Monday, April 30th, 2001
More licensing (10:33 PM EST):
According to a follow-up post regarding
the ADV panel at Sakura Con, Matt Greenfield of ADV reportedly listed both
the Sakura Wars TV series and Sakura Wars OVA 2 to be officially
licensed.
Blood (09:02 PM EST):
This past week has been an exceptionally
good one for a number of region 2 buying anime fans. Of particular
interest was the release of Blood: The Last Vampire, which contained both
a film version and a digital transfer version of the same movie, 5.1 sound
and an anamorphic widescreen transfer for both versions. Toss in an
isolated music score, a gorgeous box set and slap a price sticker on it.
What do you get? You get my
review of it,
Kenneth Lee's review and
Matt Newkirks review.
For those unable to get this sumptuous release from the folks at
Production I.G., the Manga version will be released on 7/31/2001 for the
low price of 24.95, and to the best of our knowledge will be the film
telecine version, though we have no word on whether it will be anamorphic
or not.
Macross interview (07:11 AM EST):
The folks over at Robotech.com have an
interview
up with AnimEigo's Shin Kurokawa, talking about his experiences with the
Macross DVD restoration project. And no drooling on those pictures of
Shin, ok ladies? I hear enough about that from my wife as it is.
More con info (06:56 AM EST):
Forum reader BChaney has posted some
information from Sunday's panel at Sakura Con with Manga Entertainment.
Let's run the highlights:
- In regards to the Evangelion movies, "It is
looking like a two disc set including both movies, set for around the
end of October. The disc will also feature lots of extras including
voice director commentary (English), VA interviews, director interview.
He said that there will about 2 hours of extras included. He also
confirmed that there will be no edits."
- Once the Evangelion movies are done, "Virus
Buster Surge, Ghost Sweeper and Astro Boy. Virus Buster Surge might also
include a commentary track. Back catalog titles up next for DVD include
Gunbuster (possibly with a dub track), Black Jack, Giant Robo and X.
Both Giant Robo and X had to wait for the region 2 release. It was also
mentioned that most of the extras on the Giant Robo R2 discs will not be
on the Manga R1 due to Manga's contract with the licensor. They will try
to get these out by Christmas."
- "When asked about Wings of Honneamise, Keith
insisted that it was a print quality issue rather than an encoding
problem and thus no recall for the disc is planned."
For those who read the detailed analysis here a
few months ago that provide numerous images and other technical
information regarding the disc, you'll know that this was not simply a
print issue. The Wings of Honneamise disc is indeed defective and it's
extremely disappointing to see Manga take this stance with it. Since the
release of Wings of Honneamise and the ensuing discussions about the
problems, many people are taking a wait and see attitude with each of
Manga's releases, much like the general home theater crowd does with MGM
releases. I certainly won't discourage that, and for Wings of Honneamise I
simply recommend purchasing the
region 2
version and emailing Manga why you're not buying their product. If
they don't get the email, they can simply deny the problem.
DVD Fansubs arrive (06:50 AM EST):
Or more specifically, the ADV Fansub line
has set up its first DVD listing. Here's what David Williams of ADV posted
on the forum, with more information to come later this week:
I've been given the ok to post my plan so here it is, the release
plan for the City Hunter 2 TV series. Next week I'll be putting
up a pre-order page on the website to begin taking orders for the first
of two 5 disc box sets to cover the entire 63 episode series. These
discs will be subtitle only. The sets will come in fold out boxes
similar to those used for the X-Files and other releases with a slip
case. We'll take pre-orders and when we reach 2000 orders we'll begin
production. Each box will start out with a $124.98 SRP but the price
will drop depending on how many pre-orders we have when the set is
complete. This will still be under the ADV Fansubs label and will be the
first ADV Fansubs DVDs. I'll post more details, such as the link to the
page, later this week as I get things ready.
Sunday, April 29th, 2001
More newly reviewed (01:00 PM EST):
Though the extra shiny special edition
came out over two months ago, the Toonami version of
Gundam
Wing: Endless Waltz has now arrived, quenching the thirst of those
who need their anime sanitized.
Newly reviewed (12:30 PM EST):
If you couldn't handle the 4 disc release
of Blue Submarine No. 6, then the
Toonami version just released may just be what you need...
UK: The "Other" Region 2 (11:18 AM
EST):
With our heavy focus on region 1 and our
occasional forray's in Japan's region 2 releases, we often don't have both
the time and the resources to talk about the other region 2 market, The UK
and Europe. With some luck and some articles from those over there, we
hope to beef up at least in the column department about that particular
region. Kicking it off is Kristin Jones,
detailing the key players in
the UK market, where they're coming from and where they're going.
Alternate angles (09:26 AM EST):
Let's just do it:
Region 2:
Hardware review (08:58 AM EST):
Jesus Vigo has sent in a player review
today, this time for the
Apex AD-703, and a codefree version at that!
Digital omake (08:53 AM EST):
With this weeks release of Saber
Marionette J Collection 2, another piece of little
sweet omake has been found!
New column (08:38 AM EST):
A new column has started up today, one
that definitely needs to have more of a voice around here with me being a
Japanese language fan. Forum regular "Socratic" has started up a column
talking about the good and the bad about English dubbing of anime, which
you can read about here.
Alternate angle (08:29 AM EST):
I'm hoping to make more of a dent in
these later today, but for now here's an alternate angle review by Roman
Martel for the 3rd installment of
Bubblegum Crisis 2040!
New in R2 (08:24 AM EST):
The latest batch of
small announcements has
come in from CD Japan with some interesting titles and a sizeable box set
for Matsumoto fans.
Retailer report (08:01 AM EST):
The latest retailer report has shown up
this week from M.C. Wilson regarding the online store
Buy.com.
