Ol' Father Geek here, posting one more of Scott's great Wednesday editions of The AICN Anime Report. As usual there's lots of cool info, and I want to take the time here to wish all you Anime/Manga/Cartoon/Comics lovers a very safe and happy Holiday season. Now, here's the regular report...

THE WEEKLY AICN ANIME REPORT...

By Scott Green

Manga Spotlight:

Bastard!! Based on 21 Page sneak preview By Kazushi Hagiwara Published in English by Viz

Bastard is an blast filled version of a typical fantasy epic. It combines the old pulp fantasy sensibilities of the hyper-capable hero with the will and skill to carve his place in the world, and the manga flair for busty women and monster ripping explosions.

It opens with an introduction to with a scene of bloody battle between humans and monsters. A once peaceful kingdom is on the verge of being overrun by Osbourne and his demonic hoards. As a last ditch effort they choose release the ancient magician Dark Schneider from his prison inside the body of a young boy. The burley head priest employs his energetic daughter for the ceremony's virgin kiss. Dark Schneider appearance is heralded by a "fiery power blast of the damned!" which rips open the chests of two attacking giant. The illustration uses an anime-ish style of story telling. Its loud and fast, full of quick transitions and sound effects. The character design is in a constant flux of abstraction from super-deformed or face faulting to more realism in the dramatic moments.

The dialogue is an punchy as the illustration. It's a variation on professional-wrestler-speak. Nearly every statement ends in a question mark, an exclamation point, or both. Humorously ridiculous or inappropriate statements are shouted with fists waving.

Its not intelligent fare, but its fun. The opening pages don't endear the reader to any of the characters, and the stiff dialogue doesn't endow them with any believable human qualities, but they do have some kinetic scenes of monster hoards barreling down of human knights.

If you want character driven medieval action, hope someone gets around to releasing the Berserk manga, if the summer blockbuster version of sword and sorcery is to your liking, Bastard is a must.

Anime Spotlight:

Vampire Princess Miyu (TV series) Volumes 1 & 2; Released in English by TOKYOPOP

Vampire Princess Miyu has the outward trappings of a magic girl series. Miyu attends a typical Japanese high school by day, and punishes evil my night. She appears suddenly with in costume (white kimono with large blue bow), in a dramatic flourish(shroud of mist, playing) the flute. She even has a talking animal side kick. The subversion of the magical girl genre is part of what makes this horror anthology so fun.

Shinma are evil spirits who prey on human emotions and weaknesses. It is Miyu's job as The Guardian to hunt down stray Shinma and return them to The Dark. Two fellow Shinma assist her. Larva is tall elegant European vampire. He wears a black cloak, and silver mask, and brings the physical muscle to the relationship. Her talking animal part is Sheena, a small pink, marshmallowy rabbit shinma who uses an ear to cover its one horribly large, bloodshot yellow eye.

A trio of human friends are introduced in the second episode for some emotional grounding, occasional comic relief, and what some time wanders to close to trite morals about friendship and being careful what you wish for.

The first episode of the second volume introduces Miyu's competition, and possibly the series' villain, Reiha, a diminutive ice-witch who believes in a more scorched earth policy in dealing with Shinma. Her talking doll urges her to take an even more violent course. The pair's pure viciousness and callowness make for a love to hate villain.

Miyu's interaction with the Shinma do not end happily. In fact, the series excels at the inventiness and diversity of its depressing endings. The first two volumes feature episodes that end with death, eternal torment, utter lose, haunting, and a more neutral ending for when a Shinma target Miyu herself. Helping the Shinma's human victims is not part of Miyu's mission, and is often beyond her capabilities. If they are not trapped by the Shinma, and have earned her pity, she drains their blood, leaving them in a catatonic to dream of more pleasant things.

The episodes are self contain stories of Miyu's dealing with a Shinma. She discovers how the Shinma functions then dispatches it when it reveals it's true form. The devious natures of the series and the Shinma is that they aren't targeting exception people, they are preying on mundane flaws, an old man's longing for days he and his wife were truly happy together, or a young woman in a sub way car's passing thought to stay beautiful. The episodes aren't memorable for their Twilight Zone-like twists, though some have interesting turns, but for their well constructed exploitation of human flaws.

The first two volumes are consistently eerie. The series has its weaknesses, for example the true forms of the often outrageously silly, but it is moving quick enough that the problems doing linger. It jumps right in with the first episode, an with rare exceptions it never misses a beat.

