Anime Fans Online

RightStuf.com is having a sale on Geneon and Funimation anime box sets. They’ve got some pretty good deals normally. The sets included in the sale are 40% off. That’s a great deal. I’m gonna have a hard time controlling my urge to spend. I saw at least 3 different box sets that I’m dying to get.

The anime sale is great, but they’re doing something else that makes this one worth telling your friends about. If you buy 2 of the selected items in the sale, you can get a Hellsing Ultimate messenger bag free. (While they last, which won’t be long.)

Check out the details.

The sale ends July 6th and I’m sure the messenger bags will be gone long before that. If you want to get in on this one, you’d better hurry.

I was happy to hear the news about an English adaptation of the book Paprika, by Yasutaka Tsutsui. I enjoyed the anime from Satoshi Kon that it inspired very much, but it really made me want to read the book.

I went through several bouts of searching for an English translation since watching the anime movie. Each new flurry of search engine activity beginning with hope, and ending in disappointment. I’ve had no luck until now.

AnimeNewsNetwork reported that Alma Books will be printing an English version of the novel. It’ll be available in April, but the first 7 chapters are available online. WOOOOO!

The downside to the news is that the book isn’t available at Amazon.com, just Amazon.co.uk, at least for now. I’m not very patient so I’ll probably try my luck at ordering from the UK site and paying the shipping costs.

I really want to read this book. There’s just so much in the anime that hints at a much deeper experience hidden in the pages. The visuals used in the movie, for example, suggest some pretty descriptive text. I could be wrong, but I want to find out how wrong I may be. That’s a question the .pdf might answer, but I’m gonna try to wait for the book. (I’ll probably break down and read the .pdf this weekend though. Remember what I said about being patient?)

Once I get a chance to read the full book I’ll write up my thoughts on the differences between the book and the anime. That will give me an excuse to watch the anime again. I’m always looking for good excu… reasons to watch anime.

Anime, Books, Paprika, Yasutaka Tsutsui, Satoshi Kon, Amazon, Amazon UK, English, Japanese, Translation, Alma Books

I was hoping that I would never have to write the title of this post. The official announcement has been made though, so it looks like it’s going to happen. Check out the post over at ANN.

I have some small shred of hope until filming starts. There’s still time for some changes to be made, or for Keanu to change his mind. That’s what I’m gonna have to hold on to.

Now I don’t intend to bash Keanu Reeves, I think he’s a pretty good actor. I don’t think he’s right for the role of Spike. I’ve seen some people saying that they hope he’ll decide to play Vicious instead. That’s an idea I can get behind. I think he’s much better suited to that part.

I’ll post another anime role later that I think he’d be great for. It’s an anime I’ve been casting for live action in my head for the past couple of weeks and I think it’s well suited for the big screen.

Anime, News, Opinion, Cowboy Bebop, Spike Spiegel, Keanu Reeves, Live Action

For those of you that don’t read Anime News Network, here’s some interesting news you might have missed so far.

Naruto to Start Paid and Free Streaming

Starting in January Naruto will air on Crunchyroll about 1 hour after the airing in Japan. According to the ANN report, the Crunchyroll 1 hour delay will be a monthly subscription. However, Crunchyroll will be making available a free stream 7 days after broadcast to compete with other video sites, like Hulu, that will be streaming the episode.

I have a few questions though.

How much will the Crunchyroll subscription cost?

Will there be any other anime included in the subscription price, or will we need to subscribe to each title separately when more are made available?

Will there be more titles available for this type of subscription plan?

Will there be other perks for the paid subscribers?

I’m sure I could think of plenty more, but these are the questions that seem to be the most important.

My Thoughts

It’s about time. Sure Hulu has a currently running anime in Shikabane Hime, but that’s for a mature audience and it isn’t nearly as popular as Naruto. If anything can get the subscription service off the ground it will be Naruto. It’s insanely popular, and 1 hour after the original show in Japan is an insane turnaround time. I really doubt fansubbers could compete with that.

