Podcasts about adv films

Episode 474: Despite the title of this episode, this is not so much a review as much as an exploration of the hilarity that ensued when ADV Films and their voice actors were tasked with dubbing the 2000's anime Ghost Stories.TW: F-slur and R-slur: No we do NOT give anyone passes to use any slur nor do we use them ourselves, please understand when you hear the slurs in the episode it was due to discussion and from the clips of the show. Times were different then, it wasn't ok then and its not ok now. But granting some nuance you can understand how crazy and funny this dub turned out.

ADV Films The series was distributed in North America and Europe by ADV Films.[126] The thirteen English VHS tapes, released from August 20, 1996, to July 7, 1998, contained two episodes each and were released using the same "Genesis 0:(volume number)" titling convention as the first Japanese home video release. Two laserdisc collections were released as Collection 1 Deluxe Edition[127] and Collection 2 Deluxe Edition,[128] containing episodes one to four and five to eight, respectively. The first DVD release by ADV Films was the eight-disk Perfect Collection in 2002, containing the original installments.[121] In 2004, ADV released two DVD compilations titled Neon Genesis Evangelion: Resurrection and Neon Genesis: Reborn, encompassing the directors' cuts of episodes from the twenty-first to the twenty-fourth.[121] In the same year, the Platinum Edition release was announced by ADV in 2004,[129] consisting of seven DVDs[130] released between July 27, 2004, and April 19, 2005.[131] The Platinum Edition contained the original twenty-six episodes and the four "Director's cut" versions[132] of episodes from the twenty-first to the twenty-fourth. A six-disc version of the Platinum Edition, the Platinum Complete Edition, was released on November 22, 2005, and omitted several extras included in other versions, including commentary and trailers.[133] A seven-disc Platinum Perfect Collection tin case version was released on November 27, 2007, and included the extras that were omitted from the Platinum Complete Edition.[134][135] On November 18, 2008, a seven-disc Holiday Edition DVD was released; this would be the final DVD release of the series from ADV Films.[136] In late November 2011, it was announced the series was going out of print.[1

Kevin and Mykie are talking with a very special guest this week, voice actor and Anime Dallas board member Jay Hickman! Jay has done work in over 200 different anime properties for a variety of studios included ADV Films, Funimation, and Sentai Filmworks as well as work for video games and live action media. Join us as we chat about the ins and outs of the voice acting game, the origin story of Jay's nerd seed and career, and the importance of a good smoking jacket. Get to listening!

A wide range of topics inside and outside of Japanese culture are discussed by JR and Nef including Sailor Moon spacebars from Liz, Apple Watch, Japan border updates that aren't really border updates, sports gambling and wage increases at Capcom in Japan. Discussions about Lone Wolf and Cub and anime including Komi Can't Communicate, My Dress-Up Darling and Spy x Family turn into flashbacks of the old days discussing ADV Films, old DVD rentals, DIVX and FlexPlay. The Podcast concludes with a show-and-tell of JR and Bri's dinner at Matsuhisa in Denver, which has been omitted from this audio release. You can watch this presentation at the end of the April 6 podcast stream located at twitch.tv/extremeanimeradio. The views and opinions expressed do not represent the opinions of Extreme Anime Radio or the podcast in general. Portions of the original broadcast have been edited for podcast release. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/animeradio/support

Get ready Animae fans! Our guest today is Spike Spencer - voice actor and columnist best known ADV Films dubs of Neon Genesis Evangelion as Shinji Ikari, Martian Successor Nadesico as Akito Tenkawa, and Excel Saga as Gojo Shioji. You can learn more about Spike at www.spikespencer.com More about Spike Award Winning Voice Actor and Public Speaker, Author, Relationship Sales Dynamics™ Coach, Real Estate Investor and Coach, Devoted Father and Husband, Avid Sailor, World Traveler, Bona Fide Foodie, Sci Fi Nerd, and Monty Python Enthusiast. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/thatssomecrazyshitpodcast/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thatssomecrazyshitpodcast/support

