Ask LadyCat

"Fukui-san!"  "Take it!"

OK, this column is going to be totally series related.  Well, with a couple of extra things thrown in.  I've gotten questions from several different people about the same series, so, I figured it would be better to answer  them all at one whack, rather than answering the same question once a week for a month. J

The next column is going to be totally technology related, so prepare yourself!

And now for the "Total Title Extravaganza"!

Ah! Megami-sama! (Oh! My Goddess!):

From Chris Valdez:

Do you know if there's any plans as of the moment to release Ah! Megami-sama (Oh My Goddess!) on DVD?  And if so, what information can you give, if any?

From Shiaw-Der Du:

Hello Miss LadyCat.  I was recently introduced to the Oh My Goddess! (Ah! My Goddess, Aa! Megami-sama, whichever you prefer) and I am hooked.  I have the videos, posters, art books, mangas, and now the obvious question:  Will OMG ever be on DVD?  I read all 30 issues of your article just now (my eyes!  they burn so...) and the only mention of Goddess is "You can find someone who can be übersweet like Belldandy, but she won’t be a goddess" (really?  where?) and a mention about OMG manga, so I know this hasn't been answered (unless I overlooked such an answer in which case I will proceed to make a complete arse of myself).  I also like Neon Genesis Evangelion (but it's not as good as Belldandy, er, I mean Oh! My Goddess), is there any word on any more Evangelion DVDs?  Many thanks should you choose to answer my questions.

Geez!  You're not supposed to read them all at once.  You could go blind that way! ;-)  And, actually, I answer all the questions that get sent to me.  That's why it takes so long.

So, back to AMS (or OMG, or however you want to abbreviate it).  As of right now, there are no concrete plans for a disc.  Past the point that AnimEigo has said that it will be coming out, that is.  I'm waiting for this one, too, and I really wish they'd move it along.  On the other side of it, though, it is good to see that they're giving lots of attention to UY.  I'd really like to see OMG get the same kind of attention when it comes out.  With bunches of extras, of course.

So go bug Robert for a release date!  No, wait . . .wait until UY's totally done, then bug him. ;-)  Polite emails only, please.  I'm sure they have to know that this is one of their titles that people are dying for.  Just give them a hint at how many people really do want it.

As for Eva, look a little farther down the page for the answer! J

P.S.  I do actually know a couple of people who are Belldandy-esque (really nice and sweet), so they are out there. J  Keep looking!

Oh! My Goddess!  And others:

From Norbert:

Dear Madam Ladycat!

I have a question:

*) Coming Berserk in a engl. sub. version out on DVD?

*) When are coming  Weiß Kreuz on DVD?

*) Do you know about an Oh!My Goddess DVD?

I hope you can answered my questions

Oh!  My Goddess, see above. J

Berserk:  This looks to be an Urban Vision title.  The latest word is that they will be making an announcement about the show at Comic-Con, so keep your eyes peeled.

And your final title.  You've stumped me on this one.  Does anyone know what the title would be in either Japanese or English?

Escaflowne:

From James Chi:

Dear Ladycat,

I was extremely happy to hear that Escaflowne was coming out on DVD.  And surprised when I found out it was coming to Fox Kids.  However, I was really hoping that the DVD would have the sub and dub on it  I really love the Sub, but a lot of my friends will only

watch dubs, and this is a series I think they will really really like.  My question is, will Escaflowne be released in an all in one DVD with the sub and dub, or will they bedoing a separate release like Nelvana and Pioneer are doing with Cardcaptor Sakura.  I was really hoping that this would be handled like Gundam Wing was on Cartoon network, where the DVD is like you genral anime DVD with sub and dub included despite it being aired edited for Cartoon Network.  Please let me know the details.  Thanks very much!

Well, to me, it would make the most sense to release it in the same way that Gundam was.  It seems easier to dub the whole series, then make the cuts for TV.  But whoever said that people in the entertainment industry did things that were logical? ;-)

I can't seem to find any proof on the Anime Village site that it will be uncut and dubed.  But, like I said, it would be logical.

Evangelion:

From Jon Van Lew:

when in the heck is evangelion to release more dvds than just the first one. that was my main question, then i saw on the linked page just before this about how to get a dvd player to play more than one region encoding.  i didn't really think there was a way without buying a new player. but if you can answer both these questions i would be very happy thank you

Right now, as the scuttlebutt goes, ADV is working on the next release, trying to fix all the problems that surfaced in the first disc.  No concrete time-frame as to when the next disc is out, but I really think they're going to spend as much time as they need to make people more happy than they were with the first disc.  I don't think they want another avalanche of emails.

And there are ways to modify your current player to be codefree.  You can check out the column I did here: http://www.animeondvd.com/specials/ladycat/ladycat04.htm 

You can also ask questions of other sitegoers in the hardware forum, located here http://www.animeshowcase.com/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi?az=list&forum=DCForumID5&conf=DCConfID1  if you can't find what you need in my column.  I didn't get to cover every player, so I might not have yours listed.  Good luck!

Fake OAVs:

From Falatka:

Hi Ladycat,

this is Falatka! I have one simple question: is there any rumor or confirmed statement about a DVD release of the Fake OVAs? I was not able to come up with anything useful on the Web and oddly no one seems to care about this VERY exciting idea. Thanks for your time!

I poked around the Media Blasters site, and I didn't really see anything that was very helpful.  There's no too much in their "news" and "new release" section.  And I couldn't really find anything anywhere else either.  If anyone's got the goods on this title coming out on DVD, let me know.

