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Zenryaku,
Either the search is missing something or it's been quite a while since I've done an anime thread. Quite a bit has happened recently, so it's beyond time for me to do another, so here goes, and it'll be rather lengthy. Also, note that the Wikipedia links contain spoilers for just about everything, so don't read too far in to them unless you don't mind.
For starters, there's been more and more live-action, US produced adaptations of anime or manga titles announced recently, like the upcoming Speed Racer. I haven't been following these closely, and have low expectations for all the ones I've read about so far, so I won't cover those at the moment. If anyone has any questions, I'm willing to respond, but they just don't have much interest for me at the moment.
On the magazine side, ADV has stopped releasing NewType USA, replacing it with a new magazine called PiQ. It's less anime focused, less Japan release focused, and (I think) cheaper. Been a while since I've follwed NewType USA, and I haven't seen PiQ yet, so I don't know how it compares.
On the anime side of things, the first season of Emma: A Victorian Romance will be released near the end of June. This is one of the extremely few pure romance anime series around, and it's highly worth it. It's set in Victorian England, and the setting is quite accurate and detailed, plus the characters and story work very well.
In related news, Right Stuf/Nozomi has announced another license I never thought I'd see make it to the US. They've announced the first three seasons of Maria Watches Over Us. This is a coming-of-age/slice-of-life story set in a Japanese all-girls school. Excellent characterization and writing on this series, but it's so not what I expect to sell in the US market that I never thought it'd happen. This is quite possibly the second best slice-of-life series around (the best being the even less likely to get licensed manga Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou), and one I highly recommend. They're moving surprisingly fast on this one, since the first release is supposed to go on sale this summer.
Geneon's unlicensed titles still aren't totally dead or alive. No real word on most of them, except that dubbing has contined on several titles. On at least one, Nanoha, it's actually complete. Between the licensing and the dubbing, the majority of the expenses have already been paid for, so I just can't see these titles not coming out eventually, but timing and who's actually going to do it still hasn't been answered.
I'm sure I've already mentioned this one, but the Funimation version of One Piece will be out on DVD around the end of May. Not a deep or epic series by any means, it's still one big fun adventure romp.
AnimEigo has finally put up their pre-order page for the first set of Yawara: A Fashionable Judo Girl. Needless to say, I've got my pre-order in ^_^ This series is by the same author who did Master Keaton and Monster. It ran in Japan around the same time as Ranma 1/2, and was actually more popular at the time. Normally I'm not fond of sports anime, but the characters and story on this one are well done and the sports side is handled realisticaly and not as the primary focus of the series, although it does have a large presence.
A couple of KyoAni quickies, but Lucky Star will start the US release in early May. Can't say I think Bandai's LE release would be worth it on this one, especially considering how quickly they brought out the Haruhi bundle, but the show itself is pretty entertaining in an otaku-in-jokes way.
I've also finally seen Paprika, and I fully understand why the author of the original book picked Satoshi Kon to direct the movie. He was a perfect fit for the subject matter, and the movie is pretty much a straight evolution of his directing style. Very good stuff, so if you like Kon's other works you'll probably like this one.
Doing something I haven't really done much of, I'm going to talk a bit about novel and manga in the US as well this time.
Starting with novels, just because the list is shorter, it looks like Kino's Journey is having some kind of unknown licensing issues. We're still stuck stalled at only one volume in the US. No rumors yet on when this may be resolved.
In much better news, the second Twelve Kingdoms novel is out, although unfortunately I'm still waiting for my copy to arrive.
On the manga side, I'll run through the main titles I'm following in US release right now. Since these are all currently running releases, I'll just hit them in alphabetical order.
Starting off with Aria, the original couple volumes, under the title Aqua (the series switched magazines early-run) are now out. Tokyopop has taken the series over from ADV, and it's nice they're working on it. This is one of those slice-of-life series, set in the far future on a heavily terraformed Mars. Now mostly covered in water, it's known as Aqua, and the story follows apprentice gondoliers known as "Undines". Of course, as slice-of-life, it's quite character driven.
