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After over a month of no new episodes, this show–recorded a month ago–is now out. Nothing but absolute evil is contained within as Daryl reviews MW by Vertical Inc (featuring nonstop depictions of evil), Gerald reviews Dangaioh (the dub of which is truly evil), and Clarissa reviews the most evil of them all: Potemayo (a moe show). Also, we finally remembered to do another first impressions bit! This time it’s Blood+.
Why was this show so delayed? Three words: No More Heroes. Three more words: Replaying God Hand. Anyone who’s thinking of racing to be the first to leave a comment just so they can have the first comment should think twice because it’s always really obvious that’s what you’re doing! [EDIT: Guess Jeremy didn’t think twice after all, FAYGO]
Otaku USA Issue 5 is out, featuring Daryl’s article on Golgo 13 and Clarissa’s article on Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann! Please buy it! Also, we got mentioned in the Japanese magazine ASCII in the same manner by which we got to write articles in Otaku USA:
F. Murray Abraham’s anguished face: forever immortalized.
Introduction (0:00 – 25:55)
It turns out that we were recording this episode on Valentine’s Day. To true otaku, there’s nothing that differentiates Valentine’s Day from any other day. When ANN’s Hey, Answerman! column goes on hiatus, the emails about “how do I get Japan to make my idea for an anime into a show?” come to us instead! Has the connection between pornographic doujinshi and otaku popularity been erm, exposed? No need to find out for yourself, cause WE have all the answers as always!
Let’s News! (25:55 – 55:39)
Some blog written by some yabbo that’s not read by anyone except when we make him a SOOPASTAH illustrates that TV Tokyo just might be getting a little too overzealous with what it’s deleting off of Youtube (the act of deleting Naruto fansubs alone pretty much makes them the number one source of sending copyright notices to Youtube). Here’s the article Clarissa was referencing. On an undoubtedly related note, anime sales are down ANOTHER 20% from the year prior (when they were down 20% there too). The top selling titles list is pretty much the same as it was last year. Finally, someone more beloved than us that draws crap points out that at a small Texas convention someone tried to kidnap a teenage girl. But who are we kidding with those other links? We stole this one from Dave Merrill’s Livejournal. The sidebar wasn’t lying when it said it was DANGEROUS, MOST DANGEROUS. We then get a voicemail that is the audio equivalent of what is still one of the finest image macros of all time. But I don’t actually have the Menacer-created macro on this computer.
Promo: R5 Central (55:39 – 56:04)
Mike Dent’s one-man laser sound effects saga has hit fifty episodes, and to celebrate he’s got special appearances by the Ninja Consultants and–more importantly–by Daryl. Listen to this one! Now you can actually hear what he’s saying! Most of the time.
Review (manga): MW (56:04 – 1:26:00)
Daryl finally reviews something again! This time it’s the latest Osamu Tezuka title released by Vertical Inc since Gerald reviewed Ode to Kirihito as well as Apollo’s Song. Time to start balancing the scales, dangit! This review will rape you until you love it, then murder you JUST BECAUSE. Plus, a dangerously powerful voicemail regarding not just Maple Town (despite having never watched the show, Daryl still remembers the tagline and the melody to this from when he was 3) but also Pigeon Blood (Google it your God-damned self, clown).
Review: Hyper Combat Unit Dangaioh (1:26:00 – 1:43:21)
Gerald was offended to his core when slanderous things were spoken by slanderers about this cartoon and has decided to forego karmic retribution and get his justice WITH satisfaction. But is it really slander if it’s all true? If this is justice…
Review – Potemayo (1:43:21 – 1:58:58)
Corbin from Colorado needs to know better than to ask rhetorical questions. Clarissa wanted us to all become possessed by the Warp’s most treacherous of spawn, but the God-Emperor Koike guides Daryl’s bolter true. Still, the Emperor’s protection is not absolute. Each individual brother within the Adeptus Gekigartes must be strong on his own accord. Is Chaos beginning to take hold of the AWO? Will an Exterminatus be deemed necessary? If so, the only thing that will be written on the order will be to Destroy All Podcasts:
Promo – Lather’s Blather (1:57:58 – 1:59:05)
Now that it’s officially too damn cold to breed Kokuohs, Jeff Tatarek has resumed his podcasting obligations to society! Be sure to also catch him on the latest episode of the Greatest Movie EVER! podcast. I hear tell the next episode of that will feature some seriously sexy voices indeed.
