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By popular demand, here’s what we–and by we I mean Clarissa–think of the Fall 2006 anime lineup. What we watched of it, anyway. Death Note and D. Gray-Man were covered in Show # 39.
Introduction (0:00 – 29:29)
This episode proves why all audio editing should be done while wearing headphones. In trying out the new equipment, the resulting recording varied wildly in audio levels. Much of the audio had to be amplified a lot, which introduced a lot of static. We tried using the Noise Removal feature of Audacity at a very low setting, and while it sounds okay on speakers, on headphones you can hear this near-constant distortion/static in the background. Oh well, I suppose it’s steps that must be taken to learn how non-headset microphones, preamps, and all that jazz actually work.
Be that as it may, we read some more emails. Miraculously, someone went and read Phoenix per our recommendations! Perhaps it would be more than that if only people could actually FIND places selling it, since even online stores like Amazon don’t tend to have it. We then talk about the state of horror in anime, or rather the lack thereof. Dear Japan: vampires do not a horror anime make. We also give our thoughts on Hellsing as well as Lone Wolf & Cub. Plus, Michael Wishlow sent all of us a bunch of crazy untranslated things on DVD. Gerald reveals that the only thing in this world that causes him fear is the thought of nonhuman entities aboard spaceships, and in anime’s defense, it’s at least got a good bit of that. No wonder Michael gave him the copy of Roots Search.
Oh, one more thing. The Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid Vol 1 contest giveaway has concluded. We did the drawing on 11/16, so the winners will probably receive their prizes long before Show # 40 actually gets edited and uploaded.
Let’s News! (29:29 – 43:16)
The RahXephon thinpack set which ADV released actually has all the extras intact on it, Satoshi Kon’s new movie Paprika might be eligible for an Academy Award, Media Blasters isn’t licensing the second season of Ah My Goddess, Gerald’s hero Tomonobu Itagaki (whom Daryl refers to as “the Japanese Joey Snackpants” or “JapaNabbe” because of those shades he wears) is getting sued for sexual harassment, and DeepDiscountDVD had their 20% off sale this week. And to think, this time ADV didn’t remove all their titles from the sale! They only do two sales a year, so the next one’s in April.
This is the image Gerald was talking about when ADV has their sale, be sure to look carefully at the price they cross out and the price you buy it for (you’ll probably need to click on the image since it’s a bit small):
Promo: Chibi-Tokyo (43:16 – 43:52)
Ed and Dan went to PMX, which is officially the BEST CONVENTION EVER because it had an arcade Punchmania 2 cabinet. Let it be known that Daryl will pay the money to own such a machine in his home. He has tried contacting various arcade distributors, but since it’s a Japan-only game, the websites that stock it don’t tend to have sites that are in English. No point in getting the “Fighting Mania” game (English language release of the original Punchmania) because Punchmania 2 includes all the levels from that and then some.
Fall 2006 Preview
The rest of Clarissa’s initial impressions of the Fall 2006 season, as continued from last week.
Code GEASS (43:52 – 47:08)
Super Robot Wars Original Generation (47:08 – 50:29)
Bartender (50:29 – 54:51)
Red Garden (54:51 – 56:27)
Pumpkin Scissors (56:27 – 1:03:45)
Souten no Ken/Fist of the Blue Sky (1:03:45 – 1:09:38)
Promo: Greatest Movie EVER! Podcast (1:09:38 – 1:10:23)
Dear Gooberzilla: The Chronicles of Riddick and Ryuhei Kitamura are totally awesome. Accept this. The Dolph Lundgren Punisher, Tank Girl, Underworld: Evolution, and Stealth are not awesome. Something’s going to have to be done to straighten you out, STAT.
Sumomo Momomomo (1:10:23 – 1:13:45)
–> Kanon (1:13:45 – 1:20:38) <–
Black Blood Brothers…and more Kanon (1:20:38 – 1:22:05)
The Gargoyles of the Yoshinagas…and more Kanon (1:22:05 – 1:24:00)
Closing (1:24:00 – 1:28:10)
We wrap things up by mentioning a few of the shows we didn’t get around to watching. Daryl will tell you why the watermelon is there later.
