Manga & Anime THREAD

[GeorgeC]

I'm going to hold off on getting the animated LWW.

(Completely forgot about the review on DVDToons.... It's just been so long and that website for some reason can be a pain to look through sometimes.)

I have a hunch the TV special will get wider distribution before the theatrical film debuts on December 5th.

The Dr. Seuss TV specials were never released on DVD until after Cat in the Hat got made into a motion picture.

I'm expecting a much bigger push for the animated LWW at least a month or two before the movie gets its official release.

I'm still puzzled as to why the R1 LWW DVD never showed up in stores. I never actively looked for it myself, but half the stuff I discover in stores are things I was never looking for! This particular disc just never showed up at any of the usual places where you find weird, obscure discs...

[Ben]

Interesting that you find DVD Toons hard to navigate.

We just had a bit of an overhaul, with an easier way to find older reviews. Would appreciate it if you could take a look and let me know how you find things now, or what exactly you didn't like about it before.

[GeorgeC]

Nah,

the search is good. No problem finding it even though I still kinda find the DVDToons site to be kinda... well, ugly. It's not AICN-ugly, but it's not exactly the nicest site to look at it, either.

It's just that 3/4 of the time the Search Function on most websites is next to useless.

Either there are a million posts you have to navigate after you turn up hit results, or the friggin' Search function is too sensitive!

Seriously, I've found the Search function on several retail websites to be next to useless after the websites were "upgraded"!

[Ksoon]

http://www-1.expo2005.or.jp/en/ticket/totoro.html

For the fans of Totoro, an exact reproduction of the house of
Satsuki & Meï is currently in construction in Japan, within the
framework of the next World Fair in Japan (in Aichi). The house will be able to accomodate 800 people per day (on reservation). Below a small report (NTV) showing you this project in full building site:

http://www.catsuka.com/satsuki_house.rmvb


Video 1 : http://www.g-platform.jp/meta/expo37_jo ... 070904.asx

Ceremony related to the end of the construction of the framework out
of wooden of the house (June 18, 2004). Interventions of Goro
Miyazaki (directing of the Ghibli museum) and Takushi Masuda (site
foreman).

Video 2 : http://www.g-platform.jp/meta/expo35_gh ... 062204.asx

Presentation of the project by Goro Miyazaki. One sees plans filmed
with the Ghibli museum there.

[GeorgeC]

The url for the movie is http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/steamboy/


Click on "Theater Listings" to see where the movie shows in your state...

Stinks that it's not playing in Columbus the 18th! I can't understand why it's not in the biggest city in the state. I have no desire to search out any film in either Cincinnati (yuck) or Cleveland (don't know the area, no desire to search for a theater for just one film).

I could say the same thing about the release pattern in Florida... I'd have thought it would have played in Miami and Tampa in addition to Orlando. (Advice to others: DON'T move to Tampa OR Orlando if you move to Florida. Heck, I'd say STAY AWAY FROM FLORIDA at all costs...! Nice place to visit, not so great to live in, though.)

As the Steam Boy site does point out, the film will supposedly open in a few more theaters on March 25th. Given how well anime flicks have done in the US in the past, I don't give this film more than a month playing time in the States before it disappears... We'll probably see it on DVD by the end of the summer this year.

[AniMan]

I heard about this movie for the first time Sunday, when I went to see Robots. The trailer looked awesome, the animation is absolutely beautiful. I like the premise of the story.. sounds very interesting. It'll be playing in Boston so it's not too far from me (southern NH). Hope I get a chance to go see it. If not, I'll snag it on dvd.

[Ben]

There's a nice 3-disc coming out in Japan (actually might be out already) that looks pretty cool.

[Randall]

I'm dying to see this film. From what little I have seen of it, I love it already. I doubt it'll come to theaters where I am, so I'll be jumping on the DVD.

(George: Orlando ain't so bad. I was there for 5 years in the 90s. Sure, it's got no real culture--- just pop culture--- but it's still a nice place, and you can't beat Disney World!)

