Ask LadyCat

"I'm not even supposed to be here today!"

Yes, it’s yet another

Incredible Mini-Column!

The first of at least one other this week.  It depends on how much time I end up worrying about the panel at Anime Expo. ;-)  So, without further ado, here we go!

From Kevinsmile:

you've must of heard or read this question 1000 times..but i was wondering are there any plans to put the sailormoon series on dvd??? for them to ignore this very popular series that turned alot of people on too anime would be crazy..

Well, the problem with releasing this series on DVD is that the "American" version is, well, basically a hacked up version of the original.  If there was a release on DVD they would probably have to either release a sub version and a dub version, or they'd have to redub the entire series.

If you read Cronos' column, he mentioned a point that also has to be taken into consideration:  Sailor Moon is being targeted to a younger audience.  So some of the more "risque" plot lines have been removed.  Can you imagine what would happen if a parent, who only knows that Sailor Moon is a cute cartoon that's shown on TV, gets ahold of an uncut version?  I wouldn't want to be there. 

So, basically, probably not.  At least, not any time soon.

From Lighthawk Demon:

Hello Ladycat,

I do hope I'm not being a pest, but another question concerning Tenchi Muyo has surfaced in my little mind......especially after finally watching all of  Tenchi in Tokyo DVDs  I bought.  Does any one know why the story lines change? The background story as to how Tenchi and the girls met are different in all three incarnations of Tenchi. It's just something that makes me wonder. Is there a reason behind the changes?

Thank you.

Ah, the Tenchi continuity question.  Yep, it is one of those things that just kind of niggles at the back of your mind.  And you are not the only one.

Another reader had a similar question back in February.  You can head on over to my site and check out what we both had to say.

http://members.xoom.com/redjaque/shows/shows3.htm

There are links to sites that have explanations of all the different continuities.  You might also want to check out Tenchi the Movie 2: Manatsu No Eve (Daughter of Darkness).  It's got a really good encyclopedia with all kinds of info. 

The continuity, or lack thereof, is similar to El Hazard.  If you’ve seen the OAVs and the TV series, there are definite discrepancies between storylines (particularly in the way that Makoto and the others are sent to El Hazard, not to mention the personality differences of, oh say, the TV Ifurita and the OAV Ifurita.  But I digress.).  I think that the creators were either trying something different with the characters, or just having fun with the storyline and trying something new.  I don’t know that they meant for all the stories to have one overall continuity, between the OAVs and TV (and movies in Tenchi’s case).

From nothing:

Hello.  Let me start off by saying I'm quite new to the anime scene.  However, the single image that has haunted me was that of Lupin from the Cliffhanger LD/Arcade game.  I was very much into that game because of the look of the animation, but when you're only 10 you can't get any background, especially when the internet was a bunch of 300baud modems and friend's BBS.

Now, I work for a television network that deals with animation.  Watching some of the afternoon programming left me longing for more.  I picked up the Serial Experiments: Lain series and now I'm hooked!

Imagine my suprise when I see your review of Castle of Cagliostro!  I never got to see the end of the story, because the game took 2 tokens to play.  Anyway, I have since ordered Cowboy Bebop & Perfect Blue DVDs.

Thanks for your q&a forum.  I've picked up a lot of nice tidbits.  Now, if only I can modify my Sony DVP-S500D for other regions :)

Um, I suppose I should ask a question.  Are there any legitimate Pokemon DVDs from other regions with different content like the original japanese language?

Thanks again!

Um, I don't think that was my review . .  . I've only written one, and that was for Ranma. J

I did try to find a mod for your player, but I didn't run across anything.  If anyone has a mod for this player, and wants to share, drop me a line.

Now, about Pokemon.  There was a bit on the newspage for 24 june that has info on a Pokemon disc with a bunch of stuff on it.  And, as far as I can find, and as far as Chris knows, this is the only Pokemon DVD that's available from Japan.  If there is another regionally encoded Pokemon DVD (other than 1 or 2), let me know, and I'll share the wealth. J

Addendums:  Questions so good, they came back!

Unico:  Even more about Unico!

From k-chan:

konichiwa ladycat ^_^

k-chan here. just wanted to lend all the unico fans out there a helping hand. my otoosan, a fansub ditributer and huge otaku, has a copy of Unico and gladly make copies of them for anyone who requests it (just like you would for a fansub copy).  we'll not get into the copyrights issue here.  his site is http://www.phoenixanime.com/ find his fansub page, or email him, and he can hook you up with a tape of Unico. i hope this is a help :)

ja na

Mononoke Rumors:  Here's a little more info on Mononoke's "availability" at Amazon.

