And now, onto the forums...

Otakon News & Views
Odelay! err.. Otakon! The weekend has come & gone with some news for announcements. Bandai confirms Gundam Seed, ADV tags Cyberteam in Akihabara, CPM play with Arcade Gamer Fubuki, and many studios just ran down plans for the rest of the year. If you were expecting a big series of title announcements.. well, don't always believe the fan hype. At least we got some details of what FUNi is doing with Sakura Wars, GXP & Kiddy Grade as far as DVDs go. Pioneer says if we want more Lupin TV episodes picked up then more people need to be buying the DVDs they release. So if you've been sitting on whether or not to buy them.. Buy them.

TOKYOPOP's Initial Chaos
If TP was looking to get the world "tricked out" on racing, then it looks like it'll be a long battle uphill. The first DVD isn't out yet but the first viewing of it has been done. Reactions have been... less than pleasant. Even at an MSRP of $19.99, will Takumi "Tak" Fujiwara hit the railing before he even makes it down the mountain?

And now, we present the same thing so that the TOKYOPOP staff working on Initial D can understand. Dig?

If oz boz be checkin to get da world "tricked out" on rucin, thun mark it be a big un of da battles. Be the silver ain't yet spreadin but da first viewin of it as bin done. The hollar ave bin... less than chill. Evun at a legal of Jackson, will Tak be clearin the bumbers stapled to da mountain?

Najica Panties Tactics
Those looking for a few comments to the Najica series which don't focus on a pair of clean whites, Rod Su has you covered. Of course, "tablesalt" has posted up more than a few comments concerning the box, underware, and the show itself so you've got the best of both worlds. =)

Dreamworks form new sub-division, pick up Ghost in the Shell II movie (Innocence)
Dreamworks has created a new division of the company called "Go Fish" to concentrate on their indie and foreign films. These include Millennium Actress and Ghost in the Shell II. Millennium Actress looks to be going sub only but it's too early to tell for GitSII. Bandai has given the TV series GitS: Stand Alone Complex to Animaze for dubbing so we may yet see Dreamworks take this over to the same studio for the new TV cast. At least we finally know who has the movie after the long rumours of it going to Miramax.

ADV UK Street Dates
"shokoti" has put together some release dates thanks to retailer Play.com. R2 UK fans will be happy to see so much anime coming October through December.

Onegai Twins R2 Volume 1 Details
Natsume Maya has details for the first OT R2 DVD. October 24th will kick off with two episodes and have two editions: Regular (5,775 yen) and Limited Edition (7,875 yen) which includes a box with lots of extras.

US fan looking for a cheap, region free player which will also convert PAL->NTSC?
US fans looking for a cheap & easy player to play other region DVDs have found one. The Toshiba SD-3900 which store like Best Buy carry for $99 can play any region DVD via simply selecting from the remote. Button details can be found in the thread below. So, those which tend to import from Japan, Europe, and Australia finally have another way to watch it on their big screen and not the monitor. =)

Coastal Carolina joins with Blue Ridge Motion Pictures
Coastal Carolina (dub studio behind Oh My Goddess!, You're Under Arrest, and Blue Submarine No. 6) recently closed its doors due to lack of anime dubbing work. However, Blue Ridge Motion Pictures has recently moved into the area and acquired Coastal to handle their post production audio needs. Thus, Coastal Carolina has established "Phoenix Post Sound" to work on film post production needs. That means the door back to anime dubbing is always open in the future.

Pretty colors on paper for the week
mmm... I'd tell you about them but I'm still drooling over Mizuho on PT! 4.. YUM!

Those Who Read Manga
To keep people "aware" of the glitches in manga, Kiril has setup a thread for reporting and reviewing of errors. Please do make use of it so that you don't get a bum copy.

ADV

Dark Horse

TOKYOPOP

Gaijin vs Japanese Toilet
Japanese toilets. Yeah, like you're not confused as can be too on how to use those things. Read on as Wired reports the vivid details of Steve VS the Bowel.

Jubei-chan 2 TV Series
Jubei-chan (first series released in the US as "Jubei-chan: The Ninja Girl - Secret of the Lovely Eyepatch) has picked up a 2nd one for people to enjoy. Auditions are currently open for a seiyuu to voice a middle school girl from Russia named Felicia. Those local to Japan may want to dig out that resume and dust it off.

Seiyuu and salaries
Here's a question. With everyone so gaga over seiyuu, do you really know much about the career they've chosen? You'd be surprised to see what some people know about this profession.

The end of Futurama
A long time in coming, the trippy future comedy series "Futurama" has aired its final episode. While the show is in syndication on Cartoon Network and coming out on DVD, its still sad to see such a good series come to a close.

The World's Oldest Murder
An "Iceman" found in 1991 seems to have popped up with some new details. Thanks to modern technology, we now know that he was murdered in a fight which lasted two days in the Italian Alps. The things people will research...

Quote of the Week

"Well, there you go. Put two (or more) bishounen in an anime, make them long for each other and BANG you have another commercial success!" - Aiia

Runner Up Quote of the Week

"Let's say I have some eggs, an onion, some cheese, some mushrooms: I can make an omelet." - Kiril

When not stopping trouble (or starting it) on the AoD Forums, S-Man can be found working on the database project at Crystal Acids and asagiri2040 can be found not updating his Rising Sun Alternative website. Y'Know, it'd be fun to run a contest or something but we don't have squat to giveaway to people. This issue was put together thanks to the background music of William Orbit's Fire and Mercy and Gary Hoey's Linus and Lucy.