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Tuesday, July 31st, 2001
Contests (08:26 AM EST):
Please note that today is the last day for
entries for our contests. You could win the entire Trigun series, the
Irresponsible Captain Tylor OVA Vol. #1 or one of five Akira Special Edition
Limited Edition metal tin releases. That's almost 500$ in prizes we're going
to give away. Once all the entries are in at midnight tonight, we'll begin
going through them all on Wednesday evening. Thursday we'll have all the
winners posted and the prizes shipped off to them. So be sure to check
out our contest page for
the details on each of the active contests.
Monday, July 30th, 2001
Newly reviewed (06:45 PM EST):
Adding another one to the library, we took in
Media Blasters recent release of
Elf Princess Rane,
a show that must have aged a few subtitlers and translators.
Let the hunt begin (05:55 PM EST):
The folks at
AnimeNation let me know about something very
interesting about the upcoming release from Central Park Media for
Revolutionary Girl Utena Movie. Apparently the first 10,000 copies of the
Utena movie DVD will come in a limited edition transparent pink keepcase and
also include a special Anime Zone sampler DVD featuring trailers and clips of
CPM anime titles. This second DVD is likely to be the same sampler that was
making the rounds at Anime Expo (which we got a copy of via Roman). This is a
neat little sampler disc that almost always gets people excited about various
titles on it.
Sunday, July 29th, 2001
Newly reviewed (03:56 PM EST):
Just when I think I'm done, Roman Martel
sends along some reviews that fill in the gaps on some of our older titles,
taking the place of primary reviews for us. Check out his thoughts on the
release of Black Jack
and Street
Fighter VII Vol. #1.
Newly reviewed (03:47
PM EST):
To close out the new reviews this weekend,
I've added the hidden gem that is
Hades
Project Zeorymer Vol. #2 to our review listings. Here's hoping for a
CPM special edition sometime with it dubbed and with some interesting extras.
Saturday, July 28th, 2001
Newly reviewed (10:35 PM EST):
Making more progress in catching up with
titles that took forever to get to us, we've sat down and watched the
Fushigi
Yugi OVA Box Set this afternoon and have spent several hours enjoying
our visit with the world of Miaka (Tamahome!).
Newly reviewed (12:43 PM EST):
I've booted the family out of the house for a
few hours this morning so I could take in the latest ecchi offering from TRSI
in the form of
Weather Report
Girl.
Friday, July 27th, 2001
TOKYOPOP tidbit (11:14 PM EST):
A fairly substantial tidbit in fact.
According to a post made to the forum by TOKYOPOP rep Kenneth Lee, from volume
2 on, both Vampire Princess Miyu TV and Saint Tail will be 4 episodes per
discs. This will drop Miyu down to 7 discs from 8 (presumably) and Saint Tail
to 11 from 15 (presumably) for its 43 episode length. Very sweet news!
Newly reviewed (11:12 PM EST):
Leaping ahead of several region 1 releases,
the arrival of the first pressing limited edition release of
Soultaker Vol. #1
from Pioneer Japan insisted upon being watched. Not only did we watch it once,
but we watched it twice. And then there was much anticipation for the Pioneer
USA release. *twitch*
Advance review (10:17 PM EST):
Due out on 9/4/2001, we've gotten a good look
at ADV Films release of
Arc the Lad Vol. #4,
a release that manages to correct just about every problem we had with Vol.
#3.
Recall!
(06:57 PM EST):
The folks at ADV Films have sent out a
press release detailing what's
up with the release of Getter Robo Vol. #1 and how you can get a corrected
version.
Petitions (10:01 AM EST):
A couple of
new petitions added, such as the
one to get more Lupin III licensed (this is a no brainer, as all Lupin
should be licensed over here) as well as a move to get Princess Mononoke
released in Europe.
UK anime DVD (09:56 AM EST):
Stephen Moore checked in recently with us to
talk about what's coming up in the UK market:
"MVM (publishers of the Oh My Goddess!/Ah! My Goddess DVD in
the UK) have announced DVDs of Bubblegum Crisis (3 volumes only, 1-3, 4-6 and
7&8) and Urusei Yatsura: Only You.
I asked MVM and they said the UY DVD would probably be hard-subbed as "no dub
track exists", and that this would be used to gauge the popularity for more UY
DVD releases in the UK."
Divi art (09:55 AM EST):
A few new pieces have been submitted this
morning, and can be found on
this page. If you're
interested in submitting art, don't hesitate to let us know. And if you're
interested in sending in art to be used on t-shirts and other items,
definitely check with us first for the specs.
Alternate angles (08:11 AM EST):
It's like a weekly game now... let's see how
many alternate angle reviews we can get done here this morning:
Region 1
Region 2
Region 4
Digital Omake (08:04 AM EST):
A new piece was added to the
Digital Omake page this
morning, this time for Getter Robo Vol. #2.
Thursday, July 26th, 2001
Newly reviewed (09:24 PM EST):
Just out this past Tuesday, ADV Film's latest
release is Arc
the Lad Vol. #3, where the show gets bumped up an additional 2
episodes per disc with no change in price.
Cover art update (08:43 AM EST):
We got in a look at the newly revised cover
art for the
Revolutionary Girl Utena Movie this morning, and have added it to the
review template. Note that the artwork shows the spine as well (which we
usually don't show). This evening I'll add in a copy of the back cover so
folks can check out how that looks as well.