Battle Angel Alita: Last Order is still going strong. This is a dark cyberpunkish series with lots of action. Some great world-building on this one, especially after the recent multi-volume flashback. Some really fun characters, like Desty Nova, one of the best mad scientist depictions ever.
Berserk continues to be the epic fantasy manga, bar none. Although the first three or so volumes get off to a slow start, the story and artwork continue to get better and better the longer the manga runs. The recent US releases keep taking this to higher and higher levels of complexity and goodness. If there was one single manga I'd recommend, this would be it at long as you could stand the violence.
I mentioned the anime version above, but the manga version of Emma is almost completely released. There's one volume left to come, but it's all side-stories, with the main story already wrapped up. There's sufficient difference between it and the anime to make them both worth getting.
Fruits Basket is still going strong and is nearing completion (in the US, as it's already finished in Japan). The anime version has been out here for a while, but it wrapped up long before the manga did, so if you want completion this is the way to go.
Viz just started releasing the Honey and Clover manga. This is one of the few romantic comedies I've found to be good, and it's quite good. Set in an art college, it allows for a nice cast of quirky characters and a lot of fun interaction between them. The various romantic relationships are handled well, and avoid the Takahashi/Clamp style love dodecahedron.
There's a live-action movie version of this that has also been licensed, but is very much not worth watching. There was also a live-action tv series version that also skippable, which is a pity because the anime adaptation was quite good. Here's hoping that actually gets licensed sometime.
Mushishi is an episodic, supernatural themed series with some great stories. Hasn't been running long in the US, but both this and the anime version are recommended for people who like slower paced, contemplative series.
Nodame Cantabile is the other romantic comedy I'm following. This one is about musicians and allows for some of the same quirkiness that Honey and Clover has, but is more focused on fewer characters. Another one with a good anime adaptation, but the live-actin series on this was actually decent (although not great).
Another mention of One Piece, which is doing fine in manga form as well.
Last, but not least, is Yotsuba&!. Unfortunately, this is an ADV license, and they've been suffering from some odd issues with extremely slow manga releases, including on this title. This is a fun, light-hearted comedy about a rather odd five year old girl named Yotsuba and the various adventures she has with her adoptive father and neighbors. Same creator as Azumanga Daioh.
Finally on to the Japan side of the news, I'll start with a brief manga comment, since my Japanese reading skills are still pretty minimal, so it won't take long. Ashinano Hitoshi, author of my favorite Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou, has started a new series, named Kabu no Isaki (Isaki of the Cub). Hasn't run long yet, but so far it feels somewhere between YKK and his short series, Position. Quite enjoyable so far, but I don't know yet if it'll be able to top YKK.
For films, Satoshi Kon's next work has been announced. Very few details yet, but the title is Yume-miru Kikai (Dreaming Machine). Looks like it'll be using pretty retro, Tezuka-style artwork and will be a future-setting folktale. More news when I find it.
I don't have too much to say about the recent anime season that just wrapped up. Aria the Origination and Zoku Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei were both what you'd expect from their prior seasons, which is a good thing.
On the other hand, Gunslinger Girl -Il Teatrino- turned out to be a huge disappointment. Not only were the production values extremely low, the characterization and story were rather poorly executed, proving a jarring change from the first season. If you want to know the story beyond first season, go for the manga.
Luckily, this was balanced by a pleasant surprise in the form of Spice and Wolf. Another one of the recent based on a light novel trend in anime, it's just going to show that basing a series on an existing solid narrative is a good idea. This trend certainly is turning out much higher average quality than earlier based on dating-sim or hentai-game trends ever have.
This story is set in a vaugely medieval world, and the focus is on a travelling merchant named Craft Lawrence. While on one of his rounds he encounters a strange girl with wolf ears and tails, who calls herself Horo, which happens to be the name of the local harvest diety. She claims to be the wolf-spirit who's ensured the town's harvest for who knows how long, but feels that the villagers have forsaken her and now she's decided to go back to her homeland in the north. The two of them end up travelling together, and the interaction between them is absolutely great. The characters and well done, and the story is pretty solid, and this has to be the most economically-focused anime I've ever seen. As an example, the first story arc involves plotting on how to make money off a kingdom's secret plans to debase their coinage, which is the kind of detail you don't see too often. It also has quite possibly the best opening theme song of the season. There are a couple places where the director of the series goes over the top, but overall this is a quite good series, and my main complaint is that it's too short, so hopefully it'll get a second season.
