Laziness Abounds?

It's odd that one can feel so much stress meeting one's obligations, get them all complete, and still feel behind. That's the convoluted way of saying "I've been busy not updating here." But there's good news coming from all over the place now.

The con season is a tricky thing for Classic Japanese animation - you can have two cons within two weeks of each other on opposite ends of the North American continent and get nothing newsworthy, yet, practically smack dab in the middle, we get a license announcement for 3 "new" titles! From a "new" company, too!

Sakura Con was held in Washington State early in April. Nothing for classics fans. Anime Boston, towards the end of the month, and also nothing. However, brightening my dreary Monday on the 16th, ImaginAsian announced they have reached a deal with TMS and would be broadcasting and releasing on DVD three classic anime titles:

Ie Naki Ko 『家無き子』 under the title Nobody's Boy Remi
Cat's Eye Season 1 『キャッツアイ』
Superdimension Century Orguss TV Series 『超時空世紀オーガス』

From ANN's press release, they will be broadcast in Japanese with subtitles and the DVD releases will also be with Japanese dialoge and English subtitles. Orguss is a little special, the first 17 episodes will be dubbed because there was already an existing dub available. According to Justin Sevakis (who writes ANN's excellent Buried Treasure column), who is also working on these releases from what I gather, the second season of Cat's Eye also has a good chance of being released if these are successful. Broadcasts will begin in early June and the DVD releases will begin in late June and early July. These DVDs have me excited not just because it's more classics coming out here, but the price point is extremely cheap.

The DVD releases will feature 4-7 episodes per disc from the Region 2 Japanese DVDs (so, our quality will be high, but not as high as in Japan) with the first disc plus box retailing at $12.99 USD. Subsequent discs will be priced at $9.99 retail. Or, wait for the boxes which will be around $80 USD. Coming from Bandai Viual USA's pricing scheme I spoke about last post, this is a big jump. Once more, on the production side of the business, the discs will be made to order. This is a cool thing because it eliminates production expenses for making units that are sold to retailers but never make it into the hands of buyers.

However, there are some drawbacks to mention. The discs will only be sold via ImaginAsian's online store, which means we might only see shipping to the US and Canada. Secondly, is packaging. For people who like decorated singles cases (strong opinion to follow), buying into these might be a bit of a sacrifice because it looks like only the box may have art on it. Disc 2 and up will come in Tyvex sleeves to fit into the box with the first disc. Third, and perhaps what the worst may be if this fails, is the mention of "limited time". Classics fans wanting good, cheap classics should probably jump onto this as soon as they're released.

Now, strong opinion time. I'm not big on packaging outside of "physically ruining DVDs". For the art work, I'd rather get desktop wallpapers or posters. Since the shrinking of media and its packaging, and this may be rose-tinted or what not, I think LaserDiscs had the best packaging in terms of art. Mostly because taking up the cover itself is practically a 144 sqaure-inch picture with plenty of room for a good manfacturing transfer. DVD and VHS cases just don't measure up. I understand that 99.99% of all packaging is for marketing purposes, but if I can save a few bucks by forgoing it on my DVDs to devote to other media (the aforementioned posters and such), then my DVDs can be bland.

I'm most excited about Orguss because I'm a fan of those 1980s, sci-fi, Real Robot type of series that were popular then. It's also easier to find more material for research about Orguss for a couple of reasons: it's been released in the US before and it was considered the sequel to Superdimension Fortress Macross ages ago. Even though Cat's Eye was wildly popular in the early and mid 1980s when it aired in Japan, it's not seen a whole lot of exposure elsewhere to my knowledge (I'm only vaguely familar with it myself). Cat's Eye is the story of three sisters who are cafe proprietors by day, art theives by night with a detective hot on their trails who is also the fiancee of one of the sisters. Sounds like some action, intrigue, and romance, which I think can be hard to go wrong. Ie Naki Ko is well-known in Latin America as Remi, based upon a French novel Sans Famille. It seems to be an emotional piece about love and family. Needless to say, I'll be trying to check out these series as much as possible, but I am immediately most excited about Orguss.

In other news, I'm working on getting the main domain up by the end of this month. I've requested some friends who are better at the whole image editing and web design thing to use their skills and most of that work is mostly done. I probably won't be updating much here in that case as I'll be busy with migration and adding more content. I hope that those of you reading Akihabara Renditions will follow when we make the big jump from little blog to little full-out website. Thanks for reading!

Running Behind, As Always, It Seems...