Wednesday, July 25th, 2001
Newly reviewed (08:54 PM EST):
Cranking out another title from our backlog,
Megan Morris has done the dirty deed of watching the dub-only
Cardcaptors Vol. #2
release and survived to tell the tale.
Upcoming cover art (06:45 PM EST):
Added to
page 4 of the
gallery tonight is artwork for Marriage, Kimagure Orange Road Movie 2,
Orphen 2, Zenki and Revolutionary Girl Utena the Movie. I find myself to be
most excited about the Orange Road artwork. Exceptionally sweet looking piece!
Newly reviewed (06:10 PM EST):
New staff reviewer Megan Morris has sent in
her first review today, which you can find discussing the pros and cons of
Urban Vision's release of
Gatchaman
'93 Collection.
Con report (05:50 PM EST):
Peter Svensson tweaked out his
San Diego
Comic Con report a bit, filling in a few blanks and clarifying one or two
things
New title announcement (01:12 PM EST):
As posted to the forum, ADV Films next new
series is Power Stone, with Vol. #1 debuting on 10/30/2001. The disc will
contain four episodes for 19.98$. Do keep in mind that this is being done
similar to their licenses for Monster Rancher, Shadowraiders and the like, in
that they're not actually producing the show, but are handling the DVD end
production of it. As such, this is a dub-only release.
Newly reviewed (01:04 PM EST):
Getting yet another of the box set monkeys
off of our back, I've taken advantage of being in a cool air-conditioned room
for the past couple of days and marathoned a viewing of the
Magic Knights Rayearth Memorial Collection 2 box set, taking in all
twenty nine episodes. After this, I need myself some macho man anime!
Did you know? (09:00 AM EST):
With our continually growing forum community,
an interesting off-shoot started within the past couple of months of a "forum
gallery". This gallery, hosted off-site from us by one of the more prominent
regulars, is basically a photo gallery with pictures submitted by the forum
members, to help put the face with the sig. Things like this do begin to drive
home the community feel even more, so I'm really pleased to see it. If you
want to participate in it, be sure to check out the
Anime on DVD Forum
Gallery!
Tuesday, July 24th, 2001
New cover art and site note
(09:42 PM EST):
The cover art for the upcoming
Revolutionary Girl Utena movie has come out, and we've added it to our
review template for this title, as well as the various features that are
expected. We also expect to start doing more with the site by Thursday,
hopefully once this awful heat and humidity move out (and we can return to our
non air conditioned office).
Monday, July 23rd, 2001
New title announcement
(05:45 PM EST):
As listed on
Right Stuf today, Funimation
will release Blue
Gender Vol. #1 on 10/16/2001. The disc retails for 24.95$ and contains
three episodes in bilingual format. While I'm not keen on three episode discs
all that much, at least the price is 5$ cheaper than normal. Also listed is
Gasaraki Vol. #6
from ADV Films, due on 9/25/2001. Click on the title link to check out the
sweet cover artwork.
Brief rant
(03:01 PM EST):
Most likely others are getting the same
emails I am from Amazon during the past day or so. Media Blaster's Very
Private Lesson has been canceled. NuTech's Shusaku has been canceled. They
apologize for it, and hope for you to continue to shop there.
For those who may not be totally on the
up and up (and based on email I've received so far, people are
concerned), these titles are not canceled. Amazon simply doesn't stock
hentai titles. Some slip through, and some they don't realize are hentai. Once
they do, they send these lovely notices that indicate that the PUBLISHER (i.e.
the anime studio releases the disc) has canceled the product.
While I would rather Amazon be up front
and actually say that they have canceled their orders for the product due to
its questionable content, I find it atrocious that they report the product as
canceled. Some readers have talked about contacting the Better Business
Bureau. While this is a good idea, I'd rather the companies who are releasing
these titles contact Amazon and ask them why they're telling their potential
customers that their products are being canceled, when that is the farthest
thing from the truth.
Con news
(06:53 AM EST):
Though it appears that most of the promised
"Wait till SDCC" news that was hinted at during Anime Expo didn't happen,
there are some interesting bits in
Peter
Svensson's SDCC 2001 convention report, including plans for the El-Hazard:
Wanderers release and a pretty bleak look for dubbed Pretty Sammy.
Sunday, July 22nd, 2001
Site note
(01:52 PM EST):
Just a quick note that for a good part of
this coming week, we likely won't be posting any new reviews. Some real-world
evening commitments have come up that must be attended to. We'll be able to
keep up on the news fine, and possibly get a few alternate angles up. As
always, our forums are the place to be up to date on all the happenings, so be
sure to check them out. Besides, having review 10 new discs within the last
3-4 days, I could use a little breather!
Divi art
(07:49 AM EST):
Two new pieces of "interpretive" art of Divi-chan
have arrived today,
with her taking roles in the Big O (R. Divi-chan?!) and a lead role in Magic
Users' Club!
Site gathering
(07:38 AM EST):
Did you know we had our first international
site gathering a few months ago? And it was in Tokyo? What, you didn't get the
invite card and free airline tickets from us? Ah well.. A couple of folks who
frequent the forums here met up in Tokyo back in February, and
some pictures from
the event have surfaced. As always, if you're thinking of doing a local
gathering, be sure to let us know so we can help spread the word!