Golden Boy:

From Shawkatara Jahan:

At Netflix.com it says that Golden Boy is coming out on DVD on 6/20/00. There's even some info about the disc. Is that true that it's coming out? Do you guys know anything about this?

Right now, there are no plans to bring Golden Boy to DVD that I know of.  It seems to be on the list of ADV's "titles to eventually get to".  If there has been some sort of announcement, please let me know.

Marmalade Boy:

From Jeff Porter:

Hello, I was wondering if there was any word on whether marmalade boy would be coming out on dvd any time soon or not.  Sorry if you're the wrong person to ask, it was the best I could figure out.

I don't think there's any new info about this series.  I did post a little bit about this title a month ago, check out my site for the answer.  Basically, it's not even licensed in the US yet, so it'll be a long time before it's out on DVD.

Ranma, TV series:

From LiK. =]:

when will this great series (Ranma) come out on dvd??

From Wayland Nelson:

Is the Ranma 1/2 tv series ever coming to dvd? I heard it was delayed indefinitely is this true. Since pioneer is releasing all of there catalog and they press and distributes all of viz's dvd's will this be included in there releases or are we never going to see this on dvd!!!!

I think Viz would have to live in a vacuum not to know that Ranma is one of their most popular titles. 

They were originally scheduled to come out later this year.  And now it looks like a very tentative date set for sometime next year.  So, basically, nothing concrete at this point.

Rurouni Kenshin:

From Bryan McMahon:

I have a few questions about the upcoming Rurouni Kenshin volumes. www.animeondvd.com says that volume 1 and 2 are 100 minutes each. Do you know how many episodes are on each. Also do you know if the episodes have been cut or edited? I noticed that it's being called "Rurouni Kenshin" not "Samurai X", Rurouni Kenshin sounds much better to me! Thank you for you time. sorry I forgot to ask if there will be a box set released for the Rurouni Kenshin volumes?

Four Eps on the first disc, and I can't find a concrete description of the eps on disc 2, but if they follow the standard format, there'll be 3.

This is definitely the uncut version of the show.  This is not the Samurai X version, baby, it's the real thing! ;-)

And I haven't heard anything about a box set being released, but that doesn't mean they won't.  If they don't release a box set, pre se, they might do some sort of premium later on for a "box" for existing keepcases, or something else of the sort.  Keep you eyes out for news on the main page and threads in the forum.

Spriggan:

From Slasher Arcana:

Hi. I've been hunting for Spriggan for almost a year now, without success. I  read a segment in your news page about DTS in DVD anime, mentioning Spriggan.  Do you know where I can get a Spriggan on DVD? Preferrably somewhere where I can buy online. Thanks Ladycat

Spriggan isn't actually available yet.  No word really on the DVD release, other than it will be anamorphic.  Look for updates on this page, the ADV website, and the official page www.sprigganthemovie.com.

Title Treatment?

From David Rogers:

Konbanwa!

I had never read your column until tonight...then I saw "when is Akira coming to DVD?" and HAD to.  Now I'm hooked.  And all that talk in issue #3 about cat-girls in sailor suits has me excited.  Please LadyCat, hit me with the Hentai hammer! ;)

Anyway, here's my question:  Why do most companies feel it's their duty to completely screw up the credits to perfectly good anime?  Around '89 or so I managed to get a hold of the first three parts of Bubblegum Crisis on VHS from Japan and when I finally got the set on DVD, I was HORRIFIED at the credits.  Same story with Project A-ko, Megazone 23, etc.  Am I alone in my rage???  Why can't companies leave the original credits intact and add english credits in subtitle or alternate angle form?

Thanks for the great site and column! And please email me when your cat-girl offspring are 21.  (damn, I'll be a lecherous old man by that time...instead of a lecherous YOUNG man....) ;)

(and did you get the Blade Runner reference?)

Actually, I missed the reference.  Gomen nasai.  It's been a long time since I've watched Blade Runner.

You mean people actually like to see what hard-working talented people work on a show?  I just can't believe that. ;-) 

Seriously, I have no idea.  There's not a very good reason for it.  The series that I think do a good job with the credits run the Japanese credits, with the English credits afterwards.  It's the way that makes the most sense to me.  And I think it would be easier to do it that way, rather than creating an alternate angle.  Or they could do it the way it is on the Ranma movies, with the English credits in the extras section. 

The only reason that I could some up with is that mostly, the anime market is targeted towards the people that would buy the dub.  They already know that anime fans are going to buy anime, so they don't need to target us at the stores.  This would necessitate running the English credits, rather than the Japanese credits, at the ends of shows.  But you would think that with the advent of DVD, they would have remedied this.

There are quite a few things that I can see the company point of view on, but this isn't one of them.  So, I can't really offer a good, logical explanation why.  But you could try to change it by sending emails to company reps to let them know that we want to see the original credits at the ends of shows.  Please be polite if you do.  Keep in mind that if we don't tell them what we'd like to see, they'll just keep doing what they've always done.

Name that Show!

From Gerardo Braham:

Hi there. When i was a kid i saw about two episodes of this James Bond like anime series, the leading characters looked like ninja spies who threw cards instead of knives at their opponents. Could you please help me remember the name and the studio?

Thanks

Well, I found something that’s called James Bond, Jr., which was released through MGM/UA.  It's not technically an anime, though.  There could be another show similar to this one out there somewhere, but this is the closest thing I could find. And, this title isn't available at this time, as far as I can tell.  You might want to try E-bay, or a similiar site to see if you can find these.

Whew!   All right, then.  That's it for this installment.  Next time, I'll be back with the "Total Technical Extravaganza".  See ya next time!

LadyCat =^-^=

http://members.xoom.com/redjaque/index.htm