Why not wreak havoc on YOUR competition with Gigantor?
gigantor the space age robot
Here's a fun ad from an industry magazine circa 1966, courtesy D.T.
Why not wreak havoc on YOUR competition with Gigantor?
Why not wreak havoc on YOUR competition with Gigantor?
Updates - October 26th, 2007
The wildfires out in Southern California went from mess to catastrophe this week, but the firefighters (who are doing an incredible job) out there did catch a break mid-week when the winds shifted and gave them the opportunity to try to get the fires under some level of control. On our end the postal service has issued a notice that several areas of Southern California will be out of service where the post offices have been closed:Malibu, CA (90265), Dulzura (91917), Jamul (91935), Potrero (91963), Rancho Bernardo (92127/8), Escondido (92025), Fallbrook (92028), Palomar Mountain (92060) Pauma Valley (92061), Rancho Santa Fe (92067), San Marcos (92069), Santa Ysabel (92070), Valley Center (92082) and Warner Springs (92086), Blue Jay (92317), Cedar Glen (92321), Crestline (92325), Fawnskin (92333), Green Valley Lake (92341), Lake Arrowhead (92352), Rimforest (92378), Running Springs (92382), Skyforest (92385), Twin Peaks (92391)
The list gives you a good idea of how widespread the damage is. We will probably not be able to ship to these areas for some time so if you live in one of the effected areas and have anything on order with us please e-mail us at your convenience to make alternative delivery arrangements. Our thoughts are with everyone effected by this disaster, and we're here to serve you in any way we can.
Courtesy of Steven DB, here is a great blog entry from Jason that rounds up the new fall series in Japan including Gundam 00 and Clannad. Check it out as it gives us a taste of what we'll be seeing here in late 2008 or early 2009.
One show that you won't see featured is Romeo X Juliet which was released in Japan this past Spring and has been getting some incredible reviews in the fan community. As a fan of the Baz Luhrmann movie version of Romeo and Juliet (you know, the one with Leonardo DiCaprio & Claire Danes), I can never get enough of the story and the Anime is something fantasy/romance genre fans can really look forward to. And I'm sure many of you have already read a lot about it as it's been a bit controversial. It was being heavily fansubbed shortly after it's Japanese TV debut (it's still in DVD release in Japan now), and Gonzo made the bold move of giving Funimation the rights to enforce their copyright here in the US before the series was officially licensed, and so Fun did sending out several cease and desist letters to fan sub sites earlier this year - a topic that's been highly debated in the fan community. You know there was actually a letter from the Japanese Government this week in that regards. Anyway, for those of us who wait for the officially licensed releases, here's the OP. :-)
We learned this week that fellow Anime fan Christian Neff was killed in action in Baghdad on September 19. The Savannah Morning News reported that a tree planted in his honor has been decorated by family members with an anime character figure at the United States Army's Fort Stewart in Georgia. Because Neff was an anime fan, his family hung one of his figures from the newly dedicated tree. Our thoughts and prayers go with his family.
Ron just shot me a text message and told me that two new titles from Funimation just hit the dock and are being unloaded as I write this: Witchblade 2 , and BECK 4. I haven't announced either on the site yet, but they are both being checked in now and will be shipping with orders today. You heard it here first!
This week we've had some excellent new DVD arrivals including the final volume of Haruhi (though just the single so far), Eureka Seven, and Guyver + the first volumes of the new series Venus Versus Virus and Simoun. ADV has told us that the pressing of Goddess 4 and Air 3 will be coming a little late, but we should get our copies in before the street dates. We also have some absolutely lavish new figure arrivals for you including lots of stuff from Tandem Twins and Queens Blade. Check below for the scoop on everything that's come in, or check our updates page for the complete story!
My parting word for you this week is - Baaaaaaaaa-d!
That's it for this now. Have a great week - and ENJOY your Anime! :-)
Unico in the Island of DVDs
FROM THE "IT'S ABOUT TIME" DEPT. -
A new outfit - New Galaxy Anime -has just announced they're going to be releasing the 1981 Tezuka / Sanrio film THE FANTASTIC ADVENTURES OF UNICO on DVD in the United States.
Unico, of course, is the little blue unicorn with magic powers who gets involved in various adventures with other little cute animals, some of whom are devils and others who turn into teenage girls and are seduced by mysterious barons. When things get scary and/or dangerous, Unico himself turns into a giant adult unicorn who is perfectly capable of killing the bad guys. Maybe a bit intense for younger children, but everybody else will find it rocks! The animation director is Akio "Golgo 13" Sugino, which means this thing looks great. It's a high-quality production that goes above and beyond its Sanrio roots. The English dubbing is top-notch, with great songs including a melodic little number about "Katy The Kitty Witch." Both UNICO and its sequel UNICO IN THE ISLAND OF MAGIC are terrific anime films that match anything else Japan (or America) was producing at the time.