Saturday, July 21st, 2001
Newly reviewed
(10:15 PM EST):
Released on 7/10, we've sat down to take a
look at the next installment from Media Blasters,
Magic Users'
Club Vol. #2.
Newly reviewed
(06:12 PM EST):
This is probably one of the fastest times
I've ever finished a box set, but as of this afternoon we finished watching
Urusei
Yatsura Vol. #10, thereby completing
Urusei
Yatsura TV Box 2. It takes AnimEigo months to produce it, but only
days for me to devour it. Thankfully these discs will get a near constant
rewatching while I work on the site and it plays in the background. There's
simply no such thing as too much Lum.
Friday, July 20th, 2001
New cover art
(09:33 PM EST):
About eighteen new pieces have been added to
the site tonight, which you can check out
here.
Newly reviewed
(09:21 PM EST):
I spent most of the day today entertaining
and playing with my little sixteen month old girl Amethyst Jade. Part of this
was in playing some of the new Urusei Yatsura discs. What proved to be most
interesting was the number of episodes where she'd sit down and watch the
episode from start to finish, enjoying the opening and ending sequences quite
a bit. With her sitting on the couch and being enraptured like this, I admit I
took advantage of it, which means I now have reviews up for
Urusei
Yatsura TV Vol. #7,
Urusei
Yatsura TV Vol. #8 and
Urusei
Yatsura TV Vol. #9.
Interesting read
(07:49 PM EST):
The
Akadot site
is running an article about Synch Point and how they're working, which is
an interesting read. Also, check out the newly revamped
Synch Point site that shows the shows
they're working on as well as various images and plot summaries for them.
For R2 fans
(07:44 PM EST):
For those who consume region 2 discs from
Japan, and for those who tear their hair out wanting Ghibli releases, CD Japan
has set up a new section
on their site for Ghibli DVD releases and for their respective CD's. My
Neighbor Totoro was listed there this week as well.
Advance review
(07:37 PM EST):
Due out on 08/14/2001, ADV's release of
Nadia Vol. #2
takes the setting of the first volume and enhances it with more background and
a more sinister group of villains.
New date
(07:09 PM EST):
According to tonight's
Right Stuf update, AnimEigo
has set 10/23/2001 as the date for Vampire Princess Miyu Vol. #2.
Newly reviewed
(06:59 PM EST):
Taking a dip into our pile of hentai that
came in this week, we've completed our in-depth critical analysis of CPM's
latest, the
Complete Adventure Kid.
Sale
(06:27 PM EST):
For those who can't pass up a good sale,
DVD Planet is currently running one that has the
first seventeen volumes of Pokemon for 4.88$ per disc. There's
an advert for it on the right side of their main page, with the discs
scheduled to ship after 7/26.
Newly licensed
(10:54 AM EST):
As the San Diego Comic Con gets going, the
first new announcement has come
in via TOKYOPOP and their newly acquired series from Gonzo, the show
Samurai Girl - Real Bout High School, which begins airing in Japan on July
30th this year.
Thursday, July 19th, 2001
New title announcement
(05:35 PM EST):
Let the anticipation begin, as ADV has set
9/25/2001 as the street date for Gasaraki Vol. #6.
Getter Robo Vol. #1 update
(12:30 PM EST):
Some new information appeared on the forum
this morning courtesy of David Williams of ADV Films:
As many know, I've been looking into some issues with the first volume of
Getter Robo. There appears to be two different problems with volume 1 of
Getter Robo:
1) some discs have the correct volume 1 outer label but inside have an
insert and disc labeled "Transfiguration" which is volume 2.
2) some discs have a outer label, insert and disc label "Resurrection"
for volume 1 but the disc content is really volume 2.
Not all volume 1 discs are bad, the problems are with a latter pressing.
We are currently working to address these issues.
At this point I'd like to ask anyone who has received Getter Robo 1 and
has the FIRST problem listed above (correct outer label but incorrect insert
and disc) to please email me at
dlw@advfilms.com.
To save Chris bandwidth, I'm only looking at the first problem now and
you don't need to post anything here. I'll address those with the second
problem shortly so if you fall into that group please hang on.
Thank you for your patience.
-----
David Williams
A.D.Vision, Inc.
New survey
(12:27 PM EST):
A new survey has been added this morning, to
try and get a feel for the 13,000 or so frequent visitors to the site here.
Check out our "Who
we are" survey!
Wednesday, July 18th, 2001
Contests and email
(08:09 PM EST):
Our multiple Akira contests, as well as the
one for the entire Trigun series and the upcoming Tylor OVA, are all going
strong. So strong in fact, we're having trouble getting all of the email as
our server is a bit clogged. We managed to download over 1700 pieces of email
this evening alone, and there's more still stuck on the server. So if we don't
respond to email right away, this is why.
More newly reviewed
(08:08 PM EST):
Our final review for the evening is Central
Park Media's recently release of
Angel Sanctuary,
a show that completely stunned us for an evening.
Newly reviewed
(07:06 PM EST):
So far, this week has been really great for
shows that are enjoyable to watch. You remember that right? Watching shows and
enjoying them as opposed to picking them apart and just constantly finding
fault? Well, we do, and we really enjoyed these two titles we finished
reviewing tonight. Media Blasters
Rurouni Kenshin
Vol. #8: Ice Blue Eyes and AnimEigo's
Urusei
Yatsura TV Vol. #6.