This Week's Releases

Anime:

• Nadia, The Secret Of Blue Water - Nemo's Fortress (Vol. 5)
• Soul Hunter - Taikoubou's Mission, Vol. 1
• The Big O (Vol. 4)

Manga:

• Akira Vol 5 Tp
• Blade Of The Immortal Gathering Vol Ii Tp
• Cardcaptor Sakura #23
• Cannon God Exaxxion #2 Stage 1 (Part 2 Of 8)
• Corrector Yui #4
• Dragon Knights #3
• Dragonball Z Vol 7 Tp
• El Hazard Part 3 #6 (Of 6)
• Geobreeders #32
• Marmalade Boy #1
• Miracle Girls #15
• Mobile Suit Gundam 0079 Vol 1 2Nd Ed
• Nadesico & Asamiya Sketchbook Pack W Posters
• Oh My Goddess Part Xi #4 Mystery Child (Part 2 Of 8)
• Saint Tail Vol 3 Pkt Tp
• Silent Mobius Advent #6 (Of 6)
• Smile Vol 4 #1
• Sorcerer Hunters Vol 7 Manga Gn
• Usagi Yojimbo #53
• Vagabond Part 1 #1
• Vagabond Part 1 #2

Soul Hunter, originally entitled Senkaiden Houshin Engi is based on a Chinese myth about a young warrior named Taikoubou charged with sealing 365 demons, as Soul Hunters is bound to cause confusion.

Vagabond by Takehiko Inoue is fictionalized biography of the famous samurai Miyamoto Musashi.

"Tokugawa Era Japan: a new government has taken power and the land is in disarray. Amidst the turmoil, a young man sets out on a journey seeking spiritual enlightenment by the way of the sword, prepared to slay anyone who might get in his way!"

Part one will be released in December with in 88 page volumes for $4.95. Though the series is popular in Japan, and it has been reported to be a quality series, it has not received much notice in the US. Takehiko Inoue is probably best known in the US for the basketball series Slam Dunk.

Marmalade Boy is a comedy/drama about a girl whose parents return from a trip and announced that they are getting a divorce in order to swap spouses with another divorcing couple.

Anime at the Oscars

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the eligible candidates for an Academy Award (Oscar) in the new Best Animated Feature category were announced today.

The candidates are as follows:

• Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
• Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius
• Marco Polo: Return to Xanadu
• Monsters, Inc.
• Osmosis Jones
• The Prince of Light
• Shrek
• The Trumpet of the Swan
• Waking Life

According to Anime News Network the only Anime titles known to have been submitted are Jin-Roh and Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust. Both films were among the 13 candidates submitted. While it is possible that Blood: The Last Vampire could also have been submitted, its ineligibility was confirmed when 75 minute minimum running time was announced.

Urban Vision's "Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust" and Bandai's "Jin-Roh" failed to qualify for Oscars due to technicalities.

Missing paperwork, specifically the paperwork for Best Picture, disqualified Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust. The missing papers were, apparently, never received (and thus, never filed) by Urban Vision. The representative said that a small statement should be released within the next week, concerning Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust.

Jin-Roh suffered a case of bad timing, as its world-wide theatrical premiere occurred in December 1999 in France. The Academy Awards Rules state:

"A picture first theatrically exhibited outside the U.S. prior to the Los Angeles qualifying run shall be eligible for submission provided the prior exhibition takes place in a commercial motion picture theater after January 1, 2000..."

Upcoming Anime

Shin'ichiro Kimura, the director of Hand Maid May, will direct the "pretty girls" fantasy/action TV series G-On Riders next spring.

Masami Shimoda, the director of Saber Marionette J, will direct the domestic comedy Ai Yori Aoshi for Pioneer next year.

Leiji Matsumoto will have two new TV series next year: Gun Frontier and a new Captain Harlock series.

Masami Obari will return to TV animation with his latest giant robot series, Chojushin Gravion.

The little known Earth Defense Family TV series from early 2000 will return next year with Chikyu Boei Kazoku 2. Likewise, the successful Star Ocean EX TV series will return in a second series in March titled Star Ocean to the Story.

Cyber Idol Mink and Tokyo Mew Mew will both leap from their manga published in Nakayoshi Magazine to their own anime TV series next year.

The Tenchi/Love Hina-esque Happy Lesson OAV series will spawn a 13 episode TV series in April.

Gonzo Studios will be producing the anime TV series adaptation of Shin Takahashi's popular fantasy romance manga Saishuheiki Kanojo - The Last Love Song on This Little Planet.

Bandai Entertainment Launches The Official Escaflowne Movie Website - Escamovie.Com

Bandai Entertainment launches the official Escamovie.com website to help promote the upcoming theatrical release of Escaflowne in theaters January 25, 2002.

A motion picture production based on one of the most popular anime titles of all time, Escaflowne is celebrated animator Shoji Kawamori's cutting-edge vision of a world where good and evil hinge on a girl's ability to find meaning for her own life.

Escamovie.com features news and information on the upcoming theatrical release of Escaflowne in theaters, background information on the Escaflowne world, characters, story, filmmaker biographies, multimedia interviews with cast and creators, trailers, and future home video information.

