Newsletter / Black Friday Promotion

I hope everyone had an excellent Thanksgiving, and is also having a great weekend like we are. :-) Since Jamie and I are taking a full four day holiday, the regular Friday Newsletter had to wait this week, but will go out on 'Cyber Monday'.

I did want to put out a quick post to mention that out Black Friday promotion is on and will be the best deal we run between now and Christmas, so be sure to take advantage:

SAVE UP TO 10% OFF ALL ITEMS + EVEN MORE ON MOST FIGURES & TOYS!

The holiday season is almost upon us, so that means it's time pickup those gifts for your favorite Otaku (even if your favorite Otaku is yourself!), and we're offering our best holiday promotion to everyone that shops early - before the rush! Until midnight (EST) on Monday, December 1st you can save up to an additional 10% off our already low prices. Coupons can be applied to any IN STOCK items, including existing sale items!

The more you order, the more you can save! Just use one of the following coupon codes during checkout for instant savings:

To save 5% off any in stock order over $99 use code: GOBBLEUP5

To save 7% off any in stock order over $199 use code: GOBBLEUP7

To save 10% off any in stock order over $299 use code: GOBBLEUP10

PLUS - We've discounted almost all of our in stock FIGURES & TOYS 10% off the regular low price. Use your coupon code to save even more! That's a combination that can't be beat!

Be sure to take advantage of this. Since it cuts our margins to just about nil, I only allow one 10% promotion to be run per year, and this one won't be repeated for some time.

Have a great weekend everyone! :-)

Space Promotional Captain Harlock

Let's say it's the mid 1970s and you are Toei Animation Company, a Premiere Animation Company Of The Orient. This means you look like Pero from Puss In Boots, mouth frozen in a perpetual grin. Anyway, you're producing an animated TV series based on the popular Leiji Matsumoto manga SPACE PIRATE CAPTAIN HARLOCK, and you have a sneaking suspicion that it would do well in foreign markets. How best to promote this series? Well, there are many ways. But one way is to print up thousands and thousands of English-language booklets about Captain Harlock!



This A4-sized booklet sported a glossy color cover, black and white interiors, and lots of amusingly translated information about Captain Harlock and his crew. There were so many left over after Toei had made the rounds of TV industry gatherings that an enormous load of the things was dumped into the American market in the early 1980s. I found my copy in a comic shop in Philadelphia in 1982, but you could pick them up at your local Star Trek convention or hometown comic book store for what seemed to me a pittance - after all, this is Captain Harlock, in English!!



And an interesting sort of English it is, what with Harlock being in command of the "M/S ALKADIA" and all. The basic plot of the classic 1978 Harlock TV series is here - a depressed, listless Earth menaced by the Mazone plant-women from Andromeda who have come to take back the planet that was once theirs, with only gothy space pirate Harlock and his 40 crewmembers standing in the way of the Mazone fleet.



Most of the illustrations are classy Matsumoto works from a period when he was at the top of his game, accompanied by helpful text.





Daiba in particular is wearing science-fiction fashion that will never go out of style - goggles, light-machine-gun style laser rifle, those giant knobs on the heels of his space boots. As far as I'm concerned, every day I can't dress like this is a day that is wasted. Please note this illustration is from 1976, which means that it's another year before Star Wars brings "space opera" back to the forefront of popular culture.



For years afterwards Kei Yuki could never appear on our television screens without a ritualistic intoning of the phrase "She helps Harlock biologically." Also we meet Doctor Zero, one of the archetypical Matsumoto doctors who drinks a lot but is a super excellent medical doctor. One wonders if Leiji had a traumatic experience with his pediatrician. I believe I will be getting my yearly checkup somewhere else, Doctor Zero.

And rounding out our look at the cast is the always glam Queen Lafresia of the Mazone, looking extra-funky in outer-space hip-huggers .



Whether you're leading an intergalactic invasion fleet or hitting the dance floor at Studio 54, you'll always be in style when Matsumoto's your designer! Matsumoto - because giant bell bottoms never go out of style.

Seriously though, one of the most interesting things about this book devoted to selling a Captain Harlock TV series is that it really doesn't have a lot to do with the Captain Harlock TV series. Most of the cast is missing - where's General Kiruta? Where's Mimay, Harlock's alien girlfriend who has no mouth and yet must drink? Where's Tochiro Oyama and Emeraldus, even though they only show up in flashbacks? And where's the linch-pin of the entire series, the little girl who bravely faces the trials of being orphaned and then being kidnapped to another star system, the daughter of Tochiro and Emeraldus - Maya? She's nowhere to be seen. In fact, one might posit that this book was put together before the TV series even went into production.



The episode guide (such as it is) bears no resemblance to what got broadcast on the TV. There are points of reference - the pyramid at the bottom of the Bermuda Triangle wound up in episode 13 and became the basis for the Toei "Manga Matsuri" short film "Secret Of The Arcadia" - but slinky Mazone spy Shizuka Namino does not appear in episode 3, and she is definitely not found breathing "carbiniferous air" in a "dome that comes rushing down to Earth." This book's episode guide seems to be following the story of the Captain Harlock manga that was running in Akita Shoten's Play Comic at the time ('77-'79). Which makes it really interesting for obsessed fanboys such as myself, but a useful guide to the TV show it is not.

However, it must have done some kind of good, as Toei's Space Pirate Captain Harlock was a worldwide hit in Asia, Europe, South America, Francophone Canada... everywhere but the United States, in fact. It would be almost a decade before this show would wind up on American television, shoehorned in with Queen Millenia for a season of confusing afternoon confusion. In the meantime, American fans had to make do with a badly dubbed Z.I.V. home video release, a even more poorly produced Malibu Graphics re-release of the Z.I.V. video... and this book.

Oh yeah, Toei ALSO did a book like this for Galaxy Express 999.

Code Geass In Stock / ADV Fill In Volumes Available for Pre-Order

Just a couple of quick notes from today:

Code Geass Part #2 (Vol #3-4) Is Now In Stock!

Bandai decided last week (strangely enough) to close their warehouse from Nov 24 to Dec 3, and this caused the street date for Code Geass to get bumped from Dec 2 to Dec 9. Even so, we received our copies of Code Geass part #2 in today, about 2 weeks ahead of schedule and in time for the long weekend.

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion Part #2 DVD
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion Part #2 DVD Limited Edition

We shipped 90% of the pre-orders for them today, with the goal of getting it in as many hands as possible over Thanksgiving weekend.

If you haven';t already ordered and you want either of these by this weekend, an order placed before noon (EST) on Tuesday shipping via Priority Mail should have it in your hands by Friday or Saturday, even with the holiday. If you want to be sure, FedEx 2nd Day air will get it to you Friday guaranteed (or Overnight for Wednesday delivery if you want it for Thursday).