Con report (07:35 AM EST):
Some interesting information has come out
of the Sakura Con this weekend, which BChaney reports on
here in the forum. Some interesting things such as the ADV Fansub line
transitioning over to DVD (with some people now doing some leaping
guesswork that ADV has picked up Marmalade Boy, based on Princess Nine
comments), a tentative theatrical release date of September for Spriggan
and possibly even a recall for the inverted audio issue with the old
Sakura Wars disc. Also of note is that Bandai now has Better Man, Fancy
LaLa (DVD will have dub), Saber Marionette J to X, Silent Mobius and Brain
Powerd in production for a 2002 release so we'll definitely see some sweet
sets coming out then. 2001 is definitely the year of Gundam for them
though.
Saturday, April 28th, 2001
It came from the newly reviewed pile
(06:21 PM EST):
The final disc we've managed to watch
this past week (since on average we're only able to watch three episodes a
night after work) is Central Park Media's release of
Shamanic
Princess, a truly engaging piece of work.
More newly reviewed (05:25 PM EST):
Dipping some more into the pile, we've
completed our review of the pantyfest known as
Agent Aika: Naked
Missions.
Newly reviewed (04:33 PM EST):
Trying to catch up on some of the shorter
material released recently, we've taken a plunge into classic old skool
anime with the newly released
Appleseed
disc from Manga Entertainment. At least with this disc being a single
layer, we don't have to fear the dreaded layer skip so common on many
Manga discs.
Friday, April 27th, 2001
Arc gets shorter? (05:53 PM EST):
If the information on the forum is true,
it appears that the ADV release of Arc the Lad will be somewhat shorter
than many of us expected. The first two announced discs contain three
episodes, but posts by ADV rep David Williams leads readers to believe
that volume 3 will contain five episodes, which could likely continue
through the remainder of the series, bringing this 26 episodes series in
at six discs total instead of the eight discs many expected.
New title announcement (05:52 PM EST):
The information has come down via David
Williams of ADV in our forum this afternoon that Sorcerer Hunters Vol. #2
will street on 7/31/2001. The 7 episode disc will have Japanese and
English language audio tracks and English subtitles.
Retailer review (09:59 AM EST):
Dave Rehfeldt has sent in
his thoughts on both
his local Suncoast and the online version of the store today.
Digital Omake (09:49 AM EST):
A few new additions to our
Digital Omake page today,
including Twin Signal, Rurouni Kenshin Vol. #6, Neon Genesis Evangelion
Collection 0:6 and from region 4, Samurai X 1 and 2.
Anime on DVD Cancer Team (09:41 AM
EST):
For those interested in donating some
computing time on your systems when not in use, why not join our
Cancer Research Team? And yes, we know it's PC only.
New primer (08:04 AM EST):
With the series rushing to its conclusion
and a lot of folks coming into anime and checking out suggestions here,
we've got a brand new primer that should do some good at getting you
interested in a series. Katie Montgomery has sent in a primer for the
Vision of Escaflowne
series, or just Escaflowne as it's known on DVD. Be sure to check that out
as well as our Anime on DVD
Recommends section!
Thursday, April 26th, 2001
Advance review (10:00 PM EST):
Due out on 6/12/2001, Urban Vision will
be releasing the cult favorite Twilight of the Dark Master. A review copy
arrived on our doorstep today and after drooling over the absolutely
gorgeous cover, we've given the disc a spin and put our thoughts about it
into
review form.
Macross tidbits (06:59 PM EST):
Two pieces of information here today.
According to a post on the AnimEigo mailing list, producer Shin Kurokawa
confirmed that the Macross set will indeed contain the eye-catches for the
show (something the majority of fans have probably never seen). The
AnimEigo site also indicates that Macross will be brought out in
progressive format. I can almost hear the sales of progressive scan
players going through the roof right now...
Gundam news (06:44 PM EST):
Bandai DVD producer Charles McCarter took
a few minutes of his time today to post some interesting bits of news on
the forum regarding their upcoming release of Mobile Suit Gundam: 08th MS
Team:
"1. Before anyone asks, the discs will be the UNCUT version. No
edits. So, please do not ask this question.
2. The discs will contain the Bonus Animation Clips found on the
Japanese LD release (but not the Japanese DVD release).
3. Something I've been working on since December: Mobile Suit Gundam:
The 08th MS Team will be the first Bandai DVD title to have reversible
covers, with each featuring a different piece of art. One side will
feature the Mobile Suits, with illustrations done by mecha artist Kouji
Sugiura. The other side will feature the characters of MS08, with art
done by Toshihiro Kawamoto"
How sweet it is!
Wednesday, April 25th, 2001
No Kiki for you! (07:39 PM EST):
According to this newsbit on
Anime News
Network, the folks at Nausicaa.net have learned that the Kiki's
Delivery Service info that slipped into the Disney site was in error. The
folks at Disney indicate that there are no dates set for any Ghibli movie
outside of Japan. Check the link out for more details.
Region 2 capable folks however continue to be
excited over the June release of Kiki's Delivery Service in anamorphic
widescreen with Japanese, English audio tracks and English subtitles.
Tuesday, April 24th, 2001
New title announcements (05:35 PM
EST):
What does everybody love? New titles
announced! What do we have? New titles announced! Can you tell I'm on-call
for my regular job this week and have been up late? I knew you could!
- Detonator Orgun / 159 minutes / 09/11/2001 / 29.99$
- Garaga / 100 minutes / 09/11/2001 / 29.99$
- Patlabor TV Series Vol. 1 / 120 minutes / 08/14/2001 / 29.99$
- Ping Pong Club 4: Losers' Club / 100 minutes / 09/11/2001 / 29.99$
Sweet! Orgun is a classic I had on laserdisc that'll be great to see
again, Patlabor must sell so they make more (and 5 episodes
a disc ain't bad) and even though it's starting with #4, any Ping Pong
Club fan is going to get ecstatic when they see this. Let's hope they
don't take long to do the earlier volumes while releasing #4 the same time
as the VHS.