FYI, Saizen is rumored to be helping Heart of Madness with Souten no Ken. I don’t know if this means an episode a month at best and if you mind you can go fuck yourself, as with most of their projects, but whatever, at least it seems it’s getting subbed. Those Japanese to French to English scripts are pretty bad, by the way. Nothing I would recommend after watching them last night.
Yeah, finding a copy of Pheonix is pretty hard… It seems to be a never ending trait that if I want to find something, it either isn’t available in a area, or it’s out of print. Ju-On actually aired on AZN TV here in Atlanta, and I was excited; hoping that it would scare me. But after watching it, I just couldn’t help but laugh. That little boy always meowed at the wrost possible moment, and it just ruined the suspense entirely, in a way. The girl who had no jaw bone was pretty gorey, but it wasn’t something really…horrifying. What about Homunculous though? The show itself isn’t horror, but during the Trepanation procedure, I can’t help but shiver slightly.
Wow, Voltron is doing really good? Finally, a good anime is selling well…
I was going to check out Code Geass, but I just didn’t get to it. Although the undertoned political messages were pretty amusing… I really like Super Robot Taisen OG so far. Although the CG looks somewhat…dull, there’s a scene in episode 2 that looks really good, even though it’s only like a half a minute long. I think that the story is focusing on Ryusei due to Kyosuke being the main focus in the OVA. Considering how much I love Super Robot Taisen, I’m going to keep up with it unless it gets really bad. I’m going to at least wait until Sanger Zanvolt shows up; that’s when it’s going to be totally sweet. I really hope I don’t fall into the Gundam SEED Destiny complex… Speaking of Super Robot Taisen; a long time ago you mentioned doing game reviews, so why not do one of the Gameboy Advance Super Robot Taisen Original Generation game?
Why did you FREAKING watch Kanon?! Look at those characters! What I want to know is, what is with the chins that are becoming less and less angular, and they look like someone was trying to draw someone chibi, but decided halfway through the face, decided to make them look more realistic, or atleast somewhat. And what is freaking up with that “Uguu~” sound?! ARGH! Millions of fanboys over the interweb will not stop saying this while on forums! I refuse to even attempt to watch this show…
I don’t really get why people won’t watch 009-1. The main female character looks fairly modern compared to the other characters. I was really excited when seeing the promo, but then no one subbed it at all. I’m at the point, where I’d watch it raw, but I can’t even find that.
God…what with the new Negima and Kanon, I think I need to build an AWO bunker, right here in Atlanta.
The best title ever…..well a close second behind Rape is Hilarious, But Only As a Theoretical Concept. I can’t wait to get listen to this tomorrow during work, AWO you make my time spent at work so much better
what is the background music at minute 14?
I just started listening to the podcast and it seems the compression is horrible. It could just be me though.
– josh
> Why did you FREAKING watch Kanon?! Look at those characters!
See, Kyoto took the original, which was an extraordinarily depressing dating sim with a plot so mystical it was pretty much nonsense, and they’re secretly turning it into a show about the main character verbally abusing everyone. It’s not their fault.
And this is what it used to look like: http://www.toei-anim.co.jp/tv/kanon/
PS: disparaging our translation? Here’s an exact quote!
?????????????????????
(“The bar is where you sit at” (literally “bar is the barstool”, “plus ‘tender’ meaning ‘kind'”)
I think it’s some kind of dictionary accident.
I like Bartender because it is messed up. It’s a show to feel sorry for yourself while you drink alcohol. Who doesn’t love a show whose message is drinking alcohol will solve your problems?
Besides, I like the fact that the people in the show are adults. I’m getting freaking sick of shows about junior high students. I didn’t like being a jr. high student when I had to live through it, and there is a whole world of stories available of people who have graduated. Kimagure Orange Road can kiss my ass.
Kanpai!
After watching five episodes without subtitles, I’ve concluded that the reason 009-1 isn’t being subtitled isn’t because of the “old looking character designs” factor, and more that it’s just a pretty poor show.
I made the mistake of thinking that being Shotaro Ishinomori created and somehow similar to Cyborg 009 would make it worthwhile… but they sure don’t.
If you’re ok with the idea of taking elements of Cyborg 009 and turning them in a cheap and tacky Charlies Angels style show I suppose it might be watchable.
The fact the main character is buck ass naked within the first minute of the first episode should have been a warning sign, as should the fact that she soon after shot a guy she’d just slept with with her breasts (…which are laser guns, or something). The characters having precisely zero personality was pretty much the nail in the coffin.
