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Zenryaku,
It's time once again for Anime Apolyton. I've got to lead off with some non-anime, but animation news. Invader Zim, the wonderfully twisted series by Jhonen Vasquez, has been picked up for a DVD release. Early next year Media Blasters will put out a set which will include every completed episode (and as much of the uncompleted stuff as they can get). Highly recommended, and I hope they do some of the other great cartoons in desperate need of a DVD release.
A quick look at manga news, and Tokyopop has announced the license of the Crest of the Stars manga. The series is great, the manga should be quite good as well.
Several good series have started their US release as well. First up is Azumanga Daioh, kind of like the Japanese version of Peanuts. Although the first volume suffered from some over-localization (no reason to make Yukari's class Spanish, or to stop doing so halfway through the volume), they've settled down a fair bit. They're still having problems with Osaka's puns, but that's only to be expected.
Next up is One Piece. This is a shounen action series, but this one has a great sense of humor. The anime itself suffers the problems of most shounen action series (namely pacing and fights that are drawn out way too long), but happily this isn't an issue with the manga (at least, not so far). The rather unusual main character of this story is Luffy D Monkey, a young man who's set on becoming the PIrate King. He's aided by the fact that his body is, thanks to a cursed fruit he once ate, completely made of rubber, allowing for some rather interesting fight scenes. And we can't forget his companions, like Roronoa Zorro, a skilled swordsman who practices the three-swords style...
Next up is Berserk. The anime has already been released, but at one season it covers only the Band of the Hawk storyline in the manga series. A storyline that the first volume of the manga doesn't even touch upon. It's dark, violent, and bloody, so stay away if you don't like dark, savage hack-and-slash fantasy, but if you do, it's a must have.
To kick off the US anime news, the next DVD of Haibane Renmei is out this month ^_^ Yes, I will keep mentioning this series. No, you can't stop me. Yes, it is that good.
Several important releases have happened recently. The last volume of Banner of the Stars II is out, and this is a great series for the sci-fi or space opera (lite) fans. There will be more of it eventually, but apparently the creators are waiting for another novel to come out before doing another anime series.
The third volume of Twelve Kingdoms is out as well. This finishes off the first story arc of the series, with the second starting soon. This is another series that's on pause in Japan, again waiting for the original author to get further ahead rather than making up anime-only story. This is a good idea, btw. The main problem with the His and Her Circumstances anime is that they didn't do this.
Card Captor Sakura was also recently finished, with both volume 18 of the TV show and the second movie coming out.
Another in the cute vein was Risky/Safety, the first AnimeNation release. Theyve done a good job for a new company (although not as good as Synchpoint).
Speaking of SynchPoint, they're finally continuing the I'm Going to be an Angel series next month. It was put on hold for them to finish FLCL, but that's finished, so they're back on track.
The last bit of near-term upcoming release news is ADV's release of the Evangelion Director's Cut episodes. A must have for Evangelion fans, several of the last episodes were done with additional footage.
In longer term news, Texhnolyze has already been announced as licensed by Geneon. There's also rumors that US Manga is finally going to put Gunbuster on DVD, but that happens from time to time. The rumor, I mean. More likely are the rumors that Princess Tutu (yes, a magical girl show involving ballet dancing; it's actually quite good) has been licensed.
Oh, and ADV has announced the Azumanga Daioh dub cast.
For news about Japan, I just want to start off with a somewhat random tidbit. It looks like there's going to be Legend of the Galactic Heroes MMORPG next year (link in Japanese).
Not much to report on the currently airing shows. My favorite is Twin Spica, about a girl who decides to enter the Japanese space program after meeting the ghost of an astronaut who was killed early in the program. Very well done so far.
There are some... rather unusual shows as well, like Cromartie High School. This is basically Azumanga Daioh for Juvenile deliquents. One probably on crack. I really don't know how else to describe it. But it is amusing.
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex is still running. I think it was extended out to 52 episodes, so that might take a while.
For vampire fans, Tsukihime is a should-see. It's all nice and dark and gothic (and angsty), and is surprisingly engaging for a series based on an H game.
I think that about covers it for now.
Wraith
"Baka! Baka! Baka! Baka! Baka! Baka! Baka!"