Convention circuit (05:30 PM EST):
Looks like I spoke too soon about my
convention-going this year. The
Great American Anime Expo is the "vile incursion" from the northern
wastelands of Canada into our fair country. This con, which is put
together by the same folks who put together CNAnime, is going to be right
in my back yard in beautiful Boston this coming October. There's no way I
can pass this up. At the very least, you know there are going to be some
really great pub crawls going on after hours....
Affiliate stuff (05:27 PM EST):
We've added two new affiliates today, DVD
Empire and Suncoast. For those who aren't aware, clicking through the
links and buying stuff during that session does indeed help keep this site
running. We've opted to stick it out with this method rather than doing
the Amazon Honor System or the Paypal method (though we're tempted to
mimic the Big Picture site and ask for help in upgrading to a progressive
scan player, but that might be pushing it
 ).
The whole honor system thing just genuinely felt like a bad way to do
things here for the site in general.
Monday, April 23rd, 2001
Akira artwork (06:08 PM EST):
The folks over at the
Digital Bits are running a
piece of Akira artwork (that looks rather suspiciously like the theatrical
poster) that they're calling the upcoming DVD artwork. No indication of
whether this is the standard edition cover or the deluxe edition cover.
New title... clarification (05:23 PM
EST):
We've gotten some feedback regarding the
announcement below about Hand Maid May. Apparently the title wasn't
supposed to be announced until sometime in May, and we're guessing the
information that got out was simply wrong. The 11 episode series will be
released on three discs in a 4/3/4 format. Once we know more info, we'll
be sure to post.
New title announcement (03:05 PM EST):
Coming as no surprise at all, Pioneer's
announced an 8/13/2001 release date for the first volume of Hand Maid May
via
Right Stuf. This ten episode series (which has an eleventh episode
that was made directly for video) will be released in a fashion just like
the Japanese release. Yep, two episodes per disc for 29.99$ and a running
time of 60 minutes. Hopefully we'll at least get the box that was offered
with the Japanese disc 3. But with this price per episode and disc count
for a 10 episode series, I can only guess what the forum folks are going
to have to say. At least we're paying half the cost and hopefully getting
the same quality as the region 2 release.
Sunday, April 22nd, 2001
Newly reviewed (04:23 PM EST):
Digging again into our review pile, we've
spent a little bit of time indoors on this gorgeous weekend to watch
Moldiver, the
complete six episode OVA series on one discs from Pioneer that's due out
on 4/24/2001.
New Column (11:35 AM EST):
I'm rather pleased to at last unveil a
column that we've been allowed to reprint here. Check out the
twelve columns we've added
today from Oliver Chin as previously seen in Comics Retailer about anime,
the marketplace and DVD.
Petitions (11:25 AM EST):
The latest entry in our
petition listing is for
4Kids newly acquired Yu-Gi-Oh series.
More from the 'Cat (11:21 AM EST):
LadyCat is back this weekend with her
latest column,
detailing all kinds of questions and answers to and from the anime fan
community.
Advance review (11:05 AM EST):
Due out on 5/8 from Pioneer is the latest
disc of the very sweet and highly addictive series,
Cardcaptor Sakura Vol. #3. Twelve episodes down, fifty eight more to
go!
Saturday, April 21st, 2001
Convention circuit (06:09 PM EST):
We're in the process of finalizing our
convention appearances, and wanted to pass along our plans as I know
several folks want to meet and greet at the conventions. We're going to be
at Otakon this year (though just in a
press capacity and not as a guest) in August. In June we'll be at the
first year con Mikkakon in June,
which is a real no brainer for us as it's literally 10 minutes from my
office or so. We'll also be on a panel there:
Sat : 11am-12pm : Anime Websites : Mara Karapetian and
Chris Beveridge
We're also going to be appearing in an event at the October event in
New York City, the Big
Apple Anime Festival. More details on that fun event coming later this
summer. I hope to see folks there (wearing
Divi shirts too!)
New column (08:47 AM EST):
The first in what I hope to be a series
of columns kicks off today. Ralph Jenkins has started the enviable task of
talking about the less talked about older anime that's finally starting to
come to DVD in Japan. The ones that a lot of the older fans such as myself
grew up on. Yes,
Old Skool Anime is here and this weeks column talks about Birth and
Douwa meita senshi Windaria.
Friday, April 20th, 2001
Newly reviewed (04:50 PM EST):
After taking in some of the gorgeous
sunshine up here in New England today, I did take a few minutes to sit
down and watch some good old hentai. Check out our review of the recently
released TriAngle
from Central Park Media.
Akira tidbits (03:40 PM EST):
A few pieces of information have surfaced
regarding the upcoming release of Akira. First, the release date has
shifted from 7/3 to 7/24. This is likely due to that particular week being
a big holiday/vacation week for a lot of people and a lot of outdoor
activities, which means a lot less foot traffic in retail stores. A shift
to the end of the month makes sense, and if anyone remembers what
7/25/2000 was like, there were about 15 anime releases on that day last
year. Definitely a big release period.
The other information is about the deluxe edition
with the special tin being made for it. Apparently the first 75,000 copies
will be packaged in this collectors tin and after that it will be a
typical two disc case. Hopefully we'll see some pictures of the packaging
soon, but either way I'm getting pretty psyched for this deluxe edition.
New title announcements (01:00 PM EST):
According to the latest update at Diamond
Comics for items shipping in the July timeframe, there's some new titles
listed there. We won't bother to list everything that we've already known
about though, just the new ones.