Delta I’m pretty sure the background muscic is the theme to The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eigth Dimension. Its a great in thats its a cheesy movie with the “great” Peter Weller and Johnathan Lithglow.
I have been watching Bartender and like it so far. Bible Black Bros. is crap. I got fifteen minutes into the first episode and just had to turn it off. Hopefully I’ll be able to watch Souten no Ken as I constantly kick myself for not reading the original manga when it was out.
You must review Kemonozume, Daryl. The series is very, very good with awesome animation and excellent story. If you like it, check the Mind Game film from Masaaki Yuasa.
Wow I didn’t realize Phoenix volume 1 was out of print. I guess I just got some dumb luck because I found it in a store a few weeks ago. I loved what I read so far but some of the comedy takes me out of the narrative. Other than that it’s great.
As for the title of “Sumomo mo momo mo” I’m pretty sure it’s in reference to a Japanese tongue twister. A Japanese friend of mine taught to me, except I think the full tongue twister has an additional “momo no uchi” at the end. I forget what it ultimately means.
Did I hear someone just take a cheap shot at Peter Weller!?!
This will not do.
I know what you mean about Viz’s signature line. Had trouble finding Phoenix and Golgo 13 too. Had to have Borders do special oder for me. Comic and book shops don’t order either one with any regularity here. Can find tons of manga involving martial arts, 50 syllable magic spells and girly guys who women want to see screw each other…. bout like the anime industry except less t&a harem shit.
So OK, I get it…say something and expect me to fly into some form of outrage or something. bah.
On the home burned DVDs you guys got, there’s some fun ahead.
Daryl, Endless Road SSX is a balls to the wall fun show. Pure shonen action. Nothing very deep at all, but some kickin good violence. Assuming you’re into spaceships shooting the crap out of each other and stuff. If the *only* Harlock you’ve seen has been ‘Outside Legend’ and ‘Harlock Saga’ you’re in for both a shock and a treat.
If you only want to sample, I suggest episodes 4 and 10. Eps. 4 is full on Space Pirate action, while Eps. 10 starts all cute and funny and turns very very serious emo. Manly tears will flow.
Clarissa, Patarillo will melt your brain. And you’ll likely become a Van Coron fangirl. It’s just the way it is with that show.
Gerald, you’ve got some of the toughest stuff. The paring of Greed and Nora really showcase the pinnicle (and the depths of shame) of the ’80s OAV boom. Both shows had HEAVY promotion, you COULD NOT escape- stuff in Animage, Animedia, My Anime and The Anime, even more than The Humanoid.
Greed is pretty forgettable. Even looking at the ‘materials’ booklets I can’t really remember anything about it, but Nora…Nora is one of those interesting failures, the kind of thing you want to see more of (and there was another, ‘Twinkle Nora, Rock Me!’) just because there’s really nothing else like it.
Nora is kinda sorta slice of life hard SF anime. It’s the space station part of ‘2001’ that turns into ‘Wargames’ only starring Melissia Joan Hart. It’s also I think one of the early ‘obsessive chara work’ examples, where the designer felt the need to have just *volumes* of carefully shown and detailed mannerisms and gestures in the model sheets, intentionally designed to make Nora all super cute and lovable. All of which make it into the show.
I figure all this has probably made Nora sound like one of the most agonizing things to watch ever, ya? It’s not. It actually manages to get past all that to be something interesting and worth watching.
And damn you, damn you all for throwing in Buckaroo Banzai music. I hate that they never released that on legit CD in the US.
Extra:
What was up with the noise and fuzz and all? Compression problems?
Ya know, the more I hear about Bartender, the more it sounds like someone watched Witch Hunter Robin and decided to make a show all about the ‘Master’ at Harry’s…
Good segment on horror anime (or the lack thereof). You really do have to go to live-action to get Japanese horror on the screen. But yeah, there definitely is a cultural difference in horror movies…a lot of the ‘scary things’ that the Japanese put in their horror movies really don’t scare me at all.
Blood+ TV series? Yeah it was horrific…horrifically boring. 😛 I gave up on it after about 6 or 7 episodes, and from what I’ve read about the rest of the show on the internets, I didn’t miss much.