Closing (1:59:05 – 2:08:04)
Daryl offers up his initial impressions of Blood+. The content may not be the greatest, but the release itself is something that other anime publishers would do well to take notice of. Here’s hoping this release tactic catches on. Perhaps then we’ll finally get the rest of Cyborg 009! REMEMBER THAT ONE, SONY?! WHERE’S THE REST OF OUR UNCUT CYBORG 009 HUH? Edit: Dan in the comments reminds us of all the talk going on at AnimeOnDVD and the like regarding Blood+ being dubtitled. This wasn’t mentioned during the capsule review, so do take note of it.
Anyway, we’ve been doing other podcast appearances in lieu of editing our own. In addition to Daryl’s already-mentioned appearances on Snacktime Online and Greatest Movie EVER!, Clarissa was a guest host on Destroy All Podcasts DX talking about the Twilight Q OAVs. Gerald will also be a guest host soon on DAPDX to talk about Detonator Orgun, so now that all three of us have been on another podcast, we can only assume that podcast will be destroyed or otherwise cease to exist. Surely other podcasts couldn’t contain all three of US, right?
Next time on AWO, Clarissa’s reviewing the much-requested School Rumble, Gerald’s doing Detonator Orgun just like he’s doing on DAPDX, and Daryl’s reviewing the also very much requested Satoshi Kon film, Paprika. He initially was taking a pass on this one because “everyone’s seen this or knows about it already,” but that is apparently not the case. Included at the end is a special unedited bonus that will illustrate for you why it takes us a month to edit these shows.
I have to agree No more heroes is a good reason. now that Brawl is out I guess that will be reason for next month…lol ( know irwill be for me) keep up the good work.
Cool you got mention in a Japanese publication for this podcast! Have to listen to the next show tomorrow when I have time.
“The content may not be the greatest, but the release itself is something that other anime publishers would do well to take notice of.”
I heard it was the other way around for other people. *cough* dubtitles *cough*
“Perhaps then we’ll finally get the rest of Cyborg 009! REMEMBER THAT ONE, SONY?! WHERE’S THE REST OF OUR UNCUT CYBORG 009 HUH?”
Maybe they’re hoping the live-action movie will pay off…
Oh, and Midnight Eye Goku is finally on r2 dvd. http://www.buichi.com/goods/index1.html
The longer you guys go without an update seems to be directly proportional to the insanity of your update post.
Good on you for replaying God Hand, is good. No More Heroes, however, is not out here in the UK yet and so I must RAGE.
Shame this was recorded a month ago, I was hoping I would hear any impressions you guys had from this slightly stale piece of news:
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-03-05/adv-head-says-uk-issues-may-be-due-to-illegal-releases
Just dont go onto the comments section. Bad things there.
Yeah, alright. I expect to see the next episode next week.
I loved the Dangaioh review. I was lolling.
You should have also played a clip of when Gilberg says” Oh I’m fucked!”
Anyone hear about the Narutard that got buried in the sand?
That’s really frightening. I’ve been replaying God Hand too, mostly to hear that amazing song at the end but also because I feel like I’m on the verge of creating the most devastating combo ever. The fight goes on forever!
– Patrick.
Great show! Thanks as usual.
I think everyone should watch Great Dangaioh. I almost couldn’t stomach the entire series because it was so lame (follows the traditional “13 episode miniseries with lots of boring filler” methodology), but it has an absolutely awesome first and last episode, in an ironical sort of way. I wouldn’t want to spoil anything, but it’s a fun series to laugh at.
-dxInt
dxint said:
I think everyone should watch Great Dangaioh. I almost couldn’t stomach the entire series because it was so lame (follows the traditional “13 episode miniseries with lots of boring filler” methodology), but it has an absolutely awesome first and last episode…
Don’t say that! Sandy Frank might hear you and use it to make a comeback!
I think that guy was being serious about Pigeon Blood.
Nice review of Dangaioh. Would have been nice if I heard your review before I wasted my time with that Manga video butcher job. I was able to find the fansubs and I’m looking forward to checking them out as soon as I’m done watching GaoGaiGar + GaoGaiGar Final. Looking forward to your Orgun review.
To Clarissa-I’m surprised that the one girl with the green hair with the super high pitched voiced was your favorite. I’d thought that’d be the one you would have hated the most. But yeah, I’ll have to check out the rest of it (only seen the first four eps).
If you haven’t seen it, you might like Hidamari Sketch. It’s another moe show yes, but there’s nothing creepy or sexual about it. It’s about four artist girls in an art highschool. The manga is getting a U.S. release and is getting a second season in Japan.
But what you guys should REALLY checkout is an absolutely terrible premise of an harem anime series from Gonzo called Rosario to Vampire. On one hand it’s the dumbest series but it’s also the funniest and highly entertaining because of it. Sadly, the only good series this season.
