Animation Spotlight: Dead Space: Downfall
Released by Anchor Bay
Game reviewers have differed in how enthusiastically they've embraced the recently released Dead Space, but the consensus has been that the EA game was "polished." I wouldn't go as far as to appropriate some dialog from one of Dead Space - Downfall's characters and say "fuck this shit! let's get the fuck out of here!," but I would say that the animated feature lacks the game's refinement. There are moments that reach what has to be close to the zenith of animated gore, it inherits some well considered design from the games, and there are scenes that could be thought of as effective set pieces, but every time a character walks, something looks a bit wrong.
Dead Space took two concepts that geeks would presume would go well together. The mechanics were modeled on "survival horror," the genre of video games that puts the player in a dark place with limited tools to defend against an imminent threat, in an attempt to provoke tension, stress, and if done right, fear. Leaving the earthly confines of the best known survival horror franchises (Resident Evil, Silent Hill) , Dead Space relocated to a crippled planetary mining ship.
From the moment it was announced, the idea drew comparisons to its prominent forbearers. A 1up.com podcast jokingly referred to Dead Space as "That's What I Call Survival Horror," for its collection of popular elements of other genre games. Then, in terms of setting, Dead Space invites comparisons to the movies that previously transposed horror to space: the Alien films, Event Horizon, Solaris, and Sunshine.
Regardless if a particular reviewer loved the concept or loved the resulting game, the body of criticism was full of praise for Dead Space's production. While the selling point of dismembering the undead as they flail towards you hit with tepid appreciation, the enthuists embraced the games design for integrating status and directional indications into its third person perspective. In particular, invokable "holographic" overlay map system and on-character model health bar equivalent were widely praised. With the sound design's ability to suggests "Necromorphs" moving around out of sight, other than Metal Gear Solid 4, it's hard to think of another game as praised for its in game audio. With a game engine set to make its mark in the middleware arena, the layout of is ship based setting, and undead creatures designed from studying the corpses of accident victims, it's evident that a great deal of effort was expended refining the Dead Space game.
I don't get that impression from Downfall. It's telling that the animated feature looks rather good in its online banner ads. It might not have the making of the classic, but there is the foundation of a better animated sci-fi action horror in Dead Space - Downfall.
Set between Ben Templesmith/Antony Johnston's comic and the game, Downfall bears witness to what happen to the crew of the USG Ishimura between the time that a strange cyclopian artifact, found by a team of "Planet Crackers," was transported to the interstellar mining ship, and when the Ishimura sent out its final distress call. It opens with security officer Alyssa Vincent preparing that message in a bottle, during which time she voices her presumption that she is the final survivor of the Ishimura's crew. So, Downfall immediately becomes a matter of watching a ship full of people die over the next 74 minutes.
No genre is going to re-invent itself on every outing. Mysteries are going to have their locked room scenarios. Horror sci-fi is going to have situations in which some mysterious, corrupting force is brought onto a spaceship. That the problem introduced and the response to the threat looks a bit like Alien(s) isn't necessarily more problematic than a Holmes mystery looking a bit like a Marple one. Instead, a key issue with Downfall is that it doesn't emphasize the unique attributes of Dead Space. As interesting as exo-archaeology and interplanetary explorations might be, Dead Space brings up the concept of "planet cracking," which sounds a bit like a cross between strip mining and ship breaking. Given that the core of the Dead Space franchise is its game, and given that the game is going to do situations in which a protagonist is shooting attacking beasties in the dark, given the scope of what could be depicted in animation, Downfall might have distinguished itself with a little less shooting in favor of more planet cracking.
Other aspects of the context could similarly have been fleshed out. Ever-smart comic writer Warren Ellis was involved in an early stage of Dead Space's development. I'd hazard to guess that Ellis' fingerprints are on the manner in which Dead Space speculates on the effect that deep space exploration might have of spirituality. The franchise posits a split between a majority who say humanity is an astronomical accident among the lifeless universe and Unitologist's who believe that the stars hold clues to a greater purpose. As Downfall's crisis heats up, fissures emerge between those crew members trying to carry out their duty to preserve stability, then when things get bad, life, those trying to guard the best interests of the Concordance Extraction Corporation and those drawn to the artifact by their faith in Unitology. There is a case where a character rationally explain their perspective, but debate between these alternative priorities goes from chaotic to screechy rather quickly.
Credibility and potential for debate only fray more quickly when powers-that-be begin jumping to conclusions. A bridge full of characters yell out that someone is out of control. A doctor steps up to sedate him. The out of control character begins strangling the doctor, who reacts by putting a needle through the attacker’s eye. Immediately, the bridge crew begins accusing the doctor of murder. Crisis hysteria or not, that shift seems a bit too wild.
Granted, this is horror. Granted, the agendas are bound to be further explored in the game. Granted, the characters are dealing with something outside their experience. It's telling that, in the feature, when someone wants to explain their back-story and rationale, they reconcile what they need to do and calm themselves. In the tricky balance between feeding information and distracting from the tone, letting more characters behave in a composed, professional manner may have allowed Downfall to express more details behind the obviously elaborate conceptual design, and allowed the movie to establish its speculative sci-fi side.
In terms of the horror/action, and the movie's polish, or lack there of, there are a lot of "I can see what you're trying to do there" moments. Scenes map to intended reactions. The claustrophobia of sneaking through enclosed spaces... The crush of being circled by hostiles... Except, rarely do these set pieces achieve their aim.
The blatant stuff works. When employing gruesome bodily harm, Downfall is appropriately sickening. If someone walks barefoot over broken glass, leaves claw marks from raking their own arm, begins bludgeoning themselves with their own fist, those concepts affectingly register. When people are sawed in half, Downfall has gone for the nuclear option of gore, and it does raise a pained smirk.
When the effect is function of motion, lighting and timing, Downfall falls down. For example, someone is walking into an area that they are about to discover to be devastated. There are a few flashing lights. We know that they are going to be immersed in darkness shortly. Though this is inherently predictable, it could work in Downfall because the background designs are sufficiently unnerving and the threats are sufficiently savage. Unfortunately, the timing is in lock step in the obvious, and, there is something about the color scheme of Downfall that is rusty, but too bright, even in low light.
Then, there's the Downfall killer... motion. The issue is not necessarily that the movie is lazily animated. Watching the complex sequence of movements as a character slings into their jacket, the effort taken in depicting actions is discernable. But, every time any character walks across a screen, the gate is so unnatural that it breaks the viewing experience. Combat is at least as bad. There is a scene in which Alyssa's team pushes down a partition. After covering the action, Alyssa backs-up then rolls or flips backwards over the barricade. Instead, almost laughably, the action looks as if a force sucked her up, out, and backwards.
Downfall hardly planted a flag in a new frontier for Deadspace's conceived multi-media franchise. History does not exactly engender high expectations for a project like this, but I was hoping to be pleasantly surprised in this case. What's frustrating about the results was that Downfall was missing exactly what was praised in Deadspace game. If the animated feature was smarter about what it had to work with and more refined in its execution, it might have stood out as a quality game to animation tie-in
Manga Spotlight: Astral Project
Volume 1
Written by marginal
Illustrated by Syuji Takeya
Released by CMX
Astral Project may prove to be a gem. With its twists on genre and perception, it has begun to establish itself as a manga title not to be overlooked.
Relevant to the "twists on genre, it's worth recognizing that the "marginal" of the credits is a pen name for Garon Tsuchiya, the writer of the manga on which Park Chan-wook's cult revenge film Oldboy is based. Tsuchiya Garon and Minegishi Nobuaki's Oldboy manga had an almost second-cousin like relationship to Park Chan-wook's adaptation. Despite a family resemblance, they largely belonged to their own blood lines. In the case of the manga, the gritty gangster potboiler could be thought of as inverted noir. Rather than investigating an external history, the manga's Philip Marlowe beat down doors trying to discover the truth behind his own past.
Like Oldboy, Astral Project confronts genre with its fun house mirror reflection. From 10,000 feet, this is a routine crime-fiction prodigal son story with its hero and perspective adjusted to synch with the readership. A high concept description might be "a seinen Get Carter." (For audience perspective, it ran in Comic Beam, the home to manga like Emma, Desert Punk/Sunabozu Bambi and Her Pink Gun.)
Masahiko is of an age where he should be preparing for a career and a static life. Instead, estranged from his family, he's been performing sketchy work for sketchy people, mainly as a chauffeur for call girls. One night he gets a call from a self described "frigid looking woman with glasses" who informs Masahiko that his older sister died of "heart failure or something..." Seeking to understand his sister’s death, Masahiko is prodded onto a trail of conspiracy, contradictory clues and red herrings that double back to offer implications toward his own selected path.
While by no means is he a Golgo 13 or a Kazuo Koike protagonist (Crying Freeman, Lone Wolf and Cub, Lady Snowblood), especially compared to a hero of a shonen, younger male audience, manga, Masahiko has a bit of a rough, seinen edge. He's passing through a transitional point, where he's not a full on adult, but getting there. Despite his wit and knowledge, he's far from a veteran. He's "kid" to the gangsters with which he's involved, meaning that he's granted some respect, but as a potential prospect, or potential tool, rather than a full fledged member of their world.