Akira tin
(12:44 PM EST):
I've been getting a lot of email and there have been forum posts
from people asking where the best place to get the Akira SE tin edition. A
little birdie has told me that the guys over at
DVD Planet (where I do happen to order all my discs these days) has
several hundred copies of this special tin edition unspoken for.
Cheap disc
(10:16 AM EST):
The
Right Stuf site updated their "changed items"
section this morning with a slew of price changes. For those wanting to
complete their DVD collection, you can now get ADV's first DVD title Tekken
for the sweet low low low low low price of 6.67$. And a practice that I know
several people take advantage of, TRSI has lowered prices on a large number of
ADV and CPM VHS releases for shows that are coming out later this year or in
progress, such as Blue Seed and Sohryuden as well as others that are likely to
come next year. Spending 6$ to check it out on tape could save some funds in
the end.
Blue Gender
(10:09 AM EST):
The latest press release
has come out from Funimation, talking about their now set October 16th release
of Blue Gender Vol. #1. The bilingual disc, whose price wasn't listed, will
contain three episodes. You can get a feel for the show at their specially
made site, www.bluegender.com. Thanks
to the folks at
AnimeNation for forwarding me this release info.
Tuesday, July 17th, 2001
Getter Robo?
(06:41 PM EST):
There's some confusion going on with this weeks release of Getter
Robo Vol. #1. While information is still being checked at the ADV offices, it
looks like some
Getter Robo Vol. #1
releases actually have the
Getter Robo Vol. #2
images on them, while all the wrappings are Vol. #1. ADV is aware of the
problems and is looking into the matter. So please sit tight and wait for the
full set of facts to come in before going and chewing them off as some have
already started to do.
Contests!
(06:18 PM EST):
The Pioneer gang was kind enough to send us
five copies of the Akira Special Edition Limited Edition tin, with which to
tease the fans with via a variety of contests. We've quickly crafted five
contests below, thereby giving practically everyone five chances to win. You
can enter one of them, or you can enter all five or any other combination of
the five. But you can only enter each contest once.
And to sweeten the pot, each winner will also receive a
special slide with an image from the movie. No, not a cel, a slide, like in
the "olden days" kind of slide.
Clarification
(04:51 PM EST):
A couple days ago, I posted about ADV's
moving to the six volume format for most shows, mentioning primarily Arc the
Lad and Orphen. I spoke incorrectly about Orphen, and just wanted to clear it
up (let's just call it fuzzy math, ok?). Orphen Vol. #1-3 will contain three
episodes each, while the remaining three will have five. I had listed it as
the remaining four discs will have five episodes, as I had thought it was a 26
episode series. Well, Orphen being who he is, it's only a 24 episode series.
Hence some of the confusion, er, I mean, fuzzy math. Yeah, that's the ticket.
New title announcement
(04:45 PM EST):
Cracking the whip, ADV has given a street
date of 10/02/2001 for Blue Seed Vol. #4, the final volume of the TV series,
which contains, "Six eps, four omake, one disc!". Hopefully sales of the Blue
Seed series on DVD will give ADV the incentive they need to wield their option
on the slick looking Blue Seed OVA's that they hold.
Nadia extra
(04:42 PM EST):
From a post in the forum by Janice Williams
today, it looks like an upcoming Nadia DVD will have a rather neat extra, in
the form of a Q&A video session with Nadia's English voice actress, Meg
Bauman. This
thread is soliciting questions for the young teenage voice actress here,
so keep the venomous "sub or die" stuff out of there folks.
Monday, July 16th, 2001
First impressions
(09:03 PM EST):
If you take a gander to your right, you'll
notice our upcoming reviews section sort of ballooned on us today. This of
course is a good thing as more to watch means more variety (it also means it
seems like it'll be forever before we get to another disc of Rayearth season
2). We're likely to watch a lot of stuff this week and probably do a bunch of
reviews together at the end though, hence some first impressions. Of the new
shows, we watched Nadia
Vol. #2 last night, and the show definitely improved in story over the
first disc (which I found to be slightly dull). The animation continues to
look really nice in that.
Tonight's viewing was CPM's new release
Angel Sanctuary.
After our experience with
Earthian, I
really have to say Melanie and I were very wary of watching another show with
angels in it. We were scarred! Anyway, this disc completely blew us away.
While there are a couple of nitpicky encoding issues (so close guys!)
this show really drew us in. The animation is very current, and a lot of it is
done in a style similar to last years
Sol Bianca: The Legacy
release. The show's based off of a popular manga, and the three episodes do a
good job of introducing arc one of a series. We really wanted more when it
ended. Curses!
With a limited amount of time to watch things, we really were
itching to watch Rurouni Kenshin Vol. #8, as having just seen Vol. #7 recently
got us very primed for the Kyoto arc. Unless something mindblowing comes in
tomorrow, that'll be tomorrow nights entertainment.
We also gave the other discs a spin, such as checking out how
sweet Urusei Yatsura looks on the new player (well, at least outside of the
red title animation, which just looks horrendous). The show itself looks great
and I can't wait to get some Lum-love again. Weather Report Girl looks to be
very similar to the live action movie of the same name and origins, which I
thought was a great fun flick. That and Lady Blue are both going to be end of
the week titles, as watching hentai is a bit difficult during the early part
of the week with the little one playing around.