I really think this could work. I’ve talked about a similar setup in the past as a way to stop piracy and increase profits for anime companies. Naruto is a great anime to kickstart something like that. It’s probably the most popular anime,at least in the U.S.A., since DBZ.

The only problem I foresee is the battle between streaming sites when others start up subscription plans. That’s not entirely bad though. When services compete, the consumer wins.

Looks like next year will be a very interesting time to be an anime fan online.

Anime, News, Online, Free, Streaming, Naruto, DBZ, Shikabane Hime, Crunchyroll, Hulu

Cartoon Network has cancelled Toonami. Cancelled. Toonami. Cartoon Network has made some bad, bad, choices, but this has to be one of the worst.

Over the last few years Cartoon Network has done a lot of things that are, well… stupid. I’ve really had no choice but to go along with it and try to accept the things I cannot change. I had to accept the fact that Toonami was replaced by Miguzi, before Miguzi was cancelled. I had to accept it when Toonami was cut back to almost nothing, just one show on Saturday night.

I always had hope, no matter how small, that Cartoon Network would realize the mistakes they were making. I had hope that Toonami would get the respect, and programming, that it deserved. Today the last of my hope is being drained away.

Toonami Set The Tone

Without Toonami we would never have had similar programming blocks like [adult swim], and yes, even the short lived Miguzi. Toonami was the very essence of Cartoon Network. Cool cartoons presented in an even cooler way. Now the cool is gone.

Why Cancel?

Could things have been handled differently? I think so. They could have taken Toonami back to it’s roots. They could have gone back to running the best action cartoons they could get hold of. Not only that, they could have gone back to making some of the best action cartoons. They already make cartoons like Ben Ten: Alien Force. So why not put that on Toonami? Add some action anime, like the Naruto episodes that they’re already playing, and they’re well on their way.

Toonami didn’t need to be canceled. Whoever made that call needs to be fired.

From a cannon.

By Moltar.

News, Opinion, Cartoon Network, Toonami, Toonami Cancelled, Miguzi, Adult Swim, [adult swim], Ben Ten, Naruto, Moltar, TOM

The report on ANN is pretty interesting. I’d suggest reading that. This post will make more sense if you do.

I’m interested to see what’s in store for the marvel heroes. I read tons of Marvel comics when I was younger, so I know that no matter what goofy anime they might wind up in I won’t be nearly as weird as some of the stuff they’ve done in the comics. The new perspectives and cultural backgrounds may even give ‘em the fresh start that Marvel itself tried to provide with the Ultimates line of comics.

One thing really worries me though. There ar two words in that report that should never be used in that arrangement. Of course I’m talking about “X-Men shōjo”.

That goes way beyond the sentai Spider-Man with the giant robot. That’s just wrooooong.

Anime, News, Opinion, Marvel, Madhouse, X-Men, Shōjo, Spider-Man

The news of the Tokyopop restructuring was a big surprise for me. From the outside looking in, everything seemed to be going great for the manga publisher. They release a tremendous about of titles and have a large and active website.

Digital or Dead Tree?

That seems to be how things are breaking down. The company is splitting into a manga publisher and an online publisher. That makes sense. Even if the dead trees stop selling, some part of Tokyopop may survive. It leaves me with a question though.

How closely will the 2 companies be working?

When it was one company it made sense that their own online community would be the place to find digital Tokyopop stuff. Will that be changing now? Will the online community start offering digital versions of titles that Tokyopop Inc, the dead tree publisher, doesn’t have? What about the other way around? Could we see digital versions of Tokyopop titles on other websites?

I’m rooting for Tokyopop, no matter how this shakes out.

Manga, News, Opinion, Tokyopop, Online, Community

Technical difficulties have made things pretty hard on a lot of us at 451 Press. Not the least of which is the head honcho. Problems with the server have made it close to impossible to get posts up on time or even at all lately.

I hope that is going to change soon. That’s about the best I can do, hope. I’m not even sure if I’ll be able to finish writing this post before I get an error message.

