Sunday, September 30th, 2001
Newly reviewed
(05:56 PM EST): What the heck, let's get another one done for
today. Since it's only got three episodes, we managed to get through
Ceres, Celestial Legend
Vol. #3 pretty quickly and have composed our thoughts on it.
Petitions
(03:20 PM EST): A new petition has been added today to get some
Galaxy Express 999 on DVD where it belongs. Check out our
petitions page for a link to
that and other petitions as well.
Contests
(03:16 PM EST): Our judges are now going through the entries from
the Boogiepop Phantom contest, and since it's mid-afternoon on a Sunday, I
wanted to get things rolling with the next round of October contests.
Our first contest is another week of Escaflowne Tarot Cards that were
supplied to us courtesy of Bandai. We're giving away another five this week,
just like last month. Each day we select one random winner, delete that days
worth of entries, and start anew on the next day.
We've also got five contests running with prizes supplied to us from
the kind folks at tokyopop. Each
contest for these Saint Tail Vol. #2 DVD's is quite different and each has a
different ending date. The #5 contest also has a bigger prize in the form of
two DVD's and two graphic novels. So be sure to read all of the rules before
sending in your entries!
Newly reviewed
(02:54 PM EST): The reviews just
keep cranking out today as we catch up on things and stay out of the chilly
weather. Our next review is Media Blasters recent release of
Puppet Princess,
a ninja story that's not entirely what one would expect.
Newly reviewed
(02:06 PM EST): What's this? Another
new review today? That's right, we've gotten our hands on the remastered copy
of TOKYOPOP's
Spring & Chaos
this weekend and have given it the grilling.
Newly reviewed
(10:49 AM EST): Adding another to
the completed pile, we've finished our review for CPM's recent hentai release
of Masquerade.
Newly reviewed
(09:31 AM EST): After checking out
the slick Korean movie Shiri last night, we took in the final volume of a
rather lengthy series. It's with some pleasure and some sadness that we've now
reviewed Gundam
Wing Vol. #10. At least I have bilingual OVA series to look forward
to, since Bandai Japan has denied me the original classic.
Saturday, September 29th, 2001
Newly reviewed
(08:46 AM EST): A nice bundle of discs arrived yesterday, so that
meant last night we just had to check out the latest from Gonzo to hit US
shores in the form of Pioneer's release of
Gatekeepers Vol. #1.
Catalog Check!
(08:06 AM EST): We've gone through a
bit and updated several of the companies listings in our
Catalog Check section. I'm
rather impressed in noting that it looks like Media Blasters will be the first
company to get its entire catalog out on DVD. All their titles have been
announced from their back catalog now except for Virtua Fighter.
Friday, September 28th, 2001
Con report (10:06
PM EST): After suffering through the week from hell, Mariela Ortiz
has sent in her compiled report on last weekends
Anime
Weekend Atlanta.
New title announcements
(08:49 PM EST): Lots of new title
announcements today courtesy of
Right Stuf. Check out their site for more full details:
- Adventures of the Mini Goddesses 1: The Gan Files - 2/12 29.99 100 min
- Angels in the Court 1 - 11/16 - 24.95
- Angels in the Court 2 - 11/16 - 24.95
- Black Mail 1 - 10/12 - 24.95
- Black Mail 2 - 10/12 - 24.95
- Black Mail 3 - 10/12 - 24.95
- Cardcaptor Sakura Vol. #7 - 1/15 - 29.98 100 min
- Cardcaptors Vol. #7 - 1/15 - 24.98 75 min
- Cleopatra DC - 1/29 - 29.95$ 150 min
- Gatekeepers Vol. 3: Infiltration - 1/15 - 29.98$ 75 min
- Gundam 08th MS Team Volume 4 - 1/22 - 24.98$ 75 min
- Kite Director's Cut - 1/29 - 29.95$ 60 min
- Koihime 1 - 10/19 - 24.95$
- Koihime 2 - 10/19 - 24.95$
- Love Hina 1 - 2/19 - 29.98$
- Madonna - 1/29 - 24.95$ 104 min
- Niea Under 7 Vol. 4: Under Seven Blues - 2/12 - 29.98$ 75 min
- Pia Carrot, Welcome To #1 - 11/23 - 24.95$
- Pia Carrot, Welcome To #2 - 11/23 - 24.95$
- Pia Carrot, Welcome To #3 - 11/23 - 24.95$
- Vandread 1: Enemy Engaged - 1/15 - 29.98$ 100 min
Talking about keepcases
(06:10 PM EST): This afternoon, I
received an email from Mr. Kim Sorensen, President of Scanavo Ltd. based in
Calgary Alberta Canada. In this email, it had come to their attention some
remarks made in reviews here at Anime on DVD as well as columns such as Last
Exit over at AniPike and other places on the web (search google w/scanavo to
find more) were less than flattering about their particular DVD keepcase
product. I spoke with Mr. Sorensen on the phone this evening to see what's
what, and we talked about how the Scanavo case has evolved over the past
couple of years and that the tension problems found on the earlier keepcases
have since been resolved. In fact, it looks as if Pioneer is going to be using
them on a near-exclusive basis, something I found to be true with the first
volume of Gatekeepers being in a clear Scanavo case. During our talk, it seems
as if most of the problems were indeed from the earlier version, with the
original Evangelion disc being a prime culprit. After all, many many anime
fans picked up that disc.
Regardless, Mr. Sorensen would like to hear the views of the anime
community about their cases, past and present. After all, I hadn't even
noticed that the Sailor Moon S TV series releases were in Scanavo's and
haven't heard any complaints about the cases. So if you have something
negative and/or positive to say about their cases, they're looking for
the picky finicky feedback of the anime community and have provided me with an
email address to contact them with. Send your thoughts to them at
kes@scanavo-ltd.com and remember,
that even if you are being negative, to be polite.
Thank you.
Advance review
(11:07 AM EST): Staff reviewer Roman
Martel managed to score a preview copy of the 10/15/2001 release from Rhino of
Battle
of the Planets Vol. #1. Check out his entire review to soak up all the
details.
Alternate angles
(10:57 AM EST): We've got a busy
weekend this weekend (even for the usual three day weekends I have), so here's
some alternate angle reviews to tide folks over:
Region 1 (North America)
Region 2 (Japan)
Forum Buzz
(09:31 AM EST): Though he made it in on time with his column, the
need to sleep overwhelmed me. But this morning, we've got a fresh copy of
Forum Buzz from Sean
Broestl all ready for your consumption!