Hello Guys, this Erwin Rosales. Man, you guys took long enough to release this.
Anyhow, I am glad that I will be able to listen to an unbias review of Tezuka’MW , I have being waiting to read it but I must say that I was kind of scare to say the least after seeing his cover art.
Also, I am glad you guys are finally reviewing School Rumble, you all will see even though it is a school anime it is ok and manly at the same time.
Funny thing, I was actually walking home today thinking when a new episode might come out, booted up iTunes, and bam. Thank you for granting my wish.
It might be a good idea to just make the official schedule for episodes monthly, since it will shut up some of the posts frothing at the mouth about delays.
The Hyper Napalm lady sounds like Senator Clinton.
Thank God for the new show! I had to take those stupid standardized tests today, so AWO made me a lot happier.
I was worried about your MW review, since I really enjoyed Apollo’s Song (I still don’t think it’s that depressing)and thought that you guys might think of MW the same way. But I was surprised, and I think you guys talked about the best parts of it. I think Clarissa’s right about Yuki; the ending scene kind of shows that (though I guess you guys didn’t want to spoil it). And finally, someone who got the Death Note-ness!
Potemayo sounds interesting, so I think I’ll check it out. I’m still not sure about Dangaioh though, as Gerald mainly just talked about everything that was wrong with the Manga version.
Gerald and Clarissa have opinions?
Daryl Said…
“Perhaps then we’ll finally get the rest of Cyborg 009! REMEMBER THAT ONE, SONY?! WHERE’S THE REST OF OUR UNCUT CYBORG 009 HUH?”
Sony Europe announced last year that they planned to bring Cyborg 009 to Europe in a massive bilingual, uncut boxset around the time they said they had licensed Blood+. I posted a link on AJ’s forums but I can’t remember which thread.
However when I tried to check Sony Europe’s pages just now I can’t find any reference to it. Maybe they let it go. Really, D-Man, that was the great hope I was hoping for the series. But now, I dunno man.
Anonymous said…
I’m still not sure about Dangaioh though, as Gerald mainly just talked about everything that was wrong with the Manga version.
Dangaioh (the Japanese version) is sweet nectar from the gods. I personally love it for the great mecha designs, fabu 80’s hairstyles and over the top villainy on display.
Plus they cut stuff up with a giant sword. YA HEAR!!! A GIANT F&*KIN’ SWORD!!!
Gonna have to disagree with you on “not as good as Akira”, since Spriggan was sweet enough for Kojima to rip it off in MGS2. Not to mention that Otomo’s been involved in the most memorable anthologies of the last 20 years. [I.E. Neo Tokyo, Robot Carnival, and Memories.] Ok, he had nothing to do with Genius Party, but he was busy on Mushishi, so…I also have a fondness for Metropolis and Harmagedon, though your mileage may vary on those films.
As for Shin Chan, while I don’t see him in doujinshi, I do see him on H-doujinshi covers in the back. Anyway, I don’t “read” Vampire Knight[at least outside of the mag], but it’s basically the shojo equivalent to Naruto here. I’m also not sure how anyone who likes Tezuka would hate Absolute Boyfriend.
BTW, where’d you get the quote for MW, cus I don’t see it? And how does MW compare to “Cruising”?
DETONATOR ORGUN? SUPER AWESOME!!!!!
That’s the one where Orgun shows up and everyone stands around for five minutes going “Orgun!” “Orgun…” “Orgun?” “Orgun. ORGUN!” “ORRRRRGUUUUUUUNNNNNN!“
Just noticed a reference to “Faygo” in the show notes! While I don’t know how big their coverage area is, that was one brand of soft drinks I often loathed my whole life. Schools I went to often bought that for refreshments in their open houses. Of course I know how that name got around outside the Great Lakes region thanks to a li’l known rap group I hardly paid much attention to.
Eeeper said…
Sony Europe announced last year that they planned to bring Cyborg 009 to Europe in a massive bilingual, uncut boxset around the time they said they had licensed Blood+. I posted a link on AJ’s forums but I can’t remember which thread.
However when I tried to check Sony Europe’s pages just now I can’t find any reference to it. Maybe they let it go. Really, D-Man, that was the great hope I was hoping for the series. But now, I dunno man.
Really, there are times when I never trust these companies one bit.
Again, much as the question that was posed again in the news section, there still no easy answers to the problem concerning how the anime industry should work, or how to eliminate illegit downloading and other problems. I still think it’s a shame some shows can’t be aired on at an earlier time such as what was mentioned. Already someone over at Usenet has complained at the new Adult Swim schedule that has cut anime down to one or two days now, and Inu-Yasha reruns around the 5AM slot. Deathnote could work around the 10-11PM slot I think, but One Piece should have gotten a regular weekday afternoon shot instead. If only networks would care more to give these guys a chance, people would watch these shows and support for future acquisitions in the process.