Fill in Volumes for Previously Unfinished ADV Titles Available for Pre-Order Only

Of the two options available (buy new release or finish old release) for the unfinished licenses previously held by ADV (Red Garden, Scissors, and NHK) the majority of you have told us that you intend to rebuy the two thin-paks under our current special offers:

Pumpkin Scissors Season 1 Part #1 DVD Boxed Set (Esp #1-12)
Pumpkin Scissors Season 1 Part #2 DVD Boxed Set (Esp #13-24)

Red Garden Season 1 Part 1 DVD Boxed Set
Red Garden Season 1 Part 2 DVD Boxed Set

Welcome to NHK Season 1 Part 1 DVD Boxed Set
Welcome to NHK Season 1 Part 2 DVD Boxed Set

For those of you who already have the individual DVD's that were previously released by ADV and just want to complete your art box rather than purchase the new thin-paks, we are now (per your request) offering the previously unreleased DVD's for pre-order:

Pumpkin Scissors , Vol #6, Final Countdown DVD
Red Garden , Vol #6, To Die Forever DVD
Welcome to NHK , Vol #5, 5th Conspiracy DVD
Welcome to NHK , Vol #6, 6th Conspiracy DVD

These DVD's are being done as a one time release by Funimation trying to offer fans both alternatives (they are only making a few hundred of each). We will not be stocking these, but we will be offering these disks on a pre-order only basis between now and Dec 10th, for delivery during the 3rd week of December.

Cover of the Latest Geek Magazine Is Simply Brilliant

There are only 3 print magazines that I (actually) read - Otaku USA, Protoculture Addicts, and Geek. And it's no wonder, because the cover of the latest issue of Geek is absolutely brilliant! What better could sum up the current financial crisis than the beautiful Sarah Silverman plunging money down Wall Street's toilet:


Outstanding! :-)

That's it for now, have a great evening everyone!

Updates - November 23rd, 2008

Thanksgiving Holiday Coming Up

Just as a reminder, we'll be closed from Nov 26 to Nov 30 for the thanksgiving holiday, though we will bein over the long weekend processing orders, there will not be any outgoing shipments on Thursday or Friday of next week. All orders placed over the holiday weekend will be shipped out when we reopen on Monday, Dec 1st.

Schedule Updates, Delays & Cancelations

At long last, the Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit Art Box finally arrived this week which put it about two weeks late but welcome none the less. :-)

Bandai gave us some rather interesting news this week (more on that in my state of the market section below). Both Ghost Slayers Part #1 and Clamp School Detectives have been bumped again, this time from early December all the way out to February 3rd. They also pushed Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion Part #2 back one week from Dec 2nd to Dec 9th, and I don't think we'll be getting that one as early as we would have liked this year.

Aside from those changes, everything else looks good to go and we've already gotten in just about all of the releases scheduled to street before December, so you'll have plenty of new stuff to watch on turkey day! :-)

2008 Holiday Delivery Schedule Posted - Reminder

Just as a reminder, our holiday delivery schedule has been updated for the 2008 holiday shopping season. Be sure to check it out because this holiday season is a week shorter than it was last yearso we've layedout the real deal for shipping date cut-offs (some of which are only a couple weeks away)that you'll need to know when doing your Holiday Anime gift shopping here at the Anime Corner Store.:-)

Just for Fun - How Do You Know It's Christmas In Japan?

The Japanese don't celebrate Christmas in Japan quite the same way we do,and as always you can expect the unexpected. Like what you ask? Like these cute Santa Biker Gals making trouble in Akiba:

These gals are from the the infamous Cos-Play biker gang 'The Ladies', who have previously made a nuisance of themselves blocking traffic and making noise while riding dressed in Maid and other light fetish wear. I wish they would make a nuisance of themselves around my neighborhood -I could show em my Harley... -_^ You can see more here and here.

State of the Industry

I spend a lot of time commenting about the 'industry' as a whole, and considering the times I'm thinking about just making a 'state ofthe industry column' a semi-permanent feature here. This week I've got several items that might interest you:

Broccoli Books Shutting Down

Shizuki Yamashita announced this week that Broccoli International USA will be shut down and dissolved at the end of the year. This includes Broccoli Books and the Shonen Ai imprint Boysenberry, which previously published the Manga titles Aquarian Age: Juvenile Orion, Digi Charat Theater, Galaxy Angel, Galaxy Angel II, Disgaea, Kamui, Sola, Nui!, Murder Princess, Es, and several others. This also finally puts their defunct DVD division Sync-Point to bed, and eliminates the possibility that there will be any future re-presses of FLCL unless another firm picks up the license.

Yamashita made an appeal in a blog post saying that the US rights to their books will revert back to Japan, and some of these titles could be rescued by the other US Manga companies if they move quickly. Personally, I wouldn't bet on it, the market is just too soft. Broccoli's wholesale division will also be closed, and was one of the last US based sources of rare imported books and unique Japanese merchandise sold by many small (um, that's not us) Anime retailers. They have been busy liquidating their inventory since the beginning of September, sending us daily e-mails offering us blocks of unsold merchandise priced as low as .05 cents on the dollar, so this announcement was not unexpected.

Couple of Comments on the US Anime Studios

As I travel in both fan and retailer circles, I get to hear a lot of things not intended for public disclosure, and I'm also very careful about what I write here always trying to let you know what's going on, but not harm anyone in the industry by repeating clueless forum gossip.

ADV Films is currently the weakest studio in the R1 industry having been virtually decimated over the past year by business mis-steps. I think the folks running ADV really thought that the Anime gravy train was going to run non-stop coast to coast, and had gotten aboard for the long ride not knowing the trip would require stops and lay-overs at all major destinations in between. Because ADV has so much business exposure to the failing mass market retailers, I'm currently putting ADV's survival at only about 50/50 into next year, and the only reason I'm commenting on this is that a lot of people are e-mailing in asking us about it. I am currently recommending that you fill in any ADV titles you want in your collection before the end of this year, and I would also recommend that you try to purchase any ADV titles complete and be wary of committing money to promised future releases. I'm just trying to give it to you straight, which no one else seems willing to do these days.

I am also a little concerned about Bandai. While I have no information that they are in any way having financial problems, they did inform us this week that they will be shutting down their warehouse for 10 days between Nov 24th and Dec 3rd - right in the middle of the Christmas season. This is what caused the the 2nd volume of Code Geass to get bumped up a week, and seems like an odd time to close down as I'm sure it will cause sporadic stock outs during the first and second week of December. Most retailers like us have already taken in their holiday inventory (and trust me, many are buying lite this year), so my feeling is that Bandai is trying to save some money prior to the end of the year. Bandai has been spreading out their release schedule, taking what they had originally slated for Oct to Dec, and stretching it out between Oct and Feb, and has recently informed us to make sure we pre-order 100% of our estimated sales for all future releases - meaning that they are no longer going to print and warehouse overages in case we need more copies of something quickly. None of this points to any 'problems' at Bandai, but it does indicate that they are making changes that they feel appropriate based on current market conditions. Expect more of this sort of thing to come in the near future.