Thursday, September 27th, 2001
Site store (10:38
PM EST): We've created a couple "on the fly" items for our site
store tonight, as the place that does our stuff is offering up some limited
time steins. I've added a stein to
this store and done up a
special one here, as well as a unique t-shirt.
Advance review
(10:11 PM EST): Trying to make some
more progress in our pile (curse these 5-6 episode discs!), we've added the
10/16/2001 release of
Arc the Lad Vol. #5
from ADV Films to our completed list.
Newly licensed
(01:59 PM EST): Slipping in under my
radar, Mariela has informed me that Central Park Media has announced that
they've acquired the license to
Geobreeders II.
The four episode OVA series was released on DVD in Japan last summer across
four DVD's running about 6,000Ą each. Suffice to say, the region 1 version
should be a better deal and hopefully it'll look as great as the first
Geobreeders release did.
Wednesday, September 26th, 2001
Newly reviewed
(09:27 PM EST): Due to our time being cut short by the need to
watch Enterprise, the only review we have up tonight is of Media Blaster's
recent release of the wonderful
Magic Users'
Club Vol. #3.
Name that company!
(08:32 PM EST): A couple of years
ago, I found myself amused when the folks at The Big Picture DVD went into a
small editorial about the Warner Bros. company. In their dealings with the
studio, they had found that they were referring to them improperly. Many
reviews and comments had said Warner Brothers. The folks at Warner Bros.
apparently were quite clear that the company name was Warner Bros. and not any
other spelling, and that it was important for it to be properly referred to.
In the amusing department, I've found myself being told the same thing
(both times quite politely of course) this past week. We'll be correcting
ourselves I'm sure, as the way I've been writing it, much like most of you, is
second nature. But did you know that Tokyopop is really TOKYOPOP? It must
be all caps. Curious! And Synch Point? Drop that hyphen and they'll stop
wearing those black dresses. The company is called Synch-Point. I'll be doing
my darndest to make sure I spell these things correctly from now on!
CPM on Patlabor
(10:44 AM EST): It looks like the
folks at CPM have gotten some of the initial information regarding sales of
the first volume of Patlabor and it looks promising. Posting this morning,
Justin Sevakis of CPM has indicated that it's well enough that the second
volume will begin production (dubbing and then DVD authoring). They aren't yet
committing to doing all of it, but the start of a second volume of episodes is
a good sign.
Tuesday, September 25th, 2001
Newly reviewed
(10:03 PM EST): Have you been wondering why we haven't reviewed the
late August release of Blood from Manga Entertainment? You know, I was
wondering the same thing. So I went to find out where my copy was and why it
hadn't shipped yet. For some reason, they don't ship things unless you order
it. Apparently I had forgotten to put it in my cart when I did up my August
basketload of titles to purchase. Thankfully we've finally gotten our copy in
and have tonight put together our
Blood review.
Advance review
(09:41 PM EST): Due out on
10/23/2001 from the folks at ADV, their first stab at the sports anime genre
takes hold with the release of
Princess Nine
Vol. #1. We've spent two days checking out this show, and all I can
really say is, if you liked Battle Athletes Victory, you're going to love this
show.
New cover art
(05:40 PM EST): A few more pieces
added to gallery 5
today, such as Soul Hunter Vol. #1, Orphen Vol. #3, Arc the Lad Vol. #6 and
St. Tail Vol. #2!
New title announcements
(05:12 PM EST): The
Right Stuf listings have updated today, some known
and some new. Nadia Vol. #5 is due on 12/18, Those Who Hunt Elves Vol. #1 for
11/13 and Robotech Masters Legacy Box Set #2 on 12/11/2001.
Monday, September 24th, 2001
NDK Update (04:19
PM EST): We've gotten a clarification from yesterdays news about
the Manga panel from Keith at Manga. Everything was spot-on except for one
section, which indicated that Manga had acquired the rights to the Shadow
Skill TV series. This was apparently in error, and there may only be an option
on this series instead (due to WTC incident, not all info out of their New
York City offices is up to date). We've modified that section of the report
and give a nod of thanks to Keith for letting us know! The author of the
piece, Sean, has been properly whipped and beaten with a cabbit whose been
carrot deprived for a few weeks.
Sunday, September 23rd, 2001
Cover art (05:37
PM EST): Some folks in the forum mentioned some new cover artwork
was up, so we've snared it and started a
new page for
it. The Sakura Diaries Collectors Edition is absolutely hot. I
want a poster of that.
Newly reviewed
(02:50 PM EST): Due out on
9/25/2001, ADV Films has set for release the third box set for Robotech, the
final one for the Macross Saga. We've spent a good part of this weekend
checking out the twelve final episodes and the great inclusion of the
Sentinels episode, and have whipped up some thoughts for our
Robotech
Legacy Set 3 review.
NDK News
(02:10 PM EST): Sean wasn't able to
make it down to this mornings Manga panel, but his roommate did and has passed
on this new information that came from that panel:
Tenative DVD Release dates
- Guyver - being worked on now
- Giant Robo - May 2002
- Gunbuster - Sometime before Giant Robo is released. Will be sub-only
- Rayearth OAV - Feb 2002
- Fist of the North Star TV - Boxsets released next year
They are working on DVDs for all of their catalog, even Astroboy.
Other Bits
- Blood: The Last Vampire sold very well. Sequel is being worked on
- They have an option on Shadow Skill TV
- They don't have Ghost in the Shell 2. Miramax has it
- Virus - will have an interview of some kind on the DVD
- Street Fighter Alpha 2 is in the works
NDK News
(08:42 AM EST): Our very own Sean
Broestl was at Nan Desu Kan this weekend and managed to bring back some info
from the Manga panel. With NDK being more of a social con, especially with it
being on the same weekend as AWA, there's less news. But NDK seems to edge out
by having Catgirl slumber parties...
"Manga Entertainment was there to host a short "premiere" of their
Evangelion Movie dub. Along with seening some of the video and hearing the dub
obviously, Keith and Tristan MacAvery were able to offer a number of new
details regarding the release of the movies early next year.