This puts Masahiko in a precarious position. Given the people that he's dealing with, from his sister's "frigid" friend to the gangsters, an unguarded misstep could easily bring real problems down on top of him.
With a younger protagonist, the hero is expected to grow with the challenge. With an older one, there would be a sense that either the hero would possess the needed reserves to overcome the challenge or achieve tragedy in their failure. In this case, Masahiko's path is thick with avenues for error, without much to fall back on. It's intriguing to consider a manga hero who may not be smart enough or tough enough to handle the circumstances into which he's wading.
As the title might indicate, beyond its seinen adjustments, Astral Project warps the prodigal son crime story by introducing the element of astral projection. Before his sister's funeral, Masahiko risks a confrontation with his parents by walking into their home, going into his sister’s room and grabbing a "keepsake." At the spur of the moment, he opens up her stereo and opts to take the last CD that she had listened to. He finds that the disc contains a sort of experimental jazz, and that when it gets to the fourth track, his consciousness leaving his body and floating into the air.
Traditions of action manga and super-hero comics have fostered a utilitarian view of super powers, as well as an expectation to be dazzled. Originally released in the middle of Death Note's run, Astral Project makes for an interesting counter-point to the trend concerned with thinking of clever uses for well defined supernatural powers. Masahiko's no dummie and he experiments with the CD and his own ability to employ astral projection. Except, in this case, the character does not have a crystallized objective, and his ability is not conventionally "useful." For a comic counter-part, it's reminiscent of something mind-altering out of an Alan Moore work, such as Finch's LSD experience in V for Vendetta or magic in Promethea.
Astral projection proves to be a versatile tool in the manga's narrative.
In terms of the modern prodigal son plot, astral projection plays the role that drugs or a secret file might. You couldn't call it a McGuffin, but it does act as the object that directs the hero's search. Like the anime Serial Experiments Lain, the discovery leads into a rabbit whole of both real and invented esoteria. marginal embraces the opportunity to riff on subjects ranging from cults to jazz to Cold War weirdness.
Syuji Takeya carries the ethereal themes of the manga with a markedly perception based look to Astral Project. The illustrations trend towards three modes: character eye view - focused intensely on a particular person or object, as if the eye were completely drawn to the spot; free camera - a view of the concrete world from an arbitrary vantage, generally an extreme one, such as down from a ceiling corner or up from the floor; mental landscape - either the astral world or an heavily perception shaded view of reality, such as memory. This approach plays to = manga/comics ability to dwell in a moment without halting a sequential progression. At the end of the first volume, Masahiko runs into the otherworldly manifestation of an anonymous person's wish. The appearance of the wish's form stops Masahiko in his astral tracks. That's a useful metaphor for the experience of looking at Takeya's illustration and reading Astral Project - it's unconventionally captivating.
Even if marginal does borrow from genre formula in constructing Astral Project, it's a rare manga without an obvious direction. Personally, I have no idea where volume two will begin let alone where it will go. It's branching off into informed tangents on topics like jazz. It's brilliantly succeeding in tapping into the unknown. Regardless of if marginal and Takeya ultimately produce something as wild as Oldboy, Astral Project is proving to be an engrossing yarn.
Spotlight: Jyu-Oh-Sei
Anime released by FUNimation
Manga by Natsumi Itsuki - Released by TOKYOPOP
Fans of JRPG's (Japanese role playing games), mark Jyu-Oh-Sei on your must see list. The environment, the drama and the narrative convolutions should thrill fans of Final Fantasy and the like. Packaged with the entire 11 episode series in a complete set, it makes for an engrossing afternoon or week of sci-fi anime. Similarly you can grab a hefty page 350 third on the manga series in a volume for $14.99.
Jyu-Oh-Sei or "Legend of the Beast King" jerks its curtains open to a scene of blood. Two identical figures stagger and run through a jungle with a pack of bestial wild-men at their heels. The verdant background reaches out, and begins snapping at the pursuers, in a man versus man versus plant battle royale. One of the fleeing pair trips, and looks up meekly. The other forcefully grabs his hand and charges on.
Set, in the year 2436, humanity has colonized the Vulcan (or Balkan, anime and manga aren't consistent in their name localization) star system. While the systems planets are teraformed, an elite populous live in the artificial colony satellite Juno, under the government of elder statesman Odin. Adolscent twins Thor and Rai Klein grew up in this environment with the expectation that they'd follow in their parents' footstep and achieve the rank posts among the colony science-ocracy. The best laid plans of mice and... Returning home from a trip to daydream in the satellite’s planetarium, they find that their parents executed. As Rai begins clutching his mother's body weeping and Thor begins swearing vengeance, a gas canister is thrown into their midst. When they regain consciousness, they discover that they've been marooned on the penal planet, Kimera, where death comes at the hands of lethal flora, harsh conditions or power struggles.
The specifics of Kimera ( or Chimaera) differ slightly between the anime and manga. The essential are that the planets irregular rotation causes 181 "days" of light and temperatures from 85 to 120 F, followed by 181 "days" of night with temperatures as low as -40F. The primary life form on the planet is its plants, which have evolved in such a way as to produce life threatening defense mechanisms (poisons, suffocating masses) and feeding mechanism (mobile, carnivorous species). Even their life cycles are hazardous, exemplified by the muses, a sort of Jack and the Beanstalk super-bamboo that can suddenly crack the earth as it jets up in sky-scrapper tall sprouts, and cover areas with lakes of decaying leaves.
On the human/cultural side, children are abandoned into feral Yado packs. When they get older, most gravitate towards one of the four, generally racially segregated Rings: Ochre, Sun, Night, and Blanc. Each ring is governed by a "Top" strongman, whose chief subordinates are a "Second" and a "Third." These posts are won in "Try" duels. If one person can assert supremacy over all of the tops, they become The Beast King, and that person is granted the right to leave the planet (the manga adds that the Beast King can take an entourage of Kimerians who have managed to live to the age of 30).
Murder, revenge, a battle in a sci-fi arena to choose the strongest... Sounds like a boy's adventure shonen? Actually, it's a girl's shoujo title. Natsumi Itsuki began serializing her manga in LaLa, home of Ouran High School Host Club and Kare Kano / His and Her Circumstances, (though the series is not particularly long at 5 tankoubon trade paperback or three of the extra thick kazenban format that TOKYOPOP is using, it took from 1994 to 2003 to complete). Similarly, the BONES (Fullmetal Alchemist, Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door) produced anime was part of noitaminA, Fuji Television's attempt to drawn in audiences that weren't traditionally anime fans with adaptations of shojo and josei manga, such as Honey and Clover, Paradise Kiss, Hataraki Man, Nodame Cantabile and recently, Antique Bakery.
The crucial definition of shoujo is that the manga was published in the shoujo anthology. Beyond that, mapping specific characteristics to shoujo leads to trouble. For example personal relationships are a main focus of Love Hina and Maison Ikkoku. Neither is shoujo. At the same time, knowing a manga's origins is a useful tool for divining the author's intent.
Recognizing that Jyu-Oh-Sei's shoujo origins, the ways in which it reaches out to its intended audience are evident. In terms of visuals cue, Thor, Rai, Ochre's Third and rival/treacherous ally Zagi have the lithe somewhat feminine prettiness of bishonen males (like many JRPG lead heroes).
Superficially continuing along the what-the-reader-wants track, early on, Thor is plucked from sure death by Tiz, the Second of the female half of the Sun Ring. With women making up less than 20% of Kimera's populous, women are given the undeniable right to pick their mate and a great leeway in other matters. Tiz decides that Thor's her man.
Shoujo + strictly women's decision = wish fulfillment? Not really. Jyu-Oh-Sei is chiefly involved in relating the story and exploring it's solar system to a greater extent than it is selling to the fans. The three pillars are sci-fi speculative culture, character drama and the path from Kimera back to the colonies' seat of power. I've been a die-hard advocate of the seinen manga series Eden: It's an Endless World, but I've always been a bit ambivalent about how its use of shocks and lusts have related to its philosophical, conceptual core. I don't think that Jyu-Oh-Sei's deep end is quite as deep as Eden, but I don't think it gets as wound up playing to the audience as Eden did either.
Much of Jyu-Oh-Sei's sci-fi culture relates to social engineering as a response to declining life expectancy. Thor and Rai are informed about Earth in a manner akin to the children of immigrants be told about the land of their heritage. Part of the yearnings for Earth relates to the fact that citizens of Juno have considerably shorter life expectancy than the ones enjoyed on Earth. Reactions to this begin taking hold in the society, such as marriage being pushed to an alarmingly early age. (To Jyu-Oh-Sei's credit, in light of other manga, this is not handled luridly) . With one set of evolutionary pressures acting on Juno, other pressures acting on Kimera, the isolation between Juno and Kimera, differences emerging between the rings of Kimera, and the steps taken to guide these diverging pockets, Jyu-Oh-Se sets up quite the cultural storm-in-the-making. Furthermore, Jyu-Oh-Sei applies this to the romantic polygon ("triangle" is far two simple) between the principals, where the differences are amplified by personality clashes. Heady and heated, the results prove to be an involving sci-fi drama
A long time anime fan might be tempted to look at Jyu-Oh-Sei's plant planet, existential quandaries and high emotions, and think of the works of Leiji Matsumoto (Captain Harlock, Galaxy Express 999). Where as a something like Arcadia of My Youth would bring the music to a pitch, replay a pivotal moment three times from different angles and lightings, what happens in Jyu-Oh-Sei happens with matter of fact definitiveness. This is the nature of Jyu-Oh-Sei. As high as the emotions run, while it might reminisce on the on pre-Kimera events, it has too much on its agenda to dwell in a moment. On Kimera, all attention is on surviving and evolving.
