April 14, 2005
4kids & kappa mikey
In an odd, ironic, and vaguely psychopathic twist, 4Kids has acquired Animation Collective's "Kappa Mikey", an animated series about an American actor who finds fame, fortune and utter confusion in Japan after becoming a voice actor in a failing anime series, which becomes a smash hit.
The interesting thing about this series is that the art style is not in the least bit (stereotypical) anime-like (although that may change between now and the series debut on Nick (!) in '06). Also, MTV had a hand in its early development, which makes it all the more odd that the completed series will air on Nickelodeon of all places. Even the most promising animation series wither and die on Nick. (or get assassinated if they threaten to overshadow the network's teen idol franchises - witness the slow death-by-reruns of Invader Zim). Finally, there's 4Kids' involvement. hooboy. after seeing what they've done to real anime series, I shudder to think of what will become of a series that is in their hands from the very start.
From a technical standpoint, Kappa Mikey's animation will be done in Flash, something I've only seen in "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends." It works for Foster's, but Kappa Mikey appears to be a good deal less ...fanciful (given that it's about an American actor finding fame as an anime voice actor in Japan). Nonetheless, Animation Collective has a good (Web) track record and I look forward to seeing what they can do in the broadcast medium, despite the odds already stacked against them.
Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 11:49 AM | Comments (0)
December 18, 2004
Licenced stuff I want
R1 anime releases I'm looking forward to in '05:
Kodomo no Omocha(!!! w00t!)
Samurai 7
KURAU Phantom Memory
Tactics
FullMetal Alchemist
Rumiko Takahashi Theater
Yotsubato! has been picked up by ADV Manga, apparently. I thought it was too quirky, but since it's by the manga-ka who did Azumnaga Daioh, it's not that huge a surprise.
Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 08:08 PM | Comments (0)
December 13, 2004
No Guts, No Glory!
Now THERE'S a blast from the past. The Adventures of The Galaxy Rangers is FINALLY being released on R1 NTSC DVD, years after it was released on R0 but PAL (British) format so I couldn't even import it. 2 volumes are already out with 2 more scheduled - hopefully all 65 episodes will eventually be released. (Box set! BOX SET!) It doesn't look like they're being released in sequence, though, which kind of sucks, because I wasn't really paying attention to the early episodes and there was some Important Plot Stuff going on.
GR was one of my favorite series of all time, and, though very few knew it at the time, extremely anime-like. I knew there was a reason I liked it. I hope it's still worthy of my fond remembrances, though. I've found that very few things that I loved in my childhood have held up through the years. Oh, the bitter, bitter disappointment of Thundercats reruns!
Read more of "No Guts, No Glory!" [possible spoiler alert!]
Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 09:11 PM | Comments (0)
December 07, 2004
Ah! Competition! part deux
I've cooled off a bit, and am mature enough to admit that I was perhaps too hasty in outright condemning ADV for inciting anime fans to get Comcast to pick up the Anime Network. It seems that their actual ultimate goal is to get their linear 24-7 network on Comcast, rather than the Comcast Anime Network On Demand option. Which is reasonable in the spirit of fair competition.
However. That does not excuse the language and tone of their press release, which clearly was not reviewed by a responsible adult before it was sent out. The press release gives the impression that the Anime Network believes only they have the right to make an all-anime channel, and that all other anime channels are inherently inferior because they had the poor timing to not be the first all-anime cable channel (in the US).
Perhaps ADV was trying to sound cocky and with-it and speak (what they thought) was the target audience's language, but such adolescent "us against them" rhetoric came off sounding arrogant and made them look, frankly, like hotheaded young punks posturing and blustering in their faux leather jackets and mile-high pompadours. As a whole, it reflects poorly upon ADV's professionalism (or lack thereof) that they need to use such inflammatory language and juvenile put-downs of the competition. If they had just said something like (without all the exclamation points), "We know that there are other anime channels in the works, and while we wish them the best in the spirit of otaku brotherhood, we want to make sure that you have access to the widest possible array of anime available on TV. Right now Comcast is only offering TAN on demand, and that's why we are asking you to write and tell them to pick up TAN's linear 24/7 network in addition to whatever they're planning" instead of making it sound like TAN is the only worthwhile game in town.