There are some signs that things will be improving though. I don’t want to talk to much about it. I’d hate to get fired for letting you know that things will be improving soon. 0o

I want to thank you for sticking around while things have been slow, and sometimes just plain weird. I appreciate your patience with us.

Thank you.

For details on the (bad) news check out Anime News Network’s post.

Looks like there’s a new and exciting way of making movies n Hollywood. You just find something that’s popular overseas, then cut a deal to remake it. It doesn’t even have to be a good remake. All it needs is a recognizable name on the poster. It’s worked really well for horror movies. Now it’s anime’s turn.

Yes, it looks like the same people that brought us The Grudge have gotten their little claws on Death Note. I can only hope that it’s treated with all the respect it deserves. It won’t be, but I can hope.

In that spirit, I’d like to start up another Casting Call.

Death Note Casting Call

Rules for Free Manga

1. This Casting Call ends June 30, 2008.
2. Cast the full list.
3. Leave a real, valid, E-Mail address so I can find out where to send your manga if you’re selected.

Right now I’m leaning towards asking for humor casting or even the worst cast possible. So which one you decide to do is up to you.

You can cast any of the characters you want to, but there is a list of characters you need to cast to be in the running for free manga. I’ll keep the list short this time. Here is the list of characters I’d like to see cast.

The List

• Light
• L
• Ryuk
• Misa

Cast each of these to be in the running for some grab bag style free manga.

I’m looking forward to seeing who you’d cast.

Anime, Manga, News, Opinion, Contests, Free Stuff, Fun Stuff, Live Action, Death Note, Movies, Cast, Casting, Light, L, Ryuk

Crunchyroll is streaming Welcome to the NHK now. Check out the post on AnimeNewsNetwork for the details.

Looks like official anime streams are catching on. I couldn’t be happier about that. I can’t wait until other companies catch on that this is a great way to promote their titles.

I checked out the first 2 episodes to get an idea of what we can look forward to. I’m impressed. The streaming video was offered in a couple of different qualities. The basic quality looked great in my opinion. The videos can be enlarged as well, so it’s not like you’re trying to watch the episode on a postage stamp.

I have a couple of gripes with it, but it’s just nit-picking. ADV and Crunchyroll have done a great job with the first 2 episodes. If they don’t screw up later then this should be good for everyone.

Anime, Online, News, ADV, Welcome to the NHK, Crunchyroll, Streaming, Video

Anime News Network reported that anime company Gonzo will be streaming some of thier new titles. Not only that, but those titles will be subbed in English. Check out the story for the details.

Why is this a big deal?

That’s easy. This is a big deal because this gives fans of anime outside of Japan a way to see the new stuff without turning to fansubs. As great as some fansubs are, they’re still illegal.

Why am I writing about this?

There are a couple of reasons that I’m pointing out this tidbit of news. The simplest reason is because it’s cool. This is good news. I hope Gonzo has tons of success with this. If they do well with this, then other anime companies might do the same.

The other reason I wanted to talk about this is because of a post I wrote back in November. In that post I talked about how anime companies can reduce piracy. One of the things I mention is simultaneously streaming the anime with subtitles.

It’s no secret that the first company to get their product on the shelves has a huge advantage. The same principle applies here. Gonzo is providing an official version of the anime a lot quicker than even the fastest fansub groups. That alone will probably do a lot for Gonzo’s reputation.

All of this leads me to a question.

Will you watch Gonzo’s anime online?

I’d really like to find out what you think about this. Will you be checking out the anime that Gonzo releases online? Is Gonzo on the right track? Do you think other anime companies will start doing this?

Leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Anime, News, Opinion, Online, Gonzo, Subtitle, Fansub, Fan Sub

Anime News Network posted a piece of news the other day that sounds awfully familiar. This really give me some hope. Part of the strategy I recommend for dealing with illegal fansubs is being proposed to the anime industry by Masakazu Kubo.

One Small Step…

This could be the first step towards the anime industry and the anime fans working together to benefit everyone. I still believe that a system like the one I proposed would work. The anime companies that build that system would be the forerunners of a media revolution that could change everything, not just anime.