- Arc the Lad Vol. #3 - 29.98$
- Baoh - 24.95$
- Getter Robo: Resurrection - 29.98$
Alternate angles (10:20 AM EST):
As it's a beautiful bright and sunny day,
let's see if I can get a few alternate angles out of the way early here so
I can watch Card Captor Sakura Vol. #3 tonight....
Boogiepop Phantom (10:05 AM EST):
The folks at TRSI are starting up their
work on the summer release for Boogiepop Phantom, including starting the
dub next week. In a similar vein to their request for comments on
KareKano's release, They'd "like to open it up - what extras might we
provide to make this a worthwhile purchase? I might put this up for
preorder soon if we get some good ideas. Dubbing actually begins next
week, with some familiar names..." You can provide your thoughts on the
forum in this
thread.
Thursday, April 19th, 2001
Advance review (10:52 PM EST):
It's not often we manage an advance
review of a CPM title, but tonight we've got our first look at the
upcoming Harlock
Saga disc that's due on 5/8. This is definitely not what we've been
used to seeing for a CPM disc.
Press & new title announcement
(05:35 PM EST):
The folks at TRSI have sent out their
latest press release which
talks about the upcoming
Weather
Report Girl DVD and two more CD's coming from Animetrax.
New title announcements
(05:23 PM EST):
Two titles made their announcement today
via Viz's press releases. On 8/28, we'll see the arrival of
Ceres, Celestial
Legend Vol. #2 of 8 and
Ranma 1/2:
Random Rhapsody Vol. #4. Both have running times of 78 minutes and
list for 29.95$. It does appear that Ceres and Ranma are both getting
monthly releases instead of the more traditional (and to some, annoying)
bi-monthly release. We'll wait and see if they can keep it up.
Kiki in R1?
(07:07 AM EST):
According to a post on the Miyazaki
mailing list, it appears that Disney may be planning their Kiki's Delivery
Service release sometime later this summer. The title shows up as a
listing on their
own retail section of their site but takes you to the VHS listing when
you go to the actual ordering area. And before complete and utter panic
sets in, keep in mind Disney is like most other Hollywood studios and
sends out minimal information first and then fills out the details such as
additional language tracks later. But this sneak preview does give folks
with the connections a chance to question things before they get too far
along, much like with Mononoke. Thanks to Chris Meadows for alerting us to
this.
Wednesday, April 18th, 2001
New title announcement
(10:01 PM EST):
Coming on June 26th, the folks at
Critical Mass are releasing their next hentai-ish disc with Weather Report
Girl, an anime variant of Weather Woman. The 90 minute disc contains both
of the anime episodes which are also receiving a first-time dub that's
also being released to VHS. The disc will retail for a sweet 24.95$. Mmm,
cheap hentai.
CPM tidbits
(07:17 PM EST):
Justin Sevakis of Central Park Media
posted a few comments for our readers today about their DVD production.
Starting with their September releases, they've heeded the call of many
fans and will be improving on their chapter stop setup for their discs.
Right now, there's typically two usually poorly placed chapter stops per
episode. With the September releases forward, there will be upwards of
four to five placed appropriately depending on the show. They've also
informed us that they've not abandoned the clear keepcase, as several of
their recent releases have had black keepcases. It's been found out that
the replicator (apparently a new one) hadn't known to use the clear ones
and they're working to get that resolved.
For those in need of clear keepcases, I heartily
recommend the folks at www.inetdvd.com
for your keepcase needs. While the clears are not Amaray's (they're
Alpha's, who now own the company that makes Amaray's), this is one of the
best and fastest places to get keepcases from. I should know, I've bought
a ton of them there.
Akira on the move
(07:15 PM EST):
We've gotten word this evening that
Akira's making its way out west and will be opening in Los Angeles and San
Francisco 4/27/2001:
Digital Screenings at
AMC MEDIA CENTER NORTH 6
770 North First Street
Burbank, CA
818-953-9800
AMC 1000 VAN NESS
San Fransisco, CA
415-922-4262
Ranma 1/2 OVA's
(07:11 PM EST):
Some new light has been shed regarding
the Ranma 1/2 OVA DVD release from last year. Some may recall that the set
had an inverted audio problem that caused headaches for some people
(whereas others barely even noticed it if at all) and we had heard from
Viz at the convention circuit earlier this year that replacements were in
the works and there'd be a swap out deal of some sort. I believe we did
cover this before, but just to be on the safe side, the folks at
Right Stuf (who handles Pioneer's customer
service and other issues like this) now have confirmed and passed onto
their CSR's that this is an open-ended program if you do have this set
that is defective. So be sure to contact them. The way to tell the
difference between the two sets (I believe) is that the original has the
clear plastic slipcase the slides DOWN over the box like the Tenchi Muyo
box set. The new versions have the same slipcase but it's like the second
Fushigi Yugi box in that it slips the disc in on the side, like a book
into a boxset.
New title announcement
(11:03 AM EST):
According to a new post on the forum from
currently vacationing rep David Williams of ADV, Neon Genesis Evangelion
Collection 0:8 is set for a 6/26 release, bringing the series to its
conclusion.
Tuesday, April 17th, 2001
Newly reviewed
(08:59 PM EST):
We've made another dent in our review
pile tonight as we've completed our pieces on
Escaflowne Vol.
#5 as well as
Escaflowne Vol.
#6. We'll be spending the next few days watching stuff again such as
Harlock Saga, Nightwalker and Moldiver and will have more new reviews this
weekend, as well as catching up on some of the 20 or so alternate angles
we've received over the past week.
Revolutionary Girl Utena Contest
(05:04 PM EST):
A rather neat contest is apparently just
now kicking off by the folks at Central Park Media in regards to the Utena
movie coming out later this year. They're taking
submissions of
Utena fan art and Utena cosplayers and the top ten pieces will be on
the region 1 Utena movie DVD in a Fan Tribute Gallery DVD Feature. And
they'll get a free copy of the DVD as well. Very neat contest, and I hope
to see some winners from regular readers here!