January 2002 - VHS release
March 2002 - DVD release
DVD details
- Extras - dub outtakes, character bios, some (not all) of the info from
the red cross booklet).
- Packaging - Going to be a double-disc case, to accomidate the large
booklet to be included with the movie.
- Pricing - MRSP $29.95
- Audio - English 5.1 for sure. Manga is trying to get Japanese 5.1
- After discussing the details of the DVD and VHS releases, a 6 minute
video of different scenes from the movie was shown. Having seen all of
Evangelion dubbed already, I can say that the movie dub seems to be on par,
if not a bit better than the original TV series dub.
- An interesting side note about the dub, Tristan said that those who have
seen a certain scene involving Shinji at the beginning of End of Evangelion
will probably get a kick out of the dub version
- Ok, here's some rather big news... Manga is trying to arrange an
interview with director Hideaki Anno, it will be done 3rd week in Oct.
Saturday, September 22nd, 2001
Newly reviewed
(11:17 PM EST): Taking advantage of the episodic nature of the
series, we've managed to make our way through another volume from the box
today and have finished our thoughts on
Urusei
Yatsura TV Vol. #13.
AWA News
(08:51 PM EST): Forum reader "Shiro"
has sent in some news from the ADV & Media Blasters panels today:
ADV:
- They are negotiating for the Japanese track from the 1st two seasons of
Sailor Moon.
- They're thinking of putting out the Boogiepop Phantom OST as their next
soundtrack. Expect over 100 soundtrack releases next year.
- They're finalizing negotiations for Noir.
- Someone asked them when Excel Saga is being released, so its been pushed
back another month . Seriously though, they said they've just started
dubbing the show. DLW said they've gotten some great extras for the Excel
DVDs.
- Digging further into their back catalog, they will be releasing "Miyuki-chan
in Wonderland" on DVD, subbed only, with an MSRP of $9.98.
- Plastic Little will also be getting released on DVD. One of the extras
on the DVD that DLW is quite proud of is the "Jiggle Counter", which counts
the number of times that any female cleavage bounces in the show . No dates
were given for Miyuki-chan and Plastic Little.
- Matt mentioned a number of series that will be released over the next
year or two. Most of them were already announced at earlier cons, but in
case you missed those here's some of what was mentioned:
Aura Battler Dunbine
Steel Angel Kurumi
Eden's Bowy
Goemon: Legend of the Mystical Ninja
Saiyuki(To be renamed "Paradise Warriors" if I remember correctly)
Rune Soldiers(Mahou Senshi Riui)
Super Milk-chan
Oh! Super Milk-chan
- The number of episodes for the new Rurouni Kenshin OVA series has "not
yet been determined".
- ADV is now in the process of remastering NGE vol. 1(WOOHOO! ). It will
be released as part of the Eva box sets, but those who already own the
series will be able to buy the remastered disc and the box separately. There
were two types of Eva box sets mentioned. They were "Premium" and "Normal"
with the premium set priced higher than the normal one. Unfortunately, they
wouldn't tell us what's better about the premium set but I'm assuming it'll
be some type of extra.
Media Blasters:
- Really nothing much to say about this one. MB is pushing Berserk as
their main title next year. There will be a DUB VHS and DVD release, but
they're not so sure about releasing a sub VHS since the market for these is
pretty much nonexistent. John was going to announce a new acquisition but
the Japanese license holder wanted them to wait until BAAF. Oh well.
Thanks Shiro!
Soul Hunter tidbits
(05:03 PM EST): Janice Williams of
ADV Films mentioned in the forums earlier today that they first disc for
Houshin Engi, better known in the U.S. as Soul Hunter, has been sent off to
the replicator for a new check disc. With things pretty much almost set for
the first disc, she's decided to share some of the cool things involved with
this release that should really psych up some fans.
First, the credits. The actual first episode doesn't have an opening
sequence per se. The credits were laid in during the beginning of the
episode. Unfortunately, the Japanese company did not have a clean version of
this footage, so we had to add the English credits around the Japanese. For
all other episodes, the opening sequences are indeed slightly different, as
are the ending sequences. Both are slightly different for each and EVERY
episode. We have maintained the differences. Each episode will have its
original animation sequences. The only difference between the Japanese and
the English being the credits will be in English, not Japanese.
The original Japanese logo is still present in the opening animation. It
gives way to the English logo rather than being replaced by it. Episode
titles have not been changed.
With the exception of the episode title slates and "Next Episode" slates,
there are no hard subs in this series. Everything else will be DVD subs.
Songs will also be DVD subs, alternating English and Romaji as is our
practice.
We have some very nice extras for these discs too. All discs will have
character bios, voice actor bios, a relationship tree (to help you keep
track of who's who because there are a LOT of characters in this show), a
glossary of terms, and translator notes. There will be other extras specific
to the individual discs in the series. IIRC, this first disc has the clean
opening animation for episode 2 and Historical Background notes.
There will be six discs in the series: 5 / 4 / 4 / 4 / 4 / 5. Priced at
$29.98 MSRP. English 2.0 and Japanese 2.0 audio with English subtitles, as
well as a separate "Songs Only" subtitle track for those who watch the dub.
Newly reviewed
(05:01 PM EST): We watched these
when we got the box set in, but the past two weeks events have kept us from
getting around to writing the reviews. Today we've got our thoughts set for
Urusei
Yatsura TV Vol. #11 and
Urusei
Yatsura TV Vol. #12.
Alternate angle
(08:15 AM EST): Let's squeak one in
here before I go out for the day. Richard Norton has sent an alternate angle
review for the recently released
Voogie's Angel.
AWA News
(08:15 AM EST): Some news has made
its way out of the Anime Weekend Atlanta convention late last night. So far
only the AnimEigo panel has been covered, with thanks to "Shiro" for providing
the info:
- They just received a new master for Otaku no Video and it should be out
by Christmas.
- Oh My Goddess Vol. 2 will start shipping in about 3 weeks.
- If I remember correctly, they said Kimagure Orange Road should be ready
to go sometime in November. A pre-order page should be up soon.
- UY OVA & Movie box set is coming early next year.
