My sole thought on Kodansha’s US manga publishing gambit.

July 3rd, 2008 by Brack

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Toren Smith’s Time Machine.

June 27th, 2008 by Brack

More old news from Issue 8 of Manga Mania (Feb. 1994). This issue is noteworthy for an interview with Masamune Shirow by Toren Smith, that is dated as taking place in October 1994, 8-9 months after this appeared in shops. Insert long convoluted Gunbuster reference here.

UK NEWS

  • Kiseki started their run on the title that kept them in business - Urotsukidoji, releasing Urotsukidoji: Revenge Of The Overfiend
  • Manga had release shuffle, Rumic World was on track, Guyver was delayed to March, and Crying Freeman, Doomed Megalopolis and Golgo 13 were out in Feb.
  • To fill space in the news, some facts and figures about manga in Japan were printed. Usual stuff about how much it sells in relation to western comic sales.
  • Anime Projects started releasing AnimEigo’s subs of Urusei Yatsura.
  • Future Shooter, a clothing company, were releasing some godawful looking manga-inspired gaming fashion.
  • A couple of UK Cons were listed. AUK CON was Anime UK’s one day con in London, and Anime Day was to be held over a March weekend in Sheffield.

US NEWS

  • AnimEigo do the first of many repackage/repricings of Bubblegum Crisis. They also dub Riding Bean, release more Urusei Yatsura OAVs and put UY movie 3: Remember My Love on Laser Disc.
  • LA Hero announce acquisition of “Wings of Oneamis” (sic).
  • ADV release the first Burn Up. Trish Ledoux, who writes this section, continues with her comments on ADV’s T & A reputation.
  • Streamline release more Doomed Megalopolis.
  • US Manga Corps release Heroic Legend of Arislan (sic).
  • Viz continue the Ranma TV release.
  • US Renditions continue with Devil Man.
  • Notable manga releases in the US include Oshii’s Hellhounds through Dark Horse and first (?) US shojo manga release, Promise from Viz.

JAPAN NEWS

  • Zeta Gundam gets a Laser Disc boxset release.
  • OAVs etc out:
  • Fortune Quest
  • Hakkenden
  • Plastic Little
  • Giant Robo Vol. 4
  • Orguss
  • Dirty Pair Flash
  • The Cockpit

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Naoki Urasawa Rocks Out. Gently.

June 24th, 2008 by Brack

Via AnimeNewsNetwork’s forum in reaction to the news of Urasawa’s single.

Considering the comparisons 20th Century Boys draws with Stephen King’s works (Stand By Me, IT, The Stand in particular), I suppose it’s not surprising, that like King, he also indulges in musical vanity projects.

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The Title Blurb Read “Mighty Mecha Special!!”

June 20th, 2008 by Brack

More old news from 1993 courtesy of Manga Mania Issue 6, December ‘93.

Editorial: Figured I might start talking about these too. In this issue, Cefn Ridout bemoans the bad publicity anime was getting in the press. Well, one article in the Independent - “CARTOON CULT WITH AN INCREASING APPETITE FOR SEX AND VIOLENCE” by David Lister (not the Red Dwarf character one presumes). This perceived witchhunt of anime tends to be blown a little out of proportion by anime fans from this time. I think part of the feeling of belonging that a fandom gives a person, comes from the persecution complex most subcultures have, and the niche anime fandom at this time was no different. The people who were buying all those copies of Akira, Overfiend and Guyver are a completely different matter though. I doubt they gave two hoots what people like Lister thought and just wanted more sexy violent cartoons. Which is fair enough. GO TEAM SEXY VIOLENT CARTOONS!

UK News:

  • Kiseki had more of Macross II
  • BBC2 schedule Akira over Xmas, alongside a documentary called Manga.
  • BBC1 were showing the 90’s anime version of the Moomins.
  • Channel 4 were showing the overlooked UNICEF sponsored allegorical Dutch/Japanese production, Alfred J. Kwak. Melvyn Hayes as the Hitler Crow character was one of the great UK voice performances.
  • Manga Video had more Crying Freeman and Doomed Megalopolis
  • There was a report on a visit to Yaohan Plaza/Oriental City in Colindale, London, which was a popular haunt of UK anime/manga fans during the 90s. It was under threat of demolition a few years back, and just 3 weeks ago was “closed for redevelopment”. It’s probably a little odd that despite being into anime/manga since 1995, I never once went there.