Again, it’s hard to come up with what could be the solution to all of this, or where could it go without further becoming as dead as the arcade.
Speaking of Shonen Jump antics, a news report that showed up on YouTube surrounds the death of a kid who imitated a scene from Naruto that led to the news team having to point their cameras to YouTube to expose the truth in an ironic way…
Let’s hope this is an isolated thing (or in my case, a fluff piece to stir up attention to today’s television woes).
Oh yeah, there’s been TWO Peanuts Valentine’s Day specials produced. The first was “Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown” in 1975, and it mostly focused on Linus having a crush on his teacher and tries to give her a giant heart-shaped candy box only to find out she went off with her boyfriend. In 2002, a new Valentine’s Day special was made simply called “A Charlie Brown Valentine”, mostly using previous strip fodder strung together to set up Charlie’s attempts at getting close to the Little Red Haired Girl.
Finally! I have sorely missed you guys for over a month, and it’s awesme to have you on my Ipod once again.
Excellent job with the news segment once again; it’s quickly becoming my favorite segment of the show, actually. I think all this shit going on with declining DVD sales and stuff isn’t just the anime industry’s problem; it’s a problem of the entertainment industry as a whole. And, since anime is a very niche market, those problems are multiplyed several fold. The entertainment industry as a whole needs to figure out a way to save its ass or else our God knows what’ll happen.
Quick question: Gerald, could you provide the torrent you used to download Dangaioh? I downloaded a fansub a few months ago, and for some stupid reason that I cannot possibly comprehend, the second episode wasn’t subtitled. So I would very much like to have a completely subtitled version.
I actually just learned about Anti-Social Personality Disorder in my psychology class, and it sounds like Yuki from MW is like the poster child of that disease.
That’s about it. I’ll see you guys later…with cream.
It’s pretty surreal seeing NWO Hulk Hogan in the background of one of the panels in Ultimate Muscle 19.
Or even better, a megaupload for Dangaioh please?
And it must be in an avi format (MKV never seems to work right for me).
Oh and I agree about vampire anime sucking. Ihe only exceptions are the Vampire Hunter D OVA (which I bought yesterday) and the Vampire Princess Miyu OVA. I’ve never seen VHD Bloodlust though.
Or even better, a megaupload for Dangaioh please?
And it must be in an avi format (MKV never seems to work right for me).
Here’s some links that should do the job:
Dangaioh Episode 01
Dangaioh Episode 02
Dangaioh Episode 03
Then maybe some people can see it since apparently ALL i talked about was how bad the Manga version was. Too bad those people don’t like to post their names when they post…
Hey Gerald,
Thanks a lot for posting those links.
Finally, I can understand what’s going on in the 2nd Episode!
I don’t see why anyone would ever need our help finding torrent links to something if we say “it’s out on BitTorrent.” It’s not like these things are hosted exclusively on secret trackers or that the public trackers have no seeds. It is far less effort for everyone involved if you just type [name of show] followed by “torrent” into Google. I did it for Dangaioh and lo and behold, it’s the second result. Japanese audio with English subtitles and everything.
Also, if you want to promote your podcast, just send me a promo and I’ll play it. Don’t post anonymously and say “hey guys, check out this cool new show I found” as if you’re someone other than the person who made the show. That is just what people on IRC would refer to as #weak!
Both of these practices are in direct violation of RAMBO’S LAW, so just be lucky he was off evaluating satellite payloads at the time.
Chris Sobieniak said…
I still think it’s a shame some shows can’t be aired on at an earlier time such as what was mentioned.
The Cartoon Network is going main stream. I knew it was bad news when the Cartoon network started playing with the idea of adding live action shows to the Adult Swim line-up.
I noticed that they were slowly pushing for the general audience like MTV did in the early 90s. I won’t be surprised if they started showing more live action and original programming instead of anime.
Some other channels are trying to pick-up the slack like AZNTV (soon to be cancelled), STARZ, Encore, DISNEY, SCIFI, and IFC. However, they schedule most of their anime at night or early in the morning. I can’t see these show building any type of audience.
If they want anime to work, they have to create a solid weekday 3-5PM schedule (after school) for most anime.
In the case of more mature anime (like Black Lagoon and Death Note), they should schedule it every weekday between 10-MIDNIGHT.
I just get the feeling that tv programmers only use anime as filler for gaps in their programming schedule. TV Channels schedule anime at shitty times, and anime companies wonder why their shows can’t build an audience.