Just as I was behind getting the First State of Classic Anime in North America uploaded (well, composed, then uploaded), I've since fallen behind on updating this regularly with the news of the day. Licenses for more contemporary Japanese animation series have been announced and while the news for classics has been respectfully light, there have been some big developments none the less.

Just two days after I predicted a release for Ouritsu Uchuugun Oneamise no Tsubasa『王立宇宙軍オネアミセの翼』 (Wings of Honneamise), on 30 January, at Anime LA, Bandai Visual USA announced they do have plans to release the 1987 film that put GAINAX on the map in Japan and helped bring about modern anime fandom in North America. The Anime LA report at Anime News Network also confirms "compilation films" for both 1988's Top 'o nerae! Gunbuster 『トップをねらえ！ガンブスター』 and it's 2004 sequel Top 'o nerae! 2 DIEBUSTER 『トップをねらえ！ダイブスター』. When describing the release, it seems to describe Diebuster as a similar release to Gunbuster of three DVD at two episodes each. Nothing more has been said of the release, so perhaps as the convention season picks up later in the year we will have mroe details. Weeks before the Gunbuster release here in North America, the report also brought what some fans may see as ill news as well. During one of the training sequences, music had to be altered for undisclosed circumstances (to be exact, best speculation has to do with copyrights). The music was replaced with another track from the soundtrack but immediately fanboy legions were cancelling their orders. All I really have to say about it is that my copy of Gunbuster is in the mail (birthday present) and I'll review it as soon as I can; however, I will be keeping an eye out for an old LD set, the R2 JP DVD, or the R2 UK DVD for a comparison. The report also re-affirms the BVUSA's license of the 2006 ONA Rean no Tsubasa 『リーンの翼』 based upon the manga of the same name by Tomino Yoshiyuki and a part of the Byston Well stories from Sei Senshi Dunbine 『望戦士ダンバイン』 (Aura Battler Dunbine).

And like Laws of Physics, what goes up must come down. We gain Honneamise and we lose a very classic, Matsumoto Leiji work: Waga Seishun no Arcadia 『わが青春のアルカディア』 (My Youth in Arcadia/Arcadia of My Youth). As reported from Anime News Network again, AnimEigo has said that Arcadia is going out of print and will be as such when they run out of current stock. Like with Kimagure Orange Road, if you shop around, you'll still be able to pick up a copy and for dirt cheap. But, I advise you move quickly; I can't imagine the print run being incredibly large even for this awesome a film. I spoke a little about Arcadia back in August of 2005.

On a final note for the news for now, just as in February of 2006 I stated that Japan seems to be returning to older franchises in a production lull that I think has plagued the Japanese industry in the past few years. 2007 seems to be no different and these reproductions seem to be out in full force. Starting within the first quarter or so of this year, the following classic franchises will have new animations released for them (all research courtesey of Anime News Network):
Testujin 28go 『鉄人28号』
Koutetsu Jeeg 『鋼鉄ジーグ』
Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro 『ゲゲゲの鬼太郎』
Giant Robo 『ジャイアントロボ』
Juusou Kikou Dancougar Nova 『獣装機攻 ダンクーガ ノヴァ』
And coming later we can expect the following:
Soukou Kihei Votoms 『装甲騎兵ボトムズ』
Unspecified Macross 『マクロス』
Kagaku Ninjatai Gatchaman 『科学忍者隊ガッチャマン』

It looks like there is a lot to look forward to already. Some series I am already hesitant about how good they might be, especially this Macross in the works and I think that only comes from a history of mixed-review additions to the franchise. Votoms is a little harder for me to comment on because I am not really familiar in deep detail with it (yet). A CGI Gatchaman will be hard to predict because it seems to be a joint venture and I wonder with Japanese gaining more control in contemporary international versions if Tatsunoko will allow one of their flagship franchises to be treated in the same manner as it was with Battle of the Planets or G-Force. With series as old and beloved as Kitaro, Tetsujin, GR, and Jeeg, they are fairly simplistic series with fanbases already devoted to the originals, so they will mostly be icing on the cake and not draw a lot of backlash from many hardcore fans in North America.

No matter though as Akihabara Renditions will continue to monitor the North American and Japanese Industries and bring all of the reports of classic Japanese animation!

A Perfect Example of "Media"* Bias...

No, I'm not exposing some other news outlet; I'm blowing the whistle on myself. It's not for anything I've written before, but what I am going to write in this article. I have two hopes with this article: the first is that the readers will become as excited about the subject matter as I am and the second is that perhaps some journalistic source may run across this and use as an example.

