Mail Desk
Welcome back to another edition of Mail Desk! This month, we have updated information on Mermaid Melody, requests for help in tracking down music, and advice for Shannon on anime clubs, among other diverse topics. Send us an email, and let your voice be heard before classes start! Enjoy the last few days of freedom!
EXTRA: A source that wishes to remain anonymous informed us that current issues of the Gravitation manga are available online at Web Comic Genzo for a small fee, with July's issue being free. So if you wish to keep reading about Shuichi and Yuki, and the English volumes are just not enough, there is a place for you. Mandy has been taken out back and throughly spanked with a yaoi paddle for leaving that factoid out of last month's Gravitation feature.
Hi,
I'm an american thinkning about moving to tokyo japan. I was
woundering if you good give me some advice on what to do ounce I get
there and maybe tell me what theese names mean in japanese:Samejimi
Mamimi
Haruhara Haruko
Sayonara Maromi -
Thanks you very much,
Haruhara Mamimi
Hi Haruhara Mamimi,
There's lots of websites with advice on moving to Japan, such as Relojapan and Japan-Guide. However, if you're a student, try checking out foreign exchange programs or the JET program, where you are paid to teach English in Japan for a year. It's always good to try out a country before you uproot yourself to live permanently over there.
As for names: sayonara means farewell, as in there is doubt that you will see that person again. It's not just a 'see you later' between friends; that's 'ja ne,' or 'ja matta ne,' if you're being formal.
As for Samejimi Mamimi, Haruhara Haruko, and Maromi, they are just names from FLCL and Paranoia Agent, respectively. It's like asking if Jennifer has a meaning. I suppose it does if you're into tracing language shifts, but you wouldn't introduce yourself as "Hi, I'm White Spirit, or White Wave, or White Cheeked!"
-Janet
Dear Animefringe,
I am currently searching for manga title "Kaiouki" created by "Masatoshi
Kawahara".
I need help abouth the preview of this manga called "Kaiouki".
Are there any translate for this manga in comic for English Language?
The latest volume of this comic is 24 in Japan language.
Hello Permana_72,
It's available at Sasuga Books, and there are apparently 25 volumes now. As it's serialized in Shonen Jump and seems to be quite popular, that raises the possibility of an English translation. However, my Google Fu has resulted in no information besides ordering the Japanese volumes.
-Janet
Dear Animefringe,
I really liked Satoshi Kon's Paranoia Agent. It really made you
think and had a lot of twists. I was wondering if you knew if
Satoshi Kon plans on directing another series? If so, are there any
details on it yet?
Bonjour B33Anime!
Yes! Satoshi Kon is currently working on a project with Mad House called Paprika, featuring a female detective who can investigate cases by entering peoples' dreams. It might be released in 2006 (we can always hope). Regardless, it sounds really cool.
-Janet
Dear Animefringe,
Back when ADV released The New Cutey Honey series, I really dug the music,
especially the heavy metal
rendition of Honey's theme (the version used in the second half is rather blah
depsite being in
english). I've been trying to track down a Soundtrack CD but with no luck.
Howeve I figure some extra
info might help the search. What's the title I should be seeking?
Hi December73,
There are actually three OSTs: New Super Android Cutey Honey Music Collection, New Super Android Cutey Honey Music Collection 2, and oddly enough, New Super Android Cutey Honey Music Collection 3.
The first OST has ten tracks, and a few pieces from the first episode only. The second OST contains the music played in episodes two to four, and contains a lot of the background music and songs, so this is probably the one that you're looking for. It has twenty tracks.
The last CD has music unique to episode four, with twenty-two tracks.
Apparently, these OSTs went out of stock very quickly, so it may be a challenge to find them. Good luck!
-Janet
Dear Animefringe,
While reading some of your older articles aswell as newer ones, you seem to talk
a lot about ADV
licensing this anime. I thought i'd just let you know that ADV dropped this
licence in early June
2005. This means that currently, english viewers will have to wait a long time
to watch it as all
fanu subbing sites have removed it due to it becoming licensed and as of yet,
haven't put it back
on there lists. Below is a quote from ADV:
"Finally, ADV has passed on the Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pich license.
Mermaid Melody was
a “Big Franchise” that would have required TV backing to be financially viable.
While ADV was in
talks with networks, these networks re-evaluated the market and it would not
have been
financially reasonable for ADV to license the title without at TV deal."
Just felt i should keep you informed.
4rm Archer
Thanks for the news, 4rm Archer!
-Janet
Dear Animefringe,
From what I heard, ADV Films dropped the license of Mermaid Melody DVDs. As for
buying
the Mermaid Melody DVDs, I recently bought Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pure
BOX 2
from www.yesasia.com! You can also go to www.cdjapan.co.jp for more DVDs like
Tokyo
mew mew . They come straight from Japan but if you don't mind the Japanese then
you can
buy them. They are quite expensive but I think it is worth it.....
