Anime Fans Online

It’s Christmas Eve and I’m running late, but I had to post this. The trailer for the live-action Speed Racer movie is online. It looks amazing. Go check it out.

Speed Racer Trailer

Merry Christmas!

Today I’m looking into one of the most talked about, argued about, cheered and maligned aspects of anime. Voice acting. While I’ll be talking about dubs, this is something that even die-hard sub only anime fans might relate to. The actors and languages may be different, but I bet we’ve all run into this before.

Recognize him?

The Black Ranger in that clip is Adam Park, played by Johnny Yong Bosch. Even if you’re not a Power Rangers fan, you might recognize some other characters he’s played.

• Ichigo Kurosaki, Bleach
• Vash the Stampede, Trigun
• Kiba, Wolf’s Rain
• Renton Thurston, Eureka Seven

That’s just a few.

I’m pointing out some of his anime roles as an example. I’m sure we’ve all recognized someone’s voice and thought “Hey, that’s (character name)!”. When I hear Johnny Yong Bosch in an anime I think “Hey, that’s Ichigo!”. Even though I watched Mighty Morphin Power Rangers when he was on the show, and I never made the connection. Even though I’d seen all of Trigun long before I ever saw a single episode of Bleach. So why don’t I think “Hey, that’s the second Black Ranger!” or “Hey, that’s Vash!”? I think it’s about connections and association.

Who’s Who

For some reason Johnny Yong Bosch is Ichigo Kurosaki, at least to me. The same way that Steven Blum is Spike Spiegel. The same way that Vic Mignogna is Edward Elric. For one reason or another those characters just wouldn’t be the same without those voice actors. They nailed it. They were perfect.

What about you? Are there any voice actors who are, and always will be, a particular character to you? What characters cross your mind when you think “Hey, that’s (character name)!”?

Anime, Sub, Dub, Voice Actors, Johnny Yong Bosch, Steven Blum, Vic Mignogna, Ichigo Kurosaki, Bleach, Vash the Stampede, Trigun, Kiba, Wolf’s Rain, Renton Thurston, Eureka Seven, Black Ranger, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

Just wanted to let you know a couple things. I finally got the first 2 DVDs of Case Closed in the mail. So I can write up the review that Rechelle from Celebrity Fashion Watch requested. I’m going to try to write a thorough review. I’m thinking of using this to test out a different way to write up my reviews. We’ll see.

I also wanted to let you know that I’m trying to get the posts up despite the schedule problems I’m having. I know the posts aren’t going up at the normal time, I apologize for that. I’ll try to get things back to normal as soon as possible.

I’d also like to apologize if you’ve encountered pop ups on AnimeFansOnline recently. It seems that the folks in the office at 451Press were doing some server load tests. The method they chose to do this was to put a pop up on all the sites. That sort of thing is beyond my control, but I’m still sorry about it.

Anime Fans Online, General, Announcements, Case Closed, Schedule, Pop Ups, Apology

Well, it looks like the writer’s strike has started. Don’t worry, it’s not anime or manga writers going on strike. Shoot, they just got a union. That would be a bit too soon. Nope, this is a strike of American film and TV writers. So what are the American people gonna watch?

Anime

I thought I’d help out by pointing people towards some anime programs they might like based on the TV shows they might be missing soon. Now would be a good time to sign up for an anime rental plan. If you don’t already have one that is.

Medical Drama Like shows like House or ER? Then check this out. Yeah, this category is pretty thin. Unless you want hentai. Lot’s of naughty nurses in Japan apparently.
• Black Jack A doctor with a mysterious past who solves impossible cases. If the dude has a cane I think he might be House.

Crime and Suspense

• Case Closed Ok, the thing where he gets turned into a kid is a bit of a stretch, but no more than that freakin’ impossible hologram on Bones. Plus, the crimes in Case Closed are more believable.
• City Hunter This one is more action oriented. A classic with tons of shows and movies.

Sci-Fi

• Star Blazers Another classic. Since Battlestar Galactica has been pushed back you might want to check this one out. A lone ship in search of a mythical planet during an unwinnable galactic war. Sound familiar?
• Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex Ghost in the shell is a great replacement for the Bionic Woman. Shoot, it’s better than the Bionic Woman, you should be watching it anyway. The second season, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG plays on Cartoon Network’s [adult swim] programming block.

The Office Yeah, this is a category of it’s own. There’s really no substitute for The Office. Even the original British show is very different.

• Salaryman Kintaro “…the strangest salaryman in all of Japan.“
• Hataraki Man Slice of life in an office.

If the strike goes on for a while, you won’t have anything better to watch anyway. So check out some anime.

