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E D I T O R I A L
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I had said before in an article that Hiyao Miyazaki is considered to be
the East equivalent of Walt Disney. His family orientated anime and
cute, lovable characters like Kiki from Kiki's Delivery Service or the
cute fuzzy Totoro from My Neighbor Totoro are hard for even adults to
resist the purity and childlike story lines. Of course he has had other
mature themes for a story line such as Graveyard of the FireFlies, but
he hasn't had a more violent anime such as Mononoke Hime which is due to
come out in October here in the States. The irony in these scenes is
that though there is a fight between man and nature, and it is full of
violence and blood there were also the reminder of how beautiful the
forest was. In every scene the more violent it is the more amazing the
background is. Tarzan is much the same way, the more violent it was the
more amazing and beautiful the background. It seems that both these
flims have the same idea showing that where there is pain and suffering
there is still beauty all around us, a very strong point that is made
very clear. In Disney's Tarzan, the beauty of the jungle is the same as
that of the forests in Mononoke Hime. Though the jungle scenes appear to
have been created more by computer graphics, Mononoke Hime's forest
scenes were done the old fashion way: sending artists out to areas in
which this movie is taking place in, draw as much detail to the area so
that it seems that you actually had lived there and remembered how it
would look back in the Mononoke era of Japan. The animation in Tarzan is still
great. Some of the best that Disney has done, be it as it may, we're
going to be seeing more and more of computers in animation and I am glad
that Disney has used it in such a artful way.
The other thing that Tarzan showed is that America is catching up with
Japanese Animation. Mononoke was considered one of the best animated
films when it came out, and Tarzan is just as good. The only draw back
is that it's Disney that has done it. I would have liked to see a
smaller animation company advance US animation to this point, but it was
Disney that did. Which is not a bad thing and I take what I can get. I
also look at it like this, if Disney plows the water with new and better
animation that the rest will follow in Disney's foot steps. So hopefully
we will see more and more animation like Mononoke Hime and Tarzan coming
from Warner Brothers, and other companies.
Ran Chan & Bink
A N I M E * R E V I E W
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By: Masakazu Katsura
Available: Now
Distributed by: Viz
This is an interesting OVA series. Though the purpose of the video girl
is to comfort guys, Ai's main purpose becomes the main theme of the
whole series. Heck bound in trying to work on Yota's courage and
self worth, she's also working on coupling Moemi and Yota. What she
doesn't realize is that she herself is falling in love with Yota,
something that is forbidden for Video Girls to do.
Ai is spunky, hilarious and falling in love with Yota. I did think that
the Japanese voice actress, Megumi Hiyashibara, did a great job in
voicing Ai-chan. Her spunkiness and energy of Ai-chan reminds me a lot
of other characters that Megumi has voiced for. Such characters as Ranma
girl form from Ranma 1/2, Nuku from Girl Cat Nuku Nuku, Lime from Saber
Marionette J and Lina Inverse from Slayers. Yota's innocence and good
heart makes him known as the no-girlfriend-geek of the school. When
Ai-chan followed him to school one day the whole class was surprised to
hear that Yota even had a girlfriend (though he played it down that Ai
was his younger sister. Once he said that the whole class went back to
other business ignoring Yota and Ai waving to everyone)! There was even
a scene in which he was standing in front of a boutique thinking of
buying Ai-chan a dress where he's blushing. And let us not forget the
young Mr. Popular Nimai Kun who is adored by every teenage girl in
school. Like any popular guy he plays in a band, doesn't care what the
girls think, and is oblivious that Moemi is in love with him! In fact,
he's encouraging Yota to get together with Moemi! Yikes! What a
predicament eh?
There are brief scenes of nudity and adult situations. This seems more
like an anime that pleases older teenagers to adults (I think this is
rated PG-13). I do warn you that this anime runs like a music video and
the interpretation at the end is really weird. But all in all this was a
hilarious and cute video. Does Moemi choose Youta or Nimai-kun? Does
Amano Ai leave without letting Youta know how she feels? Find out for
yourself! It's now available thanks to Viz. Last I had read in
AnimeAmerica this is $24.95 for dubbed and $29.95 for the subtitled
version.