Hello Saidahtheseller,
Yesasia and Cdjapan are great places for buying R2 DVDs and CDs; many of the staff at Animefringe use these retailers for their own purchases. If you're a fan of the series, then I would strongly recommend buying the DVDs. You may not be able to support the show domestically, but you can show that there is a market for anime like Mermaid Melody.
-Janet
Hi animefridge-Team,
I'm from Germany and search the Musicnotes from "Rurouni Kenshin OVA - The
Wars of the Last Wolves".
Could you say me where I can't find them?
MfG Civer
Hi MfG Civer!
I went to several forums, and I still couldn't find it. Apparently, lots of people wanted the song, because it's so popular, but no one has been able to find it. The closest match I came to was Althea Chia's trascribed Kenshin OVA sheets (but no War of the Last Wolves) from http://www.animescores.com/SheetMusic/Departure.pdf ...so good luck with the search! Hope you'll find it soon.
-Susan
Dear Animefringe,
My name's Simon Leech and I'm from the UK and the thoughts still nagging at my
mind. But can you please tell me if Spiral The Melody Of Logic has been
released in England? Just that I've read and heard a lot about it and I still
wonder if it's actually out in England and not just in places such as America
and
stuff. I've only just found this site recently and I'm from Newcastle Upon
Tyne.
Thanks,
Simon Leech
Hey Simon!
After Adam beat it into my head that Spiral is from FUNimation, not ADV, as I claimed, you have no choice but to import the R1 release. Sadly, FUNimation is a US-only company.
-Janet
Dear Animefringe,
Where can you buy these Isues or magazine , i know its on
line but on your bookisuse they look like you do, do they
sell them at the store? :) that be cool
i love anime!! ^_~
Hi m_jaganshi!
We love anime too! Animefringe is only online, but you're welcome to print out the pages!
-Janet
Dear Animefringe,
I'm sorry but how can you like the English voice actors? The ones you knew and
loved made the game what it was,
am I right? Claude sounded close to his age, if not older, Dias sounded as
bad-ass as he was, Celine had her
seductive quality, and Rena was a cute-ish sounding. Now, since Geneon got ahold
of it, they mispronounce his
name, Claude sounds like he should be 12 or 13, Dias sounds bad, but not
bad-ass, Celine is more of a girl-next-
door-ish type, and Rena...just sounds wrong. I mean, I thought the origional
game voice actors had something
going, as opposed to these jerk-offs who seemed to bastardize it. What do you
think it would've cost to get the
old voice actors back? Another 1-3k a person? Come on...it's worth it for the
Die-hard fans, ne?
Hi Slink Cursed Poet,
I really enjoyed Star Ocean: The Second Story, but I thought that the voice actors really sucked in the game. Mind you, it was my first experience with actual voices in my rpg, so crappy was rather acceptable. It was voices, and they were speaking to me!
For me, the voices didn't match what I envisioned the characters to sound like; they sounded like random people pulled off the street and put in front of a microphone. Claude sounded weak for our hero, Rena like your average college oktau girl. Actually, the anime is closer to my inner version. Dias is still as bad ass as ever. *wicked evil grin*
But I see how it would be a shock for some old fans. I think Geneon is using Crawd because that's actually how the name is pronounced in Japan. A bit of trivia: In the game, Crawd is used in one sound bite as they forgot to replace the corresponding Japanese sound bite. So it isn't some weird thing that Geneon did just to piss off knowledgeable viewers; they're just trying to do a faithful adaptation of the original Japanese game.
-Janet
Howdy,
I'll have to respectfully disagree with your take on Casshern. Based on
your review, I can't believe you watched the same film that I watched. The
film I watched was completely deviod of action, direction, and heart.
Casshern is like a really hot girlfriend, only she's got no personality, and
she's lousy in the sack. Very pretty to look at, but that's it.
Visually, Casshern is easily one of the most beautifully shot films I've
ever seen, but the fight scenes are impossible to follow, due to quick cuts, and the film
peaks in the middle and lingers on for an extra hour.
First things first. For a movie where the main hero dresses up like a power
ranger with a rocket-pack, Casshern takes itself waaay too seriously. It suffers
from the same illness that made the last two Matrix movies unwatchable, no sense of
humor.
No one cracks a joke; it tries to be kinda dark, but again, the MAIN HERO WEARS
A %^$#ING POWER RANGER SUIT!!! This isn't shakespear, nor is the acting or
story on par with Shakespear. Lighten the hell up, way too much boring
melodrama for a flick based on a Japanesse children's cartoon show from the 60's.
I'm not getting into the actual plot of this film, but I will tell you this.
This flick is two hours and fifteen minutes long, but only ten of those minutes is actually
entertaining.
