Father Geek and Scott Green here with the latest AICN Anime Report for all of you Manga/Anime fans around the world. First off, before we get into Scott's regular column Father Geek's got this bit for you, that while it isn't purely about Anime, should be of crossover interest to many of you...
I found this on the web tonight and was wondering if anyone else was talking about it. IT concerns the development of a LIVE action MECHWARRIOR series. It's being done by the same folks who do Andromeda and EFC. I'm a long time Battletech fan but I don't know...I'm a little leery of this. Here is the link: Click For the Whole Story...
DaWookiee
Well, that could be real cooooool, or it could suck. We'll keep you posted on developments. Now, here's Scott Green...
ReBoot News
In non-anime, but interesting news Trevor Monaghan "The Kaijumaster" interviewed Scott Mcneil at this past weekends Anime Central convention. He stated that he had just completed the first episode of Reboot season 4 before coming. However he stated that he was "not at liberty to discuss the plot." Thank you very much to "The Kaijumaster".
Jin-Roh Trailer Online
A trailer to Jin-Roh has been posted on its official website at www.jin-roh.net
Anime Central News
Reports from the Anime Central convention has been filtering into Anime on DVD's forum. The Right Stuf Panel reviewed some new information about the upcoming release of the shoujo title Kara Kano. It was announced that they are going to do alternate angles for next episode previews and there will be multiple subtitle tracks. The series is likely to be released across four DVDs. The title for its domestic release will be "His & Her Circumstance" (the reporter was not sure it was that or "His & Her Circumstances"). The Tylor OAV DVDs are planned to be out some time in the fall. Right Stuf also spent a good deal of time talking about Boogiepop Phantom, made a comment that they were going to create dub VHS tapes for one of their series, and he personally speculated why, feeling that DVD was the way to go. Right Stuf mention that had put in bids for Love Hina and FLCL and that they had been approached by Japanese companies to buy into serie! s before they had been finished.
When the Manga representative was asked "do you have plans to remaster Wings of Honeamise?". The answer he gave was, "if we acquire a better print and more extras in the future, then yes." He also did state that after a recent viewing of the R2 version and the detailed reports that were sent to him, he does notice that the quality was not as good as it could be. When asked about the status of the Evangelion movies he said they are looking great. He is very excited as well, because he feels this will be Manga's best DVD release yet. I hope he was telling the truth
When asked about the release date of the "less cut" version of Kite, Media Blasters said that the DVD would be released by December. Kite is a darkly violent, and highly stylish feature about an orphaned girl who is trained to be an assassin. It can be thought of as a dark, crueler version of the Professional.
The only news from Synch Point was that they will be releasing odd science fiction OAV FLCL on DVD with more than one episode per disc. When asked if the asked if Princess 9 sales were good, if they plan to release more shoujo (girl's) series the ADV reps gave enthusiastic responses of yes. They said there many series that they are eyeing, and would love to bring them over if people were interested.
Spanish Language Fox Fids Readying Cyberteam in Akihabara?
The second Patlabor movie premiered on the Spanish language Fox station last Saturday(May 12th), and was run twice the next Sunday at last Saturday May 12th, premiered Patlabor 2 the at 00:00 and 22:00 central time Mexico/USA. Mini-marathons of Flint el Dective del Tiempo, and the Super Cerdita (Super pig, Saban's version of Tonde Boorin) will be run on May 19th and 26th respectively.
The next premiere of the Spanish language fox will be that of Cyberteam in Akihabara (Akihabara Denno Gummi) on June 2nd. There is confusion as to whether it is the movie of TV series that will be shown. Xystus, the television distributor company for Latinamerica, says in their page that have the rights for the movie Cyberteam in Akihabara: summer of 2011 vacation. This company also have the rights for the Patlabor movies and series, so, maybe the premiere will be the movie. No official announcements from Fox Kids.
Thanks to César De la luz for the information.
KOR Announcement
David Williams of ADV announced on Anime on DVD's forum that Orange Road: Summer's Beginning will be released on 8/12.
AnimEigo has the rights to the Kimugure Orange Road TV series about the love triangle a mysterious girl, a boy who must hide his physic powers, and a sweet girl he grew up with.