ADV Catalogue Titles on DVD

David Williams of ADV Films stated on Anime on DVD's forum of some of AD Vision's forthcoming DVD releases. DVD versions of the Legend of Crystania OAVs and the City Hunter OAVs and movies are in the works. City Hunter: Secret Service will be the first City Hunter release because it was never released subtitled.

Devil Hunter Yohko will likely be released on two discs. The first disc will include the original Japanese OAV 1 and its slightly extended English language version along with OAVs 2 & 3. The second DVD will include episodes 4-6. 801 TTS will also be released on 2 DVDs but likely as a single 2 disc set.

forthcoming DVD releases include all 5 episodes of Galaxy Fraulein Yuna, both episodes of Super Atragon and the Kimera OAV.

Cardcaptor Sakura Vol. #4

Pioneer Animation's web site states that to make out for its out of order release Cardcard Captor Sakura volume 4 will ship with a mini pencil board.

Domestic Release Dates

ADV Films will be releasing the fourth volume of the video game based Power Stone on April 9th. Nadia volume 7 will be released on March 12th.

Central Park Media will be releasing Maetel Legend, and Now and Then, Here and There volume two, Flight and Fall on March 12th,

FUNimation's upcoming release schedule looks as follows:

• 2/12 DBZ 65: Majin Buu: Revival DBZ 66: Majin Buu: Tactics
• 3/5 DB 14: Red Ribbon: Assault on Muscle Tower DB 15: Red Ribbon: White's Last Stand
• 3/12 Yu Yu Hakusho 1: Yusuke Lost, Yusuku Found Yu Yu Hakusho 2: Artifacts of Darkness
• 3/19 DBZ 67: Majin Buu: Defiance DBZ 68: Majin Buu: A Hero's Farewell
• 4/23 DBZ 69: Majin Buu: Emergence DBZ 70: Fusion 1
• 5/7 Blue Gender 3 (
• 5/14 DB 16: Red Ribbon 3 DB 17: Red Ribbon 4
• 5/21 DBZ 71: Fusion 2 DBZ 72: Fusion 3

Vampire Hunter D Release Date

Urban Vision will be releasing Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust on February 28th. The disc will only have an English language track, but other details have yet to be released.

The film was animated for a Japanese script, but it was first recorded with and English language script written with the help of the movie's creators. Its Japanese theatrical run featured the English language track, but the region 2 DVD release include a Japanese language track.

Upcoming Dub Casts

Synch-Point's web site lists the following cast for the upcoming release of FCCL

Nandaba Naota - Barbara Goodson
• Haruhara Haruko - Kari Wahlgren
• Samejima Mamimi - Jennifer Sekiguchi
• Nandaba Kamon - Joe Martin
• Shigekuni - Steve Kramer
• Amarao - Dave Mallow
• Kitsurubami - L. Villa
• Ninamori Eri - Heather Lee Joelson
• Gaku - Bob Marx
• Masashi - David Lucas
• Miyu Miyu - David Lucas
• Miyaji Junko - Jessica Stenuis
• Secretary - Jessica Stenuis

US Staff

• ADR director - Marc Handler
• ADR script - Marc Handler
• Executive Producer - Hikaru Sasahara, Maki Terashima
• Producers - Stephanie Sheh, Shizuki Yamashita
• Sound Engineer - Rick Tetzlaff

The Ranma ½ Perfect Edition website (not an official Viz website) has posted some details about who will be playing which parts in Viz's upcoming release of the Inu Yashu TV series.

Producer Toshifumi Yoshida, who was in Vancouver recording the first three episodes at the time, informed them that as of December 5th 2001 the cast is as follows:

Richard Cox as Inu-Yasha Moneca Stori (formerly Monica Gemmer) as Kagome Higurashi Willow Johnson as Kikyo Pam Hyatt as Kaede Saffron Henderson as Sota Higurashi

Remastered Evangelion DVD

From Anime on DVD Neon Genesis Evangelion Vol. #1 was originally authored by AIX with ADV using freeze frames to remove jitter and overlays to replace key Japanese text sequences. After fan outrage and several months later, Neon Genesis Evangelion Vol. #2 - 8 began to be released by POP/Cinram without the jitter removal process or with overlays. ADV is now remastering the first volume without the jitter removal and without overlays and it's being authored by MOFC, which is an authoring studio based nearby the ADV offices. My comments were comparing the quality of Eva 1 remaster against Eva 1 AIX version as well as Eva 2-8 POP versions based on the opening sequences. Basically, my initial impressions are that the Eva 1 remaster definitely looks better than the Eva 1 AIX version but still has some minor issues that are likely source related and that based on the opening sequences, I think that the Eva 1 remaster looks better than the POP! released Vol 2-8 releases.