Over the course of the series, Jyu-Oh-Sei is regularly rattled by fundamental upheavals. People ascend to new roles. They die or they're maimed. Simultaneously, revelations are constantly shaking the foundations of the series. While images on the box art/manga cover and opening/close credits show characters in late stages of the series, the series is sufficiently involving and there is a sufficient complexity in the stages passed through to achieve these end results that is it hard to call the images "spoilers".
Some of the revelations effectively force the intended re-assessment of Jyu-Oh-Sei. The problem is, what's initially staggering loses its gravity when the operative phrase becomes "expect the unexpected." M. Night Shyamalan movies aren't helped by expectations of a twist ending... after the stock market drops seven hundred points, what's a three hundred point drop? Especially as the anime accelerates towards its ending, it takes on the character of a nesting doll. Popping open an altered face for the series with new personalities, new information and new circumstance, the anime confuses what was meaningful in early phases and causes the viewer to become inured to radical changes.
Jyu-Oh-Sei, or at least its anime version, is a smarter resolution away from classic territory. Some of the revelations and twists that BONES hits in the ending are alienating. Directed by Hiroshi Nishikiori, with good action, with the exotic world of Kimera and great character anime, you get caught up with these personalities as they reacting to their alien, rapidly changing environment. Then, in the eleventh hour, what you thought defined these characters, in part, turns out not to the case. It's a brilliant ride, and one of my favorite recent sci-fi anime of the year (the only other favorable '08 sci-fi impression I can think off the top of my head is Project Blue Earth SOS), but swapping out all the implication late in the process is a tough order to reconcile.
Regarding the manga, with only the first volume released thus far, it's kindof taken the back seat in this review. It's decidedly more than the anime. Not necessarily better, Bones put together a driven, thoroughly compelling anime series, but more. Motivations, especially secondary ones, are explained more explicitly. It's more shoujo. Between bishonen accentuation, the super-deformed, floral symbolism, and a very genki, the action sci-fi manga's shoujo origins are clear from a glance. While I'm ambivalent about the anime's ending, and while I admire the concept that Itsuki fabricated, I'd give the anime an edge for how well it realized that concept. The manga is interesting, but the anime was a riveting 11 episode ride.
Prose Spotlight: The Guin Saga
Book Four: Prisoner of the Lagon
by Kaoru Kurimoto
Released by Vertical
Here's a scorching pop culture stock tip (poor metaphor these days). It's not to late to get in on the ground floor of Guin Saga fandom. Sure, there have been a few vocal advocates of the 120+ novel fantasy series' North American release, but you can read the five released by Vertical before the anime hits Japanese TV next spring. Adapted by Shoji Yonemura (script writer for the anime versions of Death Note, and the Guin Saga inspired muck and blood low fantasy favorite, Berserk), produced by Satelight (Hellsing Ultimate, Macross Frontier), with music by Final Fantasy's Nobuo Uematsu, I'd call Guin Saga a frontrunner for the hot anime of '09.
The Guin Saga - Star Wars comparison has been an obvious one. They're both modern heroic myths, hatched in the late 70's, with deep interest in establishing in-context lore, and roots in both the essential elements of traditional legends and modern serials. Guin Saga Volume One: The Leopard Mask certainly fostered that impression. The dust jacket's dramatis personae laid out a cast that included the titular mystery warrior Guin, orphaned royalty Remus and Rinda, wisecracking mercenary Istivan, "furry little creature" Suni, and "Black Count of Mongaul" Vanon. It's not entirely intellectually dishonest to map out the connection Gun - Obi Wan ; Remus - Luke or Anakin ; Rinda - Leia ; Istivan - Han Solo ; Suni - ewok ; Vanon - Darth Vader (a New Hope specific).
However, Guin Saga has never been handled the way Star Wars has, and it is the contrasts between the two sagas that make Guin Saga a joy to discover... even if familiarity has made fantasy epics wearisome; even if the novels hold no nostalgia-based sway over English-language readers. It's not entirely fair to say that Guin Saga is what older Star Wars fans wish there childhood favorite was, but isn’t not entirely untrue either.
The difference between movies and novels might leech some credibility from this point, but , while Star Wars offered a nod towards serial story telling, Guin Saga embraced the form. The novels start mid-action, with Guin yanked into the world with a warriors body, fighting excruciatingly to rediscover knowledge of what should be innate to any organism, such as how to eat and drink, and with Remus and Rinda caught between human pursuers and a forest full of life devouring ghouls. That story has continued punchy chapter to punchy chapter from cliff hanger to climax to cascading situation for almost 30 years.
Then there's how, from its inception, Guin Saga committed to testing out the different facets of the legend being sculpted.
Someone recently asked me if I'd been catching the new animated Clone Wars. Other than the Soup and UFC programming, I'm not a TV watcher, so I mentioned that I hadn't. Their response was to recommend the show, specifically sitting an episode told from the perspective of the clone troops, in which Jedi were only on the periphery. Wikipedia suggests that this is episode 5 - "Rookies." "Alone on a distant outpost, clone officers Rex and Cody must inspire their rookie unit to believe in themselves to stave off a Droid Commando invasion."
I was already planning this review out at the time of the conversation, and had mentally sketched out a connection between Guin Saga Book Four: Prisoner of the Lagon and Star Wars' comic book Rosencrantz and Guildenstern homage Tag and Bink Are Dead, not so much for the comedy, but the regular guy's look at the grander scheme.
"Rookies" sounds like a better comparison
The bookend chapters of Prisoner of the Lagon chronicle the conflict from the perspective of the antagonists, the armies of the Gohran duchy of the Mongaul alliance. No one is going to mistake these folks for "good guys." Regimented, clad in monochromic armor, out numbering their poorly armed adversaries, they present the impression of the classic army of darkness. They recently blitzkrieged Remus and Rinda's kingdom. They're an organized, ambitious, martial society that values a brutal brand of pragmatism. They're in the midst of an expansionary adventure, in which they aim to exterminate the tribes of the Nospherus wilderness, build outposts on the land and claim a hidden WMD. At the same time, when Guin Saga gives them the narrative spotlight, they become sympathetic characters. The rank and file are conscripted young men, far from their farms or home cities, harried by cannibalistic ewoks waging a scorched earth campaign, marching through an inhospitable wasteland. Their captains and generals are largely competent veterans, trying to do the best by their soldiers, and focused on achieving objectives rather than meta-schemes. The nobility commanding the mission are immature and unthinkingly entitled, but there's a sense that they are exceptional under conventional circumstances. Bested by Guin at every turn, there plight invokes the kind of compassion that one might feel for Daffy Duck.
Many of the events of Guin Saga, at least so far, seem to have a MacBethian inevitability. Between all the prophecies, visions, and rules of the mode of storytelling, the general trajectory of Guin Saga is rarely surprising. Rather than the particulars the story, it is the extent to which things happen that is surprising. You expect a wave, you get a tsunami. Accordingly, the following is vaguely spoilerish
Han Solo-Istivan reams a Gohran division... Not a simple feint or fake out... a lethal, burn the rules of war gambit. Take the main Battle of Nospherus from this five novel "March Episode" segment of Guin Saga. Distill it down to the people engaged in fighting that conflict. The politics, agendas and morality are relevant, but ultimately, the fight is waged by people more concerned with carrying out a mission, while surviving than they are the implications of their actions. A sense justice dictates that an antagonist like this should be dispensed with honorably.
While Guin is off doing King Arthur/Jim Morrison vision quest business in the desert, Istivan is winding up to crack the Gohran below the belt. After a fashion, he's saved the day by doing this, but unlike interrupting a dog fight to knock Darth Vader into a tail spin, the provoked reaction is more likely to fall closer to ambivalence than elation. Does a fifth column action warrant a "yay, bad-ass maverick gets the job done" and "score one for the good guys" or a "wow, that was a bit sociopathic?" spoilers over...
This is a Guin Saga review and I'm not particularly interested in assessing the depth of the original Star Wars trilogy's myth spinning or the prequels' Trade Federation tariffs and shadow conflicts. I will say this... While Star Wars' heroes may have started life as moisture farmers and slaves, Guin Saga immediately plants its feet on the ground, capturing the perspective of combatants without any special destiny. It didn't take decades of gestating fan passion to develop an interest in shifting the myth around and viewing it from alternate angles. This isn't to say that Guin Saga is a nuanced political allegory, but like the manga/anime Berserk that it inspired, there is a credible impression of ferocity, in which every sword on the battlefield is dead set on hacking their way to the other side in one piece. Every Stormtrooper equivalent is trying their damn hardest to get their aim right and take off the hero's head.