Finally in the last section ^_^ the new season is starting up. There's not much grabbing my interest this time around. There's only a small handfull of titles I've got even moderate interest in, and nothing that jumps out as a must-see.
The main title I'm interested in is Allison & Lillia. It's based on a pair of light novel series by Keiichi Sigsawa, who also wrote Kino's Journey, which is the primary reason I'm interested. It's about a pair of orphans who go on an adventure looking for a treasure that can supposedly end a long an unproductive war.
The other two titles I'll be checking out for sure are only mildly of interest. The first is the second season of Code Geass, which is already licensed. First season was a reasonably fun popcorn action series, but the ending makes me suspect they're going to have to do a lot of retconning, hand-waving, and ass-pulling at the start of this season. Don't really have high expectations for this one, but it should at least be entertaining when I'm bored.
This just leaves Kaiba, which looks quirky enough to be worth checking out. It's got some Tezuka-style retro artwork, and the story seems like it could be interesting. It's set in a world where memories can be saved, allowing effective immortality as these memories can be transferred to new bodies. This also allows for stealing and altering those memories. The main character, Kaiba, falls in the standard amnesia cliche, waking up with no memories but a pendant with a woman's picture in it, which is the primary reason my interest is low rather than moderate, but there's still enough room for this to be good that I'm going to give it a chance.
Wow. That took rather longer than I thought it would. And I'm probably forgetting something I'll need to add later...
Wraith
"Everyone has something that makes them feel truly alive. For that girl it is acting. If you take acting away from her she will become an empty, boring girl who lives only because she is not dead."
-- Tsukikage Chigusa ("Glass Mask")
Either the search is missing something or it's been quite a while since I've done an anime thread. Quite a bit has happened recently, so it's beyond time for me to do another, so here goes, and it'll be rather lengthy. Also, note that the Wikipedia links contain spoilers for just about everything, so don't read too far in to them unless you don't mind.
For starters, there's been more and more live-action, US produced adaptations of anime or manga titles announced recently, like the upcoming Speed Racer. I haven't been following these closely, and have low expectations for all the ones I've read about so far, so I won't cover those at the moment. If anyone has any questions, I'm willing to respond, but they just don't have much interest for me at the moment.
On the magazine side, ADV has stopped releasing NewType USA, replacing it with a new magazine called PiQ. It's less anime focused, less Japan release focused, and (I think) cheaper. Been a while since I've follwed NewType USA, and I haven't seen PiQ yet, so I don't know how it compares.
On the anime side of things, the first season of Emma: A Victorian Romance will be released near the end of June. This is one of the extremely few pure romance anime series around, and it's highly worth it. It's set in Victorian England, and the setting is quite accurate and detailed, plus the characters and story work very well.
In related news, Right Stuf/Nozomi has announced another license I never thought I'd see make it to the US. They've announced the first three seasons of Maria Watches Over Us. This is a coming-of-age/slice-of-life story set in a Japanese all-girls school. Excellent characterization and writing on this series, but it's so not what I expect to sell in the US market that I never thought it'd happen. This is quite possibly the second best slice-of-life series around (the best being the even less likely to get licensed manga Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou), and one I highly recommend. They're moving surprisingly fast on this one, since the first release is supposed to go on sale this summer.
Geneon's unlicensed titles still aren't totally dead or alive. No real word on most of them, except that dubbing has contined on several titles. On at least one, Nanoha, it's actually complete. Between the licensing and the dubbing, the majority of the expenses have already been paid for, so I just can't see these titles not coming out eventually, but timing and who's actually going to do it still hasn't been answered.