Japan News:

  • Anime producer Haruki Kadokawa was arrested for smuggling cocaine.
  • Roujin Z due out.
  • Dirty Pair Flash announced. Lord, did this kick off a stink. The fuss was still around when I entered the fandom a couple of years later. The vemon it generated from hardcore Dirty Pair fans in the US and UK was mighty.
  • Anime Street Fighter film announced. The US live action film is mentioned in passing.
  • OAV/Laser Discs out included:
  • Comet Machine Gun Gakusave
  • Super Sonic Soldier Borgman
  • KO Century Three Beastketeers II
  • Fantasia
  • X2
  • Ushio and Tora
  • Machine God Corps
  • The Hakkenden
  • Black Jack

US News:

  • Viz - Mermaids Scar, Ranma TV First volume of the this long running 2 eps at a time VHS release. Anyone want to do the maths on how much it would have cost to get all of Ranma in this way?
  • US Manga Corps - The Ulitmate Teacher, Maris The Chojo/Laughing Target, Odin.
  • Anime 18 - Urotsukidoji II: Legend of the Demon Womb.
  • AD Vision - Guy - Awakening Of The Devil/Second Target.
    Ledoux gets in a dig at ADV’s T&A reputation at the time.
  • Dark Image - Outlanders.
  • Streamline - Neo Tokyo, 3×3 Eyes, Nadia movie collection.
  • AnimEigo had the fourth Urusei Yatsura film, Lum The Forever.
  • Manga releases: More of whatever was here before. Plus first time listings for Antarctic Press were included. A company that has a lot to answer for, but more on that down the line.

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The fifth of those Manga Mania flashbacks.

June 18th, 2008 by Brack

This what was being reported in Issue 5, cover date October 1993.

UK News:

  • Manga Video release Wicked City, Heroic Legend of Arislan.
  • Kiseki had Macross II coming out.
  • Contanimeted 1993 was taking place in October at the New Cobden Hotel, Birmingham.
  • The lack of anime stylings in the UK releases of Barcode Battler and Z Knights is bemoaned.
    3 years later I would have a lecturer at university try and impress me and my friends by boasting he had a Barcode Battler. It was quite a surreal moment.

US News:

  • AnimEigo announced Ah! My Goddess. And they released AD Police 2, Kimagure Orange Road Laserdisc, more Urusei Yatsura, Dagger of Kamui
  • LA Hero/US Renditions were putting out the Macross II Lovers Again CD soundtrack
  • US Manga Corps had Astro Boy 30th Anniversary Collection, Gall Force 2, Area 88 Act 3
  • In manga news: Venger Robo and Mobile Suit Gundam 0083 were starting at Viz.

Japan News:

  • Yoshinobu Nishizaki announces in Anime V that a new Yamato project is due in 1994. I guess this was the Yamato 2520 OAV.
  • OAVs out included:
  • Wataru
  • Super Soldier Borgman
  • Cashan
  • Arslan Chronicles
  • Machine God Corps
  • Ranma 1/2 OAV
  • Dominion

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More Marvellous Manga Mania Memories

June 16th, 2008 by Brack

ISSUE 4~! OCTOBER 1993~!

IN THE UK:

  • Manga Video were releasing Doomed Megalopolis II: Disaster, Crying Freeman II: The Enemy Within and Tetsuo II: The Bodyhammer.
  • Anime Projects had Hurricane Live 2032 & 2033 out.
  • And in computer games, ICE were releasing Akira for Commordore Amiga, CD32, PC and PC CD-ROM.

    Maybe in a later issue Wil Overton will overrate it in his videogame review section. Good lord, the tat that got 7/10s in that section of the magazine, this issue has SD Great Battle II getting the videogame review “average”.

IN THE US of A:

  • There had been some Anime Conventions and they were briefly, vaguely, reported on:
  • Anime America (25-27 June 1993) - 1200 attendance listed. Guests: Haruka Takachiho, Monkey Punch, Kenichi Sonoda and Megumi Hayashibara. Described as having great events, but poorly run.
  • Anime Expo (2-4 July 1993) - 1800 attendance listed (wikipedia gives 1,693). Guests: Well I don’t know, it lists a load, then says four didn’t show, but beyond mentioning Haruhiko Mikimoto not showing, I don’t know who the other three who didn’t show were. Described as having poor events (presumably down to lack of guests), but well organised.