Speaking of “people investigating derelict spaceships,” Event Horizon has to be one of my favorite horror movies of all time. The whole concept of that other dimension just chilled me to the bone.
~Kamon
Have any of you watched Le Chevalier d’Eon? It started few months back but is kinda one of the new season’s offerings and is supposed to be really good. Well, good enough that ADV has already licensed it.
A Japanese friend of mine doesn’t like Bartender very much because, according to him, it’s a total ripoff of the manga ‘Sommelier’, which was very popular in Japan about 10 years ago. I did a bit of investigation, and there may be some validity to that claim…but since I’ve never read it, I can’t really say for sure.
~Kamon
I’ll be the third person to say there was compression problems–funny thing though is that I only noticed Daryl having the problems, Gerald and Clarissa didn’t seem to have the same problems.
Anyway I guess I point out that that Ah My Goddess releases monthly and not weekly; and yes its still going on:
http://www.miyaku.com/
GMT translates the new chapters.
It’s worth mentioning that Gargoyle of the Yoshinagas is from the Spring 2006 season. It’s just that nobody subbed beyond the first episode until now. 🙁 I really don’t know why…it’s worth watching just to see Norio Wakamoto ham it up.
~Kamon
Today I was playing Call of Duty 3 (which is medeocre) and I heard the Crondor scream. I just thought that was amusing
Haven’t had a chance to listen to the entire episode yet, but regarding what I’ve heard so far:
If you’re looking for out-of print books, I’d recommend alibris.com I don’t know how good they are as far as manga (and I can’t really look as I’m posting this from work), but I was able to get some English translated Arsene Lupin books and Gundam novels from them, so it’s at least worth a try.
Re: Media Blasters not licensing the 2nd season of Aa! Megami-sama! (using the Japanese title to avoid A!MG! vs OMG! arguments…): Quite often when I hear a series isn’t selling well or going out of print or a license isn’t being renewed I feel guilty for not buying it. Not this time! I bought each volume pretty much as soon as it came out!
Of course I haven’t watched any of them yet…
Oh well, back to work! I need the overtime to cover for the Right Stuf Geneon sale and its aftermath.
E. Bernhard Warg
Otakon Classic Video Track
Anime’s Frank
Ever thought of trying something with Talkshoe?
The Deep Discount DVD sale was extended through the 23rd of this month. Thought some people would like to know.
Also, am i the only person interested in finding the Red Baron anime that was shown on telemundo for about a month?
I’d put Phoenix on my “to do” list after listening to Daryl’s review, but after hearing this last episode I shuffled off to the comic shop where they still had a copy of vol. 1.
I’m not going to presume to make an impromptu review of it here and now, but it really is a wonderful manga and one of those much-needed reminders of why I pursue this stuff in the first place.
I doubt my opinion carries so much weight (here or elsewhere) that I could sway anyone that Daryl couldn’t, but I figured I’d go on record as saying that.
Though it doesn’t really go against the grain, I’m also going to chime in support for Clarissa’s view on Kanon. I’ve never seen the show itself, but those character designs’ facial structures look like a cross between Littleface from Dick Tracy and The Fly…
OH! Punchmania! Our arcade in the mall used to have one! Back when arcades were actually cool! I remember playing it way back when. It was a good game.
Many years ago, I watched the original Kanon. I was desparate to find out what the hell everyone was so excited about, and this was back when Megatokyo was still fairly decent, so I had no idea how horribly wrong I was when I thought “well, Fred seems to like it a lot, it can’t be all that bad.”
It’s a sign of how horrendous the show was that, these days, I can barely remember a damn thing about it. Seriously. I have a head for trivia, I can tell you random crap off the top of my head, like that Faye Valentine’s ship is a military model called the Redtail. Kanon? Virtually a blank slate, and thank goodness.
That said… when Clarissa was going on about the uguu-for-brains girl forgetting about the wings on her backpack, something inside me stirred. I knew, deep down, the situation wasn’t quite as simple as it appeared, and the one shred of faith left in me, the one hope that the masses of Kanon fanboys and the like could be saved, had to go dig out the Truth. (Not THE TRUTH, just the Truth. There’s a difference.) I nearly imploded my brain on at least three separate occasions while looking through the blogs of drooling moe-obsessed fanboys, but HERE IT IS.