And there's at least three more discs due in this week, such
as Adventure Kid and a couple more Arc the Lad discs as well as the Fushigi
Yugi OVA set I hope. The lull definitely seems to be ending...
Saturday, July 14th, 2001
Digital omake
(10:35 PM EST):
Two
new pieces added today, this
time for Angel Sanctuary and Neon Genesis Evangelion Collection 0:8.
Petitions
(10:25 PM EST):
A new
petition has been added to our
small section today, this time for CPM to fix the Slayers audio issue with the
first box set.
Newly reviewed
(04:25 PM EST):
Just out within the past week and a half
(though supply to retailers seems spotty), Pioneer's next release in the
bargain priced back catalog is the underrated
Kishin Corps,
also known as Geo-Armor. We managed to take in this four hour double disc set
this morning and have finished our thoughts on it.
Alternate Angles
(08:17 AM EST):
We've got a bunch to get through this
morning, so expect continual updates in this section for the next several
hours:
Region 1
Region 2 (Europe)
Region 2 (Japan)
Region 4 (Australia)
Hardware
Newly reviewed
(08:05 AM EST):
In the first of his official staff reviews,
Roman Martel has sent in his thoughts on the
Urotsukidoji III
release from Central Park Media.
It returns!
(07:35 AM EST):
While during our server transition and merger
with the Anime Showcase site where our forums were hosted (I owned both
domains), we let things run out on our Showcase domain name. The gent who was
running the show there on the content side of the site has gotten all his
ducks in a row, and has re-launched his own site now at
Anime Kakumei! Best of luck Sean!
Friday, July 13th, 2001
Orphen gets sweeter
(06:12 PM EST):
After I had finished
Orphen Vol. #2,
some may recall how eager I was for more episodes. Well, ADV has gone and done
to Orphen what they did to Arc the Lad. Arc has its first two discs as three
episodes, while the final four will be five episodes each. Orphen is going
very similar, with three episodes for the first three discs and five episodes
for the final three (as Orphen is only twenty four episodes total, which we
didn't clarify the first time we mentioned this), bringing each series in at
six discs. This is sweet news indeed, and definitely something that will
incite others to check the series out.
Ranma tidbit
(06:10 PM EST):
Dallas Middaugh, the Director of Sales and
Marketing at Viz joined our little forum community this afternoon and let
folks know that November is the month to expect the first season of Ranma 1/2
in the box set format. They're finalizing things now, and with luck, we'll
hear the street date and price next week.
Thursday, July 12th, 2001
Advance review
(11:00 PM EST):
Due out on 7/24, there's 99,999 copies of the
Akira
Special Edition Limited Edition release left out there, since we got
in an advance review copy this afternoon and have spent the evening poring
over it. I'm thinking the best disc of the year award has a lock on it
already....
New title announcement
(09:09 PM EST):
ADV has listed a new release date on the
forum this evening, giving Sorcerer Hunters Vol. #4 (of 4) a date of
10/09/2001. This disc is the final six episodes of the series, bringing in the
entire 26 episode series in only four discs.
Coming soon
(06:38 PM EST):
Later tonight, we'll have up most of our
review of the upcoming release of Akira: Special Edition (tin version!) as we
got this bad boy in this afternoon. Due to the restraints of the little one,
we'll be watching only the Japanese language version tonight, and I will watch
the dubbed version in 5.1 in full tomorrow when she's awake, and update that
segment of the review at that point.
New title announcements
(02:48 PM EST):
The folks at Pioneer have set a 9/4 release
date for Niea_7 Vol. #2
and for Hand Maid
May Vol. #2. Both volumes run 75 minutes and retail for 29.99$.
More from NuTech
(01:29 PM EST):
Due out on 08/31/2001 from NuTech
Entertainment is their next Pink Pineapple release, Mission of Darkness.
Running time is 45 minutes with both English and Japanese languages and
English subtitles. Price is 29.99$ and is all-region encoded.
Advance review
(01:21 PM EST):
Due out on 08/07/2001, ADV Film's is
releasing the next set in the series that's definitely got to be bringing in
some big cash, we've finished reviewing
Robotech:
Legacy Box Set 2.
Wednesday, July 11th, 2001
Newly reviewed
(10:39 PM EST):
Due to my retailer not getting an update
release date, we only just now got in our copy of
Rurouni Kenshin
Vol. #7, and of course we watched it right away. We also got in our
copy of Kishin Corps (or Geo-Armor if you so prefer, as I don't), which means
we've got a lot to watch this coming weekend. So expect more reviews!
AX in the news
(06:25 PM EST):
It's always interesting to see how the
conventions get reported in the news, with
Otakon usually getting quite interesting words in the Baltimore papers.
This time, Anime Expo has gotten a bit of publicity via the
Calendar Live section of the L.A. Times.
CPM tidbit
(05:47 PM EST):
A potentially very sweet bit of information
was slipped into our mailbox today about probably the highest profile title
CPM's worked on in a long time. Apparently, the authoring house that is
working on the Revolutionary Girl Utena Movie DVD has indicated that the
release should be progressive. For advocates of progressive encoded
anime, this will only make a gorgeous disc even more of a stunner.
New title announcement
(02:11 PM EST):
Though we've had a lot of new licensing
announcements, we haven't had any new title announcements since early last
week. ADV's out to correct that today, by giving Nadia Vol. #3 a 9/25/2001
street date.