If you're the type of geek who occasionally starts considering "I could really go for a new fantasy epic," send Guin Saga to the front of your queue. Personally, after tiring of the genre as a consequence of inhaling it in my high school days, I've gotten far more selective, if not avoidant when it comes to these stories. This decade, I've been impressed by the severity of George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, rediscovered the mix of cynicism and joie de vivre in Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, and gotten a kick out of the notion of a puritan swashbuckler in Robert E. Howard's Solomon Kane. I've come to regard Guin Saga as my source for epic battle throw downs. Its read-in-an-afternoon pacing and the matchings of opponents who are wholly committed to victory make Guin Saga a contender for the crown of pound-for-pound champ in action fantasy.
Same Hat! Same Hat! has revealed that Top Shelf will be publishing a 400 page AX ANTHOLOGY, a selection of stories from the bimonthly underground manga anthology AX, "an anthology book published by Seirinkogeisha, that took up the reins of GARO after they closed their doors and ran with the weirdness."
The book will be edited by Sean Michael Wilson and AX co-founder Mitsuhiro Asakawa.
SUN, 5:00-5:45: AX and Gekiga: Alternative Manga in Japan—Sean Michael looks at the roots and contemporary state of indy/alternative manga in Japan, using rare and unseen visuals supplied by the original Gekiga creators of the 1950s and 1960s and info from the editors of AX, the premier alternative anthology in Japan today. Plus, a preview of the upcoming book AX Collection (Top Shelf), which presents a selection of this indy manga for the first time in English.
Nausicaa.net notes that Viz's upcoming catalog lists
For Selling:
Spring 2009 - Add-on VIZ Kids
Title: Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea Film Picture Book
Reason:
From the animators of Howl's Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke and Academy Award winner Spirited Away, comes the new Studio Ghibli film Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea releasing in March 2008 for the United States market.
Author: Hayao Miyazaki
ISBN: 9781421530659
Price: $19.99 / $23.50 CAN On-Sale: 03/03/08
Genre, BISAC, or Subject Category:
JUV000000 JUVENILE FICTION/General
Reads L to R (Western Style), 8 .27 x 10.12, TP with dust jacket, 152 pages
Obviously "2008" is a typo, but is March right?
"Chick Lit" Book to Address Manga
Thomas Dunne Books will be releasing "chick lit" novelist Cathy Yardley's manga-related Turning Japanese in paperback in April 14, 2009.
You will meet Lisa Falloya, an aspiring half-Japanese, half-Italian American manga artist who follows her bliss by moving to Tokyo to draw the Japanese-style comics she's been reading for years. Leaving behind the comforts of a humdrum desk job and her workaholic fiancé, Lisa has everything planned--right down to a room with a nice Japanese family--but hasn't taken into account that being half-Asian and enthusiastic isn't going to cut it. Faced with an exacting boss and a conniving "big fish" manga author, Lisa risks her wedding, her friends, and her fears for a shot at making it big.
Digital Distribution
The vSNAX is now offering free anime streamed to the Apple iPhone and iPod touch through the GONG channel on the free vSNAX Videos application.
vSNAX is the destination for video on the iPhone, aggregating and refreshing short video clips from over 25 premium media partners every day.
GONG’s launch with Rhythm NewMedia on both vSNAX Videos and two of the largest mobile operators in the United States, marks the first time the GONG experience has been optimized for mobile in North America. GONG TV fans will now be able to watch the GONG channel and its amazing Japanese animation programs on-the-go. GONG brings to teen and young Adults the top-rated and most popular Anime series. Including; Ikki Tousen, Cosmo Warrior Zero, Karekano, Utena, Babel II. These GONG shows are available as short three to five minute clips, which are ideal for the mobile environment.
“Through this domestic deal with Rhythm NewMedia, creators of the vSNAX Videos iPhone App, we are able to deliver programs directly to GONG fans wherever they are in the country. This is a major step in GONG Media developments to achieve a global new media Anime network across Europe and North America.” says André de Semlyen, President and CEO of GONG Media.
GONG's on-demand Anime channel is available in France on Neuf-SFR, WAT, Free and TF1 Vision as a Broadband VOD service. In the UK, GONG channel is accessible 24/7 on Orange TV, and on all mobile operators as a VOD and SVOD service. GONG mobile channel is also broadcasting in Poland and Romania on the Orange Services. In Europe and North America, GONG is available on New Media platforms like JOOST, Babelgum, Youtube, MSN, Blinkx, Hulu.
Toei Animation Co., Ltd. announced that the studio will be partnering with Crunchyroll, to provide streaming, subscription and download-to-own options for some of the several popular anime titles.
Toei Animation Co., Ltd anime titles that will be available on Crunchyroll include: DIGIMON ADVENTURE 02, FIST OF NORTHSTAR,
PRETTY CURE and SLAM DUNK.
Title Synopses:
DIGIMON ADVENTURE 02
3 years after the adventure of Tai and his friends, a new enemy Digimon Kaiser appears in the Digital World and he is out to control all Digimon. The powers of Digimon Kaiser prevent Agumon and other Digimon from Digivolving, causing a big scare. In this pinch a new generation of hero arrives, it's the Veemon! Veemon is able to combine with DigiMental and create a new type of Digimon that has never been seen before. Tai calls upon Daisuke Motomiya, a kid on his soccer team to the Digital World and to fight along with Veemon. What kind of adventures will this new pair run into, but more importantly, will they be able to save the Digital World from the Digimon Kaiser?
The year is 19XX – war has turned the world into a nuclear wasteland.
The oceans have dried up, the land scorched, and it appears as though all life has gone extinct. However, humanity had survived these harsh conditions, only to relapse into society where violence dominates.
In this world of mayhem, a drifter in possession of a lethal fighting style known as the Divine Fist of the North Star wanders through the arid desert. He is Kenshiro, and on his chest he bears 7 wounds as he treks through the wastelands to rescue his lover Yuria who has been kidnapped by Shin, his former friend. Along the way he takes Bat and Lin under his wing as they continue their journey. With the ruins of earth as the backdrop, many come in the way of Kenshiro as he tries to find Yuria in this epic saga!
Nagisa Misumi is an outstanding athlete and daring girl that doesn't take to studying but has a very strong sense of justice. She is one of the most popular students in her class.
Honoka Yukishiro is an honor-roll student always boasting the best grades in her class. At first glance, she may seem rather stuck-up, but actually she's just a bit spacey.
The two are 8th graders at the Verone Junior High School for girls. Nagisa and Honoka each encounter Mepple and Mipple – two mysterious creatures who came down from the sky one night. Mepple and Mipple have fled from their homeland – the Field of Light – in order to escape an attack by the evil force of Dotsuku Zone. These two strange creatures grant Nagisa and Honoka the power to transform into superheroes called "Cure Black" and Cure White", and thus the two girl become guardians of planet Earth.
Using their super powers, the two girls with contrasting lifestyles and personalities work together to battle the evil enemies sent to conquer Earth by Dotsuku Zone.
Hanamichi Sakuragi, an entering freshman at Shohoku High, holds a record for being rejected by 50 girls during middle school. Ever since the last girl turned him down for a guy on the basketball team, Sakuragi's been traumatized by the sport. One day, an unsuspecting Sakuragi is approached by a cute girl who asks him, “do you like basketball?” Sakuragi immediately falls head over heels for this girl, Haruko, and answers “I love it!” Dreaming of the day he can capture Haruko's heart, Sakuragi, who doesn't know a dribble from a dunk, begins his training. But Haruko had her sights set on another freshman, Kaede Rukawa, the superstar rookie. The freshmen pair and the rest of the Shohoku basketball squad begin their season with their sights set on a national championship…
His rivalry with the star rookie Rukawa, and the dominating presence of the towering captain Akagi drives Sakuragi to realize his potential on the court. With Haruko, and his old up-to-no-good gang cheer him on from the sidelines things get heated up! But the competition is stack upon Shohoku! Ryounan High with its superstar player Sendo, top contender Kainan High, along with Touma High, and the towering Shouyo High -- Sakurgai and Shohoku High need go up against these veteran tourney regulars to capture the title. Can Shohoku survive with such tough competition? Will captain Akagi be able to realize his dream of a national championship? For the self-proclaimed “genius” Sakuragi, the battle has just begun!!
COMIC AG DIGITAL NOW AVAILABLE ON DRIVETHRUCOMICS.COM
Hentai/ero manga localizer/publisher DriveThruComics to distribute Comic AG Digital, the online adult manga anthology.
“Icarus Publishing is always exploring fresh ways to deliver the best hentai to the English-speaking market, and DriveThruComics gives us a wonderful opportunity to expose ourselves to the greater mainstream,” says Executive Publisher Simon Jones. “We’ve conducted an exhaustive review of all e-comic distribution services, and it is my firm conclusion that DriveThruComics is the only site manly enough to handle our blistering catalog of sexy Japanese manga action™. All the other e-content sites are too wimpy to dare caress our hotness. Yeah, you know the ones I’m talking about.”