This got a fairly well-promoted home video release in the United States back in 1984 - I cadged this poster from the local Record Bar back when VHS tapes were selling for $34.95 each. As a staple of the children's video section, UNICO and its MAGIC sequel did journeyman work as video babysitters for the youngsters who would later grow up, become anime fans, and start to remember this crazy thing they saw when they were kids about a little unicorn.
Everybody should welcome New Galaxy Anime-- with lots and lots of pre-orders! New Galaxy should immediately secure the rights to RINGING BELL and next, NOEL'S FANTASTIC TRIP.
A new outfit - New Galaxy Anime -has just announced they're going to be releasing the 1981 Tezuka / Sanrio film THE FANTASTIC ADVENTURES OF UNICO on DVD in the United States.
Unico, of course, is the little blue unicorn with magic powers who gets involved in various adventures with other little cute animals, some of whom are devils and others who turn into teenage girls and are seduced by mysterious barons. When things get scary and/or dangerous, Unico himself turns into a giant adult unicorn who is perfectly capable of killing the bad guys. Maybe a bit intense for younger children, but everybody else will find it rocks! The animation director is Akio "Golgo 13" Sugino, which means this thing looks great. It's a high-quality production that goes above and beyond its Sanrio roots. The English dubbing is top-notch, with great songs including a melodic little number about "Katy The Kitty Witch." Both UNICO and its sequel UNICO IN THE ISLAND OF MAGIC are terrific anime films that match anything else Japan (or America) was producing at the time.
This got a fairly well-promoted home video release in the United States back in 1984 - I cadged this poster from the local Record Bar back when VHS tapes were selling for $34.95 each. As a staple of the children's video section, UNICO and its MAGIC sequel did journeyman work as video babysitters for the youngsters who would later grow up, become anime fans, and start to remember this crazy thing they saw when they were kids about a little unicorn.
Everybody should welcome New Galaxy Anime-- with lots and lots of pre-orders! New Galaxy should immediately secure the rights to RINGING BELL and next, NOEL'S FANTASTIC TRIP.
all this time...
All this time I'd been thinking the name of this show was "rampoo", but a more accurate translation is "ranpou".
Imaged ganked from I don't know where, some Japanese site.
It's a show about Ranpou, a crazy kid who invents things along with his pet mouse and they cause trouble at school. I mean wacky 80s anime crazy, which means laser guns that cut down office buildings, giant cockroaches harrassing teachers, and entire episodes that lampoon Captain Harlock, Nausicaa, Future Boy Conan, and Macross, all in 15 minutes. People ask me what kind of anime I'm looking for, this is it, all I have is crappy copies of 2 episodes, somebody buy me the DVDs for Xmas, okay? If there ARE DVDs, which I doubt.
Imaged ganked from I don't know where, some Japanese site.
It's a show about Ranpou, a crazy kid who invents things along with his pet mouse and they cause trouble at school. I mean wacky 80s anime crazy, which means laser guns that cut down office buildings, giant cockroaches harrassing teachers, and entire episodes that lampoon Captain Harlock, Nausicaa, Future Boy Conan, and Macross, all in 15 minutes. People ask me what kind of anime I'm looking for, this is it, all I have is crappy copies of 2 episodes, somebody buy me the DVDs for Xmas, okay? If there ARE DVDs, which I doubt.
Mao Inoue ~Profile~
PROFILE
Name: Inoue Mao
Profession: Actress
Birthdate: 09 January 1987
Birthplace: Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
Height: 158cm
Weight: 41kg
Star sign: Capricorn
Blood type: O
Family: Parents and an older brother
Updates - October 19th, 2007
So let's see, what going on? Hmmmm....I have two minor date changes to report this week as Bandai Visual shuffles their release schedule around a bit. Super Robot Wars Devine Wars and Freedom 3 have been bumped from Nov 13th to Dec 11th. The good news is that we have completed distribution arrangements with Bandai Visual so that we will continue to receive their new titles. We will also be able to restock their existing titles, so you can now order them with confidence.
There have been two licensing announcements recently that I got really excited about. First ADV picked up Kanon, which is a fabulous Comedy/Drama that was originally an 18+ PC Game and has been way too long coming to the North American market. How do I know that Kanon is fabulous if it's not out yet? - don't ask questions grasshopper... 'some people' say Kanon is one of the best Anime ever made - here's a little taste...
Also, John Sirabella recently announced that Media Blasters has licensed Mahou Shoujo Tai Aris (Tweeny Witches), an Adventure/Comedy from Studio 4C. OP can be seen here.
Both titles should appear on DVD early next year.