So yes, I admit I fell victim to slashdotters' knee-jerk syndrome of responding to the post and not to the article. But I still frown upon ADV's tactics. It's time for them to grow up a little. (But not too much ;) - lest they really lose their love for anime completely.)
Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 04:37 PM | Comments (0)
2004 Annie noms
Quick note that ASIFA has announced their nominations for the 32nd Annie Awards. GITS2: Innocence is the sole Japanese anime representative, but some of its competition looks strong. On the TV side, I'm pleased to see Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends nominated in 3 categories, including Best Animated TV Production. But Puffy Ami Yumi for best character design? ...I think not.
Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 09:44 AM | Comments (0)
December 06, 2004
Ah! Competition!
ADV has issued an appallingly whiny press release trying to rally fans to speak out against Comcast starting a competing anime network.
Do they have actual professionals working at ADV? Reading the arrogant wording of the press release, I am completely disgusted by their attitude that they and only they deserve the right to distribute anime on cable in America by virtue of being the first. Hello? Capitalist society? Free market? Consumers' choice? Competition?
Rumor has it that Comcast signed a deal with Sony, who owns AXN among other things, and that AXN may be the one that Comcast may be drawing programming from. In which case I say, GOOD FOR THEM! The Anime Network isn't - and shouldn't - be the only game in town.
And I can't wait for this to backfire in ADV's collective faces. By bringing this to the attention of the anime community, they've made us aware that there WILL be a choice - and that there CAN be a choice. Bring it on, Comcast! Despite the problems I have with their yucky digital cable lineup, I don't believe that anyone has the right to stop them from starting a new enterprise, least of all a company that's doing a lousy job to begin with. Last time I checked, offering a competing service against a monopolist isn't illegal. I, for one, welcome them to the race, and may the best service win.
Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 08:11 PM
November 29, 2004
FMA en Ingles
I've had a chance to catch the English dub of FullMetal Alchemist for the past two weeks, and well... I'm going to be strung up and stripped of my otaku credentials by those possessing more discerning tastes than mine for saying this, but it's really not that bad. In fact, since I now have no credibility left to lose (like I had any to begin with)
I'm going to go even further and say that it's actually pretty good as far as English dubs for American television go.
Everyone sounds good and acts good. There haven't been any cuts that I can tell, which makes sense as it's part of Adult Swim and is followed immediately by GITS: SAC. As I missed the first couple of episodes, I cannot confirm or deny the alleged episode shuffling that occurred at Otakon, but they appear to be proceeding with the correct episode order at the moment. The only rough spot is that Ed's VA is a full-grown man with the vocal timbre that that implies, which makes it kind of odd in the episodes where Ed is still... 11? 12? and his voice is a little too deep (except when he's squeaking furiously about being called small - then he's juuuuuust right.:) It'll be easier to buy when they FF to when he's a teenager. However, Al is wonderfully spot on. (I think his VA is a woman.) And he always calls Ed "Brother", which I've always thought was a sweet touch in the original.
Time will tell how the rest of it goes, but AFAIC it's off to a good start.
Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 09:49 AM | Comments (0)
November 22, 2004
just in time for Black Friday
..the Big O II box set will be out tomorrow. can't wait to hear them all speaking Japanese.:D Also the final volume of Azumanga Daioh - with the Maya pin!!! Plus Chr(o)no Crusade (I shall NEVER get used to spelling it the R1 way) vol 2 came out last week, so I officially have a backlog of stuff waiting to be bought!
Plus street date for Aria vol 3 is tomorrow as well. *sigh* I wonder why ADV Manga put such a huge gap between the first 2 volumes and the third. There was a similar delay for Chr(o)no Crusade - the first volume came out in May and the second voume came out last month. Come to think of it, it's been a while since Full Metal Panic! vol 5 was released, too... Who knows what else they publish that I don't read that suffered a similar delay.
Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 09:41 AM | Comments (0)
November 16, 2004
new life for the Iron Giant?
As a tie-in to The Incredibles (can't wait to see that) a new spiffed-up DVD edition of Brad Bird's The Iron Giant is being released Tuesday.