Monday, April 16th, 2001
Advance review 2
(09:11 PM EST):
As if one nice early advance review
wasn't enough, we've also finished out review of the 6/5 release from ADV
Films for
Bubblegum Crisis 2040 Vol. #6. Yet one more series finished and out of
the way...
Advance review
(07:10 PM EST):
A real rarity for Bandai, they've sent
out a review copy almost two months prior to street date. And after
watching this disc, I can understand why. The 6/19 release of the
Big O Vol. #1 is
a real gem in more ways that one, and having four episodes for a 24.95$
price tag is something we're looking forward to seeing more of.
Oh my DVD!
(05:37 PM EST):
A few teases have been mentioned in the
forum today while Shin of AnimEigo was slacking off and posting here.
According to his post, the video has been remastered and they're working
on adding some "fun(ky)" DVD features on it. The 5 episode series will be
released on two discs (1-3 on one and 4-5, which are longer on the second)
since AnimEigo can do more regular quality control checks with single
layer discs. Having sold off my OMG! AnimEigo laserdiscs when the DVD bug
caught back in 97, I'm really looking forward to seeing these again.
Out of print?
(02:27 PM EST):
According to
Right Stuf, AnimEigo's January release of Spirit of Wonder is now out
of print. Oof, 3 months! They do have copies still in stock of this lovely
little tale though and there's no indication of whether it will come back
into stock or not eventually.
Quick note
(02:21 PM EST):
For those wondering where we were this
weekend and wondering about the current lack of look for the site... can
you say "learning curve" with the new server? As we're currently at our
day job that provides for my daily sustenance and massive DVD consumption,
I can't do much at the moment but will be working hard on it this evening.
Reviews and licensing are available on the left and you can get to the
forum here.
Oops
(02:20 PM EST):
On Friday we inadvertently called Big O
our first 5 Divi disc when we previously gave that honor to the most
worthy Gunsmith Cats. With as many discs as we watch, a slip like this was
bound to occur. At the least, the Big O is the first 5 Divi rated disc for
Bandai from us since we started up that additional rating piece. And don't
forget to fill out the user ratings at the bottom of reviews to help give
another view of how folks feel about the shows and the discs.
Friday, April 13th, 2001
Advance review
(10:30 PM EST):
Due out on 4/24, Pioneer brings about the
concluding volume to one of the more interesting and offbeat releases from
the past year with
Black Heaven
Vol. #4.
New title announcement
(06:47 PM EST):
The latest announcement via
Right Stuf today is for Viz's upcoming release
of the 24 episode series Ayashi no Ceres, which will be released in the US
on 8 volumes of three episodes under the title
Ceres, Celestial
Legend. Click on that link to read the disc summary and to see the
potential cover art for it.
Thursday, April 12th, 2001
Bloody nice
(09:40 PM EST):
The folks at Manga have put up a trailer
for their 7/31 release of the Blood: The Last Vampire anime release which
you can find
here. Those few seconds of footage is simply making me drool even more
for that region 2 boxset.
Even more newly reviewed
(09:21 PM EST):
Our final review tonight is something
quite interesting. The Japanese company
Yumeta recently released what I think is their first anime OVA
entitled
Animation Runner Kuromi, a story about a first time production manager
tossed into the thick of things at the little Studio Petit. Of particular
interest for this release is the fact that it's quite well subtitled in
English and that it's directed by Akitaroh Daichi of Jubei-Chan and
Child's Toy fame.
Of interest, the only place to acquire this title
for overseas appears to be
AMO Tokyo, who realized that their offices were within a ten minute
walk of the directors residence. This apparently led them to talk with the
folks at Yumeta who may have been unaware of the buying power of the
overseas market. The subtitles were apparently placed on the disc at the
request of Mr. Daichi who quite likely knows he has a strong following
here. The good folks at AMO Tokyo have been telling the good folks at
Yumeta that putting subtitles on the disc is a great start (we agree!) but
making it region free would be even better. We agree again. We'll be
looking forward to seeing what else Yumeta releases in the future and
encourage fans of Animation Runner Kuromi to email them and
let them know of your
interest in seeing them go region free and subtitled.
More newly reviewed
(08:39 PM EST):
Taking another swing at the pile, we've
completed our review (and yet another series!) with
Irresponsible Captain Tylor Vol. #4.
Newly reviewed
(07:54 PM EST):
Making a dent, we've completed our review
of Magic
Users Club Vol. #1 today as well as posted the first
alternate
angle we've received on it from David Owens. We've also put up the
artwork for the
2nd volume.
Wednesday, April 11th, 2001
Site stuff
(09:59 PM EST):
For those following our issues, we've
fixed the issue with the domain name resolution (chalk it up to our lack
of server experience) and are in the process of re-rebuilding the site
under the proper area (wheee). Everything should be working for the most
part, but there's some things that require some extra work that will be
done this weekend.
I'd also like to point out our upcoming reviews
section, which got inundated with a dozen new discs today. As has been
hinted at before, with as many discs coming out as there are, we're simply
not going to be as fast as we used to be with them. While I do enjoy
watching anime (and we do watch a lot of anime), I do like spending time
with my family in the evenings. I wouldn't expect a slowdown in reviews at
all, but just don't expect us to catch up anytime soon. Time to start the
pool on when we'll finish Slayers Try. ;)
Even more new title announcements
(09:52 PM EST):
The dates have finally been set for the
Evangelion movies. According to the latest
Right Stuf update, Evangelion, Neon Genesis the
Movie and Evangelion, Neon Genesis Death & Rebirth are both due out on
10/30/2001 for a retail price of 29.95$ each. Both are bilingual but
that's about all that's known. We've been hearing tidbits from the
convention circuit via the dub voice actors that they're recording all
kinds of interviews both with the English VA's and various Japanese
production folks who've been visiting. Hopefully more information will be
forthcoming, but if that info is true, then I doubt we'll know all the
extras until the disc actually ships with the number of conventions and
deadlines throughout this summer.