What if you could sit down and watch your favorite anime not months after it was originally broadcast, but days. Sure you can do that now by watching fansubs, but when you do it you’re killing the industry that makes the shows you love. What if there was an official, and legal, way to do that? What if it contains commercials? Would you watch it, or would you turn to a P2P network for a fansub?

Given the choice, I’d support the anime creators by watching the official one. I believe the majority of anime fans would do the same.

Getting Ahead Of Myself

I know, that’s wishful thinking right now. I don’t even know how that proposal went over. Masakazu Kubo could have pissed off a lot of people by suggesting that the anime industry approach fansubbers. I can’t imagine how it wouldn’t shock people who have worked so hard to shut down fansubs. A lot of great ideas inspire anger in the beginning. I’m sure this one will be no different.

There is another thing that great ideas inspire… hope.

Anime, Online, News, Masakazu Kubo, Opinion, Fan Sub, Fansubs, Fansubbers, Streaming Anime, Piracy, Anime Piracy, Stop Piracy, Free Anime, TV, Online TV

According to a post on AnimeNewsNetwork is looks like something is up over at ADV. They’re removing stuff from the site and the store. That can only lead to wild speculation about what’s going on.

So let’s get to it.

Cutbacks?

Could ADV be cutting back on the number of titles they’re licensing? I suppose it would make sense. I’d rather see cutbacks in the titles than see them disappear like Geneon. I know I’ve given ‘em some crap in the past, but I like ADV. They’ve released some great stuff.

This theory may be supported by the fact that they’ve cancelled NewtypeUSA and replaced it with PiQ, a downsized version that doesn’t focus as exclusively on anime and manga.

Rearranging?

Maybe ADV is just rearranging things. They may be getting ready to announce something new. Maybe they’re breaking down their titles into smaller imprints. Maybe they’re just moving stuff over to a different site.

It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that they’re launching a different site to support PiQ. This could be part of the effort. Move a few titles over to the magazine site so fans of the titles go there. They look around and maybe subscribe.

Ideas?

I’m sure there are a lot of things that could be going on. Leave a comment and tell the rest of us your theories. What do you think is happening over there? Does this mean trouble? Is it being blown out of proportion? Have aliens taken control of the ADV site?

Ok, maybe that last one isn’t very likely.

Anime, News, ADV, ADV Films, Titles Removed, Anime News Network, AnimeNewsNetwork, Alien Mind Control

Newtype USA Canceled

I almost fell out of my chair when I read the article on AnimeNewsNetwork. Newtype USA will stop publishing. February is the last issue, but it’s unclear if that means the one that goes on sale in February or the one that’s marked as February.

I liked Newtype USA, even tough it seemed like an expensive magazine. I enjoyed reading it when I could bring myself to drop $12+ for it.

I bet Patrick Macias over at OtakuUSA is thinking “One down…”

Bandai Recalls DVDs

If you bought any of the following DVDs and you’re having trouble with them then you might want to check out the Bandai site on January 17. They’ll be adding a link to the site so that you can exchange them.

The problem DVDs are

• Gundam Seed Destiny Vol. 12 regular and special editions
• Eureka Seven Vol. 11
• Flag Vol. 2
• My-Otome Vol. 4.

Anime Network TV Channel Canceled

The VOD is still available, but the linear service is gone. The only anime channel left on TV is the FUNimation Channel.

That just sucks.

You can still check out Anime Network’s broadband shows. If you can get it to work. I’ve had problems with it lately. Maybe all those people that lost Anime Network on their TV lineup are clogging the server.

Is there any good news this week?

Looks like anime and manga businesses are folding left and right. First Geneon, now Newtype USA and Anime Network. Things aren’t looking too good right now. If only there was some way to fix the problem. Whoever came up with a solution would be as a god among men.

News, Anime, Newtype, Newtype USA, OtakuUSA, Otaku USA, Anime Network, Bandai, DVDs, DVD Recall

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!