Two Potential Issues that Could Impact Imports

Two things happened recently that may effect imported goods from Japan. A recent ruling by a US District Court that the '1st Sale Rule' does not apply to Imports gives US companies more leeway to block the sale of Japanese imported goods here in the US - if they choose to. Icarus Publishing has already commented that this could 'potentially' effect the sale on imported Japanese goods here in the US - things like Art Books, CD's, and merchandise. We all remember back in 2005 when Funimation sent a cease and desist letter to Akadot asking them to stop selling the legit Japanese Imported Full Metal Alchemist CD's.I don't think this will effect our business, but it might limit the amount of some imported merchandise available from other US based retailers. It's all 'coulds' and 'maybes' right now, so we'll have to see how it pans out.

On another front, and in a virtually unreported story, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission has implemented new rules for the importation of toys which may effect the Japanese figure trade here in the US. Starting a few weeks ago, all toys coming into the US intended for children aged 14 and under will come under strict customs inspection. While most Japanese produced Anime figures are intended for audiences of 16 and over, the US Customs dept has a tendency to be indiscriminate with their classifications (trust me, we know) and it will now fall to the Japanese producers to certify compliance of each product with the US Government that 'X' product does not fall into the 'childrens toy' category and thus would not have to be ASTM tested prior to entry into the US. What does this all mean? We'll, it doesn't mean that figures are going to go away, however, some of the smaller makers in Japan have told us that if US customs starts to require expensive testing and certification they would most likely just not make those products available for export to the US market. These new rules not only apply to retailers like us bringing in big wholesale shipments of toys and figures, but to individuals that order figures on a one off basis directly from Japan. More figures may end up on 'not available for export' lists in the future. At any rate, it's probably not going to be that big a deal, and nothing on our upcoming list has been effected (yet), but I'm sure there will be plenty of near term import delays as each Japanese manufacturer gets their paperwork in order to comply with the new rules.

Coupon Corner - 5% Discount Offer Extended thru Thanksgiving Day!

The 5% coupon has been a huge hit, and so many of you have written in (again) and asked that we've had no choice but to extend our pre-holiday coupon offer one more time!

You can now take advantage of the great savings across the entire store for another week! No limits, and no restrictions - and that's a good thing considering all the new stuff we have plus all the new items we've just added for pre-order! From now until Thursday, November 27th you can save up to an additional 5% off our already low prices on every product on the store. Coupon can be applied to any items on the store, including pre-order and sale items. The more you order, the more you can save!

US customers can also combine this offer with our super saver shipping option to save even more!

To save 5% off ANY ORDER, just use the following coupon code during checkout:

HOLIDAY08TAKE5

Coupon code is valid ONLY for NEW orders and is only good through Thursday, November 27th so don't wait!

Pumpkin Scissors and Welcome to NHK

We have been working with Funimation regarding the final volumes of Pumpkin Scissors and Welcome to NHK, but so far their buy in requirements and order terms have been a little steep for my taste. Most people have expressed interest in rebuying thethin-paks anyway (and just trade in the old single DVD's they might have), so while we are continuing to work withFuni on this,we have decided to go ahead and make the new boxed sets as affordable as possible by discounting the first box in each seriesnearly 40% off retail:

Pumpkin Scissors Season 1 Part #1 DVD Boxed Set (Esp #1-12)
Pumpkin Scissors Season 1 Part #2 DVD Boxed Set (Esp #13-24)
Welcome to NHK Season 1 Part 1 DVD Boxed Set
Welcome to NHK Season 1 Part 2 DVD Boxed Set

For a limited time you can order the new boxed sets above in pairs for only$81.96 (MSRP $120), and if you use our current coupon you can bring that down further to only $77.86. This will help out all you folks who really just wantto own one or both of these series entirely asthin-paks.

Just In and Hot off The Truck!

Just when I thought we were in the clear on Friday, Ron buzzed me and told me that they do have one new arrival that came in on the late morning truck:

Death Note, Vol #8 DVD

Vol #8 wasn't due to street until Dec 23rd, but we've got it in stock now and will begin shipping it today. The LE version hasn't arrived yet, but that won't stop me from taking a copy home to watch this weekend! :-)

New Arrivals in Stock this Week

Again, we have tons of new early arrivals this week, some more than a month in advance! We've got 28 new DVD arrivals including the 11th Naruto DVD Collectors Box and the previously AWOL Moribito Art Box. We also have restocks on the hard to find Scrapped Princess Boxed Setfrom Bandai - not sure when we will get more, so get em while they last! We also have some great new manga arrivals, and while we did not get any new figure in this week we still have some stock on most of the new arrivals from our last two updates, so be sure to check them out before they are all gone!

That's it for now! Have a great Thanksgiving everyone, and enjoy your anime!

Horikita Maki in Press release Innocent Love

It`s from A press release for Fuji TV’s Innocent Love . Maki Horikita with her Red dress...it`s so kawaii!!

Jim Gives Us a Little Shameless Promotion

One thing we have always tried to live on here is service, and we consider getting Anime fans their orders as quickly as possible (but also as complete as possible) is a primary point of an overall 'good service' package. And when a customer has a problem or issue it needs to be taken care of right away.

You can have all the banks of kindly customer service reps in the world to field calls and e-mails to soothe customer concerns, but at the end of the day, if you can't get it out, nothing else you do counts for much.

Jim, from Tennessee, wrote in yesterday after a recent order to tell us what he thought about our service compared to 'Brand X*' (who's head we now call 'the liquidator' -_^). Here's what Jim said:

I placed an online order with both Anime Corner Store and 'Brand X*' on Friday. With you, my shipping choice was "free super saver," which I believe is low-priority ground shipping. For shipping with 'Brand X*', I chose UPS Ground, which normally only takes a couple days to arrive (once the package is on the truck). It's now Monday, and my order with Anime Corner Store has arrived. And 'Brand X*'? Well, that order hasn't left the warehouse, according to the tracking data.

This online order has taught me four things:

1. Noemi is WAY cuter than Shawne, 'the Liquidator*'.

2. RACS is WAY faster than 'Brand X*'.

3. A cute, spirited woman has WAY more MOE than a bearded, bespectacled Otaku.

4. A shipper can't ship until they are handed a package.

Thanks for the speedy service!

Jim

Thanks Jim, we appreciate it! :-)



Editors Notes:

1) No argument there. Way cuter than Robert as well. :-)
2) ^_^
3) After 11 years in 'the biz' Noemi (and Robert) still thinks of Anime as a lot more than just 'some product to sell in bulk'
4) A shipper can't ship what they don't have in stock either.