And those entertaining ten minutes (and believe me, they are amazing), are
right in the middle of the film. So you're bored for an hour, something astonishing
happens that pulls you back into the film, and then nothing else remotely
interesting happens for the remaining hour and five minutes. That's the worst thing you could
possibly do to an audience.
Then we have the fight scenes. The fights in Casshern are edited soo
quickly that your eye can't tell what's supposed to be going on, and you feel like you're
having a seizure. In one fight between Casshern and a female villian, she's using a
katana sword. After a dizzying array of shots that are impossible to disern, she
ends up with the sword stuck in her stomach. The funny thing is she looks just as
suprised as the audience. Like, how the hell did this happen.
I recommend skipping straight to the big robot battle scene, being blown
away, watching that one scene repeatedly until you're sick of it, then turn it off and toss the
DVD into the trash. But keep the DVD case, it's pretty.
Later Hater,
Badpope
Hiya Badpope,
You have your view, and Andrew has his. Thanks for sharing yours here!
-Janet
hi there,
i am a really huge fan of gundam seed. and i can't wait to watch gundam seed
destiny. but
i would like to ask you if you know when it is going to be released on tv and
what chanel
(cartoon network?). if not is there any way to buy the series right now? i mean
all
episodes of it?
thank you for your time
sammyv
Hi Sammy,
I turned this question over to our resident Gundam fans, Andrew and Maria, and they reported that Gundam Seed Destiny is licensed, and it will probably be broadcasted on Cartoon Network, seeing that Seed did so well. However, we haven't heard any announcements yet to confirm this.
-Janet
Dear Joe,
My name is Christopher, and i'm glad that you finnaly found
the time to go to Japan I hope that your trip was much more
than a learning experence! When I first read your article I
was laughing with my mom because when I went to Japan with
my High School in April of this year we did your trip
backwards with a three night home stay built in. It
bassiclly went like this: Day on in Japan in tokyo but to
only switch flights to go to Osaka, from Osaka take a
private motor coach to Kyoto and spend four nights at the
Kyoto royal hotel. Day 2-4 was in Kyoto but day four was
acctaully Nara. Day 5-7 was in Ise City Japan in the Mie
prefecture where I had the absolute luck of not only
spending 3 nights with a High School student there but she
was a girl & a hardcore anime fan!!! ( lol I still thank
god for that) then finnaly day's 8-10 was in Tokyo and
funny enough we were in the Shinigawa Prince Hotel also. Of
course althogh the trip was free we had to do projects
based on our trip to present to Japan Society our trip
sponsors. My presentation of course was o the Anime culture
of Japan. And it was pretty well recieved. Lol looking back
at that trip most of my pictures was of anime, the giant
pocky boxes, and High School girls. Well that's it in a nut
shell write back if you can.
Yours Truly,
Christopher N. Sui
Hi Christopher,
International tourist Joe sends his regards, and envy for your real life school girl experience. Please send tissues to the Animefringe head office.
-Janet
Dear Animefringe,
I extremly enjoyed the manga, however are there any plans for continuing the
story? cause it seems they reached the 9th volume and gave up.
M.3assi
Hello M.3assi,
I'm guessing that you're talking about the manga Bremen. As far as I know, Bremen is still serialized in Shonen Jump (Japan's edition, not the US one). However, it has been a long time since volume nine came out. I have no idea, but manga-ka take vacations like anyone else. But it does seem odd, as the story had just taken a big turn.
Now I'll turn the mic over to Shannon, the recipient of much email about anime clubs.
-Janet
Dear Animefringe,
Firstly, your rescent article on clubs was an enjoyable read, which many anime
fans from before the "main-
streaming" of the hobby can appretiate. Secondly, as for creating the
"greatest" anime club ever(at least
outside of Japan), it already exists at the University of Waterloo, and its
called CTRL-A (an acronym for Club
That Really Likes Anime, pretty witty huh... I didn't think of it). I'm only a
junior member, but if you are
interested in starting a university anime club I thought I'd refer you to them.
They are the largest university
anime club outside of Japan, and undeniably one of the greatest. Just thought
you might want to check them out
for some ideas. Best of luck with your club, and try not to let all your members
be Trigun fanboys, hentai
freaks, or eva monkeys... well eva monkeys are cool, but not as cool as hardcore
80s mecha-heads... at least
thats what I tell myself. Anyhoo, best of luck with you club.
M
Thanks, M!
If I'm ever in Waterloo I'll try to drop by. Good luck with your club!
-Shannnon
Dear Shannon,
I really found your article regarding anime clubs relevant to my way of
life! I'm a 17 year old student in the UK, and anime is extremely rare over
here. I only know of two stores fairly close by (45 minutes by underground
maximum) that stock anime and manga products. Both of these shops, however,
are not dedicated to these products.