    Depressing thought of the day: The biggest anime-based con in the UK is now roughly at the size of the Anime America of 1993 (and has been for the last few years), and it’s idea of a guest is Monica Rial.

  • CPM/US MANGA CORPS were releasing Venus Wars, Area 88 Act II
  • ANIMEIGO had Dagger of Kamui, Urusei Yatsura OAV Vol. 6
  • DARK IMAGE ENTERTAINMENT made with Devilman - The Birth of Devilman
  • US RENDITIONS released The Guyver Vol. 4.
  • Manga releases:
  • Dark Horse Comics: Caravan Kidd, Version 2.2
  • Eternity Comics: Robotech II: The Sentinels, Robotech: Return To Macross, Robotech: Invid War, Ninja High School, Zilliion
  • Viz Comics: Battle Angel Alita, Maison Ikkoku, Ranma, Genocyber, Sanctuary, Pixy Junket, Crying Freeman, Sanctuary, Nausicaa, Guyver, Silent Mobius
  • New Society Publishers: Barefoot Gen: Out of the Ashes

IN JAPAN:

  • The Cockpit
  • Dirty Pair
  • Votoms
  • Borgman
  • Idol Defense Force Hummingbird
  • Erotic Beast High School “Climax Collection”
  • KO Century Three Beastketeers II - Chapter 3
  • NG Knight Ramune & 40 DX, Chapter 3

    The Satoru Akahori script machine in full effect here.

  • A-Girl
  • Ah! My Goddess
  • Eight Man After
  • Epic Fantasy Ellcia
  • Chameleon 2 “Siblings From Hell”
  • Machine God Corps
  • No Need For Tenchi:Demon Emperor Ryou Special - The Night Before The Festival

    Still loving that translation

  • Bad Boys
  • Moldiver

ELSEWHERE:

  • Tsui Hark announced as directing the Mai the Psychic Girl live-action film.

    Did this ever get anywhere? I remember at one point reading Sparks had the rights to make the film.

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15 YEAR OLD NEWS FEED

June 15th, 2008 by Brack

I did a couple of these last year, and not having too much to write about at the moment, I’m going to bring them back.

What are these? Well it’s summaries of the news in the UK manga & anime magazine Manga Mania from 1993. I didn’t actually read them back then, only hoping on in the spring of 1995. These are my little brother’s copies that I took of his hands years later. This is from issue 3, cover date September 1993.

  • Manga Video releases: Judge, Ultimate Teacher, 3×3 Eyes Parts 2 & 3
  • Titan Books release Helen McCarthy’s Anime! - A Beginner’s Guide To Japanese Animation
  • John Courtenay-Grimwood has a rant about the BBFC rating 3×3 Eyes an 18 certificate.
  • In the US:
  • Viz announces Ranma OAVs.
  • Live action Macross (!) announced at Anime Expo. This clearly never materialised, anyone know what this was about?
  • Giant Robo Vol. 3 premiered at Anime Expo.
  • Pioneer sent “shockwaves” by announcing their plan to have subtitles on their Laser Disc releases of “No Need For Tenchi: Demon Emperor Ryou”, “Moldiver” and “Machine God Corps” I wish they’d left Tenchi Muyo with that translation as it’s title.
  • CPM/US Manga Corps releases: Urotukidoji: Legend Of The Overfiend, Area 88
  • AD Vision releases: Battle Angel Alita
  • LA Hero/US Renditions: Superdimensional Century Orguss Vol. 7 & 8, Ultraman Vol. 9, Macross II Vol. 3
  • Family Home Entertainment: Robotech in SP mode VHS with TWO (!) episodes a tape.
  • AnimEigo: Urusei Yatsura Vol. 9, AD Police File-I, Kimagure Orange Road Laser Disc Vol. 2
  • Dark Horse Comics: Caravan Kidd, Version 2.2
  • Eternity Comics: Robotech II: The Sentinels, Robotech: Return To Macross, Robotech: Invid War, Ninja High School
  • Now Comics: New Adventures of Speed Racer
  • Viz Comics: Battle Angel Alita, Maison Ikkoku, Ranma, Genocyber, Sanctuary, Pixy Junket, Crying Freeman, Sanctuary, Nausicaa
  • In Japan:
  • Crayon Shin-Chan’s first film is released
  • Sailor Moon is made into a stage musical
  • Eight Man After, Comet Machine School Saber, Kiss Me On The Apple Of My Eye, Big Wars, Cashan and Giant Robo Vol. 3 were released in August in Japan. For now Trish Ledoux’s focus (for it is she that is writing the US/Japan news) seems to be on writing about Japanese OAV releases rather than what was on television then. Which is fair enough, as that’s what was most likely to get a western release. I’m wondering when that coverage in the magazine changed, and if it will coincide with Evangelion’s broadcast.