“Every issue of Comic AG Digital features work from the biggest names in the world of manga today. Creators such as Yamatogawa, Yumisuke Kotoyoshi, Yuzuki N’, Syowmaru… these guys are all well-known among scanlation downloaders, rippers, and scallywags of the high seas,” explains Second Assistant to Editor in Chief, Simon Jones. “By practically giving away such a superb magazine - surely, one would expect to pay $5, possibly even $10 dollars a month for a print periodical of comparable quality - DriveThruComics should see a huge surge in interest from the lucrative ‘college student with kickass broadband connection but allegedly little money to spend’ demographic. Which, according to our own scientific research, is 92.8% of the entire internet user base.”
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All issues of Comic AG Digital, including the latest issue #3, are immediately available at DriveThruComics.com for a trifling price of two quarters - or what a fighting game used to cost at the arcades a long, long time ago. Future issues will be released at DriveThruComics first, with a one-month exclusivity period.
Mind Game get English Release (in Australia)
Australia's Madman Entertainment will be releasing a 2 DVD set of Studio 4C's gem Mind Game, marking the first time the movie has been released in English region (the Japanese DVD featured English subtitles)
Begin again in a wild and bizarre ride!
Nishi has been in love with Myon since he was 9 years old. They both had feelings for each other, but due to Nishi's cowardice their relationship never became more than friendship. Now, in the present, Nishi is 20 years old and aims to be a great manga artist; but he still loves Myon. After years of being apart they meet again, but she tells him that she's thinking of marrying her boyfriend. Nishi is still a coward so he accepts it and wishes her luck. While they're talking at her older sister's restaurant a pair of yakuza walk in looking for their father. One of the yakuza starts harassing Myon and out of anger Nishi chooses to finally take a stand -- but he is shot and dies. Now, in limbo, he chooses to live again; but will he really live any differently than before?
DVD Special Features
Animatic Storyboard
Special Interview
Final Sequence Director Commentary
Events and Talks
CG Works
Production Art Gallery
Mindgame Theme Live Performance
Mindgame Music Video
The Yomiuri Shimbun reports that the original version of Osamu Tezuka's classic "Shin Takarajima" (New Treasure Island) will be reprinted for the first time in 62 years in February 2009 by Shogakukan Creative Inc.
"Shin Takarajima" was said to have greatly influenced many other young manga artists of the time, including Shotaro Ishinomori, Fujio Fujiko and Reiji Matsumoto, which lead to the phrase "Shin Takarajima shock."
Via Anime News Network
Scriptwriter Ai Ota (Ultraman Nexus, Turn A Gundam, Inuyasha) has revealed on her official blog that she and Appleseed movie director Shinji Aramaki are working on a new hard science-fiction television anime series called Vipers' Creed.
The story revolves around the members of a private military company (PMC), and the uneasy tension between them and the regular military after a war that caused massive environmental destruction. The other writers are Masanao Akahoshi (Ultraman Möbius, Strain: Strategic Armored Infantry, The Big O), Akira Tanisaki (Zone of the Enders concept advisor), and Keiichi Hasegawa (Ultraman Nexus, The Big O, Astro Boy Tetsuwan Atom).
The Beast Player (Kemono no Soja), fantasy novel by Nahoko Uehashi (Moribito - Guardian of the Spirit) will be adapted into an anime series by Production I.G (Ghost in the Shell, The Sky Crawlers, Blood+) and Transarts (The Prince of Tennis, Vampiyan Kids). Takayuki Hamana (The Prince of Tennis, Library War, Chocolate Underground) will direct off the scripts that will be supervised by Jun'ichi Fujisaku (Blood+, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Real Drive). Takayuki Goto (Hunter X Hunter, Please Save My Earth, Video Girl Ai) will design the characters, and award-winning composer Masayuki Sakamoto (Bleach, Dangaizer 3, Ayaka Hirahara's "Jupiter") will be in charge of the music.
On the heels of the fourth Slayers, fantasy action-comedy, Slayers Revolution, the fifth will be titled Slayers Evolution-R. Evolution-R will continue the storyline begun in Revolution.
The anime adapation of contraversial comedy Kodomo no Jikan (almost released in North America as "Nymphet") will continue with the three volume, direct to video Kodomo no Jikan Second Term. This time they're in fourth grade.
The sixth volume of Kaworu Watashiya's original manga will ship in Japan on January 21 with a limited edition that bundles an all-new anime episode from Kodomo no Jikan Second Term. The bundled 25-minute episode will adapt the popular "Shiro-chan, Kuro-chan" story from the manga.
The 13th Detective Conan/Case Close movie will be Meitantei Conan: Shikkoku no Chaser (Detective Conan: The Jet Black Chaser) , scheduled for April 2009.
A sequel to the live action When They Cry/Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Chikai movie will debut in Japanese theatres in May 2009.
Kentarou Miura and Chika Umino (Honey and Honey) will be trading cover illustrations with Umino drawing an alternative cover for Miura's Berserk and Miura drawing an alternative cover for Umino's new March comes in like a lion.
Young Animal is celebrating the two-way "Miura-Umino" collaboration by giving away an illustration board signed by both creators, ten stainless steel cup sets, and 100 commemorative library cards.
Chika Umino is also drawing the cover and a 16-page manga booklet for the limited November 12 edition of the "Tsuretette Tsuretette" CD single by the Japanese pop music duo Dreams Come True.
The inaugueral issue of good! Afternoon will feature new manga by notable creators including Kousuke Fujishima's (Oh My Goddess!) Paradise Residence, Hiroaki Samura's (Blade of the Immortal)Halcyon Lunch and Masayuki Ishikawa's (Moyashimon Tales of Agriculture) Junketsu no Maria - Sorcière de gré, pucelle de force. Tsutomu Takahashi will restart Ice Blade (Jiraishin) .
Tetsuya Chiba, creator of the classic boxing manga Ashita no Joe, will mark the 50th anniversary of his professional debut and the 40 anniversary of Ashita no Joe with a manga entitled Tomogaki. The 90 page work will be serialized in two parts in Young Magazine.
Aria creator Kozue Amano will launch new manga series Amanchu! in the next issue of Comic Blade
Spirit of Wonder creator Kenji Tsuruta will launch a manga adaptation of adaptation of Shinji Kajio's Sasurai Emanon novel in the December issue of Tokuma Shoten's Monthly Comic Ryu
The title character of the Emanon science fiction novels is a mysterious girl who holds 3 billion years of memories — dating from when life began on Earth until now.
The issue will also feature six science fiction manga short stories that Yoshiki Takaya (The Bio-Booster Armor Guyver, Hades Project Zeorymer) created under his pen name Morio Chimi.
Fist of the North Star artist Tetsuo Hara is launching a spinoff to his Hana no Keiji -Kumo no Kanata ni- manga about the historical samurai figure Maeda Keiji.
The new Gifu Dodo Naoe Kanetsugu -Maeda Keiji Tsuki-Gatari- series will begin in Weekly Comic Bunch on November 7.
All-male theatre troupe Gekidan Studio Life is casting for what they hope will be a two week run of play based on Fruits Basket at The Galaxy Theater in Tokyo, intended to open on February 25.
From beginnings to endings...
After moving from Monthly Gangan Wing (Jinki) to Monthly Comic Blade (Jinki: Extend) to Comic Dengeki Daioh (Jinki -Shinsetsu- ) Sirou Tunasima's mecha manga series will be ending in its third home, as of the December issue. The anime, and part of the Jinki: Extend manga were released in North America by ADV.
Kasumu Kirino has concluded her comedy manga Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan Ripiru (Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-chan Ripiru) in the December issue of ASCII MediaWorks' Dengeki Maoh. The anime version was released in North America by Media Blasters. Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan Ripiru was previously featued in a Masaki Okayu light novel series an Mitsuna Ouse manga series.
naked ape's "stylish crime action" Switch ends in the novel issue of Monthly G Fantasy. A preview of the new anime series can be seen here
If you're going to be at this weekend's Alternative Press Expo (APE), but sure to visit Fanfare / Ponent Mon's booth.
Visitors the Fanfare / Ponent Mo table will have the chance to enter a prize draw to win a selection of Fanfare / Ponent Mon titles. No purchase necessary and the winner need not be present at the draw as the prize will be mailed to them.
First previewed at San Diego Comic-Con, The Quest for the Missing Girl will be available in limited quantities at APE.
On the table will be the entire range of Fanfare / Ponent Mon's output to date with special emphasis on:
The Quest for the Missing Girl by Jiro Taniguchi
Just closed in the OCT. 2008 issue of Previews magazine, Fanfare / Ponent Mon's latest release from manga master Jiro Taniguchi is a seinen manga (men's comic) one-shot about a climber who is called from his peaceful mountain home to the streets of Tokyo to find his best friend's missing daughter. What he encounters is a city where danger lies wait in every alley, school girls sell themselves for money and the truth can be a rare commodity in a city of gleaming skyscrapers and gritty side streets.