*Note: Actual names in this post have been changed to protect the guilty.

anime clubs - our glorious unwashed heritage

Dateline - the middle of the 1980s! All over America groups of like-minded young people from all walks of life are gripped by one obsession - running anime clubs! We were utterly convinced, for some reason that now escapes us, that once a month a library meeting room or apartment complex community center or campus media area MUST BE filled with people watching big-eyed Japanese cartoons. Traded through the mail, bought from bootleggers, badly dubbed or fan-subtitled on the sly in some PBS station, but mostly in raw Japanese - it didn't matter. Brains overheating, we strained our intellects trying to figure out who was doing what to whom and why, but years would pass before decent translations revealed that most of the time our conjured-up plots were more satisfying than the original versions.



(flyer for C/FO Atlanta circa 1987)

However, events on the 20-inch TV screen were frequently overpowered by what was happening in the audience. You see kids, fandom as we know it today- a glossy wonderland filled with sexy cosplay gals, fueled by media empires shoveling material down as many gullets as possible, and linked together in an instantaneous high speed multimedia data "internets"- did not exist. Oh no sir. In the old days "fandom" was a leper colony of dweebs, misfits, rejects, and failures; people who had formed a deep and unhealthy relationship with fantasy and/or science fiction somewhere during their third or fourth beating courtesy that jerk in the 6th grade. Fans in the 80s were seeking shelter from the storm, looking for secret redoubts where they could commiserate with fellow rejects, dream of a better world, and argue about Kirk VS Picard.

Anime fandom was doubly cursed; being devoted to children's cartoons, it was looked down upon by Trekkies; and being devoted to JAPANESE children's cartoons, it was rejected by every red-blooded American fan who felt Walt Disney and Warner Brothers were the be-all and end-all of ink and paint. So the point of all this is, your typical anime club meeting was full of the rejects that the rejects had rejected. For some of us, being wise-ass teens who cared not a whit what a lot of beardo failures thought, being rejected by the Space Command Klingon Middle Earth Glee Club was a proud badge of honor. For others, anime fandom was just another monthly meeting of the Secret Chosen, and they sat through Be Forever Yamato just as they sat through "Amok Time" at the Trek club meetings or "Caves Of Androzani" at the Dr. Who club meeting. Hey, as long as those club dues got paid!



(Anime-X flyer circa 1991)

The problem was this. Anime clubs soon learned what SF clubs had known for years - that in addition to the fandom stuff, they also had to play combination Ward Supervisor / Mommy and Daddy for a parade of flattened-affect borderline mental cases for whom the rules of polite society were merely hypothetical. Legions of middle-aged creeps who did not bathe or launder their clothes, who did not have indoor voices, whose talents for inappropriate behavior were legendary, who could barely show up for their minimum-wage jobs and yet who never failed to miss an anime club meeting. As anime gained in popularity, the middle-aged examples began to be pushed out by their teenage and young-adult counterparts, who shared the same aversions to soap, water, and society's rules, but whose talismans weren't back issues of Starlog, but instead backpacks loaded with videogame systems.



(cartoon from C/FO Atlanta newsletter by J.B.)

I'd once thought that such people were unique to MY city's fandom, but I've since found that they exist everywhere. The following are true stories collected from anime club veterans from around the country. Names have been changed to protect the innocent, and the guilty.

("D.M.", former club officer) At (NAME OF CLUB REDACTED), we had the guy who broke the glass insert window in the door by leaning against it with his gigantic overstuffed Pikachu backpack. Because when you come to an anime club you have to bring your every worldly posession in your backpack, including your heavy 1990s era video game systems.

We had a video tape library. One guy came to a meeting, joined the club, signed in, learned he would not be first in line to borrow tapes, asked for his money back, and left.

There were folding tables in the hallway of the center where the meetings were held. Somebody stood on a table in the hallway. Broke it right in half. We had to pay for that one.

One of our members was driven to the meeting by his mom, who would bring him a home-cooked lunch...during the meeting. If the chairs in the room were not of sufficent quality for her baby boy, she'd go looking for better chairs. If she steals them from the staff lounge, so much the better!

The smell in the room, of course, was terrible. Some people simply do not bathe or wash their clothes on a regular basis. We'd see new potential members arrive, walk in the door and take in the legions of black-clad video gamers hunched in the back delivering death blows to each other, and of course the amazing smell. They would then turn right around and leave.

Eventually the meeting turned into 30 people in the back of the room watching 3 people play video games, 12 people hanging out in the hallway chatting, and 4 people actually watching anime. I severed my connection to the club when the librarian telephoned me AT WORK to complain about the club's behavior at the previous meeting - rather, their behavior AFTER THE MEETING WAS OVER and they didn't have anything better to do but hang out in the parking lot.

("D.S.", former club officer) Truth to tell, the (NAME OF CLUB REDACTED) anime club has been lucky over the years. The worst example of classic foul-smelling fandom we got was in the very first year, a fellow we dubbed "Akira Hat Guy," and after a couple months of being rebuffed every time he asked people to hook him up with bootleg Dragon Ball Z subs, he went away and never came back.



(editor's note from C/FO Atlanta newsletter circa 1987)

Most of the other whackos have been more funny than genuinely aggravating. For instance, P. used an image of Patty Hearst in the club's advertisement in the (NAME OF CONVENTION REDACTED) program book. This inspired one member to complain, saying that this sort of iconography stood in opposition to "everything America stands for."

A subsequent recruitment flyer featured Patty Hearst, Fidel Castro, and Huey P. Newton, tagged with the line "Everything America Stands For."

The kibitzers are a perennial problem, but for us they've never been TOO hard to deal with. This last semester, when the kids were hooting and making porno sound effects during Victorian Romance Emma, we just explained that no, that's not acceptable behavior in a group environment, and they seemed to get the message.

Except for one gal, who said that there was no point in watching cartoons in a communal setting if she COULDN'T keep up a running commentary -- if she wanted to watch something quietly, she'd just do that on her own. To which my reaction was, hey, why don't you go do just that.

("D.3.", former club officer and convention director) Examples: the Too-Old-To-Be-Hanging-Out-With-This-Many-Kids Guy, the "I have what you want, and I won't let you forget it" Guy, the "I am an emotional Black Hole and will suck your generosity dry" guy, the "I compensate for my social awkwardness by memorizing every detail of my favorite shows and reciting them whether it's germane to the current situation or not" guy, the "I compensate for my social awkwardness by professing a deep physical attraction to a fictional character, loudly and frequently" person...

("G.S.", former club officer and convention staffer) Don't forget about "wanna read my self-insertion fanfic guy."