It's been 3 weeks now - so what's going on with Geneon? In a word - 'nothing'. If they're working on something they are not giving any hint as to what it is. Despite our best efforts and a huge final reorder we did with them their titles have already started to stockout, and as our original inventory evaporates we've been forced to buy some of their items from middlemen at higher cost just to keep them in stock a little bit longer. I had hoped we could keep their items mostly in stock through the holidays, but instead of the 3x or 4x volume increase I had guessed, it has been something more like 20x so Geneon titles have literally vaporized out of our warehouse. For example, we shipped more volumes of Fate/Stay #6 in 24 hours than in seven weeks for volume #5. Still, we'll do our best to keep these items available as long as we can, even if we have to buy them at a higher wholesale cost. Right now the series that are in the most jeopardy of selling out are Shana, Fate/Stay, Ergo Proxy, Dears, and Girls Bravo. Unless we can find more re-supplies these series may be completely gone by the end of the month.
While I'm discussing industry stuff, I just want to take a bit of time and rant about a certain manga publisher. If you've read me for awhile you know it's no secret that I've had some angst in the past with the way TokyoPop handles their business, and recently has been no exception. Some times I want knock on some of these industry executives heads and ask "hello, is anybody home??!!" :-) I personally do not believe that a manga publisher should allow older volumes of a manga series to go out of print while new volumes are still being released. Economics be damned. Makes it impossible to offer customers value bundles, and also guarantees declining market share for longer running series as newer volumes are released. I also don't believe that a manga publisher should hold certain titles hostage to the marketplace by only making them available directly from the publishers web site. But these are not the only problems. Recently we've had supply issues with TokyoPop titles in that the initial pressings of their books seem to be way too small, so when demand exceeds initial expectations these issues are not readily available for re-order and then can take weeks to restock. Come on TP, you guys can do better for us than this. Nuf said.
Ron (direct from the warehouse) say's that Naruto 17 (Zero Hour) just hit the dock and is being unloaded now. It will be added to the other new arrivals that came in this week like Hell Girl, GSD 11, Flag, and of course, the 2nd volume of Karas. We're offering Karas at 40% off the MSRP to help everyone forget the long wait of nearly 2 years. We had a relatively light week for new manga and figure arrivals, but have started to catch up on new posts and managed to get about 20 new figures up for pre-order. Many more to come in the following days. Finally we posted some of the new music CD's that recently arrived from Tokyo, including the great single by Hikaru Utada from the new Evangelion movie. Check below for the scoop on everything that's come in, or check our updates page for the complete story!
My parting word for you this week is - Otaha!
That's it for this week. Have a great weekend - and ENJOY your Anime! :-)
Erika Sawajiri ~Profile~
PROFILE
Born: April 8, 1986 in Nerima, Tokyo
Erika was born to a Japanese father and an Algerian-French mother and is the youngest of three brothers and sisters.
Her name is derived from an orchids's name, Ericaceae's Erica.
Her name is derived from an orchids's name, Ericaceae's Erica.
Ueno Juri ~Profile~
PROFILE
Name: Juri Ueno
Born: 25 May 1986)
Birthplace: Kakogawa, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan
Height: 167cm
Place of Birth: Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan
Talent Agency: Amuse
Interests: Music, cooking
Skills: Sprinting, tenor saxophone
It's Big Marine Boy
Not as famous as Astro Boy or as kooky as Speed Racer, Marine Boy was a '60s Japanese cartoon (from TCJ, the folks who brought you Prince Planet and Gigantor) dubbed by the Peter Fernandez/Corinne Orr/Jack Grimes team. Apart from quick glimpses on hotel TVs while on vacation in other markets, I never got to see this show as a kid. Currently languishing in the vaults of Time Warner Turner Whoever, this show really ought to get a proper DVD release. Anyway, I bring it up to show you this clipping that D. Thompson found in a 1966 issue of a TV broadcasters magazine:
What's interesting about this article is how Frish's Big Boy Restaurants purchased Marine Boy in Ohio, Kentucky, and Florida markets. Was this a promotional tie-in? Did the Big Boy and Marine Boy ever meet in the pages of those free promo comics? Was there a "Marine Boy Surf And Turf" special on the menu? The mind boggles.
That's a pretty cool Marine Boy illustration up there with the article, pity it isn't in color. Hold on a minute...
And on the back...
What's interesting about this article is how Frish's Big Boy Restaurants purchased Marine Boy in Ohio, Kentucky, and Florida markets. Was this a promotional tie-in? Did the Big Boy and Marine Boy ever meet in the pages of those free promo comics? Was there a "Marine Boy Surf And Turf" special on the menu? The mind boggles.
That's a pretty cool Marine Boy illustration up there with the article, pity it isn't in color. Hold on a minute...
And on the back...
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