James Leung said…
The Cartoon Network is going main stream. I knew it was bad news when the Cartoon network started playing with the idea of adding live action shows to the Adult Swim line-up.
Yeah, we had it coming!
I noticed that they were slowly pushing for the general audience like MTV did in the early 90s. I won’t be surprised if they started showing more live action and original programming instead of anime.
Ditto.
Some other channels are trying to pick-up the slack like AZNTV (soon to be cancelled), STARZ, Encore, DISNEY, SCIFI, and IFC. However, they schedule most of their anime at night or early in the morning. I can’t see these show building any type of audience.
Sadly true (worst than taking over a slot already used for an infomercial if it comes to that).
If they want anime to work, they have to create a solid weekday 3-5PM schedule (after school) for most anime.
What we’ve been thinking of too. It’s like they don’t think kids would want to tune in once they get home anymore or else there’s something else one they’re bothering with anyway (and I don’t feel like knowing what that is).
In the case of more mature anime (like Black Lagoon and Death Note), they should schedule it every weekday between 10-MIDNIGHT.
Very appropriate!
I just get the feeling that tv programmers only use anime as filler for gaps in their programming schedule. TV Channels schedule anime at shitty times, and anime companies wonder why their shows can’t build an audience.
What I think of as well.
Oh and thanks for the links Gerald, though I have spotted the BT link anyway so it wouldn’t matter either way (I just wouldn’t have to wait hours before I download each volume on that site since I don’t want to buy a premium account anyway).
“I don’t see why anyone would ever need our help finding torrent links to something if we say “it’s out on BitTorrent.” It’s not like these things are hosted exclusively on secret trackers or that the public trackers have no seeds. It is far less effort for everyone involved if you just type [name of show] followed by “torrent” into Google. I did it for Dangaioh and lo and behold, it’s the second result. Japanese audio with English subtitles and everything.”
Oh, I knew that they were torrents for Dangaioh, I was just hoping for one in avi format. Doesn’t matter anyway as I’m just going to burn it on a DVD and watch it that way.
BTW, Voltron is on Boomerang at 10:30PM. Not sure if I’ll get Golion when that comes out.
Sweet deal on those MU links to Dangaioh! Some of us at uni cannot use torrents because we’re firewalled , so I’m eternally grateful for the share. Thanks gerald!
-dxInt
FUCK AND PISS. I had no idea the Manga release of Dangaio even existed. I’ve only seen the Streamline sub, and for all its side-kickerry, it is far preferable to the alternative. Thanks to Gerald for righting a wrong.
Oh, I didn’t get that reference to Chinese period pieces where the heroes are murderin’, rapin’ scoundrels. Then again, anything I know of the genre comes from Jet Li movies.
First off, I do think piracy is a large contributing factor, albeit not the only factor, in the decline in anime DVD sales. Now, I know this has been talked about to death, but there’s one part of the industry’s argument that bothers me.
Fansubs are, obviously, subbed. And if piracy accounts for such a huge loss, doesn’t that indicate that most anime fans have no problem watching anime subtitled? So why not save some money and release subbed thin-packs? This is being done with rare titles which aren’t expected to sell, but how about for every release. Simultaneously, you could release a volume 1 dub. If the dub sells, continue on as usual. Throw in a nice box(i.e. not thin cardboard) with the last volume, maybe a few extras, and you’ve basically got yourself a version for dub lovers and collectors alike.
If the dub doesn’t sell, quit making them. You’ve already got a thin-pack out there. I’m sure their is some excuse for the industry not doing this, but I’m really not seeing it.
I should have added that this needs to happen soon after the final episode in Japan. No more than a month.
I didn’t get that reference to Chinese period pieces where the heroes are murderin’, rapin’ scoundrels
Hmm, I didn’t get that one either. “The Warlords”, maybe? Jet Li’s pretty despicable in that one, although that was the movie’s intention. The Warlords also stunk, but I don’t know if that was the movie’s intention.
Daryl:
Yeah, I’m sorry about that! I just needed a link because the torrent I used was bad. So don’t worry, Rambo’s Law will be followed!
One more thing…are you guys still working on that archival project you mentioned several shows ago? How’s that going?
You were saying how there were no lesbians in Dangaioh. What about Pai Thunder? I think she was pretty lesbian in all but said.
“I’m a sugar frosted lesbian……………with cream.”
I don’t think I could ever touch that awful looking TV sequel. I know Hirano directed it but why coulkdn’t he have done the character designs for it as well? Instead of the beautiful 80’s style character designs, we end up with that horrible early 2000’s style. Same reason why I could never bother to watch Bubblegum Crisis 2040.