- Now for Macross. Robert played most of the first episode of Macross in
slow motion to show off the video quality. The DVD-R it was shown on had a
constant bit rate of about 6 and even then the show looked really
impressive. He said the finished product should have a variable bit-rate
from the mid sevens all the way up into the nines. During the episode, he
passed around printouts showing what the covers of the individual DVDs will
look like. The front of each cover has a line drawing of one of the major
characters (with different colors used for each character) on a black
background with the logo placed near the bottom. The backs of the covers are
just the standard pictures, episode information, and credits. The discs
themselves will have the episode names as well as a line drawing of one of
the various ships from the series printed on the front. Also, the box for
the set will be slightly thicker than the UY sets though not as thick as the
MKR2 boxes
- Regarding YUA TV I don't remember if he mentioned a specific release
date or not, but to give you an idea of how far along they are he said that
over half the series has been subtitled, but only one episode (Or maybe a
few more. I don't quite remember) has been dubbed. 90% of the dub cast will
be returning for the show but the VA for Miyuki wasn't available and will
instead be replaced by the VA that dubbed Belldandy. They'll be showing the
1st episode of YUA TV dubbed tomorrow so I'll let you know if Juliet Cesario
does a good Miyuki . Robert also mentioned that he actually tried out for
the role of Strikeman (ROFL )but he was terrible. He also wanted to voice
the cart lady (LOL).
Friday, September 21st, 2001
A lot on Saint Tail
(11:28 PM EST): The producer for
TOKYOPOP's release of Saint Tail (having taken over with Vol. #2) has finally
been given the OK to talk about the changes that are being made to the series.
We'll bullet 'em for you right here:
- 4 Episodes: # 4-7
- On a DVD 9 - MAXIMUM BIT-RATE BABY!!
- DVD Menus by... NIGHTJAR! Oooh Yeah!
- DVD Authoring by... It's a secret (One of the BEST Houses I've ever run
across; you'll see). The amount of extra work we've done to make sure the
picture in Saint Tail 2 is PERFECT in DVD compression is impressive. Our
compressionist has spent nearly a week straight working on this (it's
beautiful compared to our crappy source material).
- Saint Tail DVD Illustration Gallery # 2.
- Outtakes # 1 - These are hilarious!!
- Full Opening and Ending Sequence w/ Restored Music (see NOTE 1)
- All Songs DVD Soft-Subbed. Alternating Subs in English, Japanese,
English, Japanese. (see NOTE 2)
- Uncut Title Sequences w/ Full Kanji
- NO Overlays - All Signs via DVD Soft Subs.
- NOTHING is LOCKED. EVER.
- NO Macrovision.
- NO Edge Enhancements.
- Company Logo stays on screen for less than 4 seconds
NOTE 1: Just a brief history on this - Our Masters from Japan had NO SONGS
on there. They felt it was better for the international market to remove
such things. WRONG. Of course, they actually lost the vocals for the End
Song(!), and I had to carefully *restore* (and properly rebuild) the TV Edit
Version of the Vocal Song from their master CD instead!
NOTE 2: Not only were there no songs, there were no lyrics. We had to go
back in, buy the OST CD, and find the original lyrics from the CD booklet,
and then properly sub it.
The Bit-Rate hits between 9.0 - 10 in most places, and stays near the top
throughout.
ALL my DVDs with 4 - 6 episodes will be on DVD 9's. Enjoy.
Overall, I want to thank all of you for your patience. I hope you enjoy this
work we've put out at TOKYOPOP, and we hope to continue to deliver the best
Anime DVDs on the market!
Well, there's certainly enough in there that I'm going to be really
interested to see how this disc plays out on my gear. And it looks like we'll
be running some contests with TokyoPop next month as well with this title, so
keep your eyes open...
Newly reviewed
(11:26 PM EST): Dipping into the
pile again, tonight we pulled out a short three episode disc to get one more
done and out of the way. So we now have our thoughts posted on Viz's recent
release of Ceres,
Celestial Legend Vol. #2.
Site search
(08:58 AM EST): Bound to make some people happy, we've re-installed
site-search on the site, which is available only from this page at the bottom,
supplied by google. We would have had it earlier, but it took some time to
convince them to actually crawl us on occassion.
Alternate angles
(08:55 AM EST): We've made a dent in
this weeks batch of alternate angles this morning, though we'll likely work on
getting all the new Australian reviews up over this weekend. But for now,
check these reviews out:
Region 1 (North America)
Region 4 (Brazil)
Thursday, September 20th, 2001
New section (10:41
PM EST): Though we're still playing with the layout, it's time to
introduce our new Music News & Review
section!
Forum Buzz
(10:10 PM EST): This week's
Forum Buzz has arrived
courtesy of Sean Broestl, who will likely have a lot more information in next
weeks after this weekends Anime Weekend Atlanta convention provides some new
information as well as hopefully some news out of Nan Desu Kan.
Advance review
(09:58 PM EST): Due out on
10/09/2001 (a scant 7 months after the previous volume) is
Generator Gawl
Vol. #4, the final disc in the series.
Anime on TV
(09:43 PM EST): The folks at Bandai just dropped us a line to fill
us in on what's up with their shows that were airing on Cartoon
Network. Apparently both Mobile Suit Gundam and Cowboy Bebop will both be back
on in early October. As was guessed, it's likely due to recent events where
execs are just yanking things left and right.
Wednesday, September 19th, 2001
Newly reviewed
(10:05 PM EST): Have we got new reviews for you tonight. On my
plate, I've finished reviews for
Cardcaptor
Sakura Vol. #5 from Pioneer,
Gasaraki Vol. #6
from ADV Films and
Rurouni
Kenshin Vol. #10 from Media Blasters. Roman Martel has sent in reviews
for Votoms, Armored
Trooper Vol. #5 and
Votoms, Armored Trooper
Vol. #6 from NuTech.
Spriggan theatrical
(05:42 PM EST): Some initial dates
have been posted for the theatrical release of Spriggan, as well as an
updated website:
October 12th: Village East NYC
October 12th: Angelika-Houston
October 12th: Angelika-Dallas
October 26th: Clinton Theater-Portland, OR
October 26th: Cinemark-Hadley, MA
October 26th: Cinemark-Springfield, OR
November 23rd: Rice Media Center-Houston, TX
November 29th: Red Vic Movie House-San Francisco
New title announcements
(05:39 PM EST): Keeping things
rolling, ADV's David Williams has posted two new things today. First is that
Nadia volume 5 has been assigned a street date of 12/18/01 with 4 episodes at
$29.98. The second is the confirmation of Those Who Hunt Elves Vol. #1
streeting on 11/13/2001 with 6 episodes at $29.98.
