the other side? Great stuff!

Mononoke tidbits (10:51 AM EST): With the near-imminent release of Princess Mononoke on DVD, some people have managed to secure copies early and are passing along the news. According to some of the latest posts, the disc is definitely a top drawer release in terms of video quality. Disney also went the extra mile and did seemless branching for the openings and endings depending on what language you chose, much like they did on the Nightmare Before Christmas release. The disc is definitely anamorphic and there are both the Gaiman subtitles done as close captions and the Miyazaki script done as true subtitles. Just another week folks, and we'll also be in Miyazaki bliss.

Ask Ladycat (10:48 AM EST): Things are finally settling down for Ladycat and I'm catching up myself, so today we've got two columns from her! Check out issue 41 and issue 42!

Advance review (10:25 AM EST): Getting in another early review, check out what we thought of Bubblegum Crisis 2040 Vol. #3, due out on 1/23 from ADV Films.

On the tube (09:33 AM EST): I must admit to not watching much Cartoon Network recently, but I found this interesting. According to Kheldar Septyn, Suncoast is running a commercial on the channel that promotes Neon Genesis Evangelion 0:2, Cowboy Bebop 6, and Tenchi Forever. Based on the wording, I'm presuming that they're pushing the DVD versions of these, which is extremely cool and definitely "Yet another push" for the format. With Hollywood studios also pushing many DVD only ads (with a little "also on VHS" tag, which just makes me cackle like a madman), it's not too surprising seeing Suncoast work this way during the holiday season.

Monday, December 11th, 2000

Newly reviewed (11:30 PM EST): We made it through a number of discs today, which means we've also got a review up for the 12/26 release of Black Heaven. Tomorrow morning, we'll have reviews up for Bubblegum Crisis 2040 #3 (it rocks!) and My Neighbor's the Yamada's (this movie was hilarious!).

New site (11:28 PM EST): Central Park Media has kicked off their site for their NightWalker series release. While several sections are still unavailable, DVD fans can get a glimpse at what this two disc series will have for cover artwork. Thanks to Tong Lin for letting us know it was open.

Mini-gathering (11:26 PM EST): Another small gathering is taking place this month, being coined as "Eh? Toronto 2000". The event is taking place December 22nd starting at 12:30 - 1 pm in the food court by Tower Records. Since none of the people coming so far are from Toronto they need suggestions for places to eat. As well as a few anime shops to stop by. Check out the gatherings forum for more info.

Newly reviewed (10:30 PM EST): Continuing with their bargain priced classic collection releases, we've got our review of Pioneer's Hyperdoll disc.

Media watch (09:29 PM EST): It's been quite a bit since we last visited our Media Watch page, which gives our opinion of how the market is doing with the two medias and their various incarnations. Having taken a look at the change in product between our last update to it to present and looking at the changes coming in the future that are announced so far, we've made two changes to it;

Media Blasters DVD support has changed from "supporting" to "doing wonderfully". Their commitment to increasing their DVD quality from inserts, menu design and authoring as well as increasing episode counts on Kenshin TV and releasing more titles and trying to do day and date with the VHS, we're impressed. They're also now playing around with no subtitled tapes being released on titles, which will only further cement their commitment to the format.

The other is ADV. Comparing their winter, spring and summer releases to their fall releases, it's almost like looking at a completely different company. Their switch to POP/Cinram, Image Source and other authoring houses combined with higher episode counts, several trilingual tracks and the near complete abandonment of the subtitled VHS format, ADV has seriously strengthened their commitment to the format. Going from one or two mediocre releases a month to upwards of seven solid quality releases a month is no small feat and one that certainly deserves to be recognized.

New title announcements (06:51 PM EST): The folks at Media Blasters are getting busy on the DVD front, as can be seen in this press release along with the shows descriptions. Magic Users Club (Maho Tsukai Tai) DVD containing the first two (OVA?) episodes for an MSRP of 24.95 on 3/27/2001. Twin Signal DVD also due on the same day with the same price, though no subtitled tape is planned. Rurouni Kenshin (The Flames of The Revolution) DVD containing episodes 23-27 is also due on 3/27 with a slightly higher price of 29.95, which is good for the five episodes it has.

