OK, it's been a while since I've done one of these, but I got such a huge response a couple of columns ago with a few of the questions, that's it's time to do it again. "What the hell is she babbling about?" you wonder to yourself. Well, it's the incredible

Yes, it's answers, answers and more answers. Do you feel like you're on Jeopardy yet? ;-)

Tenchi OAVs and the Mihoshi Special:
From J/Sinn:
Konnichiwa, Neko-sama!

As an avid Tenchi Muyo! fan, I was a little annoyed when, way back when I first got my DVD player and the Tenchi OVA Ultimate box set, which didn't have the Mihoshi special (ep14) on it. Immediately after getting the set and discovering this, I wrote Pioneer a letter asking about it. Their reply said that it was going on the Pretty Sammy DVD because it was released in Japan on the Pretty Sammy LaserDisc, which was where they would have gotten the masters from. I would assume that this means it is more cost-effective for them to release this episode with Pretty Sammy.

Also, from what I have picked up by looking at large numbers of Tenchi sites, the two OVAs are each 6 eps long, with e7 (The Night Before The Carnival) being a "tie-together" episode for the two series (which would make sense, as my local video rental place with anime has the old single-ep Tenchi tapes, and the ep7 tape is labelled "Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-oh-ki Special," and does not even have an episode number on the box) and the Mihoshi special not even numbered. This would also be evident by the placement of the Mihoshi special in the current VHS release, where it is on the same tape as ep7.

Hope this clears that question up.

From MugenHunter:
Hello

I've got commentary...

According to Pioneer, the reasons why the Mihoshi special weren't included on the OVA DVD Boxset are that A) That episode wasn't remastered in time B) The DVDs were getting kinda full C) The episode did nothing to advance the plot.

But mostly, it was because that episode wasn't remastered in time for the release, which had already been delayed a bit...

And in regards to the Kare Kano problem, it's not Gainax's fault. The manga wasn't done when the 26 episode TV series was set to conclude. Without an ending in the manga, it is kind of difficult to make the series end.

Jumping into series:
From T.J.:
Hello, LadyCat.

Actually, I have to disagree about a comment you made:

[quoted]I wasn't very fond of "Alternative World" but I would say that you should definitely have seen, at least, the original OAV series. To me, it would be like watching Tenchi in Tokyo, without having seen the original Tenchi. Or like when I watched the Nihao My Concubine, without having seen the first season of Ranma, or even the first movie. Everyone started to look alike after the first minute or two . . . [quoted]

I'm not disagreeing with liking it or not - it's personal taste and to each their own. And my tastes tend to the more humorous shows, so El Hazard and Tenchi are high on my list. :)

Granted, I think it was harder to "get" El Hazard without having any background on the series if you started with Alternative World... but you get into it quickly enough. I ended up looking up the series online to figure out the bits I didn't get on the first few times through it. Actually, what you mention above is exactly how I did get into Tenchi - I saw the first movie on Sci-Fi and had no idea what was going on. I then rented the first three disks of Tenchi in Tokyo (since that's all that was available at the time) and watched them, and slowly got into the characters.

Jumping into a franchise with a later show can be great motivation to go back and see the earlier parts. If it's all that's available, it can be a good way to decide what's worth investing time and money in seeing at a later date.

As I mentioned, I did pretty much the same thing with Ranma; I saw the movies, then saw some of the OAVs, then the TV show. I also used that handy character chart on the disc of Nihao My Concubine to determine who was who.

I think that, if you are familiar with the characters from earlier series, the later series are more enjoyable. You already know their characters and little inside jokes that the writes may have included are much funnier.

Mystery Series: From Spoondog:
The title he is describing is none other than (as it is distributed in the US) "Taro the Dragon Boy". I don't know much about the Japanese version, other than it was animated by Toei and looks vintage 70's. It was released dubbed and horribly hacked up in the US in 1984. There are several scenes where young Taro jumps on his hands and dances, and his kimono would fall downwards to reveal that Taro doesn't wear any underwear. At this point the video would obviously freeze. Also there was a scene where a witch was obviously coming on to young Taro by the looks of the animation but the horrible voice actress was going on about how he could find his mother. I rented this as a youngin' (6-ish) and the story had a profound effect on me, especially the mother/death scene and the mother recalling what made her into a dragon. Last year I remembered watching the video (12 years later, wow) and seeked it out. While its only on crappy dub/hacked up/VHS and isn't the best title in my collection, it holds a special place in my heart. I would love a chance to get this subtitled (does anyone know the real title? has it been fansubbed?

From H-SLAP:
while i'm not sure exactly which series he refers to (he mentions about a boy who finds out his mother is a dragon) it does sound vaguely familiar.. but this is where i go to find those brain vagues.. www.coolstuffvideos.com (it's on my hot list) this guy has just about everything vague possible..need a space giants fix?(i sure did, i never thought i'd EVER see it again, or even thought anyone else did to begin with) or marine boy? hell there's probably even micronauts, or tomorrow people stuff there.. my fave is the old japanese only spiderman toons.. so even though it's kind of a long process, go through the ENTIRE site... he's very honest about the quality. and from what i remember about my 70's kiddie days, sometimes it's as good as it was when originally broadcast.. you can say i'm happy to have this guy in my backyard..also, he has a booth at (just about) every con, so you can meet, greet, and see it first hand.. happy "space odyssey" new year!!