More Tenchi Muyo GXP Details

According to Anime News Network AIC has announced some of the lead voice actors and actresses for the upcoming Tenchi Muyo! GXP OVA series. Mr. Shigeru Mogi as Seina Yamada, Miss Mariko Suzuki as Kaunaq Amane, Miss Kumi Sakuma as Kiriko Masaki, Miss Aya Hisakawa as Ryoko Balouta and Miss Yuuko Mizutani as Mitoto Kuramitu. The third GXP trailer has also been posted here

Next R2 Ghibli Release

Amazon's Japanese stores lists Studio Ghibli's Porco Rosso as due on DVD on 03/28/2002. From Nausicaa.net:" Porco Rosso (the Japanese title Kurenai no Buta literally means "The Crimson Pig") was first planned as a 30-45 minutes in-flight movie on Japan Airlines. It's been described as "a movie which tired businessmen on international flights can enjoy even with their minds dulled due to lack of oxygen." As Miyazaki's imagination took off, it became a feature-length movie about an Italian Air Force pilot who left the service due to the rise of fascism. He became a bounty hunter, assuming the name "Porco Rosso.""

5th Media Arts Festival Awards Announced

Anime News Service reports sponsored by Japan´s Agency for Cultural Affairs, the annual Media Arts Festival brings together Japan´s latest works in the animation creative field. Held with the aim to provide the general public with insights into outstanding artistic achievements, the Festival has its main focus on computer enhanced graphics, but "classic" medium such as manga and traditional animation will also be given credit.

This year´s Award-Winning Works are:

Digital Art [Interactive]: Protrude, Flow [Installation] Sachiko KODAMA, Minako TAKENO

Digital Art [Non-Interactive]: Anjyu [Moving Pictures] Yasuo Ohba

Animation: Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi [Feature Movie] Hayao MIYAZAKI

Millenium Actress [Feature Movie] Satoshi Kon (scheduled for Japanese theaters next year)

Manga: A Day in the life of Mr.F [Youth - General Manga] Yoji FUKUYAMA (Kooron Comics / Weekly Diamond)

Ghibli on the Move

Anime News Service points out, according to Toho´s 2002 line-up there are already 3 movies (actually 4 if one includes GHIBLIES EP 2) in the pipeline. NEKO NO ONGAESHI (The cat´s requital), originally entitled BARON, this project will be based on Aoi Hiiragi´s motiv of the of the cate BARON, best known to Ghibli fans from Yoshifumi Kondoh´s WHISPER OF THE HEART. Theatrical premiere will be next summer, tentatively July. Newcomer Hiroyuki Morita (37) is on directing duties. Aiming at a release in summer 2003 is HAURU NO UGOKU SHIRO (Howl´s Moving Castle), an anime adaptation of Diana Wynne Jones´s fantasy novel of the same title. Like NEKO.. Miyazaki will also be the project's supervisor, while the direction will be handled by TOEI-import Mamoru Hosoda (34). Raring as they are TOHO have stated that if the young animators´ work proves to be effective, they'll be integrated into Miyazaki´s new work, scheduled for 2004.

BONES Online

According to Anime News Service the studio behind Cowboy Bebop: The Movie And Angelic Layer, BONES have now launched their own site featuring general information about the studio and a run-down of their projects. The homepage also allows fans the possibility to contact the staff via e-mail or a bulletin board. BONES´s latest anime is RAH-ZEPHON, a giant-robot action series based on a manga by Takeaki Momose and Yutaka Izubuchi (mecha-designer for Gasaraki, Aura Battler Dunbine, Patlabor, Gundam: Char´S Counterattack etc.)

Anime inspired Pilot wins Leaf Award

From Anime News Network A pilot from an upcoming animated, french series, Molly Star-Racer, won a Leaf Award at this year's festival show. The London Effects and Animation Festival (LEAF) Awards are one of the premier awards in European animation and special effects.

Borrowing heavilly from Anime for it's look and feel, the producers are said to have borrowed from childhood memories of anime series like Dragonball and Lupin the 3rd. Nonetheless, the serie's story is said to be inspired more by Hanna Barbara's Wacky Races and Saint Exupéry's Le Petit Prince. However, the influences of Wacky Races anf Le Petit Prince are much less blatant than those of Anime, viewers will instantly be able to recognize the Anime derived animation and themes, and the background song is in Japanese.

Concept: The 8 greatest pilots in the universe are getting ready to face off on Oban, a giant planet located at the very center of the Galaxy. Too bad the Earth's Team #1 pilot was victim of a terrible sabotage minutes before the start of the race. With no other champion available within a 25 light-year radius, Molly, an unpredictable young girl, is earth's only hope of victory...

Produced by Paris based company, Sav! The World with 3d modeling by Paris based CGI studio Sparx, the 26 episode TV series is expected to cost aproximately $300 000 an episode.

A 17mb copy of the pilot is available on Sav! The World's website.

That's all and Happy Holidays to you all...

Scott Green