Hey, guys, just listened to the show. Funny as usual. And damn if you didn’t nail Dangaio on the head (and thanks Gerald for the review shout out. ^_^). Oh, and as far as the latest issue of OUSA goes, I loved Daryl’s feature on Golgo 13. The line about ugly character designs cracked me up to no end. Ah well just wanted to chime in for a bit. Talk to you guys later.
Hey… how come you guys use your real names on your show instead of using clever nicknames from Bleach or other popular anime shows? Also, at the end of your shows can you provide spoilers for Bleach episodes and ruin the show for everyone. This will help make your show top-notch. Thanks!!!
What bugged me about Dangaio was it was part of that whole ‘deconstructing anime tropes’ that was going on with the OVA boom. BGC, Gal Force, Dangaio-replace the usual male heros with the MOE-wank fetish of the period, sexy gal resin garage kits.
Dangaio isn’t clever, it’s Grendizer/Gaiking/Getta Robo G lite with a bit more blood. The main gag is the one guy in the group is pretty much useless most of the time (Tenchi?) while the gals do most of the stuff, with the guy only being useful at a few key times.
Blah blah blah. I did like the Mizuki/Horie OP theme.
Kinda annoyed that nobody seems to understand that ‘getting anime on TV’ is for all practial purposes IMPOSSIBLE now, because of all the different changes in broadcast and cable. If Daryl is gonna crib from my blog rants he should at least use ALL of it 🙂
Simple form: Except as a limited lead-in to Adult Swim, anime is dead on Cartoon Network. No more weekday M-F strip. No more chances for the ‘next Gundam Wing’ or ‘revival of DBZ’ or any of that. It’s done. CN has heard Al Kahn’s words of “Japan is Over”
“You’re an ass! Viz still gets their stuff on CN! shut up!” I hear you say.
But it’s not on at that critical time which builds fans, that all important 3-5 PM Monday thru Friday block. The lack of that timeslot has killed One Piece, hurts Naruto, made ‘Case Closed’ more or less a joke of a license, and ADV is tearing their hair out because that’s the ONLY place that Sgt. Frog would have a chance to recoup their costs.
I have no proof, obviously, but I have a strong idea that Viz/Shopro practially GIVES their titles to CN in exchange for the ability to say in their ads, their press sheets and all the promo stuff at NATPE and VSDA and MIPCON-TV “As seen on Cartoon Network!!” which speaks subtile lies to the Suits about popularity and importance and value.
The other anime companies haven’t learned that lesson and want actual cash money to help defray the production and licensing costs, and CN can just laugh at them.
Funi, I assume, gets cut some slack because even in its crap timeslot DBZ *still* gets those ratings they want.
So, except as a lead-in to late night programming, anime is stale fish to CN. Expect what’s on now to be reduced even further as parent company Warner Bros shifts product from the Kids WB showing to be exclusive to CN, as 4Kids takes over the KidsWB kidvid programming block.
Oh, and as far as the latest issue of OUSA goes, I loved Daryl’s feature on Golgo 13.
I screwed up on that one and stated that the movie came out in 1980 when it came out in 1983. I would kill myself over this transgression if not for the fact that Golgo 13 already kills anyone who dares to report on his activities.
it’s Grendizer/Gaiking/Getta Robo G lite with a bit more blood.
If the Dangaioh review was just this one sentence, that would have been all it took to make me bolt up from my seat and leave work in the middle of the day for the sake of watching Dangaioh. Because the only part I would hear would be “Getter Robo…with…more blood.”
Also, I don’t know if I’d quite herd in the “sexy girls with guns/swords” characters as seen in Dirty Pair/BGC/Dangaioh/FAAAAAANDORA etc with the moe ones. Sure, they’re both male fantasies, but they’re scratching different itches. This is why when harem shows have a “girl with a sword/gun/gun-sword” character, they’re never the one that gets chosen.
The first episode of this new Golgo 13 anime had better start off with some frilly maid lolibait in a mansion serving some “master” guy tea and cake, then when she has him say “aaah” to spoon-feed him a rifle round fired from a customized M-16 penetrates the skulls of them both, blood spattering everywhere. Zoom out to reveal that they were sniped by Duke Togo, who leaves without a word then bangs a platinum blonde. The deed done, she reveals she’s a rogue CIA agent by attempting to icepick murder him a la Sharon Stone. She catches a slug from a snub-nose Smith and Wesson for her efforts. Golgo 13 gets dressed and leaves without saying a word.
Roll opening credits.
If Daryl is gonna crib from my blog rants he should at least use ALL of it 🙂
Or perhaps I do steal all of your ideas and talk on and on for 15 minutes nonstop, but for the sake of keeping episodes at a “mere” two hours, the rambling bits get truncated!