S3E1 -- Join us we dive into the mind of legendary voice actor Vic Mignogna as he takes us on a journey from Dragon Ballz to the starship enterprise.   Follow Still Toking With and their friends! https://smartpa.ge/5zv1   https://thedorkeningpodcastnetwork.com/ Follow Vic Mignogna https://www.facebook.com/vicmignogna https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vic_Mignogna https://twitter.com/vicmignogna?lang=en https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0586003/ https://www.vicsworld.net/ https://www.twitch.tv/realvicmignogna https://www.youtube.com/c/StarTrekContinues     Mignogna was born in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, to Barb Myers. He graduated from Liberty University with a degree in television and film production,and taught English and speech at Trinity Christian Academy in Jacksonville, Florida. Mignogna helped produce and arrange some of the songs on DC Talk's eponymous first album. He was a summer seasonal officer with the Ocean City Police Department. In 1990, Mignogna moved to Houston, Texas, where he was a film and video production instructor at The Art Institute of Houston.[8] In 1993, he was a contestant on American television talent show Star Search, on which he sang "Worth Waiting For".   While working in video production with John Gremillion in Houston, Mignogna got involved in voice acting at ADV Films. He made his debut as Vega in the video game-based anime series Street Fighter II V. Mignogna started attending anime conventions, where he contacted Funimation and landed the voice role of Broly in the Dragon Ball Z movies, as well as Dragon Ball Super: Broly.   In 2007, the American Anime Awards presented Mignogna with an award for Best Actor for his work on Fullmetal Alchemist.He often gains attention for his role in Alchemist, and he at one point attended between 15 to 25 conventions per year. One of Mignogna's career goals was "to record at all of the major places where dubbing is done". He said he was "the first ADV voice actor to record at Funimation in Dallas and then I was the first to go to New York". He has also recorded in Los Angeles; he tried out for Bleach and received the part of Ikkaku Madarame. In non-anime productions, he voiced Qrow Branwen in Rooster Teeth's web series RWBY. Find out more at https://still-toking-with.pinecast.co This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

Only near the conclusion of the original manga run do Steven and James find out that they have been reading different translations. Which spurs talk about the differences between the two. Including the original video anime. Which also had two separate English translations! Skip synopsis @4:30 Email: WeAppreciateManga@Gmail.com 073: Battle Angel Alita vol. 8 Chapters 42 to 47 “One Last Broadcast” and By Yukito Kishiro Translation by Stephen Paul Lettering by Scott Brown Continuing after the events of the Panzer Bride saga, the rebel leader that is Den pontificates on the reason why he is still alive after fighting the TUNED agent Alita, knowing full well that his true body is that of Kaos' and that Alita could kill Kaos at any time if she so chooses. Koas realises this, with his telemetric powers he touches the blade which was used in the fight between Alita and Den. Once Kaos gains memories of the object's past, he realizes that he is Alita's hostage. Kaos makes a final radio broadcast to not only warn the people of the rebels but to inspire peace. Alita decides not to kill Kaos knowing that he does not share the same murderous tendencies as Den, however she does lose respect for him on his persistence in wanting Alita's love. Especially when it comes to his telemetry as he should know better that Alita's heart belongs to another. Kaos reveals where Ido may be staying and as Alita visits Ido she finds that the man has erased all his memory, including his memories of Alita. Ido's accomplices gives Alita the last video that he recorded for Alita. Within the video Ido tells her how the mad scientist, Desty Nova, revived his life, however speaking to Nova has scared Ido into sharing Nova's same madness and thus he decides to erase his memory before apologising to Alita. Alita leaves Ido, unable to rejoice with the only father figure she knows. Meanwhile Kaos seeks out Desty Nova, by confronting the mad man who is his father he dares to gain a semblance of intimacy with Alita, and the chance to build upon the memories that he can truly call his own. Sadly, Kaos is defeated only to suffer more abuse, and as Alita makes way to Nova, she encounters a mysterious figure and recognises this person's acrobatic movements as her own “Panzer Kunst”. Alita is told by the director of TUNED operations that this new antagonist is AR unit 2 of 12. And that before she can meet Nova she is to be tested as an agent in battle. Alita's life is saved by her TUNED private operator, Lou, yet the battle itself cost Alita an arm, a foot and an eyeball. Via a transmissible electric shock, Alita is woken from her rest by the director. She is told that the rebels were defeated (apparently by AR unit 10) and is reminded that her job is to apprehend Nova, thus Alita still carries on, she's smart enough not to enter the front once she gets to Nova's place. Yet within Nova's lair, Alita finds herself on the old Motorball circuit that she knows well, waiting for her is the ghost of the athlete she defeated all those many years ago. Ready for another match, as is Alita. Topics: Alita gets “prestiged”! The fight between her and AR2. And what makes a good fight scene. Translation differences between Viz and the Kodansha printing, as well as the Original Video Animation and Hollywood movie adaptations. 1994 Manga UK dub is based on the Viz translation, whereas the1999 ADV Films translation keeps Alita's original Japanese name of Gally, Hugo as Yugo and the Scrapyard is referred to as Scrap Iron City. This is faithful to the original Japanese text with the exception of minor characters. Zalem is a biblical reference to Salem, whilst the name Tiphares is a reference to the Kabbalah. Allegedly the man who changed Gally's name to Alita is Fred Burke (the same Fred Burke who did the translation for Neon Genesis Evangelion's Viz media release), Burke worked on the Viz translation of Battle Angel Alita with Sterling Bell, Matt Thorn and Toshifumi Yoshida.  Other references: Nova's base is at Norad Mountain. This is most likely based on the real world setting that is the Cheyenne Mountain in El Paso County, Colorado. Alluding to the setting of Alita being sometime in the distant future. Madness and enlightenment as a topic of this volume seems to have been inspired by the Russian philosopher and mystic George GurdJieff. “Life is Real only Then, When ‘I am'”. His students published a book after his death known as “The Fourth Way”. Facebook - facebook.com/weappreciatemanga/ Instagram –  weappreciatemanga.co.uk   Twitter -   @RealJamesFitton Website – Weappreciatemanga.com Email – Weappreciatemanga@gmail.com