I guess I’ll put up a SPOILER WARNING, but I don’t really care, and neither should you, because you shouldn’t bother watching this show.
So. It doesn’t pop up at first, but Kanon has supernatural elements in it, possibly because Key was too crappy at writing to pull off real-world romance. This manifests in a few different ways – one of the girls fights GHOSTS with a KATANA and I guess it’s supposed to be COOL, and one of the girls is a fox spirit (unwittingly, of course, because that makes her stupider and thus more MOE.)
Uguu-ly-face, sometimes known as Ayu, doesn’t know her backpack has wings because she has Sixth Sense Syndrome, sort of. Remember how Bruce Willis couldn’t tell that everyone else couldn’t see him, and couldn’t tell that the door to his study was barricaded, because he was really a ghost and didn’t know it? Ayu has the same sort of thing going on, where she’s not really a normal girl, she’s a spirit. And I guess the wings are supposed to be representative of that. And I guess her inability to see them is representative of the fact that she doesn’t know she’s a spirit.
And I’ve honestly decided it doesn’t matter, because the whole spirit thing is just a McGuffin to make her act retarded and helpless.
So I guess in the end, all I’m trying to do is defend KyoAni a bit. They’re not just trying to make her out to be an idiot, they’re throwing some foreshadowing at the viewers.
—
Also I hear that, if nothing else, they’ve totally replaced the main character with Kyon from Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Considering that Kyon’s rampant sarcasm and cynicism was half the reason I liked Melancholy so much, it almost makes me want to…
…nah. Maybe I’ll just wait for someone to make a clip show of all of his Kyon-moments. I think I could stand to watch that.
Going bact to the AWA report, I’ve been going there since the 3rd (I think), and I didn’t know about its AMV-centered reputation. That’s probably because the most important part of AWA to me each year is my annual meal at the Waffle House–they have none in the blue states.
I wouldn’t want to suggest the crew of Anime World Order are anti-social or anything, but I believe much of the appeal of Anime Hell isn’t in whether you can see these clips for yourself on YouTube, but in getting together in a big group to laugh together at them. A similar rationale applies to video rooms–I mean, you know that a major reason behind cons is people likeing to get together first, and what specifically they’re going to end up doing or watching second.
To then hypocritically switch to the anti-social, I-saw-it-first-mode, Kit Fox and I gave a showing of “Momotaro” in 2000 at the ATA in San Francisco, But that’s because in SF we’re a bit ahead of the curve, not to mention, as Ogiue would say, a bunch of God-damned queers.
–Carl
The noise everyone’s hearing in this episode as well as the last episode or two is entirely on my end and is the result of my not knowing how to properly USE the new audio equipment. It’s only when I speak, though. Alas, the problem persists in the next episode we’re about to upload. I try to diminish it with the Noise Removal filter in Audacity, but that is very time-consuming and the resulting audio makes me sound pretty bad. Eventually I’ll figure this out…right?
FYI, Saizen is rumored to be helping Heart of Madness with Souten no Ken.
On their website they’ve said that the first episode should be released soon and that Raoh Gaiden is currently being timed.
Why did you FREAKING watch Kanon?!
For the sake of JOURNALISM! …actually, I didn’t do anything.
The fact the main character [in 009-1] is buck ass naked within the first minute of the first episode should have been a warning sign, as should the fact that she soon after shot a guy she’d just slept with with her breasts (…which are laser guns, or something).
Your description makes 009-1 sound like the GREATEST SHOW EVER.
Ever thought of trying something with Talkshoe?
The thing about Talkshoe is that there doesn’t appear to be any editing process that takes place. What gets recorded is the show. This would expose us for the frauds we are, and that simply won’t do!
Well, there’s no such thing as a girl who hates queers.
Listening to this late; I just wanted you guys to know that Lucky Star is a 4-panel, and from the SINGLE PAGE that I read of it, it makes Kanon look like a well-written drama about intelligent, self-sufficient women. So uh look forward to that shit! Christfuck!
Ohno-san says it, so it must be true…except for Ann Coulter. But there’s a rumor that she’s actually a guy, so it wouldn’t violate the rule.
–Carl
As far as horror anime go; how about Higurashi no naku koro ni? That definitely counts in my book – and may even deserve a review at some point!