Well, I didn’t bring up Dirty Pair or Fandora because they weren’t the kinds of anime I was talking about.
Gal Force, BGC, Dangaio, yes Aim for the Top! Gunbuster!..part and parcel of their very existance was the creation of resin garage kits. Otaku weren’t quite comfortable with going with nude renditions (but they existed, in dark dank corners) YET but there’s no question there was a lot of sexy posing of clothed figures going on.
Just a random pull of B-Club magazine (#35, sept. 88) shows a number of pages for Dangaio and Gunbuster and Dream Hunter REM and BGC and Orange Road and Urusei Yatsura ‘sexy figure’ garage kits. Pages 88 and 89 are a tutorial on how to make ‘realistic’ eyelashes for your Mia figure kit so she looks even more Kawaii.
It really is the root of MOE. The TRUE MOE, not the watered down “it’s about loving and comfort feelings and being a big brother/uncle/father” crap, the spanking it to a doll truth.
Grrrrr! bark! bark!
I’m just pissed because nobody is going to bring New Cobra or Golgo 13 TV or New Mazinger Z to America.
Let’s see if they moe-iefy the bajeezus out of Golgo13 and have choose between a loli catgirl from another planet or a busty meganekko teacher from the center of the Earth. Also will be knocked into the sky for accidentally falling onto a girl’s chest.
I can see the bloodvessel bursting on Daryl’s forehead right now.
I’m only playing.
But yes, I do really enjoy those 80’s OVA’s that mix cute girls (they don’t have to helpless) and mecha with high production values.
steve: “BGC, Gal Force, Dangaio-replace the usual male heros with the MOE-wank fetish of the period, sexy gal resin garage kits.”
I’m ok with gender reversals in anime and manga. I just don’t like when that concept ends up being the sole theme of the series. Titles like Dirty Pair, Claymore, and Utena show how you can do it right.
“Kinda annoyed that nobody seems to understand that ‘getting anime on TV’ is for all practial purposes IMPOSSIBLE now, because of all the different changes in broadcast and cable….Simple form: Except as a limited lead-in to Adult Swim, anime is dead on Cartoon Network. No more weekday M-F strip. No more chances for the ‘next Gundam Wing’ or ‘revival of DBZ’ or any of that. It’s done.”
Never say never. After all, fans probably assumed the same thing after Robotech.
‘CN has heard Al Kahn’s words of “Japan is Over”‘
Kahn’s a clueless moron who just happened to get lucky with Pokemon and Yu Gi Oh. If most people took him seriously, then Ghibli films would never be released here, and we’d be seeing more crap like Beyblade get licensed, and less quality shows like GITS: SAC and CCS.
And if CN really felt that way, then their parent company, Time Warner, wouldn’t be investing in Appleseed 2, Gotham Knight, and the live-action Robotech, Speed Racer, and Akira. [Nor would CMX be buying the Crayon Shin Chan manga to cash in on the FUNimation show, even though the latter media has yet to be sold on dvd.] I doubt one broadcast of Goonies automatically means CN is going to give up its animated programming. To me, it seems like the network was simply taking advantage of re-runs to assess the tastes and demographics of its audience.
“But it’s not on at that critical time which builds fans, that all important 3-5 PM Monday thru Friday block. The lack of that timeslot has killed One Piece,”
One Piece was dead long before the anime even got licensed. Naruto was the SJ manga which ended up being popular here; and giving OP a good slot wouldn’t have done that much more for it but made it profitable.
“hurts Naruto”
Sales say otherwise.
“made ‘Case Closed’ more or less a joke of a license,”
Case Closed failed for the same reason as OP, which was that companies thought any 100+ ep shonen series would be as much a hit in the U.S. as DBZ, just because that was the case in Japan.
There are a lot of titles which have done horribly here, simply because distributors have failed to properly gauge their market appeal.
In the future, I imagine companies giving away free translated episodes of new series they might be interested in acquiring, and then taking surveys to decide whether to go ahead with the deal.
(Or at least that’s what they *should* do, if they’re smart.)
“and ADV is tearing their hair out because that’s the ONLY place that Sgt. Frog would have a chance to recoup their costs.”
I doubt ADV was stupid enough to license all of Sgt. Frog. They probably only picked up a season or two like FUNimation did with Crayon Shin Chan. And those DMC sales seem to indicate that they’re doing fine. A lot of fans overreacted to those lay-offs, because they wrongly assumed that Dave Williams and Matt Greenfield are stupid enough to continue selling stuff people don’t want to see-as was the case with Geneon.