I <3 AnimEigo. That's right, I *heart* them. This hasn't been a recent development. In my ten years of fandom, this is a company that has put out quality title after quality title. What's better, is that AnimEigo is much like the best friend of Akihabara Renditions: They revolve around the same licenses and titles that AkibaRen likes to look at. And their lament and business seems to be about the same as mine: most fans now-a-days are looking for the next Hagane no Renkinjutsushi (Fullmetal Alchemist) 『鋼の錬金術師』 or Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu (The Meloncholoy of Suzumiya Haruhi) 『涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱』, a lot are ignoring other classics like Waga Seishun no Arcadia (My Youth in Arcadia) 『わが青春のアルカディア』 or Choujikuu Yousai Macross (Superdimension Fortress Macross) 『超時空要塞マクロス』.

As such, AnimEigo's catalog has always remained small, more niche titles. However, that does give them the time to take quality control seriously, which unfortunately in the past year or so has fallen through the cracks on some titles from companies like Bandai Entertainment Inc. Their method of putting short translator's notes on actual discs and in-depth "Otaku Notes", as I call them, both inside the DVD cases and on their public website has yet to be mimicked, let alone surpassed. In fact, learning the nerdy information about some of my favorite series from them is probably the root of losing several perfectly good afternoons when I probably should have been doing something else. The recent boom and bust between 2002 and 2005 also has had a negative effect on them. With more and more recent titles coming out faster and faster from their competitors, not to mention in larger quantities, the fanbase who normally purchase their anime have a lot of choices with relatively minimal incomes (or minimal excess income). Age might be another factor; anime from the seventies, eighties and early nineties have their own distinct look, especially when compared to anime from the late nineties to the present. As companies and license holders in Japan up their prices of the IP (intellectual property) they are selling and are more reluctant to sell old properties, AnimEigo has been focusing on getting their old libraries updated to DVD releases, releasing the last of their "new" licenses, as well as moving onto Japanese live action films to help pay the bills. As of the middle of this year, with their last acquired title Taihoshichauzo! (You're Under Arrest!) 『逮捕しちゃうぞ！』 , finished the last of their DVD conversions on Urusei Yatsura (Urusei Yatsura: Those Obnoxious Aliens) 『うる星やつら』, as well as unfortunately had some licenses expire on them and several titles go Out Of Print, AnimEigo seemed to be on its last lifeline as a North American anime distributor. Which I felt was a horrible shame...

Until the 17th of August [Anime News Network] of this year when AnimEigo announced their first license in five years: Yawara! A Fashionable Judo Girl!


**Image Courtesy of AnimEigo's Website**

Yawara's popularity in Japan has been one of massive popularity when it was aired from 1989 to 1992 to a forgotten, yet nostalgic anime in years since. In July of 2002 on TV Asahi's This is Japan's Best 100: Anime, Yawara ranked a low 70 on the list, yet still, the list is missing numerous anime most non-Japanese fans would expect to appear on the list; the main character, Inokuma Yawara faired much better reaching 38 on the list of 2003's Best 100: Anime Characters and on 2004's Top 20 Anime Songs of the 1980s, the first opening "Miracle Girl" ranked 15.

Yawara is, however, one of the many classics that maintains a sort of nostalgia in Japan that didn't find an audience outside of Japan until digital fansubs were able to be produced. Since the release of them began in 2002 or 2003, a very much grassroots campaign began to have the this series licensed.

However, what separates Yawara! from most other anime is really superficial. If I were to say there is anything really unique about it is that it is a Romance-Sports anime that approaches each side of the genre from different gender stereotypes. To me, the Romantic side seems to be told from a very female perspective, with Inokuma wanting the ideal romance most teenage girls long for and a seeming parody off of the "Shounen romance" found in other series like Maison Ikkoku 『めいぞん一刻』 as boys and men develop crushes on Inokuma herself. However, while Inokuma is wishing for schoolgirl romance, she is also wishing that she could be a more normal schoolgirl. Unlike her classmates, Inokuma Yawara is under constant pressure from her grandfather Inokuma Jigoro to enter the sport of Judo professionally when she enters college. Jigoro has been training his grand-daughter since she was in the first years of elementary school and with Jigoro ranking as high as he did when retired, many have high hopes for Yawara when she decides to enter the pro-arena (all with Jigoro's consent and knowledge, of course). The sport scenes where Yawara competes are, from as I can see, from a Shounen perspective, like many sports anime. They are the type of scenes full of internal monologues, edge-of-your-seat action, and huge sighs of relief at the very end of them. They are sure not to disappoint.