This is abso-freakin'-lutely wonderful news. I usually disdain such clearly money-motivated tactics, but this one is well timed and, I want to believe, well intentioned. (depending on how they advertise it - if they advertise it.) TIG has a better chance of finding a wide and more appreciative audience now that anime has whetted mainstream appetites for more sophisticated storytelling in animation.
The only problem is, will the nouveau otaku elite dismiss it sight unseen as just another simpleminded American product, or will they actually see it and embrace it as a tribute to its humanistic iron man predecessors Gigantor and Astro Boy? Only time will tell.
Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 04:30 PM | Comments (0)
November 05, 2004
Benihana!
Benihana's new anime commercial doesn't really talk about the food that much, but boy is it a hoot.
Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 11:45 AM
November 04, 2004
yay, NTUSA didn't screw up this month!
My November NewType finally arrived yesterday. Nice FMA cover with an article about the Funimation translation. otanoshimini shimasu!
Also it has the "official art of Chrono Crusade"! Whoopee!~
Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 11:14 AM
October 22, 2004
NTUSA trying to drum up subscriptions
So I see Newtype's trying to get people to subscribe by offering free ADV cosplay caps through a reply card in the November issue. OK...So I went to check to make sure I'm paid up, and I am. I better get the November issue without a hitch, because there's no way I'm going through that same subscription hell that I went through last year... YOU HEAR ME, NEWTYPE???
Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 11:48 AM | Comments (0)
October 11, 2004
anime to make kimono by
One reason I like dubs: I can watch them while making cosplay costumes. So while making my Rukia kimono top, I watched ROD The TV 2 and Ghost in the Shell SAC 1. Both very good dubs. I also turned on the commentary track on ROD, and learned from there that the actress playing Anita really was 12 years old at the time! (probably a little older by now.) She does a really good job, though - as long as she has a script. Other than that, she is 12 years old and all that that implies, and the rest of the commentary (with the 3 Sisters' voice actresses plus dub director Taliesen Jaffe) was pretty banal. The one on the first disc was much better, at least they talked about the danged episode. An odd thing they did was to stick all the episode previews in one block, in the Extras section.
GITS: SAC was also quite well done, though the performances are starting off a bit stiff - to be expected from any first disc. Some are settling into their roles more quickly than others.It's one of the anime that requires me to pay just as much attention visually as aurally, though, so it doesn't really work as kimono-making music.
I also popped in my new Aladdin DVD. As expected it has the PC "Arabian Nights" - with "where they cut off your ear if they don't like your face" replaced by "where the deserts are hot [and something or other]." I'll always have my original offensive soundtrack. Ahhh, Aladdin - the last of the great "new wave" Disney movies, and the first to be subjected to the massive sequelization that afflicts every Disney movie made since then.
Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 04:48 PM | Comments (0)
October 05, 2004
I smell monopoly
Uh oh.
ADV, Funimation and Geneon are forming a joint venture.
According to the press release, "together they reach 70 percent of the Anime home video market in the United States." Maybe it's just the newshound in me, but media mega-consolidation is never a good thing.
Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 04:13 PM | Comments (0)
October 02, 2004
you can't please everybody...
...but at least use some common sense.
It's not often that I get to see Cartoon Network's broadcast of .hack//Legend of the Twilight Bracelet, but - as usual - I was up late moving this blog to MySQL.
Right off the bat, LOTTB proved to be a slightly schizophrenic dub experience. During the OP the credits were in Japanese - heck, the show's title was in Japanese. Pity the fool who can't read Japanese. (and double whammy - it was in kanji, not kana.) The dedication to authenticity is admirable, but they could have at least turned on the subtitles.
As it happened this was the Tanabata episode, wherein an important part of the festival is to write down a wish on a piece of paper and hang it from a tree. We are shown everyone's wishes. Fine and good, but this being a Japanese production everyone was, naturally, writing in Japanese - and there were no subtitles. Since the wishes were a crucial part to understanding the characters, couldn't they at least have turned on the subtitles for that? Aaaand the ED was again all-Japanese credits.
I would consider LOTTB one of the "gateway" anime - simple enough plot, cute character designs, fairly non-controversial story (aside from occasional weirdness between Shuugo and Rena's online characters
), and short. So it's a little frustrating to see things like this, that make anime even less accessible to the average viewer. No one's going to appreciate it, least of all the "purists" who are all off watching fansubs anyway. For the rest of us - channel-surfers, mainstream Middle Americans who are new to this heah furrin enn-ee-may thang, and dub-tolerant people like me - it's just plain weird.