Tuesday, September 18th, 2001
New title announcement
(06:24 PM EST): Working hard to get
more Robotech into your hands, David Williams posted this evening this bit of
news: "The fifth Robotech boxset has been assigned a street date of 12/11/01.
This set concludes the Robotech Masters/Southern Cross saga of Robotech. Two
more boxsets to go!"
Contest results!
(06:04 PM EST): The contest we ran
for August through the 15th of September with Planet Anime has come to a close
and they've gotten all their ducks in a row and have announced the winners:
- 1st Place (DVD & Rurouni Kenshin 1&2 DVD's): Scott McVay
- 2nd Place (Robotech box 1& 2): Dan Ellis
- 3rd Place (Getter Robo 1 & 2): Patricia Longarini
I've also been told that everyone who signed up for the contest will be
sent an email next week with a gift certificate for $5.00 off any one order as
a thank you for participating. I'd recommend using the 5.00$ and picking up an
import calendar!
Press (06:01
PM EST): The folks at Manga have sent out their latest
press release, this time talking
about the October release of Black Magic M-66.
Newly licensed
(06:50 AM EST): One more title for
the fansubbers to yank off their lists. Justin Sevakis of CPM posted this cool
new information to the forums last night:
"CPM is proud to announce our latest acquisition, the TV series Himiko
Den! A fantasy adventure show, this title has an opening to die for, and
should appeal to both shoujo and shonen fans!
Look for it, possibly in late 2002!
Nothing I can talk about in terms of extras yet, but these discs should be
pretty amazing...
I'll post more news as plans are made."
Monday, September 17th, 2001
More Nadia interviews
(07:00 PM EST): Janice Williams at
ADV Films is looking for more questions to ask the dub cast of Nadia for the
10th volume release, and they've come to us again to find out what you want to
ask them. Check out and participate in the thread
here.
AnimEigo talks Macross
(06:18 PM EST): Robert Woodhead of
AnimEigo has sent out a bit of
information today talking about the final rounds of work being done on
Macross in anticipation of its November 1st date to be sent to replication and
it's December ship date to customers. The pots been sweetened a bit for the
10,000+ people who are preordering, so it's worth taking a gander at and
finalizing your info.
Press (06:10
PM EST): The press machine is going full gear at ADV and we've
taken today's batch of announcements and put all the DVD related ones into
one handy listing.
Saturday, September 15th, 2001
Happy birthday!
(10:37 PM EST): A tip of the hat and a round of hip hip hooray's
are sent out today to our senior forum moderator and author of the Forum Buzz
columns, Sean Broestl. Somebody go get him drunk already!
Digital omake
(10:36 PM EST): Two new pieces added
to our digital omake page
today, including Blood and Getter Robo Vol. #2.
Alternate angles
(10:30 PM EST): There's a bunch of
new reviews today from around the globe. Not only do we have the usual region
1 alternate angles, but new reviews for Japanese discs, new reviews for
Australian releases and our first reviews for Brazilian anime releases.
Region 1 (North America)
Region 2 (Japan)
Region 4 (Australia)
Region 4 (Brazil)
Cover art
(08:31 PM EST): A bunch of new pictures have been added to
Gallery 4 this
morning, including the covers sent in last night for the Urusei Yatsura TV set
3 from Bryan Porter. Thanks Bryan!
Friday, September 14th, 2001
Trailer tidbit
(08:23 PM EST): While discussing the surprise among some fans at
seeing a trailer for Kite on Rurouni Kenshin Vol. #10, we've learned that Vol.
#11 will be their first disc to feature a trailer for next years release of
Berserk. I'm drooling already....
UY request
(08:11 PM EST): We'll be digging into our 3rd Urusei Yatsura DVD
box set this weekend, but being without a scanner, I can't get the cover art
added. If you've received your set already and have a scanner, we'd be real
appreciative of someone ending in images (135x190) of just the front covers of
the individual volumes. Thanks!
Newly reviewed
(08:07 PM EST): It took me a few
days to get my thoughts in order to write it, but I've finally gotten things
settled for the review of
Oh! My Goddess
Vol. #1 from AnimEigo.
Thursday, September 13th, 2001
Forum Buzz (10:15
PM EST): Sean Broestl returns again this week for the second
installment of Forum Buzz,
the quick and handy guide to help keep up on events in the forums!
Wednesday, September 12th, 2001
ADV gives most VHS the boot
(05:27 PM EST):
** update ** Right Stuf's listing a number
of VHS cancellations today as well as one DVD listing for Lost Universe #7.
We've learned that the reason for these titles being listed as cancellations
is due to people trying to order them even though they were never formally
announced. Consider it just something for retailers.
New title announcement
(05:25 PM EST): One of the more
anticipated releases this fall has gotten firmed up this afternoon. On
11/20/2001, Viz will be releasing the Ranma 1/2 Digital Dojo TV Series (1st
Season) Box Set. This set will run 450 minutes and contain the 18 episodes
that made up season 1. MSRP is 99.98$.
Title delays
(05:22 PM EST): Due to current
events with the airlines being grounded, Right Stuf has sent out a notice that
to ensure the best quality, they're delaying a couple of their upcoming
releases by about two weeks, as the arrival of the final check discs is being
delayed. Titles and new dates are listed as such:
- Tylor, Irresponsible Captain OVA #3: From Here to Eternity 29.95
10/9/2001
- Tylor, Irresponsible Captain OVA Box Set 89.95 10/9/2001
- Boogiepop Phantom Evolution 1 DVD 29.95 10/9/2001
- Yamamoto Yohko, Starship Girl DVD 1-3 39.95 10/9/2001
New title announcement
(05:14 PM EST): Keeping us busy with
plenty to watch, the folks at ADV have slated another title for release. Dirty
Pair Flash : Angel's at World's End will be released on 12/11/01. This disc
contains all 5 episodes previously released on VHS as Dirty Pair Flash Mission
2. English and Japanese with English subtitles. MSRP $29.98
Tuesday, September 11th, 2001
Newly reviewed
(03:24 PM EST): Continuing his quest to watch the Votoms series,
staff reviewer Roman Martel comes back today with thoughts on
Votoms, Armored Trooper
Vol. #3 and
Votoms, Armored Trooper Vol. #4. He's also completed an alternate
angle review for Orphen
Vol. #2.