Disappearance Diary by Hideo Azuma
"This manga has a positive outlook on life, and so it has been made with as much realism removed as possible."
What would you do if your editors were giving you hell, your deadlines were impossible to meet and you're just a few drinks away from killing yourself? If you're manga artist Hideo Azuma, you run away from it all and become a homeless person. Disappearance Diary is the mostly-true, mostly-humorous story about Azuma's two attempts to 'disappear' from his regular life, his pressure-cooker career as a manga artist, and his eventual stint in rehab when his alcoholism got out of control.
Disappearance Diary is the recipient of the Grand Prize of the 2005
Japanese Media Arts Festival
Also available will be all three Eisner nominated titles:
Japan As Viewed By 17 Creators (2007)
The Walking Man (2007)
The Ice Wanderer and other stories (2008)
Fanfare / Ponent Mon will also be welcoming special guest Sean Michael Wilson, the editor of the upcoming AX Alternative Manga anthology from Top Shelf to their table (#249). Wilson will handing out samplers of AX and will be presenting a talk about Gekiga (Dramatic Pictures) Manga on Sunday, from 5:00 - 5:45 pm at APE.
5:00-5:45 AX and Gekiga: Alternative Manga in Japan—Sean Michael Wilson looks at the roots and contemporary state of indy/alternative manga in Japan, using rare and unseen visuals supplied by the original Gekiga creators of the 1950s and 1960s and info from the editors of AX, the premier alternative anthology in Japan today. Plus, a preview of the upcoming book AX Collection (Top Shelf), which presents a selection of this indy manga for the first time in English.
Wilson has also been working closely with Fanfare / Ponent Mon and is due to take over translation of their series The times of Botchan from the Fifth Volume due in 2009.
Voice actor Andrew Francis who plays Chiaki Mamiya in The Girl Who Leapt Through Time English version will be appearing at the event to sign autographs. Mr. Francis has had numerous anime roles which include “Dilandau” in the TV and movie versions of Escaflowne, “Hiten' in Inuyasha, “Haseo” in .hack//Roots and many, more. Mr. Francis' appearance has been arranged with the cooperation of Ocean Studios.
During the event the regular edition and Limited Edition DVDs will be on sale at a discounted price. Patrons can have their DVDs autographed and everyone attending will also receive a free theatrical sized poster from the film. There will also be a “pudding eating” contest honoring the lead character's first time leap from the story -- the winner of the contest will receive a signed Limited Edition DVD box set.
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (also known as TokiKake) was directed by Mamoru Hosoda with original character designs by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto (Evangelion) and features animation from Studio Madhouse. A continuation of the novel The Little Girl Who Conquered Time by Tsutsui Yasutaka, the film centers on a high school girl, Makoto, who gains the power to go backward in time after a near- death accident at a train crossing. Since its release, the film has received great critical accolades and international awards including the “Best Animated Film” at the thirty-ninth Sitges International Film Festival, “Animation Grand Award” at the sixty-first Mainichi Film Awards, “Animation of the Year” at the thirtieth Japan Academy Prize, and received “Animation of the Year” at the Tokyo International Anime Fair.
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Professor Ian Condry announced that The Cool Japan Resource Project will host Prof. Yoshitaka MORI from Tokyo University of the Arts speaking on "Digital/Mobile Youth in Japan: New Cultural and Political Movements"
Prof. Mori will discuss Japanese young people's emerging understandings of politics and culture. He will focus on the impacts of new digital technologies such as mobile phones on youth culture, while also considering the challenges youth face in finding meaningful employment in the "age of freeter," which refers to a growing prevalence of part-time, temporary, and generally dead-end jobs. As neo-liberal and post-Fordist ideologies become increasingly dominant in Japan, how are young people using new technologies to adapt to contemporary social conditions? Prof. Mori argues they are creating new forms of cultural life as well as organizing new kinds of political movements.
Prof. Mori is one of the leading cultural studies scholars in Japan, and a faculty member at Tokyo Geijutsu Daigaku (Tokyo University of the Arts). His publications in English include the essay "Subcultural Unconscious" in Popular Culture, Globalization and Japan (2006, Allen; Sakamoto, eds.) and in Japanese the book Culture=Politics (Getsuyo-sha, 2003).
The Cool Japan research project acknowledges the generous support of the MIT Japan Program, the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies at Harvard University, and MIT Foreign Languages and Literatures.
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Wizard World Texas (November 7-9) has announced that their anime programming with feature guests Sonny Strait and Mike McFarland.
With top anime talent Sonny Strait and Mike McFarland on hand as well as weekend-long screenings of some of the biggest anime series around, Wizard World Texas is quickly becoming the place to go for fans of all things Japan!
On Sunday from noon to 1 p.m. in the Wizard School Room, Sonny Strait hosts the "From Anime To Manga" panel. Sonny Strait, voice actor, writer and director on such shows as “Dragonball Z” and “Fullmetal Alchemist” and cartoonist on DC Comics’ Elfquest and Tokyopop’s We Shadows answers all your questions on breaking into the business of two very different fields and what it takes to maintain relevance in them. Joining Sonny is Mike McFarland, voice actor, writer and director on such shows as “Ouran High School Host Club” and “Dragonball Z.” Subjects will include techniques, training, auditioning and more.
FUNimation will feature to the event with screenings of:
SATURDAY
10:00 AM One Piece Episodes 1-2
11:00 AM School Rumble Season Two Episodes 1-2
12:00 PM Darker Than Black Episodes 1-2
1:00 PM Ouran High School Host Club Episodes 1-2
2:00 PM Devil May Cry Episodes 1-2
3:00 PM Shin Chan Season Two Episodes 1-2
4:00 PM Afro Samurai
SUNDAY
11:00 AM xxxHOLiC Episodes 1-2
12:00 PM Tsubasa Season Two Episodes 1-2
1:00 PM Jyu-Oh-Sei Episodes 1-2
2:00 PM Black Lagoon Episodes 1-2
3:00 PM Negima Spring & Summer Specials
4:00 PM Vexille
Dark Horizon notes that the CG animated game spin-off "Resident Evil: Degeneration" will be exhibited in the US at the New York City Horror Film Festival on November 13th and at a screening in Los Angeles on November 18th hosted by Fangoria. The movie will be released in on DVD and Blu-ray in North America on December 30th.
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Nausicaa.net reports that Hayao Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind will be receiving midnight shows in LA and Denver
* LA - Nuart Theater
o Friday, November 14 - My Neighbor Totoro
o Friday, December 12 - Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
* Denver - Esquire Theater
o Friday, November 21 - My Neighbor Totoro
o Friday, December 19 - Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
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Otaku News notes the Barbican in London will be screening Sword of the Stranger on Tuesday 25th November 2008. Helen McCarthy will be speaking at the screening.
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Actually reading from Japan (Tokyo specifically)? Then check out the Shintaro Kago screening at Tokyo's avant-gallery, Cafe FLYING TEAPOT on Halloween.
The Super7 Snakes of Infinity Halloween Set 2008 comes to a close with the fourth and final figure in the group, the Halloween Hood Zombie.
The Hood Zombie follows Stomp, Squirm and Zag Zombie in this years Halloween set, each dressed in the traditional Super7 October atire, orange and black. This 5" Shocker-Style Zombie figure is cast in clear orange vinyl with black, yellow, silver, and orange spray with removeable gloves and hood, to hide hs spooky skull head and skeleton hands.
The Halloween 2008 Hood Zombie will be offered for sale at $55, Saturday November 1st, 11am Pacific at the Super7 Store in San Francisco and online.
Kotobukiya and internet retailer Action Figure Xpress will be offering two Iron Man Movie Fine Art Busts: Mark II Armor and Tony Stark early next year. Each exclusive will be limited to just 500 pieces, along with a limited edition two-pack featuring both busts packaged together with a certificate of authenticity.
The first bust features Iron Man in his Mark II Armor with light up repulsor hand and marquee base. The second bust features Iron Man in his Mark III Armor with visor up, revealing the man beneath the armor – Tony Starkw with the likeness of actor Robert Downey, Jr..
Please note that images shown are prototypes currently under revision with Marvel, and the final product will vary.
STAR WARS THE CLONE WARS ARTFX+ STATUES
SERIES THREE: SITH
A KOTOBUKIYA Japanese import
The figures each come with two interlocking bases, featuring the logo for either the Confederacy Of Independent Systems or Clone Wars. The statues have magnetic feet allowing you to display them as you wish on the metal plated bases.
Each figure includes a bonus part that when assembled makes an exclusive ARTFX+ statue – series three includes a holographic Darth Sidious and characters comes with additional bonus arms that can be used to customize General Grievous.
PLUS with only three characters in each themed series, it is one of the easiest build-a-figure programs to complete.
GENERAL GRIEVOUS – (6” tall, crouched) leader of the droid forces of the Confederacy of Independent Systems wields multiple lightsabers, trophies from the many Jedi he’s slain in combat. He comes with two arms and a removable cloak.