("R.M.", anime retailer, former con staff and club officer) We call him "The Creepy Downloader" because he looks like he's been smoking 3 packs a day for all of his 40-50 years (no idea of his real age, but he mentions an grown-up daughter and an ex-wife)and he downloads everything. The only time he buys stuff is when it's on clearance at Best Buy and then he uses his employee discount. He's only bought 2 things from me in the almost 4 years I've been open (both Newtype USAs for the DVD), despite the amount of time he's spent in the store talking my ear off. He is known to provide either a running commentary or bragging about his collection during the meetings.

Previous offenders: A boy of immense size and girth that we refer to as "Gundam Boy". Originally "Star Trek Boy" for showing up with a TNG communicator pin, TOS insignia belt buckle and Klingon logo watch. Known for completely inappropriate comments, especially toward anything with a vagina. He's on the watch list of every convention in town and automatically has his badge punched by security at NDK so they only need one time to pitch him out. Another guy managed to drive some of the older club members out because he would smoke clove cigarettes outside and tended to blow it onto people's faces. Not good for some of those club members who got headaches just by being in the same neighborhood as a charcoal grill.

Then there was the Boopster, who also hit on anything female; before, during, and after his marriage. He started up clubs in every town he moved to for the sole purpose of getting freebies from the anime companies. He would then turn around and try and sell the freebies at meetings, telling one of my female friends "I love making money off these stupid fanboys", like it would impress her. He also demanded (and eventually got, just to shut him up) a free badge one year from (NAME OF CONVENTION REDACTED) because during the Dead Dog (party), someone joked that Boop should be the Con Bartender, which he took seriously. So he shows up at the staff room saying "I'm the Con Bartender. Where's my badge?"

("D.M.") One club meeting the TV and the VCR and the tapes were all stuck inside (NAME OF FAN REDACTED)'s car, which had been locked with the keys inside. So as we stood around waiting for the locksmith, (NAME OF FAN REDACTED) offered a temporary diversion. Since (NAME OF FAN REDACTED) was infamous for forcing his unsolicited adult-themed Inspector Gadget fan artwork on unsuspecting victims, we all were relieved when his suggestion turned out to be a dramatic reading of the first-ever fan fiction devoted to the then-new STAR TREK THE NEXT GENERATION series. However, our relief did not prevent us from leaving the room at an amazing speed.

("S.M.") Oy. I've never had a problem with (NAME OF FAN REDACTED) but I know all about the Captain Linger Brigade from my time behind artists alley tables-- you always know the people who won't buy anything, because they're the ones who stand there for half an hour telling you their fucking life story. Because that's why I sit behind that table full of books and merchandise; so I can hear some sad bastard's autobiography.

("H.S.B.", former con staff) Let's see, we had one guy who made his own anime shirts & hats using bottled paints, glitter, & iron-ons. He also would make crappy pasted together flyers for (NAME OF CON REDACTED) without asking anyone in charge of the con if he could. I think this was the guy we dubbed "Master of the Folding Cane."

("Z.C.")Here we've got a balding guy who looks to be about 40 or so. I don't know his name, but he has several distinguishing characteristics:

- May or may not still live with parents
- Suspicion of failure to bathe
- Appears to be slightly mentally challenged
- Dislikes heavy violence (to the point of shouting THAT'S VIOLENT!!! loudly whenever he sees anything over his "threshold")
- (and the punchline!) but collects a whole lot of really disturbing rape-o-rama hentai.
I honestly don't know whether I should feel sorry for him, or to stay far, far away from him.

(the following video is a compilation of camcorder video recorded at Denver-area anime club meetings over the course of several years. If you want to know what anime club meetings were like in the 1980s, this video has it all. Bad hair, two TVs in parallel, and that same exact blackboard that was in the back of every single room every anime club ever had a meeting in. It's all here, people. Provided courtesy of Gimme Anime, your home for anime merchandise!!





("G.S.") You've made me recall our club's last few breaths...our club president was in place for almost the entire run of the club, so in our eyes, even after he stepped away, those of us left still treated it with the respect that it was still his. When it came to the end when the fans were just too much and we hoped to find some like ourselves who would respect it and take over we came up empty. For months I wrote in the newsletter how we were looking for people to step up and start helping out and so on. I was always met with silence.

We talked to the old prez, and told him why we were going to retire the club, and he agreed. I then went to the one guy we could count on, who was running the college club on opposing weeks and was reliable to show up, and told him what was up. He agreed to do the last few meetings for us. We also asked that he not revive our club, at least not under that name, as we believed it belonged to the guy who started it, and wanted to retire the name with its legacy intact.

So our final newsletter was published a few meetings before the end, we even had all the programs timed out that all our series would end on the same night. We compiled those last few meetings onto a tape per meeting and passed them to the aforementioned reliable guy.

Let's just say my final editorial was less than chipper, and announced the end of the club and why. We were mobbed that night with people who were upset that we'd just end the club, and they all wanted to know what they needed to do to help out....to which we really didn't have much to say as well, this club is retired, where have you all been the last few months when we asked for new blood?

Why, they were sitting in the stands watching the shows they expected us to keep bringing them without any contribution.

And this scene was replayed across the country. The availability of anime in Blockbuster and Best Buy and Wal-Mart and damn near everywhere else, combined with the sense of community engendered by the keyboard-pounding march of Wired Nation, meant that the very concept of getting together once a month to watch Japanese cartoons became an anachronism at best. When forced to deal with the constant antics of the Loser Battalion, club organizers found themselves taking a good hard look at why they were wasting their weekends showing cartoons they didn't make to people they didn't like. Most anime club officers moved on to staff anime conventions, which compress a whole year's worth of anime watching, tape trading, foul odor huffing, and window breaking into three days. This saves time, if not sanity. And who knows? The tide may again turn and anime may again become a hidden pleasure available only to those 'in the know', and perhaps we'll be back to meeting in undisclosed locations to enjoy our favorite cartoons. However, if there is a next time, we'll be a bit more... selective in our membership.


(C/FO Atlanta newsletter fan art by M.M.)

My thanks to all who participated in this project. May this facilitate the healing you so deeply desire.

Updates - November 16th, 2008

Schedule Updates, Delays & Cancelations

Even though the holiday season lock-in period is pretty much past, I still have a couple of schedule updates to report. First, Nozomi has bumped up the Maria Watches Over Us, Season 2 Box by two weeks to Dec 9th. It's very tough on them considering they publish something like 3-4 new items a year, so it's understandable when they get a little behind... -_^ Our contacts at Media Blasters verified this week that the MIA Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit Art Box is still running behind schedule but they should finally be shipping it to retailers today or Monday at the latest. Hopefully that will put it in our warehouse around the middle of next week.