More on Hermes
(02:32 PM EST): One other thing we
learned about the new Image release of Hermes: Winds of Love that flew in
under the radar recently is that it was an anime funded by a cult in Japan.
This may make some people feel uneasy. And while I won't reveal my source on
this, I've learned from some reliable folks that the other mystery title that
Image has acquired is Wedding Peach. Can you hear the shocking cry from
fansubbers?
Funimation snags more Lupin?
(02:23 PM EST): According to the
Funimation site
Dragonballz.com, they've apparently acquired more than just the movies:
FUNimation has acquired yet another smash hit anime called Lupin III.
Lupin III is a classic Japanese series and is one of the most popular series
of all time in Japan. In fact a popular Japanese magazine recently performed
a major poll to determine the "Best 100 Anime" ever made. Lupin III came in
second place! FUNimation is proud to have been chosen to bring this
exemplary series into the English speaking world. Gen Fukunaga, President of
FUNimation, had this to say about the series, "With movies produced since
the 1970's and new movies (over 90 minutes each) being created every year
for the last 13 years, we are in awe of the longevity of this terrific
brand."
The way it's all worded, as well as another paragraph on their site, seem to
indicate that it's the series as well as the movies but then it sounds as if
it's just the movies themselves. Hopefully some clear words will come out
soon.
A moment of silence
(02:07 PM EST): Just a quick moment
of silence and introspection this afternoon while dealing with the chaos and
uncertainly created by today's events along the eastern seaboard. This tragedy
has struck awfully close for my wife and I, though we do take moments of ease
as we learn of friends in New York City who escaped unscathed. Our thoughts
and best wishes are with those who need them the most.
Monday, September 10th, 2001
A bit on Hermes
(08:32 PM EST): Looking at some low resolution cover images, it
appears that the Image release of Hermes: Winds of Love is being presented in
its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and apparently only in Japanese
with English subtitles while including the original theatrical trailer and
some outtakes.
Image returns to anime
(05:57 PM EST): Did you know Image
Entertainment has tried their hand at anime again? That's right, with their
licenses ending with Central Park Media and no more Streamline titles to mine
for a few quick bucks, they're trying it with the licensing of titles and
bringing them over themselves. The first title is Hermes: Winds of Love which
was released on 8/28 to no fanfare or real news (I only just saw this in
Animerica yesterday). On the plus side, it's only 24.95$ for what looks like a
2 hour movie. On the downside, their site as well as their own retailer don't
really list what the deal is with it, for subtitles, languages and other
specs. So it's all a crapshoot. In addition, we've heard that they've acquired
a fair number of hentai titles and at least one rather heavily fansubbed
title. I'm waiting on a confirm on that before I post it though, since I'd
rather stick to facts.
New title announcement
(05:43 PM EST): After a truly suck
day, I was super pleased to see a new title announced from ADV Films posted on
our forums this evening. Due on 12/04/2001, ADV will be releasing the Sakura
Diaries Collectors Edition. It is a two disc set containing all 12 episodes
of Sakura Diaries. This version of the show is sometimes referred to as the
"LD" version among otaku and contains different footage than was release
previously in individual volumes. This edition is subtitled only and
has an MSRP of $44.98.
Saturday, September 8th, 2001
Newly reviewed
(10:30 PM EST): Roman Martel is back today with another review
coming from the pile of VOTOMS discs that's sitting on his shelf. Today, he's
got the review for
Votoms, Armored Trooper Vol. #2 out of 16 finished.
Contest winner!
(07:38 AM EST): Congratulations go
out to Michael T. Watson whose won Day 5 of the
Escaflowne Tarot
Card Contest! All of the tarot deck sets for this run of the contest
have been accounted for and are being shipped off asap. We'll be running this
contest again during the first full week of October, so there's still another
chance for you if you didn't make it this time!
Friday, September 7th, 2001
Newly reviewed
(08:16 PM EST): Rounding out what we had in our to-review pile,
we've finished our thoughts on Media Blaster's other recent release,
Tokio Private
Police.
Contest winner!
(05:32 PM EST): Congratulations go
out to Christopher J. Sypal whose won Day 4 of the
Escaflowne Tarot
Card Contest! Four down and one more day to go. Entries from 9/6 (all
700 or so of them) have been removed, so 9/7 is now up in the air!
Newly reviewed
(11:02 AM EST): As promised, our
look into Media Blaster's recent release of
Voogie's Angel
has been posted.
Gundam TV
(10:33 AM EST): Just a quick blurb here about the recent "news"
about the Cartoon Network broadcast of Mobile Suit Gundam being canceled as
has been spread around since yesterday. If a series is broadcast to its
completion, is that considered canceled? Because that's what's happening.
Personally, I thought if it stopped at some point prior to showing the final
episode it would be considered canceled. As Cartoon Network is showing the
series to its completion, those trumpeting its cancelation and coming up with
absurdities such as the DVD's won't sell cause nobody is watching it on TV are
just hilarious. Is this another instance of fandom going cannibal?
Another word on box sets
(09:48 AM EST): Earlier this week
when I mentioned that the bundles being offered by
Right Stuf aren't actual box sets, I apparently gave the impression to a
few people that they aren't worth looking at. While these are just entire
series bundled together for an easier purchase, their discounted price is
better than buying them individually. So if you were interested in them, do
take a look at them (as well as their bargain bin that was just updated! Shiny
laserdiscs and cheap tapes for those who want an easy way to sample series).
Alternate angles
(09:39 AM EST): We've got a good
batch of alternate angles and other region reviews today. Before we get into
it, I just wanted to say something about alternate angle reviews. After a
recent posting of one that was done on a Playstation 2, some people were
rather upset that the review got posted because the review said that the
animation was jerky. This was obviously the result of the player used (the
PS2) and has been corroborated by others. I'd been asked by several people to
adjust the review to reflect that. I won't be adjusting it though, as every
review clearly states what the review equipment is. People playing Blood on a
PS2 may very well see jerky animation. People playing it on other decks won't
see jerky animation. This is the point of including the equipment used in the
review folks.