I'm sure I've already mentioned this one, but the Funimation version of One Piece will be out on DVD around the end of May. Not a deep or epic series by any means, it's still one big fun adventure romp.
AnimEigo has finally put up their pre-order page for the first set of Yawara: A Fashionable Judo Girl. Needless to say, I've got my pre-order in ^_^ This series is by the same author who did Master Keaton and Monster. It ran in Japan around the same time as Ranma 1/2, and was actually more popular at the time. Normally I'm not fond of sports anime, but the characters and story on this one are well done and the sports side is handled realisticaly and not as the primary focus of the series, although it does have a large presence.
A couple of KyoAni quickies, but Lucky Star will start the US release in early May. Can't say I think Bandai's LE release would be worth it on this one, especially considering how quickly they brought out the Haruhi bundle, but the show itself is pretty entertaining in an otaku-in-jokes way.
I've also finally seen Paprika, and I fully understand why the author of the original book picked Satoshi Kon to direct the movie. He was a perfect fit for the subject matter, and the movie is pretty much a straight evolution of his directing style. Very good stuff, so if you like Kon's other works you'll probably like this one.
Doing something I haven't really done much of, I'm going to talk a bit about novel and manga in the US as well this time.
Starting with novels, just because the list is shorter, it looks like Kino's Journey is having some kind of unknown licensing issues. We're still stuck stalled at only one volume in the US. No rumors yet on when this may be resolved.
In much better news, the second Twelve Kingdoms novel is out, although unfortunately I'm still waiting for my copy to arrive.
On the manga side, I'll run through the main titles I'm following in US release right now. Since these are all currently running releases, I'll just hit them in alphabetical order.
Starting off with Aria, the original couple volumes, under the title Aqua (the series switched magazines early-run) are now out. Tokyopop has taken the series over from ADV, and it's nice they're working on it. This is one of those slice-of-life series, set in the far future on a heavily terraformed Mars. Now mostly covered in water, it's known as Aqua, and the story follows apprentice gondoliers known as "Undines". Of course, as slice-of-life, it's quite character driven.
Battle Angel Alita: Last Order is still going strong. This is a dark cyberpunkish series with lots of action. Some great world-building on this one, especially after the recent multi-volume flashback. Some really fun characters, like Desty Nova, one of the best mad scientist depictions ever.
Berserk continues to be the epic fantasy manga, bar none. Although the first three or so volumes get off to a slow start, the story and artwork continue to get better and better the longer the manga runs. The recent US releases keep taking this to higher and higher levels of complexity and goodness. If there was one single manga I'd recommend, this would be it at long as you could stand the violence.
I mentioned the anime version above, but the manga version of Emma is almost completely released. There's one volume left to come, but it's all side-stories, with the main story already wrapped up. There's sufficient difference between it and the anime to make them both worth getting.
Fruits Basket is still going strong and is nearing completion (in the US, as it's already finished in Japan). The anime version has been out here for a while, but it wrapped up long before the manga did, so if you want completion this is the way to go.
Viz just started releasing the Honey and Clover manga. This is one of the few romantic comedies I've found to be good, and it's quite good. Set in an art college, it allows for a nice cast of quirky characters and a lot of fun interaction between them. The various romantic relationships are handled well, and avoid the Takahashi/Clamp style love dodecahedron.
There's a live-action movie version of this that has also been licensed, but is very much not worth watching. There was also a live-action tv series version that also skippable, which is a pity because the anime adaptation was quite good. Here's hoping that actually gets licensed sometime.
Mushishi is an episodic, supernatural themed series with some great stories. Hasn't been running long in the US, but both this and the anime version are recommended for people who like slower paced, contemplative series.
Nodame Cantabile is the other romantic comedy I'm following. This one is about musicians and allows for some of the same quirkiness that Honey and Clover has, but is more focused on fewer characters. Another one with a good anime adaptation, but the live-actin series on this was actually decent (although not great).
Another mention of One Piece, which is doing fine in manga form as well.