“Expect what’s on now to be reduced even further as parent company Warner Bros shifts product from the Kids WB showing to be exclusive to CN, as 4Kids takes over the KidsWB kidvid programming block.”
Wasn’t Pokemon the only anime left on KidsWB at the end? If so, I doubt we’re missing anything.
“I’m just pissed because nobody is going to bring New Cobra or Golgo 13 TV or New Mazinger Z to America.”
I’m gonna bet on Cobra, but Golgo will depend on the episode count. Someone’s always taking a chance on Go Nagai, too, so don’t count Mazinger out just yet.
daryl: “I screwed up on that one and stated that the movie came out in 1980 when it came out in 1983.”
You could argue that production started in 1980…^_-
‘…”Getter Robo…with…more blood.”‘
Wouldn’t that basically be Violence Jack?
“The first episode of this new Golgo 13 anime had better start off with some frilly maid lolibait in a mansion serving some “master” guy tea and cake, then when she has him say “aaah” to spoon-feed him a rifle round fired from a customized M-16 penetrates the skulls of them both, blood spattering everywhere.”
All I care about is that it has a more manly opening theme song than what we got with Fist of the Blue Sky. [At least the ending has the good shit, though.] I am so fucking tired of anime using Japanese bands which play muzac which has nothing to do with the theme of the show. Yes, in the past, j-pop had nothing to do with the story of the show, but at least it captured the sensibility of the material. Now, we get stuck with acts who are just in it for the record deals, and could care less about the theme of the show.
vz: “Let’s see if they moe-iefy the bajeezus out of Golgo13 and have choose between a loli catgirl from another planet or a busty meganekko teacher from the center of the Earth. Also will be knocked into the sky for accidentally falling onto a girl’s chest.”
I’d be ok with that, if it was an SD thing they tacked on at the end or on dvd.
“Now, we get stuck with acts who are just in it for the record deals, and could care less about the theme of the show.”
Sorry, I meant atmosphere, not theme.
80’s proto-moe: Leina the incestuous little robot sister in Machine Robo: Revenge of Chronos. Eventually the whole show becomes about her!
Revenge of Chronos is really fantastic: it’s like the whole show was saying “sure, man, whatever YOU wanna see”.
I finished watching Dangaioh… GREAT series in terms of action and animation quality. The design aesthetic takes a lot of what’s great from both 80s and 90s anime (amazing since it’s from 89!) The abrupt ending aside, plot is decent, and I could look past the leotards and Miya Alice’s overly shimmering eyes since it was only a 3 episode series.
All in all, just the inspiration I needed to time a few more episodes of Souten no Ken. Peace!
-dxInt
I forgot to mention, I thought it was hilarious how the completely evil “professor” becomes the creepy uncle of the series. He’s all like “I want to sell you off as mercenary slaves,” and the heroes are all like “oh, professor, you’re so crazy”.
-dxInt
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ds70rqm4
Thanks Gerald for those links to Dangaioh. I really enjoyed it. So here’s the OST for it.
http://vzartanime.blogspot.com/
I created my own blog.
Dan said…
Case Closed failed for the same reason as OP, which was that companies thought any 100+ ep shonen series would be as much a hit in the U.S. as DBZ, just because that was the case in Japan.
There are a lot of titles which have done horribly here, simply because distributors have failed to properly gauge their market appeal.
There is a lot I could address in your post, but I’ll hit on these specific points:
Case Closed didn’t fail because of market appeal. It failed because Funimation butchered the localization and the dubbing. Also, CN aired Case Closed at 1:30 AM. What audience is watching television at 1:30 in the morning?
Case Closed is a heavily formulaic show. It was created to be disposable entertainment. The show was not created to be collected on DVD as Clarissa explains on the podcast. Case Closed was meant to be seen on a regularly scheduled tv time slot with a broad young audience.
Dan said…
And if CN really felt that way, then their parent company, Time Warner, wouldn’t be investing in Appleseed 2, Gotham Knight, and the live-action Robotech, Speed Racer, and Akira.
Regarding CN and Time Warner, Time Warner is a conglomerate, which means it has multiple investments/interests. CN is just a minor subsection of a much larger cash machine.
Programming on CN has very little to do with the conglomerate’s larger goals and other projects. CN’s programming is based on the decisions of programmers and producers at the channel. I’m not saying that their isn’t synergetic relationships within the conglomerate, but Time Warner only cares about CN’s cash flow.
If CN can get better ratings by showing Saved By The Bell instead of Hikaru no Go, the programmers will run more shows like Saved By The Bell.
IMHO, there is a market for big anime properties. They just have to be marketed to the correct audience. Properties like Detective Conan need exposure (a good regular time slot).