New poll
(01:45 PM EST):
With the growing number of people who are
excited about the upcoming Pioneer box sets, I've whipped up a little poll to
see what kind of interest there is in doing a
Rurouni
Kenshin Box Set.
Tuesday, July 10th, 2001
Advance review
(09:37 PM EST):
Due out on 9/11/2001, ADV's release of
Sorcerer
Hunters Vol. #3 has entered our review library. The show is finally
starting to take hold of my interest as well!
Will Wonders never cease?
(08:39 PM EST):
The folks at AnimEigo have had a batch of
Spirit of Wonder DVD's
returned to them from a retailer, so they're offering them up again while
supplies last (as well as their license!).
Update: It's sold out. Sorry folks!
New article
(08:36 PM EST):
Originally appearing awhile ago on the new
defunct Themestream site, Chris Meadows has mirrored his article
Animé and the Move to DVD: Simple
Economics here with us.
Contests
(08:28 PM EST):
Not only is our
Trigun contest
going strong, but we've added a
new contest today
courtesy of the folks at
Right Stuf!
Petitions
(08:15 PM EST):
A
new petition has been added this evening, this time to bring over
Katsuhiro Otomo's major film, Memories as well as one to encourage Pioneer to
begin distribution in the UK again.
Divi-Art
(07:57 PM EST):
I'm embarrassed to admit it, but when we
moved to the new server, I forgot to build one set of important links: the
Divi-Chan Gallery! I've
fixed that little problem, and also added in some new art that we received
recently. As always, if you're interested in providing art for us, don't
hesitate to let us know, especially if it's something you think people would
like to see on a t-shirt or a tote bag!
New Cover Art
(07:37 PM EST):
Eight new pieces of
cover art have
been added, this time for Inmu 1-2, Shusaku 1-3 and Shusaku Replay 1-3.
Divi Con Shirts
(07:23 PM EST):
One of the folks behind the new Divi-Chan con
t-shirt design sent us in this tidbit today:
I just wanted you to know that we updated the
little store with new products, such as boxer shorts!! And baseball
caps. Plus Tote bags. Also, to promote the shirts a little more, I have
exactly TWO shirts left over from last year (XXL) that I want to raffle off.
Those who buy anything will get their name in the pot to get a shirt. For
each item they buy, they get a better chance at winning one of last year's
shirts. Contest deadline for that is Aug. 6.
I got in my shirt over this past weekend, and it's fantastic.
Riki has come through with yet another gorgeous Divi design. And with the news
that Cafepress is now carrying boxer shorts, baseball caps and tote bags, it's
time for me to go rework all the other stores...
Not quite anime
(07:16 PM EST):
But it's something I'm dying to see this
coming weekend, the folks at
No-Name
Anime have posted a couple of interesting points of view about the
upcoming Final Fantasy movie. This should be quite interesting to see, with
the meshing of Eastern and Western philosophies, providing a less action
packed action movie, and a slightly more philosophical one that we normally
see.
Upcoming review note
(07:06 PM EST):
A new wrinkle of information was revealed to
us today, courtesy of a few forum regulars and a
detailed section of
Jim Lazar's Anime Prime site. From reading this page, and comparing
against upcoming episodes, it appears that at the least, Vol. #3 of the Ranma
1/2: Random Rhapsody release has episodes out of order. This is also likely to
affect another disc as well.
Call me an obsessive fanboy or some other derogatory word if
you want, but I find this to be completely unacceptable. Especially since the
majority of seasons 3-5 were shown in the proper order. And add in the general
idea that after five seasons, you're pretty much down to the die-hard fans of
the series buying the show regularly, to do this to them is pretty darn
disappointing. And then when you add in the wrong openings and possibly the
wrong endings, it only compounds the issue. (click on
this page, and
scroll down to the Ranma section).
The next couple of discs are likely already in varying stages
of being authored, and the episode movements have already been decided. This
is essentially a lost cause to get fixed. The main reason for raising this
concern now is to make sure that the seasonal box sets aren't affected (can
there be any kind of guarantee?). Logic would say "Hey, they're all the same
season, they won't move them around". After seeing what's being done to the
season six release, I'm not sure at all.
And with this new knowledge, you won't find me reviewing any
more of the Ranma 1/2 Random Rhapsody releases. If Fox can release Simpson's,
X-Files, Buffy in order, if HBO can release Sex in the City and Sopranos in
order, if Paramount can release Star Trek in order, and if Pokemon and Monster
Rancher are mostly in order, then there's no reason for Ranma 1/2 to not be in
order. If you like your anime out of their intended order, buy some
Cardcaptors.
Anime Expo update
(06:23 PM EST):
The
final report from Andrew Tei for Expo has come in, as well as a report on
the
Escaflowne Panel courtesy of "The Lizzard" after Patrick Delahanty
mentioned my looking for one.
Anime Expo update
(09:22 AM EST):
The Expo has finally ended, and there's been
more information than can be processed to be honest. All the news sites have
had excellent coverage, bringing different views and getting different bits of
information from all the studios. The only reports we didn't get that we
wanted was Urban Vision (which sounded like it ended early, and talked mostly
about the new Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust movie) and Manga Entertainment
(which sounds like either nobody showed up or there was simply no panel, which
is a shame). We also hoped to hear some nuggets of info from the Escaflowne
panel, but haven't heard anything there either. I must give a big tip of the
hat to our own Andrew Tei had did a bang up job of not only getting the news,
but getting it to us faster than just about any other site out there. Next
year, I'll make sure to get a shutterbug hooked up with him so we can check
out the panels and see who the reps are, since Fans View concentrates mostly
on cosplayers. We'll be adding in the link to the full report on our con page
soon, but you can
check it out
here for now.