Region 1
Region 2 (Japan)
Region 2 (UK)
Region 4
Thursday, September 6th, 2001
Newly reviewed
(10:44 PM EST): Adding another one to the completed pile, we've
finished taking in TRSI's latest effort in the form of
Irresponsible Captain Tylor OVA Vol. #2, only to find our enjoyment of
this show greatly enhanced by these episodes. Tomorrow we'll have Voogie's
Angel reviewed and over the weekend we'll add in Tokio Private Police.
What's the buzz...
(09:43 PM EST): We're gonna tell you
what's a happening... or rather, Sean Broestl will be doing that. Sean's been
the senior forum moderator for quite some time now, and he's decided to wield
his vast knowledge that he's gleaned from the forums to provide a weekly
sampling of just what's going on in there. As many know, we have a lot of
industry reps participating in there and a lot of news generated by posts in
here, so this should help to flesh out some of the questions that get asked
regularly. So let's check out the first installment of
Forum Buzz (previously
known as Yo AnimeOnDVD!).
Vampire Hunter D Gatherings
(05:45 PM EST): The folks at Urban
Vision sent out the list of confirmed and potential showings for their
theatrical run of Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust today. And it occurred to me,
with this flick traveling fairly well around the coastal areas of the United
States, why not tie this all into a series of site gatherings? After all, it's
not all that often that anime makes it out theatrically in the US or before
the majority of the Japanese see it. So we've
compiled a
page with the locations and dates. If you're planning a gathering for one,
bring it up in the conventions forum we have and we'll add the information to
that page. And with this run playing in Boston, I can practically guarantee
we'll do a good sized gathering here.
Contest winner!
(05:32 PM EST): Congratulations go
out to Marty Kaufman whose won Day 3 of the
Escaflowne Tarot
Card Contest! Three down and two more days to go. Entries from 9/5
(all 1100 or so of them) have been removed, so 9/6 is now up in the air!
Wednesday, September 5th, 2001
Anime @ Express
(09:04 PM EST): Just a quick heads-up to the regular readers here,
we've restarted our affiliate program with the folks at Express this evening.
In working with them to get the anime side of things back up and rolling,
we've thrown together a quick splash page of
titles that are in their inventory that they're overstocked on and have
listed at some fairly good discounts, upwards of 55% off on some. I'd also
like to heavily recommend to anyone who hasn't tried it yet, to try out
Battle Athletes Victory Vol. #1, still at a great low price thanks to the
Pioneer price cuts last year. Try it! For those wondering why we're throwing
in with them again after the problems they've had earlier this year with the
chapter 11 filing, it's really for two simple reasons. One is that I know a
lot of the folks there and count many as friends, and the other is that the
affiliate program with them is the sole reason we were able to afford
the jump up to the new server this year and for this sites continued
existence. That of course has to do with you, the readers who bought from
them. But no other affiliate program has come close to replicating the success
we've had with them. So I'll continue to stand by them as they've done more
than good by me.
A note on box sets
(05:53 PM EST): After mentioning the
new listing for Ranma 1/2 Vol. #6 last night, a lot of people perused the TRSI
site and noticed a slew of DVD bundles for things like Evangelion, Trigun,
Nadesico and others. Before too many people get their undies in a bunch, these
are not box sets. TRSI often bundles the individual discs together from
a release and sells it as a pack, making it easier for the customer to get the
whole series at once. That's all this is.
More on Japanese Mononoke
(05:49 PM EST): Eric Toh let us know
that the AMO Tokyo site updated with information on what to expect with the
Japanese release of Princess Mononoke:
Princess Mononoke:
- 3 DVD discs!
- 5.1ch Japanese
- 5.1ch English
- Disc 1 English/Japanese subtitled
- Disc 2 Drawing for Anime (133mins)
- Disc 3 is international Version which has Japanese, English, French,
Cantonese, Italian, Spanish, German, Portuguese Dubbed
Making of Princess Mononoke:
- 3 DVD discs!
- 2.0ch Japanese
- 4:3
- Making video and interviews
- You can know how Princess Mononoke was created
- Disc 1 133mins | Disc2 137mins | Disc3 130mins
With the lack of English on the Making of three disc set, I can see a lot
of people passing that over. For what it's worth, the three VHS tapes of it
ran for 100$ when it came out and is very hard to find now. For half the
price, you can get it on DVD. I'm sold on both sets.
Contest winner!
(05:29 PM EST): Congratulations go
out to Kris Granholm whose won Day 2 of the
Escaflowne Tarot
Card Contest! Two down and three more days to go. Entries from 9/4
(all 1000 or so of them) have been removed, so 9/5 is now up in the air!
Tuesday, September 4th, 2001
New title announcement
(08:39 PM EST): The Right Stuf folks
have updated with a slew of things today, but only one real new DVD
announcement. Due on 11/20/2001 is Ranma 1/2: Random Rhapsody Vol. #6. Three
episodes for 29.99$.
A-Ko tidbit
(05:44 PM EST): If you've been hanging around the anime scene
online long enough, you'll know that there's a bit of history with the release
of Project A-Ko. The original movie was one of the more sought after fansubs
way back in the day before licensing was all that common. When CPM picked it
up, they were given the matted letterbox print. Very few people however knew
that it was originally a full-frame 4:3 print that had just been matted for a
theatrical release and a release on home video in Japan. When word surfaced
high enough that the right people became aware of this, the hunt was on to
procure this original open matte transfer. We've heard back from the folks at
CPM today who've finally gotten word from the Japanese licensor that they've
been unable to find an open matte print of this movie. All they've found is
what CPM already has, the matted letterbox print. So when a remaster of the
original Project A-Ko movie comes about, it'll be this same matted transfer
(which, arguably, isn't bad, as this is how it was shown theatrically). Now,
if you happen to have a lot of Japanese animation film prints laying about in
your basement or attic, check and see if this one is there. I'm sure people
would love to discover this mid 80's classic.
ADV tidbits
(05:07 PM EST): Some folks have asked recently how ADV will be
working on Steel Angel Kurumi when it hits the DVD stage, since the episodes
are short (15 minutes). According to a tidbit posted by Janice Williams over
the holiday weekend, Steel Angel Kurumi is planned for four discs, each with
six 15 minute episodes. The episodes will not be spliced together. Neo Ranga
was asked about as well, but that hasn't made it up to the planning stages
yet.