More new title announcements
(09:40 AM EST):
It's starting to look like an
announcement day. TRSI is now listing several new Media Blasters titles
all due on 7/31:
- Magic Users Club (Maho Tsukai Tai) 3 - 60 minutes - 24.95$
- Voogies Angel - 100 minutes - 29.95$
- Tokio Private Police 1-2 - 60 minutes - 29.95$
- Very Private Lesson - 90 minutes - 24.95$
New title announcement
(07:46 AM EST):
Finally giving us the official street
date (even though it showed up on one or two retailers with a much earlier
date by accident), the first volume of Orphen has been given a street date
of 7/10/2001.
Tuesday, April 10th, 2001
Site merchandise
(06:42 PM EST):
Some new pieces have been added to our
Shameless Self-Promotion
page from our contest earlier last year (it takes time, but we will
eventually get to almost all of them!). We're also in the process of
adjusting prices on them (Cafepress raised prices earlier this year, so
we're not making anything on ones put up before today) as well as changing
it so the image is on the front of the shirt.
Utena update
(06:03 PM EST):
One of our more frequent questions here
is in regards to the Revolutionary Girl Utena TV series and it's
general... lack thereof, especially in light of the news about the movie
coming out in the US later this year. CPM's Justin Sevakis posted on our
forum recently explaining what the deal is:
A lot of questions have been raised regarding the status of the
remainder of the television series "Revolutionary Girl Utena". As many
fans know, we announced that we obtained the rights to the subsequent
episodes of the TV series, and intended to begin release preparations
immediately upon receipt of materials from our licensor.
We made this statement because our contract gives us these rights.
However, our licensor has demanded that we renegotiate the terms of our
existing contract. Although we consider this to be a breach of our
contract, we have been willing to be flexible in order to continue the
release. Discussions have been underway for a long time, and are likely
to continue for a long time, due to the nature of the consensus decision
making process.
In the mean tiome, to continue to provide Utena to our fans, we have
licensed the Revolutionary Girl Utena Movie, which was available from a
different licensor. While we are disappointed that we are unable to
continue the television series in a timely manner, we hope that you will
enjoy the movie version in the mean time. In addition, we are flying the
original series and movie director, Mr. Kunihiko Ikuhara, to New York
City this month so that he can personally oversee the production of the
English version. The subtitled version was written by his hand-picked
translator, and Mr. Ikuhara himself will be on hand to autograph copies
after the film's English language premiere at Big Apple Anime Fest this
October.
As you can see, we are working hard to ensure that Utena fans are
taken care of, and we hope you'll bear with us while we take care of
unforeseen issues. Most importantly, we hope that you understand that
this problem is not one caused by our company (and we do have our share
of those!) but by others.
We at CPM thank all the fans for their patience in this matter.
Justin Sevakis
Production Associate, Central Park Media
New title announcements
(05:28 PM EST):
Two new discs listed today on
Right Stuf from Funimation. Dragon Ball Z 38
Androids: Invincible and Dragon Ball Z 20 Frieza: The Summoning are both
scheduled for release on 5/8/2001 with a price of 24.95$. Both are
bilingual releases.
Press
(05:22 PM EST):
ADV's press folks have churned out a
new one today, this time
heralding the release of the concluding volume of Bubblegum Crisis 2040 on
DVD on 6/5/2001. There's also some stuff about Sailor Moon tapes in there
too.
Monday, April 9th, 2001
Advance review
(07:55 PM EST):
Sweet mercy, this series is such a tease.
Due on 5/15 is
Bubblegum Crisis 2040 Vol. #5 from ADV Films. Shiny doesn't even begin
to cover this disc.
New title announcement
(06:21 PM EST):
For those needing their fix, a new date
that'll have many here drooling, Gasaraki Vol. #5 (of 8) has been
announced for a 6/19 date.
Sunday, April 8th, 2001
Advance review
(06:39 PM EST):
Due out on 4/17 (even though some places
have started shipping it early) is the latest from ADV in the form of
Neon Genesis Evangelion Collection 0:6. Tomorrow night we should have
a review for Bubblegum Crisis 2040 Vol. #5.
Alternate angles
(10:51 AM EST):
A few new alternate angles for region 1
and region 2 have arrived:
New in R2
(10:09 AM EST):
A sizeable list of
new releases have come in
from the folks at CD Japan
including Kiki's Delivery Service and the re-announcement of Video Girl Ai
(must have!).
Digital Omake
(10:05 AM EST):
Two new pieces have been
added, one for Lost
Universe Vol. #6 and another for Saber Marionette J Collection 1.
Contests
(09:54 AM EST):
Our fourth and
final contest
ended this past Thursday for the Irresponsible Captain Tylor Vol. #1 disc
and we've finally gotten it up and posted now that we're past all our
server issues. Our April contest, undetermined at this time, will take
place later this month.
Newly reviewed
(09:51 AM EST):
The latest in our review catch-up period
is yet another final volume in a series. The very surprising and fun to
watch
Outlaw Star has come to its conclusion and we're already missing it.
Petitions
(09:15 AM EST):
The folks who run 123Petitions.com have
apparently decided to stop the service effective later this week and as
such, we've removed all links to their site from our petitions page.
Saturday, April 7th, 2001
Newly reviewed
(05:34 PM EST):
Though we've spent the past couple of
days worrying about our server situation (and playing several rounds of
Tribes 2 to relieve the pressure), we did manage to watch a few shows.
We've completed our review of
Dual Vol. #4, the
concluding volume to the series that arrives on 4/10.