Site update
(08:19 AM EST):
For those of you who have been in withdrawal
since the site went down yesterday afternoon, my apologies. An administrative
[expletives deleted] error on our hosting services part caused our account to
be considered delinquent, and those who could correct it weren't going to be
in until the start of business today. Ah, the joys of the 24/7 internet. Add
in to the fact that just as service was cut off, I was returning home (unaware
of the problem) and our house lost power for three hours. Regardless, we're
back up now, and tonight we'll have a review for Sorcerer Hunters Vol. #3, a
new contest and the final report from Andrew Tei on Anime Expo 2001.
Sunday, July 8th, 2001
Advance review
(02:29 PM EST):
Due out on 9/11 is
Orphen Vol. #2,
the latest disc of fun fantasy action from the folks at ADV. With the in-laws
now back home, we've regained our TV and are making a decent dent into the
pile of discs to get through.
Advance review
(02:29 PM EST):
Due out on 7/17 is the first installment of
the two disc release of the
Original
Dirty Pair OVA series. We've taken the time to check out these
episodes, and have once again fallen in love with Yuri (Kei fans rejoice, I
don't want her!)
Saturday, July 7th, 2001
Anime Expo Update
(11:57 PM EST):
Reader "Ken" sent in a tidbit tonight, from
the
Newtype
Magazine Panel, where we learn that the US edition of Newtype Magazine is
due out next spring!
Akira cel?
(05:41 PM EST):
Reader Matthew Crisp wrote in to us today,
mentioning that
Suncoast apparently has a
promotion going (presumably in-store only) where if you buy the Akira DVD or
VHS via their Replay Club, when you pick it up you'll get an Akira cel with
it.
Advance review
(05:40 PM EST):
The first volume of
Getter Robo
isn't due out until July 17th, and we've had a review up for that for awhile.
Today we follow up with a review of
Getter Robo Vol. #2,
which is due out on September 11th.
Anime Expo Update
(05:15 PM EST):
New reports have come in from Andrew
regarding
TOKYOPOP, AnimEigo and Central Park Media. If you attended the Escaflowne
panel, Urban Vision or the Manga Entertainment panels, let us know what you
heard!
ADV Tease
(04:26 PM EST):
While going through some of the latest discs
sent in a big box of ADV DVD wuv, we noticed on Getter Robo Vol. #2 that
there's a few new trailers people are going to be excited to see. Of the six
included trailers, three are for shows not yet shown on other discs, such as
Soul Hunter, Sorcerer on the Rocks and Daiguard. Daiguard looks particurlarly
interesting, and very AIC-ish. Soul Hunter looks like a neat little show with
some Chinese mythology, and Sorcerer on the Rocks looks like more Sorcerer
Hunters fun. On the downside, this disc isn't slated for release until
September 11th....
Anime Expo Update
(07:27 AM EST):
I fell asleep before the remainder of the
Friday reports came in, but we've updated the master AX report with news from
Media
Blasters, Synch Point and Viz.
Friday, July 6th, 2001
Anime Expo Update
(10:18 PM EST):
Confirming hints posted in our forum
yesterday, Anime
News Network has listed Media Blasters as the studio whose acquired the
series Berserk.
Anime Expo Update
(04:02 PM EST):
Massive title announcements from
ADV,
some great new titles from
Bandai and news on the Crest of the Stars release. Staff con reporter
Andrew Tei is bringing in the news faster than sites can report on it!
Anime Expo Update
(07:49 AM EST):
Just in case it wasn't mentioned elsewhere,
Pioneer has confirmed that all three variants of the Akira release street on
7/24/2001.
Anime Expo Update
(07:46 AM EST):
Andrew has posted the press panel and general
panel question and answer session with fan favorite voice actress,
Kikuko Inoue.
Title delay
(07:34 AM EST):
According to an update at
Right Stuf yesterday, Crest of
the Stars Vol. #2 has been pushed back to a 9/4 release. Some sketchy
information out of AX (presumably we'll hear more at their panel) indicates
that they're getting a different set of masters from Japan.
Anime Expo Update
(07:26 AM EST):
Site reader Carlos wrote into us late last
night with some words about the Maison Ikkoku on DVD panel which includes a
side note on Ranma 1/2:
At the Maison Ikkoku on DVD fan petition panel, Dallas
from Marketing and sales at Viz popped in to give a heads-up
about what's going on with MI at Viz. Unfortunately, they have given up on
ever trying to sell individual disks of MI. Current rate is only 400 copies
per tape sold, they're losing money. HOWEVER, they have a meeting scheduled
with Pioneer about the details of doing multiple Box Sets of MI. Current
plan is to do the first 36 dub/sub and the rest sub only. Don't expect any
extras. Episode and disc count are TBD with the goal of making it as cost
effective as possible, i.e. shove as many episodes on a disk as will fit.
Whether or not Viz will/can use the Japanese DVD masters was brought up and
will be looked into.
On a side "You heard it here first" Dallas mentioned Ranma 1/2 Season 1
DVDs are imminent.