While trying not to give away too many spoilers about the series, there's a bit more to this series than Yawara wishing for romantic love and sports action of women and girls throwing each other around; there is a bit of underlying family drama throughout the series it appears as well as numerous contenders for Yawara's affections who often find themselves not having those feeling reciprocated at one point or another.

While I am anxiously awaiting the first Yawara box set to be released, I have been kicking back with some of AnimEigo's other releases that have recently or are soon to be Out Of Print and I am quite pleased with them, I honestly cannot say why I waited so long to get a hold of these.

The big news earlier was that Kimagure Orange Road 『きまぐれオレンジロード』's TV series was going out of print on 1 August; however, shortly after that date came (and I missed it), the OAVs and first film, also licensed by AnimEigo, were going Out Of Print as well (along with another series to be mentioned later). I happened to grab them on the last day and found excess stock of the TV series at a great deal, so I bought them all up; consequences be damned.



Due to financial and shipping logistics, I ended up receiving the OAVs and Film first, but a few days later, my TV series box set arrived. I started watching through it and I really enjoy the series. My first experience was from a friend of mine ranting and raving about how good it was; when it crunch time came to his hobbies from lack of funds, he went back to video games (well, some other anime fans helped with that choice, too) but he still maintains how much he loves KOR. I watched probably a couple episodes with him, but once I heard it was going out of print, I was rushed into getting a set for myself.

KOR is a lot like any typical romance series where you have a young, male protagonist that cannot decide between which girl he has affections for. What is different for Kasuga Kyousuke is that he has one girl who openly likes him, yet he feels more of an attraction to another, Ayukawa Madoka, who has an on-again-off-again attraction for him. Though, what initially sets this series apart is the addition of a magical curse in the form of telekinesis shared between Kyosuke and his sisters, which makes for a convenient reason for easy comic relief, especially when concerning the Kasuga's cat, Jingoro.

However, the real shock I've had with my most recent AnimEigo purchases and continuing love for the company comes in the form of an early 1980s Sunrise animation - Crusher Joe 『クラッシャジョー』.



AnimEigo has loaded up the original Crusher Joe film and the two OAVs into one excellent collection. The setting is a very generic galactic adventure type setting that most sci-fi fans will be comfortable with. In fact, the strength of Crusher Joe comes from that despite being written by a Japanese author (he same author of The Dirty pair) and being animated by one of the most notable animation companies of the 1980s, it has more of the feel of a Western sci-fi story adapted to animation that was outsourced to Japan at that time (as was a relatively common practice). I enjoyed the movie so much, I cannot wait until I have time to squeeze it into my schedule again. I am kinda kicking myself for waiting so long to check this out; I had seen clips from the movie, apparently edited and dubbed poorly, which could have ruined the perception I had of it. I'm glad that, again, unfortunately these are going out of print and I took the chance on them. Crusher Joe has become one of my recent favorites.

In closing, AnimEigo has experienced a desert of news concerning their anime licensures but as business was wrapped up in the past five years since their last new license, AnimEigo has opened up with what I think will be a block-buster, classic title once some more press is put out about it. I cannot stress enough about how excited I am about the licensure of Yawara. I think it would be really nice if AnimEigo were able to host a panel at AWA coming up here in around three weeks that they might have a sneak preview for us of their progress so far or some more information concerning the release. Unfortunately, the news of this excellent license is also accompanied by more licenses unable to be renewed and relinquished. For these series, while one is unable to purchase them from AnimEigo directly, I highly suggest hunting down the Kimagure Orange Road TV series, OAV series, and first film and the Crusher Joe film and OAVs. I personally believe the search will be worth it, especially since I believe the chances of these titles being re-licensed in our current market are very slim, even given how surprising the market has been concerning classics from 2005 up through this year.

*From the Article Title: I put "Media" into quotes because the vast majority of blogs aren't of the same sort of media that folks like Fox, CNN, AFP, Reuters and other more legitimate news services but many in the blogosphere have taken a stance of acting as the watchdogs of the legitimate services. Most anime news outlets are good about what they report, so AkibaRen has not taken the same stance of watchdog against them. I also do not intend on keeping AkibaRen here forever; I plan on moving to its own domain and hope to continue explanding its scope from what little I can do here. What's most important is that AkibaRen isn't just a n opinion blog about what I think about a multitude of series; I'm hoping to make a little more sense of the business practices and models and to spread my love for classic Japanese animation.

Breaking out the Mecha

With AnimeExpo occurring at this very moment, I expected the weekend panels to yield some classic licenses and was a little worried about more classic licenses being lost or not renewed.