Gundam gets the boot
(05:03 PM EST): If you've been like
me, you've been wondering what the heck happened to some of those Gundam
titles announced earlier this year on the Bandai Entertainment site that have
since disappeared from all listings. According to an update at
Right Stuf, they've gotten some new dates at last. Gundam 0080 DVD 1,
Gundam 0080 DVD 2, Gundam 0083 DVD 1, and Gundam 0083 DVD 2 have all been
delayed until 1/22/2002.
Alternate Angles
(05:01 PM EST): A few more came in
recently (and we've got a small build-up of region 4 ones on the way later
this week as well) but let's get partially caught up today:
Region 1
Region 2
Press (04:33
PM EST): A new press
release came out today from the folks behind the Big Apple Anime Festival
talking about the wide ranging industry support.
Contest winner!
(04:29 PM EST): Congratulations go
out to Ethan Glaysher whose won Day 1 of the
Escaflowne Tarot
Card Contest! One down and four more days to go. Entries from 9/3 (all
700 or so of them) have been removed, so 9/4 is now up in the air!
Monday, September 3rd, 2001
More Kuromi!
(01:57 PM EST): According to a post on our region 2 section today,
an attendee at the recent Comic Market 60 in Japan talked with the folks at
the Yumeta booth. Yumeta is the company that released the
Animation Runner
Kuromi anime directed by Mr. Daichi. Apparently two more volumes are in
the works and both of those volumes are planned to be regionless, so everyone
will get a chance to check it out. We're again expecting it to be subtitled,
as the first volume was done that way at Mr. Daichi's request and they've
gotten good overseas sales of that volume. We'll post more when there are new
dates and more information.
Alternate angles
(08:48 AM EST): That's right, we're
back with more raw alternate angle reviews direct from the readers of this
site. Today, check out:
Region 1
Mononoke in Japan
(07:58 AM EST): When it comes to
Mononoke Hime, this was probably the first really massively documented Ghibli
title when it comes to video. When the region 1 release came out, many
lamented that the wonderful making of video which ran for several hours didn't
make it out. Well, fret no longer, as the region 2 release has been announced
according to a new post this morning (we're still looking for the official
link):
Due on 11/21/2001
- "Mononoke Hime" DVD (Region 2)
3 disc set (Film, Storyboards, International version)
4,700 yen
Comes with "Mononoke Hime in USA", the 20 minute documentary about the US
release of Mononoke.
- "Mononoke Hime wa Koushite Umareta" DVD (Region 2)
3 disc set
4,700yen
(The documentary about the production of Mononoke Hime, previously available
on VHS)
Now that's a special edition release. There's no word on
subtitles or audio yet for either of the three disc sets, but here's hoping
they'll be like other recent releases, including the earlier announcement of
My Neighbor Totoro that has English subtitles as well. Even if the 3 disc
documentary set doesn't have subtitles, I'm sure it'll be a visual treat just
to see how everything was put together.
Sunday, September 2nd, 2001
Newly reviewed
(05:15 PM EST): Rounding out the last of the discs I have in my
pile for review, today we've got a few words on Central Park Media's release
of Fencer
of Minerva Vol. #2.
Ghibli in the US
(08:43 AM EST): There's been a
flurry of activity over the past couple of days since
this article at Inside.com was published, that talks about the state of
affairs the Ghibli catalog is in in the US. Suffice to say, upon initial
reading it looks bleak and sent hundreds of lemmings to jump off cliffs and
proclaim the end of everything good in the world. As the days have gone on,
there is definitely more going on than is really said there and things aren't
actually as bleak as first predicted. I've gotten a ton of emails about a
number of petitions that have been set up, but I'm instead opting to follow
the route of Those Who Know Best and will be providing a link in our petitions
section to
this page
on Nausicaa.net. This page has the best way of making your voice heard,
and this goes beyond US people writing in. The article talks about a
worldwide position, so those of you in the UK, Europe and South America need
to write in as well. Again, this is not isolated to just US residents.
Mononoke in the UK
(08:30 AM EST): Joe Curzon of
Anime Digital sent in some news
about the UK release of Princess Mononoke recently. The disc is scheduled for
release on Monday 22nd October 2001 and will feature 5.1 English Audio, 5.1
Japanese Audio and Subtitles in English and SDH. Apparently the extras will be
the same as the US release and the movie will be anamorphic. There may even be
a slight increase in quality over the US release due to the lack of the French
track that was included for region 1, giving a few more bits over to the
video.
TOKYOPOP tidbits
(08:25 AM EST): We've been told to
expect some good news from the producer of the Saint Tail discs in a few days,
but in the meantime Joel Baral, the producer of the Vampire Princess Miyu TV
discs has
posted some sweet information about some changes being made to the second
disc and beyond. The episode count for the series will be 3/4/4/5/5/5. The
full original opening will now be included. The openings and endings will be
included for each episode, with the ending playing as the Japanese original
ending did with the English credits to follow right after it on a black
background. So we'll get the original Japanese text, which will please a
number of people. And for those who were concerned about the name change of
Larva to Lava, it'll be back to what we're familiar with as Larva.
Looking good!
Saturday, September 1st, 2001
Alternate angles
(09:51 PM EST): We're doing our best to keep up on the alternate
angle reviews at the moment, so tonight we've got another batch of reviews for
you to check out:
Region 1
Region 4
New contests
(03:42 PM EST): We've got our
September contests all lined up now that we've taken a break after the trouble
that the July contests caused. The first one kicks off today, and that's the
Boogiepop Phantom Vol.
#1 contest where we're giving away two copies courtesy of the great folks
at Right Stuf. This contest will run through the end of the month. On Monday,
we're starting a daily contest where we'll give away a deck of
Escaflowne tarot cards,
so we'll have five winners for that (and we'll be running that contest the
first week of the month through the end of the year, so there's a total of
twenty chances to win!). Be sure to read the rules for each contest and note
their start and end dates as well as any residency related issues. I still
get people trying to enter contests that ended two years ago.
Newly reviewed
(11:23 AM EST): Although I hate to
switch reviewers in mid-series, things were getting pretty busy recently so
Megan has helped me out by taking over doing the reviews for
Ranma 1/2:
Random Rhapsody Vol. #3 and
Sailor Moon S
TV Vol. #4 as well as continuing with this series as new releases come
out.
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