Thursday, July 5th, 2001
Anime Expo Update
(09:40 PM EST):
Andrew has checked in with info on
Pioneer,
TRSI and Media Blasters.
Newly reviewed
(09:32 PM EST):
We took a quick look tonight at the recently
release Rhea Gall
Force title from NuTech Entertainment. I'll let my brevity say it all.
Pioneer rumor
(09:23 PM EST):
It's been noted by at least one person that
the Pioneer booth has had portions of the Adventures of the Mini-Goddesses
show playing, a show which has been believed to be tied in licensing with the
Ah! My Goddess theatrical movie.
Anime Expo Update
(03:25 PM EST):
Staff Con reporter Andrew Tei has checked in
with his
thoughts on the opening ceremonies, which means we should luck out and get
some good reports throughout the day for the convention.
Coming soon in R4
(07:23 AM EST):
The latest information was sent in by a
number of readers, letting us known that Australian anime distributor Madman
Entertainment has drawn up a
lengthy list of titles that they're looking to get out by the end of the
year. The Australian market does indeed seem to be getting a revival with the
DVD market, and it looks as if Madman is being quite committed to it. I hope
that they have better luck with their Wings of Honneamise release.
Wednesday, July 4th, 2001
Advance review
(10:39 PM EST):
The folks at Central Park Media were kind
enough to send us along a copy of their 8/14/2001 release of
Patlabor: The
Mobile Police Vol. #1, which we spent our 4th watching and reviewing.
Check it out!
Digital omake
(10:03 AM EST):
I've updated the
Digital Omake section a bit,
with some SMJ 3 tidbits as well as a Robotech one. I've also tweaked what the
page is about, as we won't be listing omake such as "DVD credits" which are
hidden on a few discs. Omake is more show-driven related hidden extras than
who created the disc.
Newly reviewed
(09:51 AM EST):
A bit later than usual, as our first copy was
scratched beyond belief, and it took awhile to get a replacement from the
retailer, but we've finally taken in
Gundam Wing Vol. #7
and have finished our brief thoughts on it.
Press
(08:02 AM EST):
ADV's latest
releases have come in, and they're talking up Nadesico Vol. #6 and Nadia
Vol. #3.
Studio Challenge.... over?
(07:36 AM EST):
I took a bit of time this morning to sort in
all the latest arrivals for our anime collection, and was surprised that the
entire set of shelves is now filled outside of five openings. Five openings
that will be filled in tomorrow morning. I have no more room for anime discs.
None. The studio
challenge has been met, and far ahead of schedule!
Tuesday, July 3rd, 2001
Big Contest!
(06:01 PM EST):
We've kicked off our
Big July Contest
today, wherein we're giving away the entire eight disc collection of Trigun,
several of which contain the special chromium collectors card! Check it out!
Truth is stranger...
(05:21 PM EST):
After our contest last month about inserting
anime characters into domestic advertising, we were floored and laughing out
loud when we saw this
fully
licensed use of Rio from Burn Up out in California... All right Bandai
folks, time to outdo them, and get
Van to push feminine
products...
Press
(05:12 PM EST):
The latest couple of bits have come out from
Urban Vision regarding the upcoming Vampire Hunter D movie. In one move that
will save me dozens and dozens of confused emails, they're retitling the movie
to Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, so as to avoid confusion with its earlier
incarnation. This is definitely better than Vampire Hunter D 2001 or some
other such silliness. Check out the
press release for
more info as well as Anime Expo bits on it.
New in R2
(11:59 AM EST):
The Ghibli rollout continues, according to
this page as provided by forum reader bbq today. Due out on 9/28/2001, My
Neighbor Totoro will be released as a double disc set for 4,700¥. The 86
minute movie will be presented in its original widescreen format with
anamorphic enhancement. Both Japanese (stereo) and English (mono) soundtracks
are included. Japanese and English subtitles are also listed as being
included. The second disc of extras also looks to replicate the storyboard
with audio track that Kiki's Delivery Service did so well.
Monday, July 2nd, 2001
Newly reviewed
(09:53 PM EST):
With the in-laws here this week, getting time
on my own DVD player has been difficult. My Hollywood movie collection is
getting a lot of use though. But I did find some time tonight to sit down and
check out Media Blasters latest offering,
Samurai:
Hunt for the Sword. This title is probably their best looking title to
date. Gorgeous looking transfer. I've also managed to finally check out Gundam
Wing Vol. #7, and should have that reviewed tomorrow night, and hopefully
we'll have our own look at Patlabor TV Vol. #1 as that arrived today as well.
Anime Expo plans
(06:37 PM EST):
While I'm not personally attending Anime
Expo, a lot of readers here are, and they're going to congregate of course!
The gathering this year has been planned in the forums for a bit, but here's
the final info:
Final Place/Date/Time:
Place: L B Wasabi Japanese Restaurant
200 Pine Ave
Long Beach, CA 90802
(562) 901-0300
Date: July, 5, 2001
Time: 7:00pm
And our staff reporter is now taking questions that you want
asked for the panels, which you can
post in this thread here.
New titles and licenses
(06:29 PM EST):
Making our lives a hell of a lot more
interesting, Media Blasters has let loose with their
October announcements, which include
titles that have not been announced as being acquired yet, as well as dates
for titles they've had for a little while now. I swear, I never thought I'd
see Weiss Kreuz licensed here in the US, and at five episodes a disc as
well.
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