The first initial reports that came out of ANN all concerned newer series. This was naturally expected. The largest con in North America (and I actually think AX is still the largest outside of Japan) and to see it fly by with no Industry news would be unheard of. While checking forums, though, Anime on DVD has announced one certifiable classic, in addition to two other licesences, as well as a continuation in a classic franchise. Bandai Visual (different from Bandai Entertainment, who do the Gundam franchise in the US) had been planning on releasing the two Mobile Police Patlabor films previously held by Manga Entertainment, which is pretty good news that within a quick amount of time two relinquished licenses were immediately picked up. Now Bandai Visual, across their IRC channel, according to Anime On DVD, has announced the license of another relinquished classic from Manga's library: Aim for the Top Gunbuster. This is GAINAX's classic 1988 mecha OAV,in case there is confusion with its sequel, Aim for the Top Gunbuster 2, which, because of the rarity of the first OAV, gets shortened just to Gunbuster among fansub circles.



Gunbuster has had a tumultuous release pattern in the US. Bandai Visual is the third license holder of the series since initially being released by US Renditions from 1990-91. In 1995, US Renditions declared bankruptcy and sold off its assets, including its IP assets/licenses. The Gunbuster license, as well as a few other titles previously released by US Renditions, were bought up by a newcomer to the marketplace - Manga Entertainment. Manga re-released the OAV on VHS under their name in 1996. When the next generation format of DVD was decided, Manga announced plans to move its library to the format and when mecha fans asked about it being transferred over, it was always described as "being on the list", but no definite plans could be elaborated upon. With Manga's loss of the license in March of this year, the only outstanding copies that could be found in the US market - after much serious scouring and digging - were their VHS copies from 1996, which was certainly easier to find than someone disbanding a collection with an old US Renditions copy in it. All seemed lost for GAINAX and mecha fans who wanted a Region 1 copy. Region 2 copies in Japan were made for sale in 2004 and there is also a Region 2 PAL version called Gunbuster Renewal (which has been circulating on the net as a "fansub" as well) that people were trying to get a hold of. Bandai Visual's announcement is a welcomed one and I cannot wait to see this released on DVD.

Bandai Visual's other announcement, again reported by Anime on DVD as being indicated over an IRC channel was Sunrise's foray into the ONA format has licensed Rean no Tsubasa (Wings of Rean). I've already discussed my desire to see Rean and I think that this title, if marketed right, can do well in the US. It is based in a franchise of classic mecha anime but still retains much of the flashy animation that will hopefully attract new viewers.

So far, Bandai Visual's four licenses are all a part of the "mecha" genre, which I think is a good base to go after. Not only am I personally a fan of mecha, Mecha is one of the two unique genres founded in the Japanese animation medium (the other being Mahou Shoujo/ Magical Girl). What started out as a sci-fi sub-catagory has gone on to be its own genre with defining characteristics and whose defining characteristics are recognizable for most non-anime fans. With good releases of strong titles within this fanbase (which I am fairly sure is pretty sizable), Bandai Visual can spin some nice profits early on and hopefully not pigeonhole themselves as being referenced as "the mecha licensor"; while it may limit market potential, it's not as bad as having the reputation for being a bad licensor.

Kudos again to Bandai Visual for scooping up some old licenses and showing that faith in classic anime still remains in parts of the Industry.

Blitz 1: The Beauty of the Internet and Con Season 上巻

The beauty of the internet is now that there are multiple anime news services and blogs that can be updated at a moment's notice and their information disseminated to anyone with net access. Surely, this is a vast improvement over the old timey news services with their two print editions per day, but definitely over the old timey print fanzine - which was only available if you knew where to find them and there was someone making them. Certainly now, with a little Google searching and proper citation, one doesn't need to attend every con in the country to get the hot news (though, it sure is much better to not have to rely on everyone else for your news). Thank you, Internet.

As the con season is beginning to get into full swing, I'll be looking for more Con Reports and hopefully begin to compile a "State of Classic Anime in the US" thesis. This week's batch of reporting comes from Anime Central 2006, held in Chicago from 5-7 May, 2006.

In a report filed by Anime on DVD 's Justin Richardson here [animeondvd.com] the biggest news for classical anime is a new DVD releases from Manga Entertainment. The first being Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro 『ルパン三世 カリオストロの城』 features a new 5.1 audio track, a new digital transfer, and interviews with the head animation director (I presume Otsuka Yasuo) and creator Monkey Punch! The other is a new release of Street Fighter 2 in a new Uncut Edition. While Cagliostro is an improvement on a previous decent release, SF 2 seems like an apology to a more hardcore fanbase for a previous, and in my opinion, shitty release.