Akira Video Press Release
Pioneer has posted it official home video Akira press released at See here From the press release:
AKIRA
Available For The First Time Ever On July 24, The Two-Disc Special Edition DVD Boasts:
· An Interview With The Director
· Two Documentaries Including The Making-Of Akira and The Making-Of Akira Soundtrack
· Restoration Of The Cult Favorite Includes New Film Interpositive
· High-Definition Mastering With Digital Restoration
· THX Certification
· Brand New English Dub
· Re-Mixed Dolby Digital AC3 5.1 Surround Sound
Second Blue Seed DVD Press Release
ADV has announced that the second Blue See DVD, entitled will be release on July 10th. The 175 minute feature will retail for $29.98. Blue Seeds is an often humorous action story about girl, who after the disappearance of his sister, must fulfill the destiny of being a sacrifice to stop the Aragami, a race of plant demons. The girl is protected by a government agency that combats the Aragami, and a young man who received powers for the Aragami as a child.
NieA_7 Soon
Pioneer's release of NieA_7, the series from the creators of Serial Experiments Lain is schedule to start this August. Viewers reports that the series about a girl and her alien roommate is not as intense as the cyber-thriller Lain, but rather has a more comedic tone that can be slow at times.
Vampire Princess Miyu News
AniMeigo will be releasing the first volume Vampire Rrincess Miyu on DVDon 5/15 with two episodes of the four epsiode OAV. Vampire Princess Miyu about a child Shinma(vampire), Miyu, and her black cloak and silver mask clad, scythe wielding server, Larva, charged with disposing of stray shinma. Tokyo Pop has acquired the rights to the Vampire Princess Miyu TV series for domestic release.
The TV series is mostly a horror anthology that gradually takes on a more connected story. Many of the episodes are very dark, often depressing, and great horror stories, but a number fall far off the mark. In the series Miyu and Larva are joined a small pink rabbit shinma, with a fairly normal eye, and a horribly deformed eye. Anime fans will enjoy this twisted take on magical girl with her intelligent, cute mascot animal. An ice demon, and her sentient doll companion are also introduced as Miyu competition.
The manga that the series is based on has been released in English by Studio Ironcat.
St Tail Acquired
Tokyo Pop has acquired the domestic rights to Mysterious Thief Saint Tail, a shoujo (girl's) magical girl (think Sailor Moon) series about a girl who, by night, serves as a thief who steals from criminals, who is chased by the son of a police detective. The series is likely to hold little interest to those who aren't fans of the genre.
Urban Vision Announces Gatchaman DVD
Urban Vision has announced a DVD collection of the revamped 1993 Gatchaman OAV. The three 45 minute episodes will be on a disc released on 7/17 for $29.95.
CPM tidbits
A question to the CPM folks Anime on DVD's forum recently asked about the upcoming releases of Sohryuden and Detonator Orgun. Of concern was whether the dubs done by Manga UK would be used for them. Apparently CPM has decided that since they've never done a dub for it in the US, they're creating new English language tracks to be used for both shows. Of particular interest to many, fan favorite Jessica Calvello (recently seen providing much footage in outtakes on Demon Fighter Kocho for Media Blasters), will be appearing in both of the new dubs.
El Hazard DVD Audio
The original seven episode El Hazard OAV are getting not only the original Japanese 2.0 track, but the Japanese 5.1 Dolby Digital track. While there isn't a huge amount of moments in this show where the 5.1 mix is necessary, it does have some great moments towards the climactic battles and the 5.1 track will also let people hear the remixed opening song. There will be no English 5.1 remix however.
Fox Family For Sale
The anime friendly Fox Family Channel is going for sale. Inside.com is reporting: "Fox Family head Haim Saban on Monday gathered his department chiefs and told them that within three to six months they would have a new boss, and that it would not be News Corp., which has been expected to assume full control of the channel. According to multiple well-placed sources within Fox Family, Saban said that Viacom, AOL Time Warner and Disney each have been approached about buying the channel in its entirety. All three media giants already own competing properties: Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and the Disney Channel, respectively."