Transformers, Region 2:
From Jeff Kleist:
From what I hear, it was supposed to contain the English track, but the US rights holder, Rhino, asked that they be pulled as Transformers discs are forthcoming from them.

Ladies and Gentlemen . . . . Kotono Mitsuishi!
From Joel Sanet:
Hi,

In response to Anonymous here are some additional major roles by Kotono Mitsuishi: Koume (the gun freak of the team) in Blue Seed, Mai in Darkside Blues, Rebecca in Voogie's Angel, Mink in Dragon Half, Rabby in Gall Force, Cercia in Those Who Hunt Elves, Mai Shiranui in Fatal Fury, female Maze in Maze, Kim in Irresponsible Captain Tylor, Sailor Moon in Sailor Moon, Yuka in Variable Geo, and Satsuki in X. This list was taken from Hitoshi Doi's seiyuu lists at www.tcp.com/doi/seiyuu/individual.html where many additional roles are listed. Anyone who is interested in Japanese voice actors should have this site bookmarked!

From Jay Dee Archer:
I see someone asked about what Mitsuishi Kotono has been in. For a complete list, Hitoshi Doi's seiyuu database is the best source. The info is at http://www.tcp.com/~doi/seiyuu/mitsuishi-kotono/

Her most popular roles include Mink in Dragon Half, Misato in Evangelion (as has been mentioned), Excel in Excel Saga (as you've mentioned), Maze in Maze, Kim Kyung Hwa in Tylor, Usagi/Sailor Moon in Sailor Moon, Juri in Utena, and Birdy in Birdy the Mighty. Of course, she's been in much more.

From Lynn Tsai:
IHitoshi Doi's site has series/cd/magazine lists for many female seiyuu, in addition to information on a few shoujo series.

http://www.tcp.com/doi/

Here's the link specifically for Mitsuishi Kotono:

http://www.tcp.com/doi/seiyuu/mitsuishi-kotono/index.html

From Phillip Tan:
Hi, this is in response to the anonymous Mitsuishi Kotono inquiry printed in Issue 43 of your column...You probably already know this, but she is (of course) listed in Hitoshi Doi's database at

A list of Mitsuishi Kotono sites can be found at

Someone is trying to start up an international fan club for her at
http://www.seiyuu.com/kotono/index.htm

She's also heard as Dragon Half (YEAH!!!), Birdy the Mighty, and in Revolutionary Girl Utena, Haunted Junction, Blue Seed, Heroic Legend of Arslan, Gall Force...of course, her biggest claim to fame is voicing Tsukino Usagi/Sailormoon herself for all 5 seasons (barring a few sick days).

Slayers OAVs:
From Jason Byrons:
I saw you mention in your column that you weren't sure when the other Slayers OAVs were going to come out. Well that's probably because ADV has been dragging their asses getting it licensed. IIRC, ADV now has the rights to all the movies and OAVs of Slayers, but still hasn't released a thing (probably waiting to see how Slayers does on Fox before deciding whether to sink a lot of money into it or to just give it the normal treatment). However, there are just as many movies of Slayers that aren't out yet as there are OAV episodes: Slayers RETURN, Slayers GREAT, and Slayers GORGEOUS. And honestly, I think any one of the movies are better than all three Excellent OAVs put together. Well, there ONE gag making fun of the spikes on Nagha's costume, but I don't want to spoil it if you haven't seen it. Anyway, just thought I'd help if I could.

Region 1's in Eurpoe:
From Daniel Zelter:
I don't know if www.amazon.com ships their products to other countries, but they do have Animeigo titles in stock, like the KOR vhs series and the new BGC dvd set. Though why anyone would waste their time with a company that only gives a break to the hardcore otaku- while charging insane prices for the rest of us-is beyond me. Not to mention that they do awful transfers. I mean at least with a company like CPM, if you hate Slayers, you can find out if it has any flaws before you buy it. Here, if you want the best deal, you have to go through Animeigo. In the end, otakus make an investment as shakey as the NASDAQ. :) Anyway, hope that helps.

Portuguese Language Anime?:
From Totoro Rosso:
In response to this from Francisco in issue 43:
Hi!! Do you have any anime DVD available with portuguese (Brazil) subtitles? You know, I love anime but can't find them available here. Thanks!

If you're willing to import a Region 2 DVD, the French version of "Porco Rosso" includes a Portuguese (European?) audio track (subtitles on the disk are in French). You don't get to hear it in Japanese & read Portuguese subtitles, but it's something (and it's Ghibli!). I ordered it through http://www.alapage.com/cgi-bin/4/affiche_video.cgi?VID_NUMERO=409350

See ya in the next column when I actually answer some questions!

LadyCat =^-^=

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