The Street Fighter 2 Uncut release was aimed more directly at a video game fanbase that at the time wasn't as connected to anime as it seems to be now. This, is about the only train of logic I can follow as to why SF 2 received a release from Manga similar to that of the Hokutou no Ken 『北斗の拳』 TV series release (of which Manga lost the license to a couple of months ago). SF 2's original uncut release had altered dialogue, such as more profanity to make it seem more adult as well as an altered musical score (featuring Western Metal music) , to name a few changes. While the new release from Manga will include the old, butchered "uncut" version, it will also include a faithfully translated and correct (in this fan's eyes) Japanese track. While most hardcore purists may not consider this a full correction (such as receiving a new dub track with all of the same faithfulness as the Japanese track), Manga is making an effort, albeit a half-assed one.

Being an anime based off of a video game, I can't honestly say this is on my priorities list, which could be why I'm giving Manga what seems like a pass on this. I don't mean to treat this like I'm not impartial on this, I think that all companies when they produce a bad release should be scolded and when they produce a good release, they should be praised. Unfortunately, in the grand scheme of things, how Manga is treating SF 2 now is how they've operated business as normal for anime that aren't Cagliostro or Evangelion.

Though, Castle of Cagliostro, while being one of the better Manga releases, might be getting a new facelift for the new edition. Mr. Richardson also points out that Manga is in talks right now for some new boxart that will "make you think of this movie itself instead of just another Lupin film."; though, I'm not sure this is really needed. Already, there are two separate fansbases who would show interest in the film (aside from those who've seen it already): fans of Lupin III and fans of Miyazaki Hayao. Though most of Miyazaki's fanbase are most intrigued by his work after forming Studio Ghibli, Cagliostro is arguably his best non-Ghibli work and I would say one of the top features in his entire filmography. As far as comparing to other works in the Lupin III franchise, easily this is the best film and really brings the characters of Lupin III to a broader, family audience but also retains many of the endearing traits of the characters. I would say that Cagliostro is a huge part of why Lupin III remains a large part of the Japanese anime industry and pop culture psyche.

Manga Entertainment seems to be the most popular industry panel present at A-Cen as ANN's [animenewsnetwork.com] report by Mikhail Koulikov centers on the panel as well. In Koulikov's report he adds some information more important to fans of classic anime - some good and some bad.

The good news is that Manga still retains licenses for the Neon Genesis Evangelion 『新世紀エヴァンゲッリオン』 films, Death and Rebirth and AIR (The End of Evangelion), and with their Tenth Anniversary coming up, if new material becomes available, they hope to plan a re-release in North America as well.

The bad news is that Manga, for retaining some of their intellectual properties, seem to have another round of losses. On the chopping block are three of their OAV properties:

Angel Cop 『エンジェルコップ』
Devilman 『デビルマン』
Orguss 02 『時空世紀オーガス０２』

So far, Manga has lost the anime licenses for Wings of Honneamise 『王立宇宙軍 オネアミスの翼』 (Royal Space Troop Wings of Oneamis), Bio-Booster Armor Guyver 『強殖装甲ガイバー』, Aim for the Top! Gunbuster 『トップをねらえ！ガンバスター』, Hokutou no Ken TV 『北斗の拳』, and the first two Mobile Police Patlabor movies 『機動警察パトレバー』.

There is a part of me that is now hopeful, with the recent release of Armored Trooper VOTOMS 『装甲騎兵ボトムズ』 , the announcements of numerous classical mecha mecha within the first quarter of 2006, and the ever present fan popularity of the original Macross that both the Orguss TV series will be licensed soon and the OAVs will be re-licensed to accompany them. One can always hope.

Near the Start of Con Season

The 2006 Con season is beginning soon and we've got a couple of cool developments to report.



On 7 April, Bandai of Japan reported (broadcast in English through Gunota) that the first TV series of Mobile Suit Gundam will be finally coming to DVD. What was once previously thought impossible is now becoming possible. Now there is much speculation (and hope) in the American fan community that Bandai Entertainment Incorporated, the North American division of Bandai Japan, will be able to release a long-awaited subtitle version Stateside. Only time will tell and hopefully Bandai will have a release confirmation during the con season this year. Little Akihabara hopes to be able to break the news.

Defying hopes, and very much pleasing to the fans here in the US, Media Blasters has announced three stellar titles this month alone - Hyaku Juou GoLion, Dairugger XV, and Yuushaou GaoGaiGar.