Last, but not least, is Yotsuba&!. Unfortunately, this is an ADV license, and they've been suffering from some odd issues with extremely slow manga releases, including on this title. This is a fun, light-hearted comedy about a rather odd five year old girl named Yotsuba and the various adventures she has with her adoptive father and neighbors. Same creator as Azumanga Daioh.
Finally on to the Japan side of the news, I'll start with a brief manga comment, since my Japanese reading skills are still pretty minimal, so it won't take long. Ashinano Hitoshi, author of my favorite Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou, has started a new series, named Kabu no Isaki (Isaki of the Cub). Hasn't run long yet, but so far it feels somewhere between YKK and his short series, Position. Quite enjoyable so far, but I don't know yet if it'll be able to top YKK.
For films, Satoshi Kon's next work has been announced. Very few details yet, but the title is Yume-miru Kikai (Dreaming Machine). Looks like it'll be using pretty retro, Tezuka-style artwork and will be a future-setting folktale. More news when I find it.
I don't have too much to say about the recent anime season that just wrapped up. Aria the Origination and Zoku Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei were both what you'd expect from their prior seasons, which is a good thing.
On the other hand, Gunslinger Girl -Il Teatrino- turned out to be a huge disappointment. Not only were the production values extremely low, the characterization and story were rather poorly executed, proving a jarring change from the first season. If you want to know the story beyond first season, go for the manga.
Luckily, this was balanced by a pleasant surprise in the form of Spice and Wolf. Another one of the recent based on a light novel trend in anime, it's just going to show that basing a series on an existing solid narrative is a good idea. This trend certainly is turning out much higher average quality than earlier based on dating-sim or hentai-game trends ever have.
This story is set in a vaugely medieval world, and the focus is on a travelling merchant named Craft Lawrence. While on one of his rounds he encounters a strange girl with wolf ears and tails, who calls herself Horo, which happens to be the name of the local harvest diety. She claims to be the wolf-spirit who's ensured the town's harvest for who knows how long, but feels that the villagers have forsaken her and now she's decided to go back to her homeland in the north. The two of them end up travelling together, and the interaction between them is absolutely great. The characters and well done, and the story is pretty solid, and this has to be the most economically-focused anime I've ever seen. As an example, the first story arc involves plotting on how to make money off a kingdom's secret plans to debase their coinage, which is the kind of detail you don't see too often. It also has quite possibly the best opening theme song of the season. There are a couple places where the director of the series goes over the top, but overall this is a quite good series, and my main complaint is that it's too short, so hopefully it'll get a second season.
Finally in the last section ^_^ the new season is starting up. There's not much grabbing my interest this time around. There's only a small handfull of titles I've got even moderate interest in, and nothing that jumps out as a must-see.
The main title I'm interested in is Allison & Lillia. It's based on a pair of light novel series by Keiichi Sigsawa, who also wrote Kino's Journey, which is the primary reason I'm interested. It's about a pair of orphans who go on an adventure looking for a treasure that can supposedly end a long an unproductive war.
The other two titles I'll be checking out for sure are only mildly of interest. The first is the second season of Code Geass, which is already licensed. First season was a reasonably fun popcorn action series, but the ending makes me suspect they're going to have to do a lot of retconning, hand-waving, and ass-pulling at the start of this season. Don't really have high expectations for this one, but it should at least be entertaining when I'm bored.
This just leaves Kaiba, which looks quirky enough to be worth checking out. It's got some Tezuka-style retro artwork, and the story seems like it could be interesting. It's set in a world where memories can be saved, allowing effective immortality as these memories can be transferred to new bodies. This also allows for stealing and altering those memories. The main character, Kaiba, falls in the standard amnesia cliche, waking up with no memories but a pendant with a woman's picture in it, which is the primary reason my interest is low rather than moderate, but there's still enough room for this to be good that I'm going to give it a chance.
Wow. That took rather longer than I thought it would. And I'm probably forgetting something I'll need to add later...
Wraith
"Everyone has something that makes them feel truly alive. For that girl it is acting. If you take acting away from her she will become an empty, boring girl who lives only because she is not dead."
-- Tsukikage Chigusa ("Glass Mask")
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