Street date changes (06:29 PM EST): According to the latest Right Stuf update, the 3rd and 4th volumes of Street Fighter TV will have a 3/27 street date as opposed to the 2/27 date listed previously on Manga's website. Price and episode counts (6 each) stay the same.

It's in the cards... (06:15 PM EST): As some people who've gotten their Escaflowne #2 DVD (and presumably VHS as well) may know, some of the tarot card redemption tickets list it as being card #5 (though some people have mentioned the art is for cover #2). While there's panic in the streets, cats and dogs authoring discs, the folks at Bandai have sent out what the deal is in redeeming them:

"Dear Valued Customer,

As you may already know we have been having some minor difficulties arise in the packaging process associated with our videos and DVD’s. These problems have been corrected and will not affect the remainder of the promotion. However, the purpose of this announcement is to let you know that if you received a vol. 5 proofs of purchase card in the place of vol. 2’s, do not panic! We will accept two vol. 5 cards with the vol. 2 card missing when it comes time to redeem the promotional items. Also, if you happened to receive a particular volume that did not have any proofs of purchase cards included please include a receipt or something showing that you purchased the video or DVD. We would like to convey our deepest apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused and let you know that we are doing everything possible to make sure the promotion is still fair to everyone participating!

Best Regards,
Christopher Marsh
www.AnimeVillage.com
Bandai Entertainment, Inc."

Alternate angles (02:36 PM EST): While we're knee deep in both Lodoss TV and Fushigi Yugi (disc 1 looks great!), we've got several new alternate angles up today to tide you over a bit;

• Cowboy Bebop Vol. #6 by Roman Martel
• Battle Athletes Victory Vol. #8 by Matthew McGinn
• Key the Metal Idol Vol. #3 by Roman Martel
• Macross II by Abood Rabbat
• Outlaw Star Collection 1 by Roman Martel
• Bubblegum Crisis 2040 Vol. #2 by David Owens
• Dual Vol. #2 by David Owens
• Dragonball Z: History of Trunks by Jeff Green

Sunday, December 10th, 2000

Gatherings (05:51 PM EST): There's a couple of site gatherings coming up this month that folks may be interested in. The next Boston gathering is taking place this coming Sunday the 17th, though yours truly is unable to attend due to some last minute family obligations that came up. There's also some initial planning going on for a 12/23 gathering to take place again in LA/SoCal. The reason behind this one, beyond just getting together, is that it marks the opening of Animate's first US store opening! Will they be selling import anime DVD's? If they're carrying the CD's, I can't see why not... Check out the gatherings forum for more info!

A word of thanks (05:47 PM EST): Today marks the end of one of, if not the, pioneering DVD site. According to his latest and last update, Steve Tannehill of DVD Resource is ending his long run. While the site certainly has waned over this year due to a variety of reasons, those who visited multiple times daily back in the early days when the DVD format was launched know exactly what kind of influence and contributions he made to things. Steve's site was definitely a big inspiration to me in pushing things forward with this site and I owe him a big thanks for that. Thank you Steve for all your hard work and for your love of movies. Best wishes to you wherever you move onto next!

Design a Divi (11:46 AM EST): With a little extra quiet time on my hands this morning, we've gone through all the submissions for the contest and have chosen our two winners and posted the results. Huge congratulations to Elizabeth Kirkindall and Young Wang. All the artists who sent in their great pieces deserve a round of applause, and we are intent on showing as much of it as possible to our readers. If the artist however does not want their art shown, don't hesitate to let us know. We've added several of the pieces so far here as well as the winners, so be sure to check them out! (fyi, the Cafe Press site is experiencing a lot of holiday traffic, so please be patient/understanding. Thanks!)

Divi is immensely grateful to be so wonderfully drawn by all involved!

Saturday, December 9th, 2000

Contests (11:49 PM EST): The "Design a Divi" contest ended early this morning, and we're going to be going over all the submissions throughout the weekend and should have a final decision on Monday. We got in a lot of great entries by a lot of very talented folks, and we definitely want to share this with everyone. We'll likely be adding most of it to the merchandise store, and some of them are already there now. 