Media Blasters back at the end of March announced it would be releasing the original American version of Voltron (and the lesser seen Vehicle portion in addition to the classical Lions); there were some vocal fan wishes for the original versions and MB announced those in a "Oh, by the way..." fashion. While GoLion and Dairugger are in the classic genre that Little Akihabara hopes for, GaoGaiGar's homage to the classic mecha genre holds hopes for many other classic mecha titles to follow suit. Either way, MB has proven with these three and its previous announcement of Tekkaman Blade that it is truly a company that sees value and profitability in more classic Japanese animation, as well as answering calls of an older fanbase.



Although with the blitz of classic licenses over the first quarter or so of this year, it leaves one extatic and looking to the future for what's next, but there is a cynical part of me that is worried that this is it for the year. I sincerely hope that I am proven wrong about this and that we will see many more licenses announced and hopefully some more that will actually be released towards the end of this year (as GaoGaiGar is planned).

That's all for now; I am hoping to revamp the site some more, do some more exclusive imagery and get a couple of editorials written up.

Holy Crap!

Wow, this came out of left field. I was surprised when they released the manga a couple of years ago, but today Anime News Network [animenewsnetwork.com] reported this:

"Funimation Licenses Crayon Shin-Chan (2006-02-14 01:56:47)
According to parent company Navarre, Funimation has licensed Crayon Shin-chan and is expecting to release the series in late 2007. Thanks to Steve Finkle for this info."

It's an awful long time away before we'll see anything actually hit the market place. Hopefully though, this will get a better release than Meitantei Conan did. Hopefully the seemingly minor, yet crucial mistakes that really hurt Conan's marketability have been learned and Crayon Shin-chan will get a great release.

Reading through some of the forum posts attached to the ANN article, it looks like the show is already getting mixed reviews; some of it I find objectionable because it is based solely on the appearence of the artwork and not on an actual viewing of the show. I don't want to put too much speculation or insinuation into this as I've not recevied comment proving just that.

Either way, surprise surprise.

First Quarter Excitement

Hot on the heels of ADV's new re-release of Super Dimension Fortress Macross and the upcoming DVD debut of Central Park Media's Armored Trooper Votoms OAVs, Media Blasters announced the licensing and an ETA release of Uchuu no Kishi Tekkaman Blade and its dub counterpart Teknoman. These, coupled with new releases like the Hokuto no Ken movies and the Wings of Rean ONA as a return to 1980s and 1990s franchises in the anime industry. The release of Votoms (which was previously released on VHS by CPM in the late 1990s under Bandai's Anime Village label) is a welcome breath of fresh air to Japanese mecha subculture - mecha series that are popular in mecha groups but outside of the Gundam and Macross storylines, it seems. Most people who have watched Votoms end up liking it, but I found a lot of the problem is that getting the word out. I for one will be replacing my old VHS set with the DVDs and hopefully an attractive DVD set will bring in more viewers. Since these are only the Votoms OAVs being released, high sales and fan support of the seris could lead to the Votoms TV series also being released in North America.

The news that's had me really stoked since last week (partly because my last week was personally horible) was Media Blaster's announcement on 2006. Feb. 08 of the release of Tekkaman Blade and Teknoman. The initial reports have been murky, so wading through information has been rough (hence partly why it has taken me so long to get something together); however, this is what best I can confirm:

Teknoman and Tekkaman Blade will be released in two different units. Teknoman will have a similar dub to what ran syndicated in the US. The US version ran for 26 episodes, Teknoman DVDs will run 43 episodes over three box sets.

Tekkaman Blade will be a sub-only, uncut translation of the entire 49 episode TV series. The number of boxsets has not been determined. Tekkaman Blade will be released later in 2006; Teknoman is expected to hit street around 2006. May 30.

I really expect some good stuff out of Media Blasters. I absolutely love their release of Giant Robo: The Animation and the moment it becomes financially viable for me I plan on pikcing up their releases of Master of Mosquitionand Izcer-1.

It's really looking up for the Bubble Economy titles and we're barely through the first quarter. With con season coming up here in a few months, I hopefully will have more releases to talk about, review, and perhaps even grab an interview or two. Please look forward to it!

ZOMG! Forgotten

I also forgot that Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY was licensed yesterday, or at least, an announcement by Jerry Chu of Bandai of America was announced in an interview with MAHQ.net.