I'm not sure what CN/Bandai were trying to prove; I'm not even sure if they were trying to prove anything. It was just as bizarre - for different reasons - as Funimation's insistence on giving Anglicized names to everyone in Tokyo.
Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 07:43 PM | Comments (0)
October 01, 2004
Ew Ew Puffy Ami Yumi
ICV2 has posted the first released image of Cartoon Network's Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi.
Yuck comes to mind.
Given the screwball-comedic direction of the series, I wasn't expecting Chance Pop Session character designs, but I certainly was not expecting Powerpuff Milk-Chan. The idoru concept is disturbing enough *cough*Morning Musume*cough* without further infantilizing the girls.
Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 02:00 PM | Comments (0)
September 30, 2004
Late Night With Detective Conan
Wrestling with Movable Type has been pushing my bedtime further and further back, so I'm actually able to see some of the late night anime now before I go to sleep. And so I've been able to see some of Detective Conan, or as it is known in the Yoo Ess Ay, "Case Closed."
Read more of "Late Night With Detective Conan" [possible spoiler alert!]
Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 01:00 PM | Comments (0)
September 09, 2004
Nov 9 debut for anime Puffy
Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi Hi starts on Cartoon Network November 9, according to various reports. It's a weird hybrid of live action and anime, which would probably remind most merkin youngsters of that fluffy Disney Channel teendramedythingy star vehicle for Hilary Duff (or is it Lindsey Lohan? Can't tell them apart).
Anyway, worth checking out if only to see what happens when j-pop idoru fall into the icky hands of megalithic American media conglomerates.
...not that, you perverts.
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Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 10:47 AM | Comments (0)
September 07, 2004
More stuff found late at night
Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends is apparently animated completely in Flash, according to one of the animators.
OK, but it still doesn't make me a fan of the stuff on the Web.
I've had the opportunity to see a couple more episodes of Foster's, and it's holding up well. It's good that there's such a large cast because one could very easily get tired of Bloo (silly me) a.k.a. pure Id. He borders on the annoying, Coco is just weird, and I'm frankly surprised that Maurice Sendak's lawyers aren't up in arms over Eduardo. But I am just crazy about Wilt. He and Frankie are quite possibly the most interesting character (the concept of such a nice but visually flawed imaginary friend makes me wonder what kind of person Wilt's child was, and I like how Frankie shows how one can be responsible and funky). Mr Herriman gets short shrift but remains lovable all the same. Mac and Madame Foster do not get enough screentime. The only thing is that I don't get home in time to watch it most Fridays, and I can never quite remember what time it repeats over the weekend, so I've been catching it mostly by luck. (I don't dare look at the Cartoon Network site's TV schedule... I swear they change their navigation every week just to confuse me.)
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Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 11:38 PM | Comments (0)
August 24, 2004
priorities skewed on Adult Swim
Just noticed this last night...
The American stuff on Adult Swim (Family Guy, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, SeaLab) really is for adults (well, seriously immature adults, anyway). NONE of that is suitable for children. And yet it's shown at a time when kids are more likely to be up. The anime (InuYasha, Case Closed...OK, maybe not Cowboy Bebop) is IMHO fine for kids, and yet it's shown after midnight.
Do the schedulers even WATCH the shows?
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Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 04:41 PM | Comments (0)
August 14, 2004
Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends
(Yes, this is anime. In that the term means animation.)
"Foster's Home" really is one of the most charming things to come out of Cartoon Network lately. Basically it's about a little boy, Mac, who's forced to give up his imaginary friend (a blue thing called - well, Blue) because he's 8 years old and his mother thinks that his immaturity, represented by the presence of Blue, is the reason his brother is picking on him. (Adults. 
) Then Blue sees a late night TV commercial about Foster's Home, and persuades Mac to take him there. However, Foster's Home is really a kind of imaginary friend shelter, where imaginary friends await adoption by kids not creative enough to make one up. Everybody at Foster's are really nice people, and feel really bad about this, but Blue can't be an exception... or can he?