-- Tomo ("Azumanga Daioh")
It's time once again for Anime Apolyton. I've got to lead off with some non-anime, but animation news. Invader Zim, the wonderfully twisted series by Jhonen Vasquez, has been picked up for a DVD release. Early next year Media Blasters will put out a set which will include every completed episode (and as much of the uncompleted stuff as they can get). Highly recommended, and I hope they do some of the other great cartoons in desperate need of a DVD release.
A quick look at manga news, and Tokyopop has announced the license of the Crest of the Stars manga. The series is great, the manga should be quite good as well.
Several good series have started their US release as well. First up is Azumanga Daioh, kind of like the Japanese version of Peanuts. Although the first volume suffered from some over-localization (no reason to make Yukari's class Spanish, or to stop doing so halfway through the volume), they've settled down a fair bit. They're still having problems with Osaka's puns, but that's only to be expected.
Next up is One Piece. This is a shounen action series, but this one has a great sense of humor. The anime itself suffers the problems of most shounen action series (namely pacing and fights that are drawn out way too long), but happily this isn't an issue with the manga (at least, not so far). The rather unusual main character of this story is Luffy D Monkey, a young man who's set on becoming the PIrate King. He's aided by the fact that his body is, thanks to a cursed fruit he once ate, completely made of rubber, allowing for some rather interesting fight scenes. And we can't forget his companions, like Roronoa Zorro, a skilled swordsman who practices the three-swords style...
Next up is Berserk. The anime has already been released, but at one season it covers only the Band of the Hawk storyline in the manga series. A storyline that the first volume of the manga doesn't even touch upon. It's dark, violent, and bloody, so stay away if you don't like dark, savage hack-and-slash fantasy, but if you do, it's a must have.
To kick off the US anime news, the next DVD of Haibane Renmei is out this month ^_^ Yes, I will keep mentioning this series. No, you can't stop me. Yes, it is that good.
Several important releases have happened recently. The last volume of Banner of the Stars II is out, and this is a great series for the sci-fi or space opera (lite) fans. There will be more of it eventually, but apparently the creators are waiting for another novel to come out before doing another anime series.
The third volume of Twelve Kingdoms is out as well. This finishes off the first story arc of the series, with the second starting soon. This is another series that's on pause in Japan, again waiting for the original author to get further ahead rather than making up anime-only story. This is a good idea, btw. The main problem with the His and Her Circumstances anime is that they didn't do this.
Card Captor Sakura was also recently finished, with both volume 18 of the TV show and the second movie coming out.
Another in the cute vein was Risky/Safety, the first AnimeNation release. Theyve done a good job for a new company (although not as good as Synchpoint).
Speaking of SynchPoint, they're finally continuing the I'm Going to be an Angel series next month. It was put on hold for them to finish FLCL, but that's finished, so they're back on track.
The last bit of near-term upcoming release news is ADV's release of the Evangelion Director's Cut episodes. A must have for Evangelion fans, several of the last episodes were done with additional footage.
In longer term news, Texhnolyze has already been announced as licensed by Geneon. There's also rumors that US Manga is finally going to put Gunbuster on DVD, but that happens from time to time. The rumor, I mean. More likely are the rumors that Princess Tutu (yes, a magical girl show involving ballet dancing; it's actually quite good) has been licensed.
Oh, and ADV has announced the Azumanga Daioh dub cast.
For news about Japan, I just want to start off with a somewhat random tidbit. It looks like there's going to be Legend of the Galactic Heroes MMORPG next year (link in Japanese).
Not much to report on the currently airing shows. My favorite is Twin Spica, about a girl who decides to enter the Japanese space program after meeting the ghost of an astronaut who was killed early in the program. Very well done so far.
There are some... rather unusual shows as well, like Cromartie High School. This is basically Azumanga Daioh for Juvenile deliquents. One probably on crack. I really don't know how else to describe it. But it is amusing.
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex is still running. I think it was extended out to 52 episodes, so that might take a while.
For vampire fans, Tsukihime is a should-see. It's all nice and dark and gothic (and angsty), and is surprisingly engaging for a series based on an H game.
I think that about covers it for now.
Wraith
"Baka! Baka! Baka! Baka! Baka! Baka! Baka!"
-- Tomo ("Azumanga Daioh")
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