A N I M E * C D * R E V I E W
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1. Invitationto the Charm of Darkness (Opening Theme)
2. Cool Love
3. Mad Rhythm
4. Night Battle Party
5. Chaos Flare
6. Endless Battle Game
7. Pure Yet Alone
8. Bluffman
9. Oriental Sisters
10. Artman
11. Murder Pentagram
12. Space Symphonic
13. Memories
14. A Sad Destiny
15. Precious Spirit
16. Dark Diamond
17. Planet Burning
18. Destruction of God
19. The Final Kiss
20. The Disappearing Light
21. Escape from the Labyrinth
Z(A/U)gg
M A N G A * R E V I E W
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Initial sales to the comic market through Diamond Comic Distributors,
America's largest comic distributor, have
steadily climbed from No. 96 among initial sales in March to No. 56 in
June (outselling series by Marvel, DC, Image,
and Dark Horse). When adding the total sales from other stores and
distribution, Pokémon outsells all other
comics, and is now selling through more outlets than ever before:
Newsstand Distribution: Target 7-11
Retail Stores: Blockbuster (Canada), Warner Bros. Studio Stores,
Babbages, Hot Topic, Wizards of the Coast retail
outlets
Toy Stores: KB, Toys 'R Us, etc.
M O N O N O K E * N E W S
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In the dub over it matches very close to when they call her son. While
this is not bad, it just shows
that the companies can not seem to leave a good thing alone. If they had
left it alone then Mononoke would still have that mystery of almost not
being human. Her being nameless kept the idea that she was more animal
than human. The fact that they now have named her in my opinion, takes
away that animal quality of her.
So check out Animefantastique and find out if Mononoke Hime Is this the
greatest animated film ever made.
A N I M E * N E W S
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The problem is that there are two more movies that are opening at the
same time....Unlike here in the states the two companies that are
releasing their movies are in no way intimidated by the Star Wars titan.
The first one that is gong to be released is Pocket Monsters Revelation
Lugia the sequel to one released last summer, and My Neighbors the
Yamadas done by Studio Ghibli which haven't released a movies since
Mononoke which was done in 1997 so a new film from Ghibli has been long
awaited for by the Japanese public. Unlike the movies that were released
along with SWPM in the States...these are not token movies that where
just put out (Such as the 13th Floor and Notting Hill...which where
movies that the companies knew that either way the movie wasn't going to
be affected that much by SWPM since it targeted a way different movie
going crowd) but the two movies that are going to be released in Japan
target almost the exact same movie going crowd, but they have the power
to go toe to toe with Lucas' Mega hit.
Pocket Monster (the first one) totally walked all over Godzilla taking
in 34.6 million US dollars compared to Godzilla's 25 million. Pocket
Monsters will be opening July 17 in 260 theaters. So it's safe to assume
that this is a movie that the people want to see. It may not be opening
in the same number of theaters as SWPM but it opened in the same number
of theaters last year when it beat Godzilla. The wild card of he summer
will be Ghibli's My Neighbors the Yamadas, which is based on a long
running Comic Strip. But Ghibli has the reputation that has the
potential to gross 157 million US dollars with Mononoke and since that
movie came out in 1997, the people are definitely eager for a new movie
from Ghibli, not to mention that My Nieghbor the Yamadas is a very
popular comic strip. This movie is opening July 10th or 17th and opening
in 260 theaters showing no fear that SWMP may swamp it under....and why
should it? Ghibli has the reputation and the comic strip it is based on
is extremely popular in Japan so it has the fan base in many ways that
Pocket monster does.
So while SWPM still might make the new box office recorded in Japan,
it's not going to be that easy of a fight and it might take some opening
day losses because of it. When these movies open in Japan they well have
nearly half of the theaters in Japan, not leaving room for many other
movies that might be coming it. So which movie is going to come out as
the top dog in box office records? My bet is it will be on SWPM of the
movie going crowd polled in Tokyo alone 85% of the movie going corwd
claimed that they could hardly wait for SWPM to get there. We all know
how polls are though, it's not safe to bet anything just based on a
poll. Marketing has been going on for a year for SWPM and it has spent
the same amount of money on the marketing as Titanic and that movie
brought in 260 million doallrs. However I think the only safe assumption
to make is that any other movie coming out that July week is going to be
lost in the power struggle for top billing.
Toshio Suzuki states that this picture illustrates what one might call
Japan's proposal for a global standard. The Yamada family is a typical
family of Japan, one that we feel very nostalgic about, we feel that
this is the ideal average family. Suzuki continues to say that the movie
doesn't have a story, but more of a combination of small excerpts. It's
like everyday life; that's why we decided not to have a central story.