Newly reviewed (11:34 PM EST): It's been a tough week to do reviews (which is why we had a few on Monday and none since) with getting prepared for the new job, but today we've got three new reviews up. Check out what we thought of Card Captor Sakura Vol. #1, Phantom Quest Corp and Tenchi Universe Vol. #4!

New title announcement (06:06 PM EST): While browsing through Express this morning, we found that they now list Orphen: Scion or Sorcery Vol. #1 for a 3/20/2001 release date containing 3 episodes and an MSRP of 29.99.

Friday, December 8th, 2000

For the collector in you (08:50 PM EST): File this under the "you know you want it" category. The folks at Animaxis have available for purchase the Card Captor Sakura DVD boxes. Not the DVD's mind you, just the shiny box that you can store 10 DVD's (or some CD's). With the Pioneer release to have at least 18 DVD's if they continue to do four episodes per disc, picking up two of these beauties will give you room for the entire TV series and space for the two movies that are currently done. The only question for me is, how do I accommodate the two I just bought into the Studio Challenge shelves?!

Sol Bianca follow-up (08:37 PM EST): For those curious as to why the 3rd and final Sol Bianca disc is being pushed back a couple of months, the answer apparently lays in Japan. According to a couple of Japanese retailers, the final volume (#6) has just come out in Japan though a few others list it as coming out some time last month though it was originally solicited for mid October. Which likely means Pioneer only recently got the final materials to begin their own 5.1 mix and authoring. For those who are waiting for this last disc, let's hope the wait is worth it!

Kudos! (06:46 PM EST): Jerry Chu of Bandai just dropped us a line letting us know that the second volume of Escaflowne has entered the Billboard video sales chart at number 22! Congratulations! Getting more anime in the top 40 definitely helps spread both awareness of anime as well as its sales potential!

Thursday, December 7th, 2000

Slight site changes (09:07 PM EST): Every time you get yourself into a rhythm.... you know the story. As this delves away from the focus of the site and more on my personal life, I've moved it off of the main page to here. 

Press (08:47 PM EST): A couple of new press releases have come out from ADV for both Farscape and two of their Rubbersuit productions titles. 

Wednesday, December 6th, 2000

Imma Youjo problem (05:02 PM EST): Right Stuf has posted on their site some information about a problem with the first Imma Youjo disc. "We have heard from a couple of customers that they have received Imma Youjo DVD Disc 1, and that the subtitles are not functioning. Nutech (the manufacturer) has notified us that a very small amount of these may have slipped out; there was a replication error on one batch of discs and this information was not included. If you received a bad disc, please contact us for replacement instructions. We have been told that the number of these that made it out should be VERY limited."

Media Blasters Contest (04:44 PM EST): The folks at Media Blasters have concluded their Rurouni Kenshin art contest and have settled on the winners. I'd like to extend a personal way to go to my favorite artist, Riki LeCotey, who does quite a bit of Divi art for the site here. Congratulations to all the winners though, I'll be looking forward to seeing the entries on disc #4!

New title announcements (04:36 PM EST): January is indeed getting packed folks. On 1/30/2001, look for ADV to release Blood Reign (Curse of the Undead Yoma) and the first of four Blue Seed discs. Blue Seed will have 7 episodes (7/7/6/6) with the extras spread out across them, though heavier on the last two due to the extra space. According to posts in the forum but David Williams of ADV, all 13 of the omakes from the VHS will be there. All discs retail for 29.99$.

For those unsure about the show, Right Stuf has practically the entire series in their cheap bargain anime bin on VHS for about 6 bucks a pop as well as a ton of other shows that are likely to come out this year. With fewer and fewer discounts and more and more shows coming out from the back catalog, this is probably a good way for those on a budget to see if a series is going to be worthwhile picking up for them.