I'm not surprised, but I am a little disappointed that they are not going to try and license and release another Universal Century Gundam series simultaneously (or at least, they have not announced such yet). In a way, I guess it's kinda good; I've not got the funds to go searching for another UC boxset (especially with the size and cost similar to Zeta Gundam). I've also not got the time to hurry and finish Zeta right away so I can start another UC series as the boxes for UC seem to be in limited supply. Not to mention I also need to find a way to replace my 0080 and 0083 VHS cassettes with DVDs.

I'm also in no hurry to get back into Gundam SEED DESTINY; I gave up on the series after three weeks for a reason. I felt the characters were being poorly portrayed (even though Ikeda Shuuichi plays in it, I feel even he is sub-par) and the character designer is a complete hack. Some friends of mine have kept kinda up to date with the series, and I pop a question or two off to to them on occasion, but on the whole, it seems that the series is moving for a more tramatic direction, a la Zeta or Victory, but the fact that there still isn't too much of a developing body count for the main characters (and I liked only a small handful of characters from the original SEED series), I've got little reason to watch it. More than likely, when the DVDs come out, I'll get ahold of them to watch through them and watch the series, but I'm not in any rush.

I know since I heard about the SEED sequel, I would be hoping that Bandai of Japan would give it the Zeta Treatment - by killing of 95-99% of the cast. Now that Bandai of America has seemingly gotten distrobution rights to the series, I hope they give it thier own version of the Zeta Treatment - by sitting and doing nothing with the project for years.

Viewing Update with new Licenses

This week or so has been big in the way of new North American licences. While most of these shows are series in which I normally wouldn't watch, I'm obviously not real familiar with many of the titles in any real depth. Check out Anime News Network for some of the newest news for all of the recent licenses.

The biggest news is Viz's license of the Naruto anime. It's a shonen action, which Viz is familiar with, and Viz has been publishing the manga already. However, because of its massive size and target fanbase, I have a feeling that this series will become like its predacessor Dragonball Z before it. Dragonball Z was extremely popular in Japan and was well recieved in fansub circles, even though it wasn't enjoyed by everyone. As Dragonball Z came to the US market and was marketed to the same target audience and went through editing, it soon became the bane of existance for many fans. Nothing more than an 'entry level' show for newbies. I fear the same for Naruto if the series is handled in similar fashion. I have hopes, but since I'm not really in charge of anything, I can't make promises.

I do fear for many individual disc sales of the series. Viz is not known for its excellent per disc packaging. High MSRP compared to other DVDs of similar content with low episode counts and very little interesting in the line of extras. However, I have been pleased with Viz's boxset deals in the past, especially with Ranma 1/2, so I look forward to Naruto boxes if I decide to pick the series up, since I'm not really that big of a fan.

Another big series being licensed that really caught me off guard was Media Blasters' license of the new Aa! Megami-sama TV series. I had been watching the new series through fansubs and had been getting into it. I know that when DVDs hit the shelves, I'll definately be there to pick them up. What's more though, is that Media Blasters are wanting to either cast Geneon's movie cast or AnimEigo's OAV cast for the English dubs instead of rounding up a third cast. I like this idea, and I really hope they can get the OAV cast as I think they are the superior of the two. In fact, I've always been very fond of AnimEigo's dub and have supported it. Thought, that' simply a personal preference. I'm supporting this series regardless.

Finally, needing some new happiness in my life in the form of anime, I stopped by the mall after work one day and noticed that they had two things I had been waiting a while for - the remastered Bubblegum Crisis OAVs and the Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam TV boxests. Not caring about the $300 bucks it nearly cost for the two of them (at the time), I picked them up immediately.

I'm waiting to do the Bubblegum Crisis OAV over Spring Break when I am simply just working and catching back up with school; but since I am going out of town next week, and I'm swamped with schoolwork beforehand, I'm taking Zeta breaks to regain my sanity. There are unfortunately new opening and closing themes because Bandai America couldn't get the original themes, but the replacement music isn't bad. In fact, I really like the opening but the closing I suppose I could live without. That aside, the TV series is fully remastered and looks just as beautiful as it did during the first airings twenty years ago. A vast improvement over some grainy VHS fansubs I've had on my shelves for years. The boxset came also with some other goodies; I've not opened the minatures yet, but I plan to by the end of the week and there is a poster that I don't think is all that good. I think the MSRP of $199.99 that I paid was a little on the hefty side, but definately what I like about the set is worth close to $150.00.

In fact, I planned on watching episodes six and seven before bed tonight, but as I'm typing this, I'm also going to watch episode eight tonight. This series is absolutely awesome.

There's a few more things I want to update, but since I have another long day ahead of me, I'd better save it for later - finish this Zeta episode, and call it a night.