We (Studio Ghilbli) wanted to make a film without a story. Early reviews
of the movie have claimed that it is a most daring, innovative animation
seen in a long time. There are three styles of animation in this soon to
be released film; What one might call traditional Ghibli neo-realistic
scenes, black and white line art recalling the simple cartooney style of
he original manga, The last style is a water color washes of the most
exquisite delicacy, are combined to control the mood and atmosphere of a
series of vignette from everyday life.
Needless to say there are a lot of fans here in the US who are going to
have to wait for the chance to see if Studio Ghibli has come out with
yet another hit. Even if the story it's self is not something I care
for, I still want to see the new advances in animation that Ghibli have
come up with.
SHOPPING: The Ranma 1/2 Hard Battle Box Set is now available!
ANIME: Five new reviews, plus our monthly list of new anime available in
English
MANGA: Spotlight on Animerica Extra, plus manga reviews and our list of
new manga available in English
GAMES: What shocking secrets await within Japan's arcades? Plus games
reviews and new releases
FEATURE: Yuji Oniki samples a range of Japanese bands that are unlikely
to make it to America
Check it out at http://www.j-pop.com!
Roger was talking about his love for animation and how he hoped
"Princess Mononoke" would be a big breakthrough for adult animation
here in North America. He praised the film and wished that everyone
would see this movie. He also recommended people see Kiki's
and Totoro, which Mr. Medved gave a thumbs up to as well.
It seems that Roger Ebert continues to be one of the biggest supporter
of Anime. He continues to support Anime as a valid art form and seems
almost eager to see more anime come across e ocean onto American shores.
The Quick Search accesses all data fields in our inventory. You can type
in
'pony canyon,' for example, and results will be returned that have that
value
in the manufacturer's field; you can also have some fun and type in
'stunning,' and see that we have used that word in the comments field to
describe 12
different products in our database. (Thankfully, we have only used
'phat'
once, though...)
The Browse allows for grazing across many different combinations of
genres
(anime, jpop, games, etc.) and formats (books, cd's, ld's, etc.) Most of
the
categories are pretty fleshed out already, but there are some in the
domestic
anime and videogame arenas that are vacant at the moment--stay tuned
over the
next month for full details, though, on Tokyo Pop's next evolution...in
addition to our constantly growing line of imports, we also hope to be
your
domestic anime supplier of choice by midsummer!
We've also begun to pump a bit more content onto the site recently--you
can
check out the the first example of this sort of thing by accessing the
News
link in the Videogame display on our homepage. This page is going to be
updated often with bits and bytes from our staffers both in Japan and
stateside--and
we'll be launching similar news- and feature-services in the anime,
jpop, and
manga areas soon. The ultimate goal, of course, is to produce enough
constantly updated and rotating copy that you'll want to come back every
day...and our
intrepid editor, Mr. Brian Kaya, will not rest until we get there.
G A M E * R E V I E W
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For those of us that love the Final Fantasy series and for those that
have just started playing the genre with FF7, and for those that are
breathlessly waiting for the release of FF8, do I have a surprise for
you! Square Soft has recently released FF6, along with a three CD set
containing FF4, FF5, FF6 to the delight of FF fans everywhere. This is a
re-release so don't expect dazzling new graphics, it's going to be like
playing the Super Nintendo versions on your PS. But hey that will be
part of the fun of playing the old games....would they still be as good
if Square soft had revamped them to look like FF7? Besides for the old
fans who really cares if the graphics are not as good as the latest
ones, these are the games that got us hooked to begain with right? And
for the newer fans you finally get the chance to see what all the fuss
is about. I would be more than thrilled to see Square Soft eventually come out with the first
three as well. But since four five and six are coming out with FF8,
maybe when FF9 makes the scene Square soft will release the first three.
That would be something I would look forward to being able to re-play the
whole series, I can't think of a better way to spend my time on the old
PS.
Now for the draw backs to this great concept of putting out these
classics. Right now the game is an import item only. So not only does
your PS need to have NTS compatibility but also someone that speaks
Japanese to translate for you. So unless that person is a very good
friend that will sit with you for hour and hours on end to translate the
story and dialog it'll be a little confusing playing the game without
the translator.
The other thing is that there has been no press release on when it
might be released in America, which tends to show that it might not be
for a while. The good news in all the disappointment is that no one is
ruling out an English language conversion, most likely either before or
after the release of FF8 we'll be able to get our hands on the new
re-releases.
W H A T / W H E R E / W H O on A N I M E * O N L I N E
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A N I M E * F A N F I C
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