Anyway, I just completed the second last year of school and am expecting to
be going to university in 2006. Currently, I have been attending an anime
society on founded this year in school. The society is extremely friendly,
and despite being full of mainly youngsters around 11-15, very enjoyable. I
was voted to actually continue the society as Chairman for the coming year,
which pleased me. :-)
Anyway, the society shows Naruto as a main series, and in the past, has
shown either (1) only Naruto for a time period or (2) Naruto and a second
medium length (50 of so episode) series. The flaw with this was that the
second anime that was being shown often led to dislike of the series - since
they are youngsters, they don't enjoy something that isn't funny or action
oriented.
However, I sat down with the ex-Chairman and his friends, and decided what
to do for next year. We'll be showing Naruto as a primary anime for the
entire year. Along with that, there will always be a secondary anime series,
always on a short length of around 20 episodes. The short anime has been
picked carefully, such as Midori No Hibi, Futakoi or 2x2=Shinobuden, so that
the humour appeals to the group. Despite possible mature themes, we still
think that we can show these anime since the themes are extremely rare.
Believe it or not, the society isn't observed by any teacher so technically
we can show whatever series desired! However, we do keep a limit of things!
Anyway, I guess I just wanted to tell you about the society over here and
how it runs. On the side, we always have a PS2 plugged into the TV playing
some sort of anime-related fighting game like Street Fighter. The anime is
shown via the classroom projector plugged into one of our laptops.
Fortunately, the majority of rooms in our block consist of projectors and
TVs, so we're safe for the time being. You may want to consider these
equipment for your society - showing anime on a TV may not be ideal for
large audiences, or even in a classroom since it can't be viewed from all
angles. The projector, however, allows viewing from all angles and shows up
as the size of the whiteboard - making everything visable.
Even being an organiser, chairman, founder, etc., I still feel that
interaction between the anime fans is important. Just by knowing I was going
to be a Chairman didn't make me feel any different - I still wanted to be
watching the anime, playing the games, and most importantly talking with the
other people. I really feel envious of you having a society that meets every
month in your area - my school is the only sort of society I have over here.
Maybe I will follow your lead and create some sort of area society, however
finding the support, funding, precise location and equipment will be
extremely difficult.
Thank you for your article; thank you for reading my lengthy e-mail; thank
you for taking your interest in anime a step further.
Best of luck for everything.
Hey Shabbir, lengthy e-mails are the best kind! Thanks for writing.
-Shannon
Dear Shannon,
I read your article on anime clubs. I thought it was great!
In case you weren't already aware, I wanted to let you know that ADV Films has
a club
program called Anime ADVocates. You can read more about it at
www.advfilms.com/advocates.
Basically, you sign up (once you have your club formed and meet the
requirements) and
then begin receiving monthly mail-outs. Our mail-outs include an 8-page
newsletter
with cool content on upcoming new releases and interviews with voice talent or
the
director. The packet also includes a DVD sampler that has a couple episodes of
new
releases (which are usually highlighted in the newsletter) along with a bunch of
trailers for new shows or upcoming collections. The absolute best part of the
whole
packet is that it is FREE.
It's a pretty awesome program. If you already knew all this, then please
accept my
apologies for wasting your time. If not, then please join us when you get your
club
up and running!
Please feel free to email me at animeclubs@advfilms.com for any questions.
Thanks!!
-Kristen
The Anime Club Girl
Hi Kristen,
I didn't know about the Anime ADVocates program, so thank-you very much for telling me about (it's not a waste of time at all). I'll be sure to check it out once my club is up and running.
-Shannon
Dear Shannon,
I run an anime club in Eastman, Georgia that I helped start. With my younger
sister we
founded Animation Exclamation Club in Feb. 2004. Our club
is
not affliated with any school, college, or library. We exist because of the
members
and their effort to bring the club together. It has been very hard to get this
club
running but a little effort goes a long way.
If you want I can share some of the tips and trade secrets that I have learned
over
the course of our clubs existence. Since you are going to write about starting a
club
at your school. I would suggest reading this 'How-To' on starting a club.
This 'How-To' guide
is a very
detailed guide on the basics of starting an anime club. However, this guide
tells you
how to start an anime club, running the club is a different story.
Hope to hear from you,
Joey Tripp
Co-Founder/Advisor
Animation Exclamation
http://www.an-ex.com
Hi Joey,
Your How-To site is amazing. It's really comprehensive and answered a lot of questions I've been having about running a club (I bookmarked it for future reference). Even for people who aren't starting an anime club, it's an interesting read. Thanks very much for your e-mail.
-Shannon
And finally, we're at the end of this month's issue of Animefringe! Drop in next month and drop us a line, letting us know what you think! Venting on the 'Hot Coffee' scandal is more than welcome, particularly when it turns to the issue of those weird Japanese cartoons and comics, whether companies will start plastic wrapping in mass. Anyways, stay chilly!