AnimEigo news (04:31 PM EST): According to an update on their site, their next DVD, The Spirit of Wonder : Miss China's Ring, is about to go into replication. "We used this disc to test out a lot of digital restoration and enhancement techniques and the results are pretty cool. As soon as we have a firm idea of the actual shipping date, we'll make it available for online ordering. " Also of interest is that the Macross signup is up to 8398 pre-orders as of 11/27/200

Tuesday, December 5th, 2000

Newly reviewed (05:29 PM EST): While I haven't had the time to sit down and go through the entire Bubblegum Crisis Megaset yet, I did go through all the new material on Bubblegum Crisis: Hurricane Live and have finished my review of it today.

Advance review (04:45 PM EST): The folks at Urban Vision were truly kind to us by being able to send a copy of Biohunter to us nearly two months early for review. Fans of certain Tenchi voice actors may be interested in this show...

Contests (09:05 AM EST): We meant to start this a day or two ago, but it's up and ready to roll now. During Christmas, we try to do something a bit bigger for our contests than the one or two discs we normally do. Last year we gave away the Tenchi Muyo OVA set. This year? How about the entire Cowboy Bebop series? Check that contest out as well as our currently running Design a Divi contest!

Monday, December 4th, 2000

Newly reviewed (11:51 PM EST): What the heck, let's get Dragonball Z: Trunks Vol. #2 out of the way as well.

Newly reviewed (11:19 PM EST): Digging a bit in our review pile, we've pulled out one from September that we needed to get done. Check out the slightly abbreviated review for Dragonball Z: Trunks Vol. #1.

Digital omake (05:08 PM EST): A new piece of omake has shown up today that was discovered on the Dirty Pair Flash disc. Check it out!

New title announcements (03:07 PM EST): Two new titles were listed on Right Stuf today as coming out soon from ADV Films. On 1/9, Monster Rancher Vol. #3 will arrive dub only and running 24.95$. On 1/23, Sakura Diaries Vol. #3 will arrive with a cost of 29.99$.

Region 2 reviews (12:02 AM EST): Two new reviews have been sent in for the region 2 review section, both of which are titles I really want to have time to sit down and watch. Bryan Chaney tackles My Neighbors the Yamada's while Carlos Salgado takes on FLCL Vol. #1.

Sunday, December 3rd, 2000

Top ten (05:42 PM EST): The top ten for 2000 to date and the top ten for each month has been updated through December. The charts are definitely more fluid now that more companies are producing discs, which is great to see.

Parlez vous francais? (12:11 AM EST): Jean Sebastien Sullivan has sent us in a list of titles that Manga/Pathe will release in France in 2001. Most of them are in Japanese (with French sub) and French dialogue.

Saturday, December 2nd, 2000

VHS dubs in danger? (11:44 PM EST): Just this past November, Bandai experimented with the single volume release of Tenamonya Voyagers on DVD with no VHS release of any kind. The only way to get it was on the DVD. Various talk among all the domestic anime studios throughout the summer 2000 convention season was indicating that subtitled VHS would be in its final throes going into 2001 and not much longer for dubbed VHS beyond that, barring kiddie stuff more than likely. According to the February Diamond Previews information, as sent in by Sean Kemp this morning, Bandai appears to be trying this again with Crest of the Stars, a 13 episode TV series. It's no surprise to see the lack of a subtitled release, but the lack of a dub is fairly significant. One other aspect that previously escaped us is that the upcoming collected releases of Saber Marionette J which will be dubbed will be the only way to get these dubbed versions. No tapes are being made for it.

Whether the information from the Tenamonya Voyagers release was enough, or even available, to Bandai to make the determination about Crest of the Stars will likely remain unknown, it's becoming obvious that Bandai is going to be the first to stop dubbed tapes for their shows.

New title announcement (11:33 PM EST): The folks at DVD File have the latest word on the Digimon movie coming to DVD from Fox. Due on 2/6, it is full frame with English and French 5.1 surround tracks, the trailer, interactive games and Digimon facts. Retail is $24.95.

It also looks like the 3rd volume to the Sol Bianca OVA series from Pioneer has been bumped back from it's 12/26 date to 2/13. My guess would be not only replication logjams but the possibility of the short time between the Japanese and US release playing a factor.