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More Soul Eater thoughts.

June 10th, 2008 by Brack

I think I can now pinpoint the problem I have with Soul Eater, and it’s a problem I have with some other shonen titles to various degrees. It’s the Adult Authority Figures.

I mentioned some time ago the difference between Sgt. Frog and it’s antecedent, Urusei Yatsura, in how they treated adulthood. Sgt Frog treats adulthood as being just as fun as childhood, Urusei Yatsura portrays it as some kind of living hell.

Now the difference between Soul Eater and what is obviously my favourite shonen series, One Piece, is also a difference between how they treat adults, but rather than a difference in a philosophical view of adulthood (Soul Eater seems to side more with UY, given Maka’s father’s characterisation), it’s in the use of Adult Authority Figures.

Soul Eater, like many shonen series has the main characters firmly placed as students of older, wiser, characters, who know more than they do. Naruto is an exemplary case of this format, for all the goofing off and disobeying orders that Naruto does, he’s never shown to be smarter than Kakashi. In Soul Eater, no matter how goofy Dr Franken Stein or the Grim Reaper are, they know more than the main characters, and at the current time, the main characters ultimately have to bow to their greater knowledge.

In One Piece, however, all characters who feasibly have authority over the main characters are wrong. Even if, in theory, they are right. Regardless of common sense, fact or circumstance, Luffy’s decisions always end up being the right one in the end. It’s resolutely anti-authority. It’s a bunch of kids having adventures, doing what they want, without adults telling them what to do. Even if some of the kids are 27, 34 and 100+ years old. Part of what turned me off Bleach was the slow turn of the main characters from being anti-authority, to doing what the series’ “grown-ups” want them to do.

The lesson is: if you are going to write an adolescent fantasy, go the whole hog and STICK IT TO THE MAN!

Posted in Anime, Manga, Things I Know About Pirates | Tags: , , , | 1 Comment »

UK Anime Releases for 19/05/08

May 16th, 2008 by Brack

Mushi-shi: Vol 4
Hell Girl: Vol.2 - Puddle
Berserk: Requited Desires Vol.5

Single volume time. You don’t need any of these that badly. Particularly Hell Girl.

Negima: The Complete Series

I wrote something on Negima on my livejournal (back when I had a naive idea to keep the hate away from this site) that sums up my feelings on this series nicely.

As Ken Akamatsu’s previous series Love Hina was to Maison Ikkoku, Negima is to Harry Potter.

Which is to say, crap.

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Secret Invasion #2

May 9th, 2008 by Brack

Oh god, it’s House of M all over again. A whole lot of nothing happening.

Issue 1 of Marvels latest cash grabbing crossover had a lot of vim and vigor to it, with a fairly cohesive narrative and nippy pace. With this issue all that ground to a halt, the story mired in its dialogue and turgid action scenes.

Conversely the issue of accompanying issue of Mighty Avengers zipped nicely, with the actual Avengers story taking place in Secret Invasion we get more flashbacks to what Nick Fury’s been up to.

Marvel are yet to find a happy balance in storytelling in these crossovers. The central Civil War mini series didn’t work as single story as it was acting more as the background to events in the ongoing comics. House of M and Secret Invasion do have the main stories in the mini series, but the stories are stretched out beyond their natural length to the detriment of monthly pacing and the ongoing titles that they span out of are left treading water - Claremont’s Rachel Grey/Psylocke gubbins in Uncanny X-Men during House Of M, Mighty Avengers current transformation into a Nick Fury comic and New Avengers recent Skrull history lesson.

If Secret Invasion had kept the pacing of that first issue this would be a whole lot of fun. Instead with a pacing more suited to a weekly schedule it looks like the reader is in for another underwhelming event comic from Bendis.

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