Anime, TV, Writer’s Strike, Writers Strike, House, ER, The Office, Bionic Woman, Battlestar Galactica

After reading Bleach in the issues of Shonen Jump I found, I got to thinking. Did I read 2 issues of spoilers? Should I avoid reading the manga until I’ve finished the anime? What about the other way, stop watching the anime until I finish the manga? Would it really spoil anything for me if I read ahead? What about the handful of titles that are finished, but were in production for years and years? That doesn’t even take into account the many ongoing manga and anime that are being released at the same time.

Aaaargggh!

Those are some pretty tough questions for a poor otaku like me to answer. It’s even harder when I love the anime and the manga. If I liked one better than the other I wouldn’t have such a problem. I’d just skip the one I liked less and wait until the one I liked better was finished. Then I’d have something to look forward to once it was over.

This is the first time I’ve really had this problem. When it comes to books, even a series like Harry Potter, it’s not that big of a problem. Movies and books have a long gap between episodes. I can finish a book series before the next movie, or at least the next book. Anime and manga usually come out a bit quicker.

What do you think? Is it better to take it one at a time and decide between the manga or the anime? Am I just over thinking things? What do you do?

Ugh. I’m having trouble deciding and I haven’t even read the Naruto manga in those issues yet.

Anime, Manga, Otaku, Shonen Jump, Spoilers, Bleach, Naruto, Harry Potter

Wow, a lot of cool news on Anime News Network this week. Some pretty cool stuff going on. Let’s jump right in.

• Wired Manga

  The November issue of Wired magazine, on sale now, contains a guide to manga. The best part is the guide is a manga. It makes sense. A lot of Otaku are pretty tech savvy. I’m might have to pick up a copy. If I do I’ll be sure to let you know what I think about it.

• Witchblade Anime Has Best Opening Week of 2007, Kinda.

  Looks like FUNimation jumped the gun when they announced that the Witchblade anime’s first week sales were the best in 2007 so far. Turns out that the sales are the best so far, but not for the first week. Yeah, I can see Witchblade doing very well. There’s already a sizable fanbase for the comics. Add the anime fans that aren’t familiar with Witchblade picking up a copy and you have a hit. That’s a no brainer.

• More Live-Action Anime Magic

  Looks like Negi Springfield isn’t the only magical manga star to move into live action lately. Someday Dreamers is getting a Live-Action movie. It’ll be released in Japan next year. I really wish we had more imports of thing like this. I’d really like to be able to rent this on DVD. I’d love to be able to buy a DVD set of the Negima TV show too. I got my fingers crossed.

• Japan is Pissed at You

  If you watch anime online. Yep, all those anime download sites have finally done it. Japan has asked the US government to look into doing something about all the anime on Youtube and other user upload sites. US otaku that use file sharing sites to download anime might want to think about what they’re doing before the FBI knocks on their door. US relations with Japan are pretty good, if the Japanese government makes a request like that then you know the US government will look into it.

• Yahoo! Japan Now Includes Free manga

  Now if only they’d add the same thing to other versions of Yahoo! that would be even better. You know they could do that very easily. There’s tons of manga that haven’t been licensed in the US. Yahoo could obtain the online English rights to a few of those and make a killing. Will they? I doubt it.

• Trailer for Magikano is Online

  ADV has the Magikano trailer up. Looks pretty good. Don’t be surprised to see a review of it sometime in the future. It looks like something I’d like.

• Twins Jailed for Targeting Otaku

  The otaku in Akihabara are a little safer now. Twins who were targeting them for extortion have received jail time.

• Tokyopop Gets Jumps on the Live-Action Bandwagon

  Well, if the live-action manga won’t be imported from Japan, we’ll just make our own. Tokyopop already prints the American version of Ikki Tousen under the name Battle Vixens. Now they’re planning to make a live-action version. I really hope they get it right. If it does well this could open the doors for Negima, Someday Dreamers and others to come to America.

• Afro Samurai Gets Second Season and It’s Coming to America

  The hit anime gets a second season and SpikeTV already plans to air it in America. Boooya. Even more reason to love SpikeTV. Now if only they’d add some more anime to their lineup.

• Starz Edge Gets Weekly Anime

  Starz already provides the anime programs for SciFi Channels AniMonday programming block. Now that Starz has an anime block of their own, will it mean SciFi will cancel theirs? Will SciFi get the crappy stuff Starz doesn’t want to show themselves?

Anime, Manga, News, TV, Movies, Comics, Otaku News, Live-Action, Live Action

After writing yesterday’s post I got a few comments. One response in particular caught my attention. I’d like to point it out and ask for your opinion.

rech Says:
October 24th, 2007 at 7:25 pm
I was wondering if you’ve already made a review for Detective Conan aka Case Closed… I so love that anime….:)

I told ‘em I’d try to find a couple of the DVDs and give it an in depth review.

I thought about it some more. This comment, just a simple question, made me ask myself a few things. I’d like to share some of those questions with you. Your opinions matters a lot to me.