ASAJJ VENTRESS – (6 1/3” tall) trained in the Sith arts, Ventress undertakes missions for Count Dooku and Darth Sidious during the Clone Wars. She can be displayed with her trademark light saber as two separately units, or connected as one deadly weapon. She also includes bonus double right arms that can be used with Grievous.
COUNT DOOKU – (7 4/5” tall) a formidable statesman and duelist, Dooku was once a respected Jedi, yet leads a double life as Darth Tyranus, Dark Lord of the Sith. His weapons include red lightsaber with distinctive curved handle, and two left hands – display as either a fist, or with force lightning at this fingertips. Dooku also includes bonus double left arms that can be used with the Grievous figure.
Collect all three of the evil Sith followers and assemble the bonus parts into an exclusive statue of:
DARTH SIDIOUS - (6” tall) using the guise of Senator Palpatine, Sidious manipulated the Republic and orchestrated the Clone Wars to bring about his grand plan: eliminate the Jedi Order and bring the universe under the rule of the Sith. Shrouded in mystery during the Clone Wars, Sidious is only seen in the series in his holographic form.
ARTFX+ Statues are fun-to-assemble prepainted snap-fit kits that can be easily put together in seconds without glue or modeling skill.
LINEBARRELS OF IRON: MIU KUJYOU ANI*STATUE
A KOTOBUKIYA Japanese import, based on the new Gonzo mecha show (watchable on Crunchy Roll). The 1/8th scale, 7" statue is sculpted by Naoki Nishimura
srp $49.99
Available in MARCH
(C)2008????•????•????/GONZO/????????????
LINEBARRELS OF IRON- YUPON STYLE ONE COIN MINI FIGURES
A KOTOBUKIYA Japanese import of Yupon's recognizable swirly-eyed figure.
Each of the 10 mini-figures is made of pvc and abs plastic, and sold in individual Mystery Box packages for added collectability.
LINEBARREL
KOUICHI HAYASE
MORITSUGU REIJI
EMI KIZAKI
SATORU YAMASHITA
SHIZUNA ENDO
IZUNA ENDO
MIU KUJYOU
PLUS TWO UNADVERTISED ~MYSTERY~ CHARACTERS!
srp $4.99 each
Available in MAY
(C)2008????•????•????/GONZO/????????????
SUPER ROBOT TAISEN: VALSIONE FINE SCALE MODEL KIT
A KOTOBUKIYA Japanese import, featuring Oone of the more unique designs in Super Robot Taisen, the VALSIONE robot features a human female head. The agile winged mecha has appeared as a playable unit in many of the Super Robot Wars video games.
Valsione stands 6 3/5 inches tall (1/144th scale), and is comprised of over 240 parts. The mecha requires assembly, but painting is optional as the pieces are cast in different colored plastic. Building is simplified with the included pictorial assembly instructions. The completed Valsione has 30 points of articulation and includes a variant face, hyper beam cannon, and divine arm weapon.
KANNAGI –CRAZY SHRINE MAIDENS- NAGI ANI*STATUE
A KOTOBUKIYA Japanese import, based on the soon to be anime-adapted manga series. Masato Abe sculpts the moe character in a 5 inches tall (in her seated position, at 1/7th scale) statue with interchangeable faces.
TO ARU MAJUTSU NO INDEX - KAORI KANZAKI ANI*STATUE
A KOTOBUKIYA Japanese import, based on the novel series, soon to be anime coverning the story of a world where science-based superhumans live side by side with magic-users.
Kaori is approximately 9 inches tall (1/8th scale) when perched upon her rocky base. This pvc plastic Ani*Statue is sculpted for Kotobukiya by Abira.
TEARS TO TIARA: ERMIN ANI*STATUE
A KOTOBUKIYA Japanese import based role-playing game Tears to Tiara: Kakan no Daichi (“Earth’s Wreath”) for the PlayStation 3, based on 2005’s Tears to Tiara. (Soon to be adapted into anime). Ermin stands 6 ½ inches tall (1/8 scale), and has solid pvc and abs plastic construction.
THE KOTOBUKIYA COLLECTION – MARVEL STUDIOS
BLADE MOVIE FINE ART BUST
Next in the line of Marvel Studios Fine Art Busts from The Kotobukiya Collection presents he vampire-hunting Daywalker, played by Wesley Snipes, is reproduced with incredible attention to detail in cold cast porcelain at 1/6 scale, measuring over 10 inches tall.
The statue features two swappable heads – one normal and one with fangs bared, as well as Blade’s signature sunglasses,
The Blade Fine Art Bust sits atop a deluxe marquee-style base with the film’s logo that lights up.
THE KOTOBUKIYA COLLECTION - MARVEL STUDIOS
FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER
THING FINE ART BUST
A KOTOBUKIYA Japanese import based FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER. In 1/6th scale with all of the other Fine Art Busts, the Shinichi Suzuki sculpted mighty Thing is almost 10” tall.
MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS: THE KOTOBUKIYA COLLECTION
CAPTAIN AMERICA: WINTER SOLDIER FINE ART STATUE
Fully 13 inches tall, Winter Soldier is constructed of cold cast porcelain and is a limited, numbered edition. The stone base is actually the shape and style of Captain America’s shield, hinting that another half of the base may be coming to The Kotobukiya Collection in the near future...
Organic Hobby, Inc in conjunction with Beagle will be releasing Renji Murata PSE Product #002 - Chris to the U.S. market in December.
"Renji Murata PSE Product #002 - Chris" was created once again by the famous illustrator, artist and designer, Renji Murata. Renji "Range" Murata is a Japanese artist and designer, known for his unique style combining Art Deco and Japanese anime elements. He is best known for his conceptual design work on anime series Last Exile and Blue Submarine No. 6. "Renji Murata PSE Product #002 - Chris" is a 1/7 scale PVC figure and comes in a window box.
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Following the success of the original 8" flocked Domo vinyl figures released last spring, Dark Horse Deluxe has been granted permission to produce a new line of limited-edition 5.5" Domo figures in new variant colors. Dark Horse points out that they are the single Domo licensee authorized to create products in colors other than traditional Classic Brown.
In addition to their own line, which includes Polar White, Earl Grey, Olive Green, Ruby Red, and Classic Brown, Dark Horse has partnered with Hot Topic for three custom colors—Lime Green, Sky Blue, and True Yellow—as well as Newbury Comics for an exclusive Orange edition.
There will also be a special Grass Green edition to be sold exclusively for international distribution. All ten new 5.5" Domo colors are scheduled to release in November.
Anime News Network learn that FUNimation has filed suit against a group of related companies in Southern California for allegedly selling counterfeit DVDs of its licensed anime on a website
FUNimation is alleging that a California resident named Hae Yong Ro and four affiliated businesses — N Trading, Inc, Discount Anime DVD, BuyDVD.com, and DOES — infringed on FUNimation and its licensers' copyrights and trademarks by selling unauthorized copies of Fruits Basket, Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragonball GT, and Fullmetal Alchemist. Some of the DVDs are said to have included English dubbing.
What this merger seems to indicate is that Hatchette seems pretty serious about Yen Press and it’s stake in the manga market. At 1% market share (which is a bit less than Dark Horse’s 3.5%, but still much larger than publishers like Broccoli Books) and with upcoming releases like The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, it’s apparent that Yen Press is poised to start playing with the big dogs. This is a good thing, and I think that this merge is not a sign of bad things, but rather, a re-commitment to the two imprints and their management.
Anime News Network relays that Kadokawa Group Holdings, the parent company of Kadokawa Shoten, ASCII MediaWorks, Enterbrain, Fujimi Shobo, has reported a dropped 6.8% from the previous year's first half to 69.575 billion yen (about US$711.3 million) in the first six months of this fiscal year (April-September).
While the company's operating profit was 1.01 billion yen (US$10 million) and its ordinary profit was 1.487 billion yen (US$15.2 million), it wrote off a loss in securities to end up with a net loss of 1.854 billion yen (US$18.95 million). Despite the net loss at the halfway mark, Kadokawa Group Holdings projects a net profit of 100 million yen (US$1 million) at the end of the fiscal year.
Strong contributors to their financials included Lucky Star , Junjo Romantica, and Cho Gekijoban Keroro Gunso 3: Keroro Tai Keroro - Tenku Daikessen de Arimasu!, as well as the Blu-ray Disc sales of Full Metal Panic!
Manga Blog tracks down signs of life from yaoi publisher DramaQueen
From LadyQ posts on the DramaQueen forums
It has been a very rocky year for DQ, but I’m very happy to let you know first on the forum, that we’re getting back to printing.
The schedule is that we will print 1 book every 6-8 weeks until we pick up again with multiple titles. The first book to arrive in September is Tyrant Falls in Love v01 - FINALLY!!!!
"Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea," (Miyazaki anime) "Boys Over Flowers," (based on manga) "The Magic Hour," (based on manga) "Detroit Metal City" and "20th Century Boys", (based on manga) were considerable contributor to Toho's film distribution sales in the recently close fiscal year.
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On the non-anime, Asian media front...