Newly reviewed (11:28 PM EST): The latest addition to our growing library of reviews is also one of the latest from Pioneer. Check out Dual Vol. #2: Student Housing!

Deja vu (06:56 PM EST): If you were with us last year at this time, you may recall the maddening last minute delays each week with the first Fushigi Yugi box set. I swear, I thought some people were going to just have a heart attack over it. With so many releases coming out this year compared to last, the delays haven't affected too many people yet in regards to the 2nd set. Originally with an 11/28 date, we've now seen it pushed to 12/5 and just in the past day to 12/12. Let's hope for it before Christmas.

Studio Challenge! (02:53 PM EST): The The Anime on DVD Studio Challenge! has been updated with the November results (though we are indeed a few discs short due to various retailer stocking issues) and while not a dramatic shift, things are indeed cranking along. And for the curious minded, here's a shot of our DVD contest pile!

Friday, December 1st, 2000

Cover art (09:27 PM EST): Two new pieces of cover art has now been added to our Upcoming Release Gallery. The first is the full wrap-around for the 3X3 Eyes two disc set and the other is the very attractive cover for the final volume of Amazing Nurse Nanako.

Gundam bits (08:54 PM EST): The folks at www.gundam.com have posted a summary of things mentioned during the Aka-con held this past weekend that Bandai Entertainment participated in:

• Gundam 0080, Gundam 0083, and Gundam 08th MS Team are all slated for DVD release next year sometime. Gundam Wing Endless Waltz will be coming to video in two formats, the dubbed VHS edition which is the 3 OVAs spliced together to make a movie, and the DVD which contains the 3 separate OVAs, and the movie with both dub & sub. The DVD will also include a special Gundam Encyclopedia with various Mobile Suit Statistics and information.
• The Original Mobile Suit Gundam (all 43 episodes) is coming to home video next year. Yoshiyuki Tomino Sensei (creator of Gundam) is involved with the dubbing & production. The episodes are all being digitally re-mastered to make the colors brighter and add parallax/focus effects to give the show greater 3D feel. Bandai Ent. is also working on a TV deal for the original series with both Cartoon Network (USA) and YTV (Canada).
• Endless Waltz which aired on Nov 10,2000 on Cartoon Network was their 2nd highest rated show EVER in the Network's history.
• Bandai Entertainment is committed to releasing more of the Gundam saga, but production on so many episodes takes time and they'll be coming out over the next few years.

A Wicked interview (08:49 PM EST): The good folks at Urban Vision dropped us a line today in regards to our earlier review of Wicked City. According to Rhona Medina, the video interview with the director was done about a month prior to authoring on the disc began and was made solely for the DVD release. And it was shot at Madhouse no less! Very cool and something I hope we can start seeing more of as US anime distributors work more and more closely with the Japanese production teams.

Take the poll (08:47 PM EST): Probably one of the more controversial releases this year, a quick poll has been thrown up to get your thoughts on the Wings of Honneamise DVD release. You may also want to check out the petition that Kenneth Lee has started in regards to Manga Entertainment.

Ranma & Dirty Pair DVD's (08:43 PM EST): On region 2 DVD coming soon, according to the latest CD Japan title announcements. Following the example set by the Maison Ikkoku release (box set and then individual releases), the Ranma series appears to be going that way as well with the first two discs coming out in a few months. Check out the rest of the announcements here.

Slightly advance review (08:37 PM EST): Due out next week is the supercalafragilisticexpialadocious disc Bubblegum Crisis 2040 Vol. #2. 

ADV tidbits (08:05 PM EST): According to an email sent in by a reader today, a correspondence from ADV Films indicated to him that the 3rd volume of Neon Genesis Evangelion will street on 1/23/01.

According to reports via Fans View, "In the Robotech race that sees ADV with the rights to the three-series English-language version and AnimEigo with the rights to the original Macross, Williams said ADV plans to fill a DVD disc with extras from the series - most likely from Carl Macek's restoration work and archives. During the Robotech DVD release, the company also plans to release a box that will eventually hold all of the series' discs." Be sure to click on the link so you can say you saw David Williams wearing such interesting clothing.