At this point I'm not sure if it's going to be an anthology of kids and imaginary friends, or if it's going to stay about Mac and Blue. I'm guessing Mac and Blue will continue to be the focus. Which is fine. Mac's a good kid and Blue's very cute. Older siblings may object to the portrayal of Mac's older brother, but hey. I thought that it perfectly captured exactly how older siblings look like to younger siblings. So deal.
It looks kind of like Jay Ward's Fractured Fairy Tales, with the curly backgrounds, but it's from Craig McKracken, the real Professor X of the Powerpuff Girls. Lots of in-jokes of course (MOJO JOJO!!!), and you really feel an affection for the cartoons of yesteryear coming through.
THe only thing wrong with last night's episode is that it felt like it dragged on too long (it was, actually, a 90-minute pilot movie). If this were a Japanese anime series they would well have cut it up into 3 parts with no problem, but I guess attention-challenged American kids just can't deal with that kind of waiting.
Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 09:05 AM | Comments (0)
August 09, 2004
pull the other one, it has got bells on
Anime Network's 'Pull the Switch' Campaign
Quote: "Looking to fill your anime need? The Anime Network is now beaming 24 hours a day on satellite. Cable companies can easily pull it down so it's up to you to tell your cable provider you want it. Feedback from customers is the #1 way that cable and satellite providers decide which new channels to add to the line up. Make your voice heard. Demand your anime."
...So they can add it exclusively to their digital channel lineup and charge me an additional $40 to watch dubbed, edited anime?
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Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 03:50 PM | Comments (0)
August 05, 2004
Voice Actors In Bed!
Stumbled across DVD Vision Japan's really quite amusing interview with the voice actors at Otakon 2004. Woo woo indeed!
Here's one question I would like to ask Monica Rial or Chris Patton sometime: When they're cast in the same anime, why are they almost always cast as couples?
Gasaraki - Yushiro & Miharu
RahXephon - Ayato & Haruka
Chrono Crusade - Joshua & Fiore
...or am I missing something glaringly obvious? 
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Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 01:05 PM | Comments (0)
July 28, 2004
...then again...
...reflecting on the crappy series first episodes NTUSA pushes off on readers - and what's coming down the pipe - maybe it's just as well.
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Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 02:47 PM | Comments (0)
Subscribe to NTUSA now or get shortchanged
AnimeNation News: "AnimeNation has confirmed via direct communication with Newtype USA Magazine that as of the current issue, retail and news stand copies of Newtype USA Magazine will continue to retail at $9.95 per issue but will no longer include a free sampler DVD. Only consumers with a subscription to the magazine purchased directly from the publisher will continue to receive the monthly bonus DVDs."
Reflecting on the subscription problems I had last year, I can only say that this is a bad bad thing.
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Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 09:26 AM | Comments (0)
July 23, 2004
What were they thinking?
I put off getting the first volume of ROD The TV because the artbox version wasn't out yet. Then I got a good look at the artbox.
Okay... someone was not thinking clearly. As you can see it does look good. Resembles a hardcover book, bound in faux leather, latch closure. HOWEVER. In order for the artbox to fulfil its destiny as a storage device for the entire series, one must toss the covers and cases of each ensuing volume. Or file the covers away in a scrapbook and just trash the cases. I honestly don't know. Methinks they were going for the LOTR SE effect but forgot a minor detail. Or ten.
I stood in Best Buy a full 10 minutes trying to decide which one I wanted. Finally I went for the non-artbox case. I may be a nut, but I LIKE having the original covers for each volume and I LIKE displaying all the cases of my collection. Makes me feel rich. Tossing perfectly good cases and covers (which someone somewhere puts a lot of effort into designing) just feels wrong.
(BTW I'm also vaguely amused by the "suggested nudity" coment in the Rating section of the official R.O.D. : The TV site. Obviously they haven't seen episode 9.
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Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 01:18 PM | Comments (0)
July 13, 2004
Woohoo! Chrno Crusade R1 DVD!
September 21!
Chrono (Chrno) Crusade DVD 1 (Hyb): A Plague of Demons & Artbox - $39.99 MSRP
Based on the price, there may not be goodies. Sigh.
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Posted by Innocent Sidekick of Evil at 10:55 PM | Comments (0)