Why haven’t I already reviewed Detective Conan/Case Closed?

There are a couple of answers to this, but the more I think about it the less they hold up. I could say it’s because it’s an older show. I’ve written about show that have been around longer, at least in the U. S., so that doesn’t work. I could say it’s because there are already lots of reviews for it online. Once again, that answer doesn’t stick. I’ve written about some pretty popular shows that have been discussed pretty much everywhere.

Should I write about older shows?

I have written about shows that aren’t really new. Most of those were new to me though. On the few occasions I wrote about an older show that I watched when it was new, there was something that prodded me into discussing it. I’m starting to think that I need to cover the older shows more often. Just because I watched Tenchi Muyo! when it was on Toonami doesn’t mean the newer fans have seen it. I’ve gotten caught. The trap was looking for things to share with my readers by discussing it with people who already know what I’m talking about.

How much of the older stuff should I start writing about?

This is the tricky bit. Should I write about older titles a certain amount each month? Should I just ignore how old something is when I’m deciding what to talk about? This is the toughest question I need to answer, and this is where I need your help. There’s a chance that I’ll be writing about things you’re already familiar with. Is that a bad thing? There’s also a chance that I’ll write about something that you missed the first time around. How often do you want to see posts and reviews of older anime and manga?

If there’s something you want to see, just ask.

I value your opinions. If you ask about something I do my best to answer. When Amber asked for some recommendations for family friendly anime I wrote a post about that. I’m sure she’s not the only parent looking for something she can enjoy with her daughter.

So, what would you like to see on Anime Fans Online?

Opinion, Manga, Anime, Older Titles, Older Anime, Older Manga, Detective Conan, Case Closed, Comments, Response, Readers

Before we start let me just say this. This. Just kidding. I Luv Halloween is published by TokyoPop. Like many of their other offerings it’s origins are not Japanese. If calling an American work manga bothers you, then feel free to substitute whatever word you feel is most appropriate.

I Luv Halloween is something you’ll love or hate. Its rated as OT, ages 16+. That’s on the older side as ratings go, but it might even be a bit young. It can be incredibly offensive to the more sensitive types. Lucky for me I ain’t one of ‘em. It’s a horror manga through and through. Plenty of gore and monsters for any horror fan. The monsters aren’t what really makes these stories creepy. Sure, they set the tone and the framework for each story, but they’re not where the real scares come from. The most frightening things in I Luv Halloween are the kids.

Mister Kitty, a kid in a cat costume is a pervert. Pig Pig , a kid in a pig mask, is not that bright. Moochie, whose costumes change, is psychotic but cute. Finch, the kid in the skull mask, is Moochie’s older brother and the ringleader. Last but not least is Devil Lad. No one knows anything about Devil Lad. He just shows up on Halloween and makes the rounds with Finch and his gang.

I just read three of them. I’ll be doing a detailed review of each as Halloween gets closer. I was going to do a general review of all of them at once, but I think they deserve a bit more focus. So keep an eye out, I’ll be covering these manga and maybe a few other creepy treats before Halloween arrives.

Manga, I Luv Halloween, Halloween, Trick or Treat, Horror, Comedy, OT, Older Teen, 16+

While this may not be anime or manga related I would like to share a very fun site with you. Engrish.com has a lot of very funny pictures of creative language use. Before anyone starts complaining about me, or the site I’m linking to, please read their FAQs. It’s not meant to make fun of anyone. It’s just a great site to find some humorous photos.


Oh, and just a little warning, some of the humor is well, dirty. That’s one of the dangers of using a second language. Sometimes you say something perfectly innocent, and don’t know it’s a euphemism for something nasty.

I wanted to share this with you for a couple of reasons. First, because it is funny. Second, I wanted to point out some differences between English and Nihongo, the Japanese language. You’re probably used to translations going in the other direction, from Nihongo to English. I’d bet there are some hilarious mistakes involved with that. Mistakes most of use don’t even notice.

The differences in our languages can make translation of anime or manga tough. I think a lot of translators take a lot of crap they don’t deserve. I know that the companies doing official translations take crap for it. I’m sure the fan subbers do to. Try to keep that in mind when you see something that doesn’t quite fit. It’s a difficult job and they do the best they can.

Now, all preaching aside. I love that site. Anytime I visit I always come away in a better mood. There’s some great stuff there. Here are a few of my favorites.

• Bottled Water.
• Travel.
• Hair by…
• Something error.
• Here comes Santa Clause.

Fun Stuff, Online, Humor, Funny, Pictures, Engrish, English, Nihongo

Just a little reminder that the Fullmetal Alchemist contest ends on September 28th, that’s this Friday. So if you haven’t entered you need to check out the contest page and leave a comment about your favorite character or episode from Fullmetal Alchemist.

Here’s what you could win.