Finally, the Lucky Star, Vol #4 DVD Limited Edition arrived this week from Bandai, and thankfully before the official street date this time, but there is still a caveat in that due to a replicator error (or some bone head at Bandai mis-ordering) the first production run of these was only 50% of what it was supposed to be, so Bandai has only sent retailers half of their order for it so far. Fortunately we ordered a lot and had plenty to fill pre-orders yesterday with some left over, but because supplies will be tight I expect our remaining stock to run out quickly. Bandai should be letting us know when we can expect the rest in, but I doubt it will be before the first or second week of December. This time of year they like to keep us on our toes... :-)

2008 Holiday Delivery Schedule Posted

As we do every year, our famous holiday delivery schedule has now been updated for the 2008 holiday shopping season. Be sure to check it out because it lays out the real deal for shipping date cut-offs that you'll need to know when doing your Holiday Anime gift shopping here at the Anime Corner Store. :-)

Just for Fun - Better Get Your Hello Kitty Assault Rifle Now!

Gun Otaku can be just as, um, 'involved' in their hobby as Anime fans, but when you put the two together all sorts of wacky things start to emerge. Now that the election is over, and gun sales here in the United States are going through the roof, the time is growing short to put together your new California legal Hello Kitty assault weapon:

Notice the California legal pistol grip, a relic in CA left over from the Clinton 'assault weapon' ban. Of course, a semi auto is not really an 'assault weapon' per say, but we won't argue semantics here. The bottom line is that when you take the 'evil black gun' look and change it to this, you have a weapon so cute an cuddly even Nancy Pelosi couldn't resist! You can find out more about it over at Rifle Gear.

Industry Consolidation Continues - Even in Japan

There are two headline stories this week that continue to follow the ebb and flow of the Anime Industry in a slowing world economy.

First, studio Gonzo (Japan) has announced that they will be combining their existing four production divisions into one and cutting 2009 production by 50% from 8 shows down to 4. No specific cuts were mentioned, but Gonzo has a number of anime series currently in production (or planned) including Linebarrels of Iron and Rosario & Vampire Capu2, The Tower of Druaga, Slap Up Party, Shangri-La, and Alive. My opinion is that this move should allow Gonzo to better focus their creative talent and (hopefully) produce better shows, and honestly having the Japanese studios move back to a 'quality over quantity' business model will be a good thing for all of us long term.

Second, it was revealed this week that Geneon is getting passed around again, as no one seems to be able to figure how to make money with it. Dentsu (who needed to raise cash anyway) has sold 80% of Geneon to Universal Pictures International, which will be merging it with their Universal Pictures Japan division. The deal is done, but the actual transfer won't occur until February. I have seen this before when 'non Anime' companies end up owning part or all of an Anime division, and the company ends up getting passed around like a hot potato until it finds someone who knows what to do with it. Manga Video in the US has that history, being sold or transferred a total of 5 times in the past 7 or 8 years. UPIE has not made it's plans for Geneon public (except that the 'Geneon' brand name will be going away), and while their UPJ division focuses mainly on Japanese releases, it's difficult to say how this will effect the future of Geneon licenses here in the US. After a much welcome and successful run of Geneon re-releases recently by Funimation, we have all been hoping that they would go back to the trough for another round next year. Now that they have a new company to deal with, that scenario is less certain and we'll just have to wait (as always) to see what happens.

Our Condolences

Emru Townsend, who was a top contributor to Protoculture Addicts magazine, passed away in Montreal on Tuesday night after a short bought with leukemia. Townsend's other writing credits included PC World, Animation World, and Sci-Fi Entertainment. He was also the founder and editor of the online animation magazine Frames Per Second. After being diagnosed, Emru blogged about his experience living with cancer on HealEmru.com. We have always supported PA magazine, and it has always been one of my favorite Anime and Manga reads primarily because of the solid and unbiased contributions of writers such as Emru. Our condolences go out to his family and friends. He will be sorely missed.

More 2009 DVD Release Schedules Have Been Posted

Quite a few studio updates coming our way this week, and we've added all of the following items to the store for pre-order. Check it out:

Bandai Entertainment Jan 2009:

Ghost in the Shell 2 Innocence DVD (Bilingual Version)
Ghost in the Shell 2 Innocence DVD Limited Steel Case Edition (Bilingual Version)
Ghost in the Shell 2 Innocence DVD (BLURAY) (Bilingual Version)
Gundam SEED Destiny TV Movie #4 DVD
Gundam Seed Destiny DVD Collection #1 Boxed Set (Anime Legends)
Gurren Lagann, Part #2 DVD Bundle (Eps #10-18) (Bilingual Version)
Gurren Lagann, Part #2 DVD Bundle w/ Limited Art Box (Eps #10-18) (Bilingual Version)
Lucky Star, Vol #5 DVD
Lucky Star, Vol #5 DVD Limited Edition

ADV Films Jan 2009:

Eden's Bowy Complete Collection DVD Boxed Set (Re-Issue)
Kiba Season 1 DVD Collection Boxed Set (Eps #1-26)
Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi Complete Collection DVD Boxed Set (Re-Issue)
Mahoromatic: Automatic Maiden Complete Collection DVD Boxed Set (Economy Box)
Martian Successor Nadesico the Prince of Darkness Movie DVD
Megaman DVD Collection Boxed Set #1
Megazone 23 DVD Complete Collection (Re-Issue)
Panyo Panyo Di Gi Charat Complete Collection DVD Boxed Set
Saint Seiya (Knights of the Zodiac) Complete Collection DVD Box Set #1 (Eps #1-30)
Tsukihime Lunar Legend, Complete Collection DVD Boxed Set (Economy Box)
Wedding Peach Season 2 DVD Complete Collection (Eps #28-54) (Brick Pack)

Media Blasters Feb 2009:

Doujin Work , Vol #1, Pencil & Paper DVD + Manga Vol #1
Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit DVD #3
Nighthead Genesis , Vol #3 DVD

Nozomi Feb 2009:

Maria Watches Over Us OVA Collection DVD Boxed Set

Bandai had originally wanted to get the GiTs Innocence re-release out before the holidays, but it had to be rescheduled. I don't have all the details as of yet, but I can tell you the dub is brand new, though at least the BluRay edition will have both the new Dub and the original British dub that was not previously available here in Region 1. ADV's January remains largely a collection of re-issues, all of these being alpha packs as ADV is no longer producing thin-paks because they are more expensive. The Alpha packs give them the opportunity to recycle all the old single DVD's that they are swimming in, while requiring little more new production overhead other than a box cover sheet to be produced. For all we know John Ledford and Matt Greenfield could be toiling away in their basements right now next to huge stacks of out of date single DVD's making up these new alpha boxes one by one. -_^ Hey, they gotta pay the rent too - ya know?! There are a couple of bright spots though - the Nadesico movie will be coming back, Kiba will finally be made available on DVD (and wisely so as a season box), and the former Geneon titles Mahoromatic and Tsukihime will be getting economy box re-releases, though I have no details at this time as to what they will look like but I'm assuming they will also be simple alpha packs like the rest.

Just In and Hot off The Truck!