ADV's Chris Oarr spoke to ICV2 on the Switchblade live action line here, with release details here
Kaiju Shakedown reports that Michelle Krumm is one of five high level executives who are leaving Weinstein Company by the of the year. As one of the exec VPs in charge of acquisitions and production focusing on North America, Australia and Asia, Krumm brought TOM YUM GOONG (aka THE PROTECTOR) to the company. Shakedown's Grady Hendrix mentions "I'm told she was also the person who acquired SHA PO LANG (aka KILL ZONE), CITY OF VIOLENCE and NIGHTMARE DETECTIVE. "
VIZ Media has announced special December issues of its magazines, SHONEN JUMP and SHOJO BEAT, highlighting a variety of the latest video game titles and trends. The December issues of SHONEN JUMP and SHOJO BEAT go on sale nationwide on November 4th and 18th respectively.
Each magazine will also feature a holiday sweepstakes for a Nintendo Wii video game system. The Wii sweepstakes invites readers to submit an entry by mail or email explaining which Wii game they are most excited to play and why. Entries will be put into a random drawing, and one winner will be selected from each set of magazine submissions. Details on the sweepstakes are outlined in each of the December 2008 issues and readers can enter by mail or via the magazine websites www.shonenjump.com and www.shojobeat.com.
The December issue of Shonen Jump features an extended “Games We Love” will a year end game awards segment a retrospective of 2008, as well as new reviews and information on Naruto games from Namco Bandai, Tomy and Ubisoft.
SHOJO BEAT will look at the new games for the holiday season and name its "Top 7 Video Game Heroines." In addition, SHOJO BEAT includes a special supplement, the official guide to the hit shojo (girls) manga series VAMPIRE KNIGHT, as well as look at vampire themed games.
01-06-2009
Hell Girl Season One Box Set - $69.98
Ouran Host Club Season 1 Part 2 - 312 mins - $59.98
01-13-2009
Moon Phase Complete Collection (Viridian Collection) - 650 mins - $49.98
Yu Yu Hakusho Set 4 - 700 mins - $34.98
01-20-2009
009-1 Complete Box Set - 300 mins - $49.98
Darker Than Black Vol. #2
One Piece Season 1 Part 3 - 320 mins - $49.9
Wallflower Complete Collection Part 1 - 325 mins - $59.98
01-27-2009
Baccano! Vol. #1 (also w/box)
Case Closed Season 4 Box Set - 600 mins - $49.98
Fullmetal Alchemist Season 1 Box Set - 660 mins - $69.98
One Piece Movie 8: Episodes of Alabasta - 90 mins - $24.98
Str.A.In.: Strategic Armored Infantry Box Set - 325 mins - $59.98
Utawarerumono Box Set - 600 mins - $69.98
Distributed Geneon releases
01-13-2009
Lyrical Nanoha A Box Set- 325 mins - $49.98
Shonen Omnyouji Vol. #5
01-27-2009
Story of Saiunkoku Part 3 - 300 mins - $59.98
Familiar of Zero Box Set Packaging can be seen here
Gundam 00 Dated For North American TV
io9 reports that the latest in the Gundam mecha-war franchise, Gundam 00 will be airing on Sci-Fi Channel's AniMonday starting on November 19th.
Viz Proposes Holiday Gift Ideas
VIZ Media will be making the following products available for the holiday season
NARUTO MANGA BOX SET• Rated “T” for Teens • MSRP: $174.99 US / $192.99 CAN
The first 27 volumes of tMasashi Kishimoto's popular ninja manga, as well as a special 2-sided full-color poster and an exclusive 8-page Shinobi Mini-Guide are included as bonus features.
BLEACH MANGA BOX SET• Rated “T” for Teens • MSRP: $149.99 US / $164.99 CAN
21 volumes of Tite Kubo's Tite Kubo's supernatural action manga, along with an exclusive double-sided full-color poster and collector’s booklet.
DEATH NOTE MANGA BOX SET• Rated “T+” for Older Teens • MSRP: $99.99 US / $109.99 CAN
The complete 12 volumes of Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata's thriller, long with DEATH NOTE: HOW TO READ 13. The exclusive bonus for this box set is Death Note: How To Use It, a 64-page compilation of all the rules for using the mystical Death Note.
COLLECTOR’S EDITIONS • MSRP: $19.99 each / $23.50 CAN •
VIZ Media SHONEN JUMP Collector’s Editions celebrate some of manga’s most notable series with premium versions of the first volumes featuring hard covers, full-color dust jackets, heavier paper stock and larger-sized presentations (5.75 x 8.25 inches) that include several full-color pages not featured in the original volumes. SHONEN JUMP COLLECTOR’S EDITIONS include BLEACH, NARUTO, YU-GI-OH!, DEATH NOTE, DRAGON BALL and DRAGON BALL Z.
THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: THE OCARINA OF TIME Parts 1 and 2 •
Rated “A” for All Ages • MSRP: $7.99 US / $10.50 CAN
NARUTO: THE BOY NINJA Vols. 1-4 • Recommended for Ages 7-10 •
MSRP: $4.99 US/$5.99 CAN
VIZKIDS's Naruto chapter books
Bleach SOULs. Official Character Book • Rated “T” for Teens •
MSRP: $14.99 US / $17.50 CAN
Extensive information on the characters and story arcs featured in volumes 1-22. It also includes exclusive stickers, a full-color poster, the original BLEACH one-shot story pilot, and a rare interview with creator/artist Tite Kubo
The Art of BLEACH: ALL COLOUR BUT THE BLACK •
MSRP: $19.99 US / $23.50 CAN
This art book contains Tite Kubo's vibrant illustrations, including art from Volumes 1-19 of the series, as well as an annotated art guide and extra character information.
The Arina Tanemura Collection: The Art of Full Moon •
MSRP: $19.99 US / $23.99 CAN
A comprehensive collection of Arina Tanemura’s distinctive art from the hit shojo manga series FULL MOON, as well as art from Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne, Short-Tempered Melancholic, and I•O•N.
SOLANIN • Rated “T+” for Older Teens • MSRP: $17.99 US / $21.00 CAN
College graduates struggle to cope with the real world and music offers refuge in this modern manga with an American indie comic attitude. Meiko Inoue is a recent college grad working in a job that she hates and having issues with her freeloading boyfriend. Straddling the line between her years as a student and the rest of her life, Meiko struggles with the feeling that she's just not cut out to be a part of the real world. SOLANIN was written and illustrated by award-winning creator Inio Asano and was originally published as a two-volume series but will be released by VIZ Media as a single omnibus edition and includes six color pages.
OEL Fantasy Action Soul Chaser Betty in December Previews
Brian BMAN Babendererde's anime and manga inspired action Soul Chaser Betty will be available for pre-order in the December 2008 edition of Diamond Previews. Books ship to comic shops in February 2009.
Soul Chaser Betty began life as a popular web comic, originally syndicated on GraphicSmash.com as a launch title. After its completion, it moved to its permanent archive location at Web Comics Nation. To see the book from its beginning, or view character bios, you can go here
Action, adventure and mythology collide in the “awesome” 1980’s when teenage Betty learns to fight back against an evil necromancer and his demonic allies from the land of dream. Soul Chaser Betty combines fun action, other worldly creatures, and cute girls to tell the story of a very strange summer vacation.
Soul Chaser Betty is aimed at readers who enjoy independent black and white comics, Manga and Anime, as well as mythological fantasy and 80s nostalgia. Its strong, independent heroines attract women readers who like stories about girls taking charge, but also male readers who like sexy tomboys kicking butt and taking names. Its sense of fun adventure is layered over a deeper background of ancient mythologies, allowing it to be enjoyed by both casual and serious readers.
Worth Checking Out...
An official, English language site for Shotaro Ishinomori, creator of Kamen Rider, Kikaider, and Cyborg 009
Episodes 78 of Right Stuf's Anime Today podcast features an interview with Justin Sevakis – Anime News Network’s director of new media – to episode 78 of ANIME TODAY.
In this new interview, Sevakis discusses the video section of the Anime News Network (ANN) site, which currently hosts more than 300 anime trailers, episodes of ANNtv, news features and convention coverage. Sevakis also talks about how the section developed, from concept to execution, and shares ANN’s future online media plans.
Going back a bit, check out Journalista praise of the manga here
In theory, it’s a science fiction story: Several decades after an unspecified eco-apocalypse has decimated Japan’s population and plunged half the island nation underwater, a very human-seeming female android named Alpha keeps watch over a small coffeehouse in the countryside while her never-seen owner wanders on an equally unspecified trip abroad. She keeps a small pistol nearby, but otherwise makes no mention of it; her routine revolves around waking up each morning, brewing a pot of coffee and opening the small adjunct to her house that serves as the cafe. Every once in a while, she even has a customer, though just as many stories take place when she doesn’t as otherwise.
After the speech, [Prime Minister Taro Aso] attended an event in the area aimed at promoting pop culture and went on a talk show to discuss manga and other elements of Japan's so-called soft power, together with cartoonists Takao Saito and Kenshi Hirokane. During the event, Aso enthusiastically talked about his passion for manga.
Aso is known to be well versed in manga, anime and other aspects of pop culture favored by enthusiasts dubbed otaku.
