Manga & Anime THREAD

[Ben]

I'm probably going to get that nice looking box set with the added art cards and manga in it.

I love the look of Steamboy, and a Japanese feature set in London is original in itself!

The cut on the DVD will be the complete original version anyway, fully dubbed it seems, so I don't know why they didn't release it that way to begin with.

Since Steamboy hasn't gotten much of a release here, even limited, this'll be the first time I see it, so I won't know what was taken out or not anyway.

I'm looking forward to it.

[GeorgeC]

It's official at http://www.anchorbayentertainment.com/i ... ntheFuture

Anchor Bay Entertainment is releasing the original 1963 B & W English dub of Astro Boy the TV series starting in November.

I don't know if they're doing it as a box set or individual volumes, though.

Recently, Sony released the 1990s remake of Astro Boy earlier this year.

Can the 1980s Astro Boy remake be too far behind in R1 where it hasn't been seen?

[GeorgeC]

Correction to the last post... http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/article.php?id=6770

Apparently, The Right Stuf International has the rights to the 1960s Astro Boy TV series.

Manga Entertainment has the rights to the 1980s Astro Boy remake. This might be what Anchor Bay is releasing later this year.

Word is that the 1980s remake will have BOTH Japanese and English audio tracks on the DVD set.

Most likely the B &W 1960s original Astro Boy TV series will be marketed to the nostalgia market. (Baby Boomers who grew up on the show.)

[GeorgeC]

I pretty much evaluate the special-edition releases of anime on a case-by-case basis.

I don't think it's worth getting the giftsets 90% of the time. Usually they just pack in cards or action figures that I have no use for, but the hardcore collectors or people who think this stuff will have value on e-Bay snatch this stuff up anyway.

I passed on the "special edition" of the Sakura Wars movie DVD simply because A) it was $10 more than the regular, otherwise IDENTICAL edition and B) the only thing that made it special were character cards! Seriously... you paid $10 extra for dumb character cards!

Recently, Appleseed got released in a 2-disc collector's edition that also had a limited version. The only difference between these 2 editions is that the company wanted you to pay $15-$20 extra for a dumb action figure that came on the limited edition! I guess people went ga-ga for the LE release because of the figure, but I saw it in store and wasn't that impressed. For that amount of money, I could go ahead and buy another DVD just as well! I ended up NOT getting Appleseed because I didn't care for what I saw in the trailer for the movie. The characters looked like those marionettes in Final Fantasy the Movie and just about every review I read for the movie said it stunk when it came to character animation. It was just flat and full of explosions.

From what I've been reading about the Steamboy DVD release, I'm just going to stick with the regular DVD edition. The only thing you get with the LE release are cards and a book that really don't add value to the movie. If there were a bonus DVD or decent "making of" book in the LE release then I'd consider it, but it sounds like it's just another "LE card release."

[Ben]

Appleseed was actually released in three editions:

* A movie-and-commentary only edition (single disc, keep case)
* The two-disc movie/commentary and disc of extras edition (in a groovy tin).
* The two-disc tin edition with the action figure.


Not having seen the film, but being sufficiently interested in the technique, I went for the two-disc tin edition, which was actually priced at my importers at less than $2 more than the single disc. I'll be watching the film at somepoint next week.

So far, that'll make my third Japanimation purchase, after Akira and Metropolis. I'm just not that big a fan unless the visuals help sell me on a film.

As for Steamboy - I hear your view on the "extras" that come with a disc sometimes, but in this case, the extras include an art book AND the original manga that inspired the movie, so it's interesting background material. Plus special packaging for those special movies is always a good one!

[GeorgeC]

Thanks to AnimeNewsNetwork.com for the tip-off!

There are 6 clips including the trailer to Hayao Miyazaki's latest film, Howl's Moving Castle, online at http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hv&id=18 ... cf=trailer

Howl's Moving Castle premieres in select American cities this Friday, June 10th.

Howl's Moving Castle premieres June 17th at the Drexel Theaters in Columbus for Ohio Miyazaki fans. www.drexel.net


Note to Mac users: Unfortunately, some of us might not be able to watch these clips since they seem to be encoded in a Windows Media Video codec not supported by Mac-compatible versions of Windows Media Video Player.

[Ben]

We were about to post those ourselves!

Look for the AN version later today.

[GeorgeC]

Thanks, but your link is a LOT better!

It gives poor Mac fans the option of watching in a format that ISN'T proprietary and exclusive.

'Sides, I like watching most clips in QuickTime better. There's something about Real Video and WMV that I've never liked...

[Ben]

I actually considered only putting up the QT versions, since if you do a comparison, they are so MUCH better and clearer visually, and in stereo audio.

I thought we'd better offer the lower bandwidth WM versions for those still on 56k dial-up (catch up, guys)!

[Inkan1969]

HMC theater listings are now available at IMDB.

[GeorgeC]

Minor correction to the front page news...

This movie is NOT going to open as wide as people think. It's basically going to show up mostly in independent and "art film" theaters. There are probably not going to be many multiplexes outside of LA and NYC that will show this film. I'd be very surprised if it shows up in more than 500 theaters, tops.

Anime features have just not been big successes in the US. In fact, the amount of money they've made in American theaters probably doesn't cover the costs of the film prints!

However, anybody interested in this film or who's looked Miyazaki in the past SHOULD go see it. It looks like it will be one of the better animated films of the year. Thank goodness, it's NOT another CGI film!

Sure, computers were used to color the movie and add effects in scenes, but you know what I mean...!

[GeorgeC]

Fortunately for me, I live within a half-hour of a theater that WILL show the film on the 17th of June!

[Ben]

Well, we're quoting the email and announcement that was sent in, and it says "everywhere", so we're saying "everywhere".

At least it's more where than the limited cities it playing in now.

[GeorgeC]

I've gotta give DreamWorks credit with anime, even if I think their marketing and DVD licenses have been handled half-heartedly.

DW TRIED to open Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence in over 300 theaters nationwide last year.

People just didn't go to the theaters in spite of GitS' cult-status. People just did NOT want to watch a Japanese animated feature at the theater.

It didn't help that GitS 2 wasn't a great movie and the fact that DW didn't create an English dub of it either, but the overriding point is that the bodies just didn't march into theaters.

I'd be pleasantly surprised if "Howling's Moving Castle" broke into the top 10, let alone the top 20 grossing pictures in the next week, but I just don't think that film will go very far. I give it a month at most before it gets pulled from 95% of the theaters it's playing at over the next two weeks.

Seriously, I like anime, but the features just do not do well in American theaters.

[Ben]

Would have been interesting to see a wide release like GITS2 get a proper English dub and seen how that would have done.

Doubtless people were put off by those subtitles!