Yet another huge batch of Friday afternoon early arrivals has just hit the dock and are being unloaded now - this time from Funimation! Here's what we've got so far:

Ah! My Goddess TV Season 2 Complete Collection DVD Boxed Set
Case Closed Season #3 DVD Box Set (Eps #53-78) (Uncut & Unedited)
Darker Than Black, Vol #1 DVD
Darker Than Black, Vol #1 DVD w Art Box
Karin, Vol #6 DVD
Pumpkin Scissors Season 1 Part #1 DVD Boxed Set (Esp #1-12)
Pumpkin Scissors Season 1 Part #2 DVD Boxed Set (Esp #13-24)
Sasami: Magical Girl Club Season #2 DVD Boxed Set (Esp #14-26)
Shonen Onmyoji , Vol #4 DVD

We'll update these on the site a little later, but we will be able to include these in new orders shipping out today!

COUPON CORNER - PRE HOLIDAY OFFER EXTENDED!

From now until Thursday, November 20th you can save up to an additional 5% off our already low prices on every product on the store. Coupon can be applied to any items on the store, including pre-order and sale items. The more you order, the more you can save!

US customers can also combine this offer with our super saver shipping option to save even more!

To save 5% off ANY ORDER, just use the following coupon code during checkout:

HOLIDAY08TAKE5

Coupon code is valid ONLY for NEW orders and is only good through Thursday, November 20th so don't wait!

New Arrivals in Stock this Week

The new Anime goodness kept on coming this week including 15 new DVD releases, 30+ new manga, and 8 new PVC figures - all in stock and ready to ship! We also have another nice batch of character merchandise in, so be sure to check it out, and just a reminder - our stock on the 2009 calendars is starting to get pretty low and a couple have already sold out, so get em while you can! Be sure to check below for the complete story on all the new stuff, and don't forget to check our updates page over the weekend for the very latest as we're not quite done yet! :-)

Have a great week, and enjoy your anime!

Masami Nagasawa impersonating Kenshiro (English subtitles)

Masami Nagasawa impersonating Kenshiro (English subtitles)

Horikita Maki Cooking Contest

Innocent Love ~Horikita Maki~

Maki Horikita star in "Innocent Love"


The script is an original work written by Taeko Asano, whose most recent hit was "Last Friends" this past spring. Like that show, "Innocent Love" will focus on the lives of modern youths. The shows also share a director Yusuke Kato and a producer Toshiyuki Nakano.

The story centers around the tragic heroine Kanon Akiyama (Horikita Maki). As a child, she lost both her parents to a murderer, and her older brother was arrested as the prime suspect. Shunned by her town as the sister of a killer, she heads to Tokyo and picks up a job as a housecleaner. There, she has a fateful encounter with a man, but the road to romance is fraught with difficulty.

"Innocent Love" have been premiere in October.

Taiyou to Umi no Kyoushitsu

I Just been finished watching this keiko`s dorama ...
it`s a great dorama i think...
there`s so many thing that i`ve been learn on this dorama...

~Taiyou to Umi no Kyoushitsu~


Title (romaji): Taiyo to Umi no Kyoshitsu
Also known as: Homeroom on the Beachside
Genre: School drama
Episodes: 10
Broadcast network: Fuji TV
Broadcast period: 2008-Jul-21 to 2008-Sept-22
Air time: Monday 21:00
Theme song: Kimi no Hitomi ni Koishiteiru by UZ

The series stars popular actor Yuji Oda as a teacher at a college prep high school.In this dorama she plays a former Miss Todai winner who has just started her career as a teacher.

Keiko Kitagawa on "Manatsu no Orion"

Keiko Kitagawa has been tapped to play the female lead in Tetsuo Shinohara's new film, "Manatsu no Orion." She will act together with Hiroshi Tamaki; Kitagawa will play a double role as Tamaki's love interest and the couple's present-day granddaughter.

The story is set during World War II and focuses on a naval battle between an American destroyer and a Japanese submarine, captained by a man named Kuramoto (Tamaki). Before heading off to battle, Shizuko (Kitagawa) gives him a present: the score of a song called "Manatsu no Orion." 64 years later, the pair's granddaughter happens to come across that precious score.

Kitagawa is currently involved in filming for the movie, while also shooting for the "Taiyou to Umi no Kyoushitsu" drama series on Fuji TV. "Manatsu no Orion" will open in theaters sometime in 2009.

Maki Horikita win the title of "Miss Cotton"

It`s the 5th Cotton USA Awards, meant to help promote the cotton industry, were presented on Wednesday in Tokyo. The awards are given to celebrities who possess "softness" and "freshness," just like cotton.

This year, Maki Horikita was given the title of Miss Cotton!!
Congrats Maki-chaan!!

Updates - November 9th, 2008

Schedule Updates, Delays & Cancelations

Well, November is here and the holiday shopping season has officially begun. We'll be getting about twice the number of new product shipments in between now and the middle of December, and (hopefully) about twice the number of orders. We're busy putting the last minute touches on things here in preparation for the usual onslaught, though I have decided that we won't be putting up the Christmas graphics until around the middle of November. I know, I know - everyone else puts them up around the middle of July nowadays, but we're taking a stand! -_^

As the holiday panic sets in around studio HQ conference tables, I've got several date changes for you this week. First, Funimation has let us know that the upcoming Glass Fleet DVD Boxed Set has been bumped back from Dec 30th to Jan 13th. The first Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha DVD Boxed Set has been moved from Nov 11th back to Dec 9th, putting it right in that holiday release sweet spot. The highly anticipated Samurai 7 BluRay Box will not be available for Christmas and has been moved from Dec 9 back to Jan 20th. Finally, the first half Kodocha Thin-Pak #1, which is being re-released to match the 2nd half box we got a few month ago, has been moved up from Dec 30 to Dec 16, though it's a moot point now as it actually arrived in stock this week. No, the irony does not escape me. :-)

ADV to Distribute Princess Resurrection

This week ADV announced they would be distributing Princess Resurrection for Sentai starting next spring. The deal is similar to the ones they recently signed for Clannad and Indian Summer, with Sentai hiring Amusement Park Media to do the R1 production and ADV to handle the marketing and distribution. The plan is for the series to be released as 6 individual DVD's starting in March of 2009. Of course, the single DVD release is a big mistake, but I don't really have to harp anymore on that point here. Anyone who buys any single DVD release from ADV before all the DVD's are out is taking a big risk, but I think everyone knows that already. In fact, Steven Den Beste recently said the same thing on his blog.