From Robotech Master:

This came up on the Miyazaki mailing list the other day...about half a dozen people ran the gamut from excited to skeptical (I was the skeptic :). It only took me about ten minutes, counting hold time, to phone Amazon and get confirmation that it actually was a mistake on their webpage.  It's kind of funny...list guru Michael Johnson said he would check with his Ghibli/Disney contacts, but apparently I was the first (and only) person to think of the simpler expedient of phoning Amazon to ask _them_.  I was kind of surprised. 

Anyway, these places usually have 800 or 877 numbers, and even if they don't, there's always the free Dialpad.Com phone service.  If people see some bizarre listing with no prior warning, or even something they have reason to think is a little odd...call and check it before the rumors get started, and before you place your order.  We're living in the information age...let's use it.

EatMan 98 Subs:  A few people share their experiences with freezing subs.

From Rhony2:

I have had the same problem as Kevin Desilet (using both my Panasonic C220 and Panasonic SC-DV150 Mini System).  However, if you fast forward very briefly just before you get to the "Stuck" subtitle, to avoid it, the remaining subtitles come up properly.  THere seems to be some sort of problem with just that specific subtitle.

Also, on both DVD players above, I also, like someone else mentioned, cannot play the Omake extra on any of the MKR discs.  THe DVD players react as if you pushed the stop button.

I find it interesting that there may be a easy way of modifying the Pioneer 525.  I purchased a region free Pioneer 525 from DVD City simply because it was the cheapest region free player they had from a "Name" brand.  It was also only $150 more than what you would have to pay at a discounter for a non-modified player, so I thought that that wasn't bad.  I was told that this would be a custom chip modification, but I would be interested to know whether they actually changed the chip or merely made a change to the firmware through the remote.

If anyone has also purchased this player, and knows how it was modified, let me know, and I'll pass along the information.

From Shane Shuster:

I have a Panasonic A110 and it did the subtitle freeze on episode 5 and also on some of the later episodes.  I found that if you hit stop (which brings up the panasonic screen saver) and then hit play again the subtitles will work normally again. You might miss a sentence or two butat least you will not have to wait for the break.

Hope that helps.

From Robert Hinds:

I have a Toshiba SD-2109 DVD player. I also experienced the glitch where the subtitles stayed on the screen. All I had to do to fix it was hit rewind then play. The subtitles started back up again.

From Doug Dawson:

I had the same problem as mentioned in your last minicolumn...the subtitles froze.  (I have a Panasonic player, sorry I can't remember the exact model right now.)

I found that if I let it play through this section a little, then backed up to just before the next dialogue (that is, the first dialogue _after_ the one whose subtitles I was seeing), the subtitles worked again.

From Greg Hurst:

I had the freeze up during the same sequence, with Eat-Man '98, on a Panasonic C-220.  If you just jump to the scene I think it plays ok, but if you watch the episode through the subtitles will get stuck.  Like most problems of this nature you can just turn the subs off for a second and they'll play correctly when you turn them on.

From Jim Berry:

Dear LadyCat,

Concerning the problems with DVD subtitles. Twice player has stopped updating the text, once they froze, once there was nothing. It was on one of the El Hazard disks and Eatman 98 (in the "Sword Room" of one of the two sword episodes, ep 10?).

I have a Panasonic A160. Both times the problem was solved by picture searching back for a couple of seconds.

From BIOS:

Hi Ladycat. First i have to congratulate you on your very interesting columns. I'm mailing you about that Eat-man 98 issue thats stated on the first question... and what a coincidence... i watched that same episode today (and another 3 for that matter.. but that doesn't matter now does it ;) ) and the same thing occured... the subtitle got stuck on me... i was using my Pioneer 104s DVD-Rom drive with WinDVD 2.1 software. I once thought i had a bad disc... but it would be stupid to have the subtitles files corrupted.. so i simply changed to the Cinemaster 99 player... played perfectly. Keep up the good work and keep us European anime fans updated has always =).

Gundam, Gundam, Gundam:  Here's some info that I should have shared last time.  This is actually where I got the info for Turn A Gundam.

From Scott Call:

I haven't checked to see if it's germain to the question you were trying to answer, but www.gundamproject.com is a massively huge site with info on all (they claim) Gundam stuff.

It's been around for years (although I think the www.gundamproject.com URL is new)

My Bad:  Last week, there were a few addendums in regards to who had released Unico on VHS.  After pretty firmly establishing that Columbia/RCA/Magic Window, I let a comment slide about FHE in another addendum, which I should have caught and at least mentioned that it was in fact Columbia, et al.  It just goes to show that I need to crack the whip over my proofreader a little more to actually pay attention to what he's reading (ahem, Wanderer, this means you!), and of course, I need to pay more attention too.  Thanks for keeping me on my toes. J

That's all for this edition.  I'll be back at least one more time this week with another mini-column, and then I'll be seeing some of you at Anime Expo on Friday.  Catch ya later!

LadyCat  =^-^=