[GeorgeC]

http://news.toonzone.net/article.php?ID=2382

The link has the full article.

ADV Films, the largest domestic licensor and distributor of anime in the US, laid off 40 employees. Downsizing is occuring due to changes in the US market. In other words, the crap/marginal titles ADV is trying to sell AREN'T selling and these titles' low sales are eating into the profits they're making on the few titles that DO sell.

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I think this is the beginning of an inevitable contraction in anime and manga sales. There's just too much product on the shelves in what's still a niche market. The average anime DVD still retails about $5 to $10 above the average Hollywood DVD and very rarely do you get as good a deal on the anime DVD as the mass-market product.

I've gotta say that for my part, it's overwhelming trying to keep up with titles. Besides the fact that most magazines and websites seem to be on the payroll of the companies that produce these DVDs and mangas, it's very hard to get honest feedback from other people because A) there's too much stuff out there to keep track of and B) almost nobody can keep up with it all because of cost and time constraints.

We're going to see a few companies go bankrupt in the next few years... Mark my words, it's going to happen because there aren't enough millionaires with kids that have an allowance that can afford this stuff.

Also, 90% of the product put out in the last decade has really been disappointing. There have been some great shows and movies like Macross Plus, Spirited Away, and Cowboy Bebop, but far more crap to overbalance the good out there.

I don't mean to sound overly negative because I do like a lot of these shows, but it is very hard to find good things sometimes...

I gotta laugh when Japanese animation fans say anime is the great hope of animation... Who are these guys kidding? There are quality problems on BOTH sides of the Pacific!

[GeorgeC]

Bit of an update and a link here: http://forums.animeondvd.com/showflat.p ... o=&fpart=1

IF you want to read this, go ahead and you'll see WHY I don't post on AnimeOnDVD.com anymore.

I'm a part of the anime fandom, but there are reasons why I don't bother going to cons anymore or participating in forums.

When you have clueless arrogant people posting online that have 4000+ posts and are rude to other people, it doesn't really make you want to participate...

And no, the sky isn't falling in at ADV at any rate, but what's happening is basically what will happen across the board. There's only so much a limited market can be soaked for. Ask comic book collectors and they'll tell you that, too!

[Inkan1969]

"Howl's Moving Castle": Cast, schedule announced

Nausicaa.net just posted both in their news section.

[GeorgeC]

From Ultimate Disney, 7 April 2005:

{Studio Ghibli's My Neighbors The Yamadas has just received a PG rating "for mild thematic elements" by the MPAA. This 1999 film directed by Isao Takahata is one of the Ghibli films to which Buena Vista Home Entertainment holds Region 1 DVD distribution rights. The deal between Disney and Tokuma Publishing covers six existing films which have not yet been released to DVD in the United States. Besides Yamadas, there are the Takahata-directed Only Yesterday and Pom Poko (which was also recently classified), the long-delayed My Neighbor Totoro and Howl's Moving Castle (which will open in US theaters this June) from Hayao Miyazaki, and Yoshifumi Kondo's Whisper of the Heart. Disney is expected to release at least one other wave of Studio Ghibli DVDs before the end of 2005, and earlier reports suggested that the next batch would include Totoro, Yesterday, and Pom Poko. It's unclear if, as the classification of The Yamadas suggests, those plans have since changed. When more is known, we'll fill you in.}

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Yeah, it sounds like Disney will probably put out at least 3 more Ghibli films in Region 1 before the end of the year. One of these films SHOULD be My Neighbor Totoro since 20th Century Fox's home video rights to the film lapsed over a year ago.

I'm interested in the non-Miyazaki output of Ghibli as well as the other unreleased (to Region 1) Miyazaki films.

FYI, other Miyazaki films that are NOT Ghibli films but are out in Region 1 include Panda Go Panda! and Castle of Cagliostro (one of the Lupin III movies).

Another Ghibli film that Disney doesn't have the rights to but is currently out in Region 1 is the heart-wrenching yet excellent Grave of the Fireflies.

