. . . . . . . I’m sorry. I have absolutely nothing witty or pithy to start this column out with. I’ve just started a new job, and I’m still acclimating myself to it. On with the questions then. J

From Dieter:

Just this once, I’ll overlook the fact that this question isn’t specifically anime-related. But only because it’s Ren and Stimpy, and also that I’d like to see at least the first season on DVD. ;-)

I had a heck of a time trying to find anything "official" about Ren and Stimpy. The Nickelodeon site is incredibly unhelpful. And they don’t have an email helpdesk to speak of. But I did snoop around to some other fan-based sites and found some things out that’ll probably have an impact on whether or not it’s released.

OK. Here’s a basic rundown of the history of the show. John Kricfalusi (I hope I’m spelling his name right) comes up with the idea for Ren and Stimpy. For the first season of the show, he actually owns the rights. Nickelodeon doesn’t really like where the show is going, so they buy the rights to the show for the remaining seasons. Now John doesn’t like where the show’s going, and he has a big falling out with Nick. (As always, correct me if I’m wrong).

Now, from this information alone, I’d have to say that the chances of this coming out in any way, shape, or form are pretty low. There’d have to be some sort of agreement between the creator and Nick. And since they both seem to have issues with the series as a whole, I don’t think I see that happening. I also couldn’t find any information at all from Nick in regards to a DVD release (or any info anywhere else for that matter), but, as I said before, their site is pretty unhelpful.

Of course, miracles do happen, but I wouldn’t expect to see anything anytime soon.

Pete Plank contributed this tidbit for me. Thanks bunches, Pete!

"Starship Girl Yamamoto Yohko

High school girl Yoko Yamamoto is a brilliant athlete and game player. The 15 year-old girl is recruited by a future force from the 30th century to become a starship pilot. In that future, "Terra" and "Ness" are at war which is fought in a manner similar to playing computer games. Yoko brings her teammates Ayano, Madoka and Kureha onto her team. Since then on they go back and forth between the two realities of present and the future, alternating their lives between that of high school students and starship fighters."

And, unfortunately, that’s about all the info that I could find. And I didn’t even find it. J All the searches I did resulted in finding the scans of the cover art. If anyone else has any other info about this show, email it to me and I’ll forward it on to Michael.

Hola! Bonjour! Konnichiwa! Sorry, I felt a little international there for a minute. J

Anyway, the ever-popular DVD Express has them available. Price seems pretty reasonable, too; 4.95 for 3 of them. Chris suggested also trying digitaleyes.net. Look under accessories on the sidebar. It would make sense that you could probably find them at any online retailer that specializes in, or at least has a really decent selection of DVDs. (Except for Reel.com and 800.com. I couldn’t find anything there. Unless there’s another way to do the search. Let me know if I missed something.)

In regards to the artwork, you have a couple of options there. You could hack up the original snapper case (or slipcase, whichever it is), and slide it into the sleeve on the keepcase. Although, you might have to do a little paring and trimming to get it to fit, which might interfere with the artwork. You could also find a scan of the jacket online, and, if you have a decent color printer, you could print out a copy of the jacket and slide it into the keepcase. Or, if you can’t find a scan, you could still hack up your snapper case, scan the artwork into your own computer, and print it out that way. How you decide to replace the artwork depends on your resources, really. And, of course, how much effort you want to put into it.

Now, about the column being weekly . . . . I hope I never specifically stated that, as I would hate to have said something like that, and then totally failed to keep my word. There have been a few special circumstances that have kept me from doing my duty in answering your questions. First, was the site reorganization. Now, the Wanderer is having slight problems with the new software, so he can’t update in the dead of night like he used to. There were several personal obligations that I had to keep that all fell in the month of October. And, I also just started a new job. So, things have been just a little crazy for a while. I’m hoping that now I can do shorter columns more frequently, rather than epic columns every once in a while.

OK. Here’s the part where I post replies that you guys have sent me to correct answers that I’ve given that may not be totally complete. And I really do appreciate it. I seriously wish I had tons more time to comb the Net for answers, but there’s that pesky thing called work . . . .

I have gotten a few emails from people who pointed out to me that there have, in fact, been anime crossovers. Now, when I read the question, I interpreted it to be asking whether or not there would be any crossover series (like an OAV series). And that’s how I answered the question. But there have been some more informal types of crossovers. Like the teacher who looks suspiciously like Mr. Fujisawa in Tenchi in Tokyo. Sounds a lot like him, too. . . . . Or Super Deformed Double Feature. There’s a bunch of characters from different series all in the same OAV. Then there’s all the other various tributes/crossovers that if you blink you might miss them, such as posters in the background. So, there have indeed been crossovers of the "unofficial" type. And I have officially been corrected. Thanks, guys. J

Thanks to David Litchman for giving me the name of the streamers. I finally saw what he was talking about when we watched the newest Tenchi in Tokyo. Nearly fell off the bed when I realized that that’s what Wuss912 was talking about. But I didn’t know the name of them. I think I need to brush up on my eastern religions.

And Finally

MrSuke

OK, that brings us to the end of another exciting column. Well, I’m hoping to get another column to you guys next week, so keep your fingers crossed. Catch y’all later!