Saban forced the move after exercising his option to sell his 49.5% stake in the company to partner, Rupert Murdoch. Inside.com said: "Saban, chairman and CEO of Fox Family Channel's parent company Fox Family Worldwide, issued a release in December announcing that he had exercised his right to force News Corp. subsidiary Fox Broadcasting to buy his 49.5 percent stake. Under the terms of the deal, Fox had to pay a price based on the fair market value of the network as of January 31, 2001. Saban has reportedly sought as much as $2 billion for his share. Saban and News Corp. head Rupert Murdoch bought what was then known as the Family Channel from televangelist Pat Robertson in 1997 for $1.9 billion. The contract calls for Saban and Murdoch each to retain an investment bank to evaluate the company. If the price differed by 10 percent or less, Murdoch was to pay the average of the two prices; if the two banks were more than 10 percent apart, a third bank would be brought in to m! ake the final judgment on price."
Modliver DVD Issues
There's been a lot of complaints lately regarding the English subtitles on the recently released Moldiver DVDs being out of synch. Pioneer Entertainment has stated that the problem is due to the fact that the "subtitles" are actually the close captioned titles for English dialogue. It seems that during production Pioneer discovered that the subtitling company no longer had the subtitles for the show, and so they were forced to use the closed caption file to recreate as closely as possible.
Inu Yasha in Italian
Inuyasha, based on the manga series by Rumiko Takahashi about a girl from the modern era, and a half dog demon from the era of warring stating, will be edit by Dynamic Italia in June. See here Thanks Just Click Now
Ranma DVDs
According to the new issue of Viz's Animerica magazine, , they intend to release one Ranma 1/2 DVD (from season 6) every month from May until I January 2002. I They're now announcing a 7/24/2001 street date for Ranma 1/2: Season 6 Vol. #3. The 78 minute disc is bilingual and will retail for 29.99$.
New DVD Dates
The following DVD date have recently been announced:
· Irresponsible Captain Tylor OVA Vol. #1 - 07/31 - 90 minutes - 29.99$ - TRSI
· Irresponsible Captain Tylor OVA Vol. #2 - 08/28 - 180 minutes - 29.99$ - TRSI
· Irresponsible Captain Tylor OVA Vol. #3 - 09/25 - 90 minutes - 29.99$ - TRSI
· Puppet Princess - 08/28 - 40 minutes - 24.95$ - Media Blasters
· Rurouni Kenshin Vol. #11 - 08/28 - 100 minutes - 29.95$ - Media Blasters
· Apocalypse Zero - 08/28 - 60 minutes - 24.95$ - Media Blasters
CLAMP DVD
Two of fantasy series based on the manga by the female team CLAMP are soon going to receive new DVD releases. Magic Knights Rayearth, which was previously released as a box set by Media Blasters, is being released on five episode DVDs. Magic Knights Rayearth starts off a standard tale of three school girls summoned to a mystical world to save a princess from an evil priest, but soon introduces unusual characters and plot elements.
Central Park Media will be releasing the CLAMP swords and sorcery tale RD Vega on 8/14. The 90 minute feature will be available on a bilingual DVD with trailers and an art gallery.
CLAMP has a distinctive style, both in their design, characters with large eyes, even by anime standard, very noticeable eyelashes, the inclusion of bishonen (handsome, feminine looking males), the inclusion of Tokyo Tower, cherry blossoms and their story telling, familiar genres with unexpected plot twists, ambiguous relationships between characters.
Ceres, Celestial Legend info
Viz and Pioneer have released further information on the 7/31 release of Ceres, Celestial Legend Volume 1: Destiny on VHS / DVD. The official press release indicates that it is the first volume in an 8 volume set. Current plans are to have 3 episodes per volume. The DVDs will be bilingual (English / Japanese) with extras such as artwork, character backgrounds, and exclusive interview footage with Yû Watase.
Dragon Ball News
Viewers choice of Dragonball Z episodes air on Cartoon Network on May 25 On May 25, Toonami will air the top two DRAGONBALL Z episodes chosen by viewers. Fans will essentially program the first hour of the block by choosing their favorite DBZ episodes via online voting. The top two episodes, selected by the fans, will be featured 5-6 p.m. (ET, PT) during the Toonami afternoon action adventure block. From May 14 through May 21, viewers can log on to CartoonNetwork.com to cast their vote and then tune-in on May 25 to watch the top viewers' choice episodes. Voting can be done here
The DVD releases of Garlic Jr. story, the Dragon Ball Z story that is not based on the manga, which where scheduled to be released in June and July have been postponed. "Z Warriors Prepare" has likewise been postponed but FUNimation announced that episodes 106-108 will be added to the volume so it will contain a five episodes.
