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 Anime Briefs: June 2001
Anime Briefs Editor: Adam "OMEGA" Arnold
Planet Ladder, MARS, and Paradise Kiss Licensed!
You can barely go online these days without hearing about the latest manga and anime acquisitions. Last year it was ADV that was making the biggest waves, but now the clear leader seems to be TOKYOPOP. They've been snatching up properties left and right with Marmalade Boy, Kodomo no Omocha, and Corrector Yui just officially announced recently. Now it looks like the future of TOKYOPOP's shoujo manga anthology has been decided as well.
After Sailor Moon Stars concludes in the September issue of SMILE, don't expect to see Sailor V to replace it. In fact, don't expect to see any of the current line-up through to their conclusions in SMILE. No, the magazine hasn't been cancelled! The manga is just moving out and making way for 3 brand new series. But, don't fret, Peach Girl and Juline will be seriealized through the 3rd tankoubon and TPBs will be coming out for the rest of the series. So get ready for SMILE's latest manga ensamble of Narushima Yuri's Planet Ladder, Souryou Fuumi's MARS, and Yazawa Ai's Paradise Kiss.
Planet Ladder is the tale of an orphan named Kaguya who gets taken from Earth to another world by people calling her "Princess". As the story progresses, Kaguya sets out to figure out who she really is. Along the way she gains an android companion who bares a striking resembleance to a boy who helped Kaguya find a purpose in life when she was all alone. came across long ago. Will she figure out who she is? For more information please visit: Lijaka's Shoujo Manga and Anime Sites
MARS is clearly of the shoujo persuasion and one thing's for sure, the series is even more up front about sex and love than Peach Girl's beat-around-the-bush approach. Simply enough MARS is the story of how opposites attract. Kira is a sweet and nice girl that's had some bad experiences in the past and Rei is nothing but a slacker. Interestingly enough, they are in the same class but Kira avoids Rei because she thinks he's awful because of all the warnings her mother has given about men like Rei. But, he always seems to be where Kira is and in the park one day he asks her for directions and she silently pulls out a map and hands it to him without saying a word. On the back of the map is a brilliant drawing that Kira drew. This event lead to an attraction between them that they try to resist as best they can. Want to know more? Vist: Hanabatake.com
Paradise Kiss?! That sounds like some type of soap or cologne or a clothing store. But it's not. It's actually a really elegantly shoujo manga which people have nicknamed Parakiss. It's the sequal to Gokinjo Monogatari and is about a rather common young girl named Hayasaka Yukari who gets abducted by some strange kids one day. The kids ask Yukari to be a model for their clique in their school fashion show and this school just happens to be Yazagaku, a high school that's course of study is rooted in fashion, design and art among other things. Yukari agrees and her life takes a rather interesting turn. Great info can be found at: Paradise Kiss
Waiting for EX
In issue 5.7 of EX Magazine, Rika Takahashi and Keith Rhee told the harsh truth about the nature of putting together a webzine and declared that "EX will transition from an issue-based format to an index format." Well, half a year has passed since the final issue of EX Magazine appeared online and now information and visuals of what can be expected from the new version of the site have appeared on the web site.
When visiting ex.org you will be greeted by a page with a picture of the new layout that reads "No, we're not dead yet. The site upgrade is taking longer than expected. Within a few weeks, we should have the new format up and running, with weekly updates and lots of content. Stay tuned." The pictures that appear beside the article seem to show that the first big article will be about 'Anime on TV' and will prominently feature The Big O. Let's hope the new EX will appear online soon because we miss Newtype's English site.
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