• 1 Music CD signed by the artist, Vic Mignogna. Vic played Edward Elric, the title character, in the English version of Fullmetal Alchemist.
• 1 DVD of the Fullmetal Alchemist movie Conqueror of Shambala, also signed by Vic.
• 1 DVD of the Fullmetal Alchemist movie Conqueror of Shambala Special Edition, once again signed by Vic.

You still have a chance to win, but you need to enter the contest this week.

Anime, Contests, Fullmetal Alchemist, Fullmetal Alchemist Movie, Conqueror of Shambala, Conqueror of Shambala Special Edition, Vic Mignogna, Edward Elric

451 Press recently gave us the ability to put links in the sidebar. So far the only thing I’ve added is a link to the FMA contest page to make it easier to find. I’ve thought about adding some other links, but I’m not sure what I should be linking to. That’s where this post comes in.

If you know about a great anime, manga, cosplay or any kind of good otaku site please let me know. I’d like to find out what kind of sites you like, so that I can link to sites you’d enjoy. I thought this would be better than just going through the first couple of pages of a google search. This site is for us, so it should have our favorites. Right?

So dust off those otaku bookmarks and send ‘em in. You can leave a comment, use the contact page or e-mail me at jason DOT wigley AT 451press DOT net.

Feel free to suggest anything that you think would fit in with Anime Fans Online. If you have an anime or manga site, send that in too.

Anime, Manga, Cosplay, Otaku, Links, Blogroll, Link Love, Submit Your Site, Submit a Link

Just wanted to let you know that if you leave a comment and it’s not showing up right away, don’t worry. The spam filter, Askimet, probably flagged it. I’m checking every so often to make sure real comments aren’t lost.

However, I’m not checking every few minutes 24/7. So it might be a day or so before your comment shows up on the site if Askimet thinks it’s spam.

Just wanted to let you know what’s going on. I thought it was best since the Fullmetal Alchemist Contest is still going on. If you haven’t entered already go check it out.

Well the contest seems to be going well. It’s only been a few days and we’ve already got some strong competition going. Here are a couple of my favorites so far.

Mark says:
I couldn’t tell you what my favorite episode is, because I love the whole story. It’s one of life and what you’re willing to give up for it. At least, that’s what it is to me, in a sense.

Syldoran said this about Ed:
Then, he’s still tough enough to pull through everything he’s done. All the stuff he’s been put through doesn’t deserve to go on a fifteen-year-old’s shoulders, yet he always manages to buck up and pull through for the sake of his little brother. I’ve always wished I could be just a fraction as tough and caring as he is.

Ally says:
My favorite character would defiantly be Alphonse! We both have many things in common. To name a couple, we are both shy and we adore kittens! (:

Red Daaaaawwwwwwnnnnnnn!!!!!!!!

Looks like we even have a few Risembool Rangers in the running. In the interest of full disclosure I have to say that I signed up for the Rangers. Vic is just that darn cool.

We may even have a member of the Miniskirt Army in the contest. What do you think?

Colleen says:
My favorite FMA character is definetely Roy Mustang! Sure, he can be quite a meanie to Edward and Al, but he has to doesn’t he?

If you don’t see your comment here, don’t worry. It doesn’t mean you haven’t won. I’m just highlighting some of the posts. Seriously, there are some great comments over on the contest page. I think it shows just how much this anime has meant to a lot of people.

There’s still plenty of time to show how much FMA has meant to you. The contest runs until the 28th of September. Head over to the contest page and let us know who your favorite character is. If you can’t pick a favorite character, just write about one of your favorite episodes.

Anime, Fullmetal Alchemist, Contest, Comments, Risembool Rangers, Miniskirt Army

As much as I love Meat Loaf, I’m not referring to the song. I’m talking about the panels I recorded at Dragon Con. I’ve done everything I can to clean up the Saturday Q&A, but it’s still just not good enough. There are parts where the quality is so bad you can’t understand what’s being said.

I’m sorry about that. It’s my fault, I should have recorded it in high quality mode. I suppose I should just chalk it up to learning how it works. That’s pretty hard to do because it was a very good Q&A.

The other 2 recordings turned out pretty well. I’m fairly happy with the quality of those. They’ll be going up shortly. I’m going to go ahead and post a link for downloading the files. I’m still waiting for things to be set up on AnimeFansOnline, so I just uploaded them to my hosting provider. When things get set up here, I’ll change the links in the posts.

I’m having some trouble uploading the audio files from Dragon Con. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure it gets sorted out. If nothing else works I’ll upload them to a file storage site and post links to them here.

Meanwhile, please enjoy the one cosplay picture I took that actually turned out well.

In other AFO news…

I know the posting schedule has been turned around. I’m trying to get it back to normal. The upload problems aren’t helping, but it should all be resolved soon.