World Tournament - The Draw and World Tournament - Blackout, which are scheduled for VHS release on July 17, are anticipated to be the first videos to have simultaneous release of VHS and DVD. The current summer release schedule is:
Dragon Ball releases for this summer:
· 6/5
· DB - Tournament - Roshi's Request UNCUT
· 6/12
· DBZ - World Tournament - Junior Division DVD
· DBZ - FRIEZA - Transformation DVD
· 6/19
· DBZ - Perfect Cell - Unstoppable (UNCUT / EDIT)
· DBZ - Cell Games - Ultimatum (UNCUT / EDIT)
· DB - Tournament - Turtle Hermit UNCUT
· 7/17
· DBZ - World Tournament - The Draw (UNCUT / EDIT)
· DBZ - World Tournament - Blackout (UNCUT / EDIT)
Viz stated that they will be sending the first volume of uncensored Dragon Ball manga to the printer next week.
Manga Stars Return
A sequel to "Fist of North Star", the manga series about a martial artist who can cause all manner of physical injury, from numbness to heads exploding has started in "Weekly Bunch" magazine by Shinchousha. Mad Man Cafe has posted information about the series. The Sequel is written by the original creators Bu Lonson (script) and Tetsuo Hara (Art).
Named "Souten no ken" - or "The Fist of the Blue Sky" in English, the story takes place in post Japanese-Russo War 1935, nearly 64 years before the post-apocalyptic original story. The main character is Kenshirou, known to be the strongest man in the history of the "Hokuto shin-ken" arts, and uncle to the main character in "The fist of the north star" (who was named after his uncle). Kenshirou- known as "En-oh" (Hell King); the legendary man who destroyed a criminal cartel single handedly in Shanghai, lives a simple life as a college teacher in Japan.
En-oh, who destroyed a Shanghai mafia with bare hands is the star of the story. Manchurian emperor is looking for him, and he wants to make En-oh his bodyguard to protect himself from assassins of Japanese military government. "Weekly Bunch" is also printing Tsukasa Houjou's "Angel Hear". It turns out that the series is a sequel to City Hunter. The main character is a female assassin from Taiwan, raised strictly to kill. After attempting suicide doctors revive her with a stolen heart transplant. The stolen organ turns out to be that of Kaoru's, from "City Hunter". Her husband- Ryo Saeba (City Hunter's main character), believes that Kaoru (the heart) will return to Shinjuku, through his keen instincts. Both Fist of the North Star and City Hunter were made into anime series that have been released in the US. Fists of the North Star by Manga Entertainment, and City Hunter by ADV. Mad Man Café has posted images from the two series.
Kenshin Kyto Arc Released in the US
The Kyto story arc of Rurouni Kenshin has started in the US. The story, which is considered the highlight of the fan favorite samurai action/drama series runs from episodes 28-62 of the TV series. Episodes 28-31 where recently released in the volume labeled "Shadow of the Wolf" and episodes 32-25 will be released in the volume labeled "Ice Blue Eyes" Rurouni Kenshin is the story of Himura Kenshin, who was once the feared swordsman political assassin and bodyguard known as the Hitokiri Battousai, who swore never to kill again, and took a reserved edged sword. In the Kyoto arc Kenshin's oath never to kill again is challenged when the man who replaced him as Hitokiri returns with a army in hopes of starting a new revolution. The story arts when a former member of the Shinshin Gumi, a lethal group of lawmen from Kenshin's days as the Hitokiri Battousa, insists that Kenshin had weakened since abandoning killing, and tries to prove it by killing him. For an interesting look at the true historical characters and groups from Rurouni Kenshin see here
Video Girl Ai on R2 DVD
Video Girl Ai is being released on region 2 DVD starting on 6/21. The romance OAV has not been released on DVD in the US because of an agreements with the series' Japanese rights holders. Because of the price difference between DVDs released in the US and those Japan, Japanese companies are often reluctant to allow a DVD release in the US before the title is released in Japan. Now that it is released in Japan, it may be possible for the US rights holders to license the DVD rights.