[GeorgeC]

So, has anybody seen the new Astro Boy TV series DVD set? It was released last month in the US in a boxset. I think a bunch of anime fans passed on it because it was cropped (the Japanese original version is widescreen) and edited. No options for widescreen or Japanese language... That's a major turn-off for purists!

I haven't seen a lick of the new Astro Boy on TV OR home video! It came and went fairly fast on Kids WB and Cartoon Network due to low ratings and lack of interest from kids. It looks like an interesting show but I have no idea how well the localization/translation into English went and if the show's naivety survived the current Dark Ages.

Apparently, a very nice DVD set of the 1980s Astro Boy remake was released in Australia last year http://www.ezydvd.com.au/item.zml/229598 and there's some talk or rumors that some company MIGHT bring the 1980s Astro Boy out on home video in the US.

Astro Boy is supposedly much more popular in Australia and the general Pacific rim than the US.

I've seen that a bunch of VHS tapes used to be available of Astro Boy but very few episodes made it onto laserdisc in the 1990s and no B & W episodes have been released on DVD in the US so far.

Japan has gotten all 3 Astro Boy series out on DVD. Considering the character is basically the "Japanese Mickey Mouse" it'd be surprising if they hadn't released all the shows on DVD!

[GeorgeC]

There's an interesting interview with the DVD producers for the American versions of the Studio Ghibli films Disney is releasing. (Again, Disney is releasing EVERY Ghibli movie except Grave of the Fireflies which is under license to Central Park Media.)

It's up at http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/interv ... view2.html


Interestingly enough, apparently Fox Video's rights to My Neighbor Totoro didn't expire until very recently which is why Disney's DVD version hasn't shown up yet. Disney also did NOT get the rights to the original English dub of Totoro (available on the Fox DVD -- grab the Fox DVD NOW if you like that dub because once it's gone, it's gone!) which is why Disney had to do a new dub.

Oh, and there's an interesting tidbit about Pom Poko and Disney's "anatomical" problems with releasing it...

[GeorgeC]

Steam Boy's not a bad film.

It's not the greatest anime feature, but it's certainly not horribly mediocre, either.

That said, I doubt it will go down as Katsuhiro Otomo's finest moment. He's probably going to be remembered for Akira like it or not.

Steam Boy has had bad press in the US from day one. First, it's gotten a rap for being a major box-office bomb in Japan last year, but let's face it -- unless you're Hayao Miyazaki or the other directors at Studio Ghibli, there's no guarantee your film will make money in Japan, let alone anywhere else worldwide!

The other rap comes from overly obsessed anime fans who got incensed when they heard the English theatrical dub of Steam Boy would be 15-25 minutes shorter than the original Japanese version. I'm sure the thoughts entered their heads that the film wouldn't make sense or would suffer from those lost minutes. Having seen plenty of anime features than run FAR too long and suffer from poor pacing, I went ahead and saw the film anyway.

I don't think Steam Boy hurts for those "lost minutes" at all. The English dubbing is more than adequate with fine performances by Patrick Stewart, Alfred Molina, Khari Alexander (Starfire from "Teen Titans") and Anna Paquina as the title character. Yep, Anna Paquin is voicing a boy in this film, and does a very good English accent that doesn't sound fake.

There are criticisms that the film doesn't have great characterizations and seems to fail to capitalize on building characters... I wonder if perhaps people are getting Steam Boy mixed up with Episode III because it seems those comments are more appropriate for the latter film.

Steam Boy doesn't claim to be a deep film nor is it stuffed to the gills with the philosophical B.S. and soliloquizing that makes another recent anime feature, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, so unwatchable. Steam Boy's a good ride from beginning to end with enough action to keep you from being bored.

Thank goodness we were spared the philosophy lessons this time!

Recommendation: Rent first to see if it's worth buying on DVD...

Limited availability for viewing now at art and independent theaters. I'm sure the film will be pulled from theaters a few weeks before the DVD gets released later this summer...