The OSM of Evangelion just keeps on rolling on as this whole interview train continues! Before we pull into the station and start releasing the episodes on the Rebuild movies, John once again surprises us in just the best ways. This time, he sits down at the virtual table with the returning champion and all around treasure, Amanda Winn Lee. You may know her best as the voice of Rei Ayanami in both the original ADV Films dub of Neon Genesis Evangelion and the End of Evangelion, along with the Amazon Prime Video dubs of the Rebuild Movies. However, she is also the voice of Yukiko Amagi from Persona 4, Rally Vincent from Gunsmith Cats, and just all around a great mom. And finally, someone that can explain whatever the hell Delta 8 is!  (Does contain Evangelion 1.0+3.0 Thrice Upon Some Spoilers)OSMnotesWe want to thank Amanda Winn Lee once again for taking the time to chat with us! We also want to say hey, if you have some donating cash for a good cause, please check out the Lady Eva Pilot Halloween Slumber Party. Amanda Winn Lee, Tiffany Grant, and Deneen Melody are getting together for an epic live stream event to support the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Plus if you donate $100, you get a signed poster!And if you ever needed a list of things that she does that you can click on? We got you covered.Website: https://www.amandawinnlee.com/YouTube Series: A Mom's Guide To CannabisTwitter: @amandawinnleeInstagram: @painkillershoppingFacebook: Amanda Winn Lee: The Fan PageAmanda's Actual Book: The Noodle Chronicles: Everything I Know About Cheating Death I Learned From My Kid via Amazon or Barnes & Noble  

Byrd and Matt are joined by the prolific voice actress, Tiffany Grant!  Tiffany is one of the most prolific voice actresses in the dubbing world, having worked on titles such as Neon Genesis Evangelion, the Gamera trilogy, Vampire Hunter D, Super Atragon, Blue Seed and TONS more.   We discuss her beginnings doing dubs at ADV Films, her work dubbing Dr. Nagamine in the Gamera trilogy, her iconic performance as Asuka in Evangelion, her work adapting English scripts for dubbing, having to use studio mandated translations, the difference between animation and live action dubbing, and more!