Big O tidbits
(12:13 AM EST):
The
press release for the Big O
DVD release has come out, and there's some interesting items on it. In
addition to the nice low 24.95 price tag for the first four episodes, the
extras include a textless openings, creator commentary, and staff
interviews. For rabid fans of this show (and you know who you are), you're
going to love this disc. Also be sure to check out their other
June announcements.
New title announcements
(07:33 AM EST):
A few new listings came in via
Right Stuf late last night. Adventure Kid
Complete will arrive on 7/10 with a running time of 115 minutes in
bilingual format for 29.99$. Also on the same day is Angel Sanctuary with
a running time of 90 minutes and retailing for 29.99$, the 120 minute Lady
Blue DVD for 29.99$ and the Maze TV series box set with 625 minutes for a
price of 129.99$.
Thursday, April 5th, 2001
Site notice
(11:30 AM EST):
We've spoken with our hosting service
(based on yesterdays site news) and are now working rapidly towards
getting our own server. This will necessitate a few changes. Until we move
all the way over and are up and running, the forum will not be
operational. It's the biggest bandwidth abuser and we need to make a
temporary solution that works. In addition, when we move, we'll be rolling
the forum into the animeondvd.com domain and the animeshowcase.com domain
will go inactive until I decide what to do with it.
We're going to have some fun new monthly costs
and we have some hope, based on comments from readers in the forum and in
email, that once we set up the Amazon Honor System and Paypal system that
other sites such as Penny Arcade
uses, we'll be able to cover things so we can keep things operational here
and provide the best news and community we can for the anime on DVD crowd.
Your support, as always, is greatly appreciated.
Wednesday, April 4th, 2001
Site notice
(06:27 PM EST):
We've been contacted by our hosting
service this evening and been alerted to the fact that we're somewhat over
our bandwidth limit per month between the main site and the
animeshowcase.com forum site. Our current limit, being on a shared server,
is 20 gig a month. Between the two (and they do balance out), we're at
almost 120 gig a month.
We'll be discussing options with them tomorrow
for dedicated service, but my initial fears are that we'll not be able to
cover the costs of going to a dedicated server, especially with the
dot.com implosion and the way our intake has dropped substantially these
past few months. We'll see what we can work out, so don't give up all hope
yet. If anything, the numbers are a testament to just how into DVD the
anime fans are. The traffic we get here is just immense.
Digital Omake
(05:57 PM EST):
Two new pieces have been
added today, with something
for Lost Universe and an additional piece of omake for Neon Genesis
Evangelion Vol. #5.
More R2 Goodness
(05:53 PM EST):
Courtesy of reader Mark Simmons, we've
now learned that the recently released Gundam F91 region 2 DVD contains
English subtitles, much like the Gundam Movies do. ** Correction ** We've
been told that it contains Japanese subtitles, not English subtitles.
We've also clarified the Those Who Hunt Elves section to indicate it's
only the first 13 episode season that contains the English dub. For more
region 2 discs with subs and dubs, check out
this page.
Tuesday, April 3rd, 2001
Tylor V 2.0
(05:05 PM EST):
While no date has been set yet for when
the corrected version of Tylor Vol. #4 will ship, we've gotten word on how
to tell the two versions apart. On the plus side, it's really easy. On the
minus side, it's on the disc itself. The artwork on the bad Tylor #4 has a
sketch of the Empress Azalyn. The upcoming corrected version will have
both her and a sketch of Tylor himself. I believe all the original discs
simply have one sketch on them.
New in R1
(04:57 PM EST):
There's quite a bit of new news today
regarding region 1 titles. The folks at TRSI have let us know that
Starblazers Vol. #4 will arrive on 5/1. The 100 minute disc contains
episodes 14-17 (dub only of course) and retails for 29.95$. TRSI has also
let us know that the upcoming Kishin Corps release (aka Geo-Armor) that's
due on 5/22 has had a price increase from 24.95 to 34.95$. Why? All we
know at this stage is that it's been bumped up to a double disc set. My
guess is that quality was going to suffer with the lengthy episodes on one
disc. If so, going to two discs and doing a double disc set is very cool.
This is one of our favorite classic Pioneer anime titles. TRSI is also
listing the Hades Project Zeorymer Vol. #2 for 29.95$ due on 6/15 as well
as the mini box set due out the same day with Vol. #1 and Vol. #2 for
49.95$ from DVD Ltd.
And in the ADV side of things, David Williams has
let loose some new release dates. Martian Successor Nadesico Vol. #5 and
Neon Genesis Evangelion Vol. #7 will arrive on 5/29. You can read about it
in the new press release
that also talks about the first volume of Nadia.
New in R2
(04:53 PM EST):
A small
batch of new titles for region 2 came in today via CD Japan's updates.
We've also gotten some word on what to expect for the dub/sub region 2
Kiki's Delivery Service; The 102 minute movie will have an image gallery,
a Kiki's Delivery Service commercial as well as a trailer for the upcoming
Ghibli film Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi. The disc is due on 6/8/01.
Monday, April 2nd, 2001
Advance review
(07:48 PM EST):
Due out on 4/17, the folks at Bandai have
sent us an early copy of
Angel Links
Vol. #1. For those who really got into Outlaw Star despite the
negative comments by others prior to its release, I'll be looking forward
to seeing how you like this. Or don't.
New Vampire Hunter D
(07:26 PM EST):
The folks at Urban Vision sent us this
tidbit earlier today:
At the Fanime Con panel, we announced our plans for releasing the new
Vampire Hunter D movie this year! We are planning a theatrical run in
September, shooting for a wider release than how anime has been shown so
far, which has only been in art houses. We would like to hit the top 20
cities in the US (at the very least, the top 8) to begin with, and then
judging from responses and requests, we would be glad to extend the
release schedule. If all goes according to plan, we will follow up with a
home video and DVD release around Christmas. We should be finalizing the
schedule soon, and will let everyone know what develops! At the panel, we
had voice actor information, storyboards and original press materials for
viewing, such as the Korean and Japanese movie posters. On April 21, 2001,
Vampire Hunter D will make its theatrical debut in both countries. For
pictures, check out
http://www.fansview.com courtesy of Kevin Lillard. Not mentioned at
the panel is the fact that there will be a whole lineup of Vampire Hunter
D merchandise along with the movie! More details as that develops!