ADV Films, for all intents and purposes, is no longer an R1 Anime studio and has re-invented itself into a quote unquote 'distributor', which means they are a middleman being hired by other studios (who actually do the production) to market and distribute Anime and Live action films. Their recent deals with Sentai and Switchblade are good examples of this. Of course, they still have a big back catalog of original ADV titles that I imagine they will continue to recycle through the release schedule until the licenses for them ultimately expire. When ADV came apart earlier this year it was reduced to basically two revenue streams - DVD sales of recycled catalog titles and revenue sharing from cable providers who carry their Anime Network channel. Lacking the ability to continue licensing and producing Anime releases on their own, ADV had to (at the very least) do some sort of deal to continue to pickup new content for the Anime Network, lest they loose the Anime Network revenue stream as well. The good part is that this(hopefully) also translates into a few new DVD's releases for us next year - assuming they can stay in business long enough to get them all out. :-)

Just for Fun - The Ultimate Itasha!

Just when you thought it couldn't get any better, here is the ultimate Itasha (Otaku Car) for fans wanting both high performance and high visibility! This particular Itasha is tied up in some music marketing and looks awesome:

But does it beat the Macross Ero-Itasha unveiled at the Macross Galaxy Tour Final a couple of weeks ago? You decide!

And yes that is a picture on the right side door of a naked Ranka Lee over the Heart with the text 'Hard On'. Hey, what can I say. If you want to see more of the Macross Ero-Itasha, there is a short YouTube video of it's unveiling here.

Adult Swim Jumps Back On Anime Gravy Train

I few weeks ago I reported here about Cartoon Networks drastic cutbacks on Anime programming, with them either eliminating or rescheduling several blocks of Anime shows. Well, apparently things have not gone as well as they would have liked, and they have decided to bring back a nice chunk of Anime programming to keep the viewers coming back. Starting on November 8th Adult Swim is revising its schedule with a 5-hour Anime programming block that begins at 1am. Also, and even better, Adult Swim's Saturday night schedule will not involve repeating shows from earlier the same night.

The Saturday night Adult Swim schedule begins with two hours of its original English language programming, which will be followed by TEN anime series including Moribito and Code Geass, both of which had been banished to the "Milkman" hour of 5am - and Shin Chan, which had been dropped entirely last summer.

The anime portion of the new Adult Swim schedule begins with Bleach at 1am followed by Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit (1:30am), Code Geass (2am), and Shin Chan (2:30am). Then come some classics like Fooly Cooly (FLCL, 3am), Death Note (3:30am), Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (4am), Cowboy Bebop (4:30am), Big
O (5am), and finally Inuyasha (5:30am). The new schedule represents an Anime programming increase from 6 hours to 8.5 hours per week. Of course there is no telling how long they will stick with this, but we'll take it none the less!

Bookstores Can't Keep it Up: It's the Economy Stupid... Right?!

Two big bookstore chains, Barnes & Noble and Borders, said this week that they are bracing for very weak holiday sales. Reportedly, both chains have reduced their November and December Manga inventory buy in's by 30% to 60%. I know that looks bad, but both chains have not been doing well at all this year and have been experiencing year over year sales declines for the first time. My guess is that both chains are tight on money, and with their suppliers reigning in credit lines, they probably have no choice but to cut back on inventory. I hear through the grapevine that a couple big online Anime retailers are having to do the same thing this year. You won't have to worry about anything like that happening here, we're doing fine and we'll be increasing our inventory levels as usual for the holidays, plus bringing in lots of new stuff! Just a little shameless plug so you'll know where to go to find what you need this holiday season and get it delivered on time. :-)

Funimation's January 2009 Release Schedule Has Been Posted

Funimation announced their January release schedule this week, and it's a grand plan! We've added all of the items to the store for pre-order, and here's what it looks like:

009-1 Complete Collection DVD Boxed Set
Baccano!, Vol #1 DVD Baccano!, Vol #1 DVD w/ Collectors Art Box
Case Closed Season #4 DVD Box Set (Uncut & Unedited)
Darker Than Black, Vol #2 DVD
Fullmetal Alchemist Season #1 DVD Boxed Set (Eps #1-28)
Glass Fleet Complete Collection DVD Boxed Set
Hell Girl Complete Collection Deluxe DVD Boxed Set
Kodocha (Kodomo No Omocha) DVD Collectors Boxed Set #1 (Re-Release)
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A DVD Boxed Set
Moon Phase (Tsukuyomi) Complete Collection DVD Boxed Set (Viridian Collection)
One Piece, Adventures in Alabasta Movie DVD (BLURAY) (UNCUT)
One Piece Season 1 Part 3 DVD Boxed Set (Eps #27-40) (Uncut)
Ouran High School Host Club Season #1 Part #2 DVD Boxed Set
Samurai 7 Complete Collection DVD Boxed Set (BLURAY)
Shonen Onmyoji , Vol #5 DVD
Story of Saiunkoku Collection Part #3 DVD
Utawarerumono Complete Collection DVD Boxed Set (Eps # 1-26)
Yu Yu Hakusho Season 4 DVD Boxed Set
Wallflower Complete Collection Season #1 Part #1 (Eps #1-13)

Navarre (Funi's parent) reported earnings a few days ago, and the growth story was all about Funimation with their other divisions (BCI and Encore) coming in flat. It's no wonder why, with a single month's releases coming in like the list above. With Funi now controlling at least 50% of the R1 Anime market, we can expect more of the same to keep coming in 2009!

Coupon Corner - Save 5% On Any Order Until Nov 13th!

We're kicking off the holiday shopping season early with some great savings across the entire store! No limits, and no restrictions! From now until Thursday, November 13th you can save up to an additional 5% off our already low prices on every product on the store. Coupon can be applied to any items on the store, including pre-order and sale items. The more you order, the more you can save! US customers can also combine this offer with our super saver shipping option to save even more!

To save 5% off ANY ORDER, just use the following coupon code during checkout:

HOLIDAY08TAKE5

Coupon code is valid ONLY for NEW orders and is only good through Thursday, November 13th so don't wait!

Just In and Hot off The Truck!

Good grief, like we didn't already have enough new stuff in this week, Ron just peaked in and told me that a bunch more new stuff just hit the dock and are being unloaded now! Here's what it looks like we've got so far:

Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit DVD Bundle #1
Ghost Hunt Season 1 Part 2 DVD Boxed Set (Eps #14-26)
Coyote Ragtime Complete Collection DVD Boxed Set
My Santa Special DVD

We'll update these on the site later today, and we'll be able to include these in new orders shipping out today. If this keeps up we'll have the entire November release schedule in stock by next Tuesday! -_^

New Arrivals in Stock this Week - Too Much to List!

Holy smokes people, l think we got like a months worth of new stuff in this week including maybe 25 new DVD releases, 50+ new manga and import items, and over 20 new PVC figures - all in stock and ready to ship! We also got in our first batch of new 2009 calendars direct from Japan! There's way too much for me to try to highlight here, just be sure to check below for the complete story on all the new stuff, and don't forget to check our updates page over the weekend for the very latest as we're not quite done yet! :-)

Have a great week, and as always, enjoy your anime!