The Japanese website is up for Vampire Hunter D! While it is still
under a bit of construction, feel free to check it out at
http://www.hunterd.com - currently
it's only in Japanese, but the English site is in development.
Look for information coming up in Newtype's April and May issues,
Animage's April and May issues, [featuring an interview with the director
Yoshiaki Kawajiri in the May Animage], AX May issue and more!
Press
(05:42 PM EST):
For every bit of Macross news that comes
out, so shall there be Robotech news. ADV has let loose the
press release for the first
two Robotech DVD's as well as the box set. We've also got the latest
TRSI press release that talks
about Assemble: Insert and the upcoming Tylor CD's.
Macross bits
(05:16 PM EST):
The mad restoration man behind Macross,
Shin Kurokawa, recently pulled himself away from making sure Minmei looks
as good as she should to post in our forums.... and the Macross forum of
all places. A few tantalizing bits were revealed (and may have been
revealed in the past). There will be two audio tracks for the release,
with track 1 being the remastered Japanese mono soundtrack and track 2
being the remastered music and effects track which can be used for the mad
drinking parties of college anime fans to do their own voiceovers.
Also of interest is that while working on
Macross, Shin is doing some minor restorations and cleanup on the Urusei
Yatsura TV sets. While certainly nowhere near the level of the Macross
cleanups, Shin says "All of our DVD projects start with remastering,
retransfer, and/or sprinkling some magic dust."
I-Con con report
(06:43 AM EST):
Mariela
had quite the busy weekend and is still recovering from it, but she did
send me off a quick update on various things which I think will go over
quite well with a lot of folks. I-Con, being a New York City convention,
tends to be CPM and Media Blasters specific, which is good in that it
gives them more of the spotlight without being overwhelmed by so many
other studios.
In addition to CPM acquiring Now and Then, Here
and Now, they've also nabbed something called Labyrinth of Flame, which is
done by the same folks behind Aika. Also according to Mariela, CPM's
approach to DVD throughout this year will be "a whole new world" with a
variety of changes, many requested here on our forums, being used. She
went through a quick list of things last night in the chat (as I was
passing out) and it did indeed seem like a new leaf being turned over.
As for titles to expect, there's some good
catalog stuff in there which has never been dubbed:
- RG Veda
- Slayers Try - which has 12 min dub cast feature
- Harlock Saga also has a dub cast feature
- Aika Final Battle has the Special Trial (a music thing apparently)
on it
- Angel Sanctuary will be out 3rd quarter, all eps on one (1) DVD.
- Patabor TV - they dubbed 5 eps, how well sells will determine if the
do more they do more
- More Ping Pong club is coming not just to vhs, but dvd
- Night on the Galactric Rail Road
- Detonator Orgun
- Strange Love
- Battle Skipper
As always with new licensing, be sure to check out Mariela's
Grand High License List!
Sunday, April 1st, 2001
New licensing
(08:49 PM EST):
Some new licensing information is
filtering in, and our grand licensing queen Mariela will be updating her
page tonight. So far I've heard that TRSI has acquired an old favorite of
mine in KO Beast Century and apparently CPM is getting Now and Then.... be
sure to check the licensing page for
updates tonight and tomorrow.
Digital omake
(03:13 PM EST):
Some folks have gotten Dual Vol. #4 early
and have sent in some more
hidden omake on the disc!
Anniversary Contests
(02:50 PM EST):
Our third anniversary has come and gone,
and all we have to do now is clean-up the mess! Well, not that the
contests are a mess (though we do get a ton of entries and they're
everywhere now, just like tinsel after Christmas). The big one of course
is Contest
1 where we offered up the Fushigi Yugi boxes...
over 1000 folks entered that one.
Contest 2a was
the special one offered up by TRSI for a copy of the Buttobi/CPU discs
where people had to design a prime-time US TV show around the promotional
images for the Buttobi release.
Contest 2
was our search for virgins. This contest got us the
most laughs as people were trying to figure out what kind of virgin (yes,
we left it vague, but 95% of the entries knew what kind we were looking
for) but we had a ton of laughs from the way people were both embarrassed
to proud of their ability to enter. Of course, anime and virgins do seem
to go hand in hand, so we had well over 1500 entries for this drawing for
Virgin Fleet.
Contest 3
was our Tenamonya Voyagers one where people had to
describe how they'd get home if they were stranded halfway across the
universe. Yes, we did this one in a pinch. So sue me, you try coming up
with contest ideas after three years!
Our final contest of the month didn't quite make
it. This is due to the discs on irresponsibility! So much like the
character,
Contest 4 starts the day after the contests
ends but will go for a few days. The prize? The first volume of the
Irresponsible Captain Tylor DVD release!
Newly reviewed 2
(01:56 PM EST):
We've also taken in a bit more anime this
weekend (yes, we're still moving boxes and settling into the new house)
and have finished our review of
Irresponsible Captain Tylor Vol. #3.
Newly reviewed
(01:02 PM EST):
Our latest review is the newest offering
from CPM's Anime 18 label with the recent release of
Demon Warrior
Koji. Ignore that cover folks, this here is some good hentai. Not to
be outdone, or own hentai master Tong Lin has sent in
his review
of it as well.
Con report
(12:00 PM EST):
The
first convention
report has been submitted to us today, this one coming from Pete Plank
regarding the Bandai panel. |
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