Science Ninja Team Gatchaman is a Japanese animated franchise about a five-member superhero team created by Tatsuo Yoshida and produced by Tatsunoko Productions. The original anime series, which debuted in 1972, was eponymously entitled Kagaku Ninja Tai Gatchaman and is best known in the English-speaking world as the adaptation entitled Battle of the Planets (1978). The series had additional English adaptations with G-Force: Guardians of Space (1986) and ADV Films' uncut 2005 release. Tatsunoko also uses the official translation Science Commando Gatchaman in related products and media. The original Kagaku Ninja Tai Gatchaman series was followed by an animated film and two direct sequel series, Gatchaman II (1978) and Gatchaman Fighter (1979). Gatchaman is a three-part original video animation (OVA) based on the popular 1970s anime Science Ninja Team Gatchaman. It was released in Japan and the United States during the mid-1990s. This version of Gatchaman is set in the year 2066 where the evil leader of the nation of Hontwall is threatening to take over the planet. Scientists from the International Science Organization are disappearing and only five teenage heroes, the Science Ninja team, can stop the disaster. The OVAs were licensed by Urban Vision through Harmony Gold USA and were released on VHS and DVD. At Anime Boston 2013, Sentai Filmworks had announced that they have rescued the OVA series along with the original 1970s series for a DVD re-release in October. The series was made available for streaming through Crunchyroll. Time Stamps 0:00 Intro 0:46 Gatchaman Discussion 33:00 Jujitsu 48:42 Thor Ragnarok 52:56 Random topics 1:11:50 Mortal Kombat Podcast Host - Shawn Best & Dwayne Small Shawn's info Twitter - https://twitter.com/DatBoiBest Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/datboibestgaming/ Twitch- twitch.tv/DatBoiBest Dwayne's Info Instagram - KureiguStudios Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyyaY9idsbpao18u-tOSzrA --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/no-country-for-otakus/support

In episode 116 ( Season 2, Episode 66)I interviewed voice actor Jay Hickman. In the interview we talk about how he first got into voice acting and the early days of ADV Films. We also talk about several of his roles including: Toru Watanabe from Excel Saga, Shiryu from Saint Seiya, Kurama from Elfen Lied, Prince Mythos from Princess Tutu, and King Louis XV from Le Chevalier d'Eon. We also talk about his roles in Food Wars as Joichiro Yukihira, Crusty from Log Horizon, Ryuya from Air, and Kagetane Hiruko from Black Bullet. Jay also provides advice for those who want to become actors and voice actors.

DLC, local arcades and the Ghost of Marvel 2. Has there been an episode where we didn't mention Skullgirls? Fun Fact: The studio that dubbed Ghost Stories, ADV Films, was told to do whatever they wanted to make the show successful. Fair warning, there are alot of jokes that can make you uncomfortable in the Ghost Stories dub watch only if you're comfortable with it.

Who ever would've thought that we'd have Bernie Sanders on an episode with us?? Having the chance to ask him what his "free" college plan is, his favorite ice cream, and more... Kev & Sully don't hold back, and have some fun while doing so. Austin-based comedian Mike MacRae began performing at the Houston Laff Stop in 1999 and soon developed his trademark style of blending impressions and traditional stand-up. Mike’s television debut was on Comedy Central’s “Premium Blend” in 2001 and he has since performed on “The Late Show with David Letterman”, NESN’s “Comedy All-Stars”, and was a full cast member on the TBS sketch show “Frank TV”. Mike has been a part of the Master’s Showcase at the Montreal Just for Laughs Comedy Festival and has also performed at the SXSW, Moontower, and Limestone Comedy Festivals. As a regular on the nationally syndicated “Bob and Tom Show” he has toured theaters across the country as part of their All-Stars Tour, and has most recently toured opening for Patton Oswalt and Mike Birbiglia. Since 2011 Mike has been a writer/performer for The Jimmy Dore Show, a political comedy show on YouTube, and has similarly contributed to Doug Loves Movies, The David Feldman Show, The Young Turks, Rooster Teeth, and Master Pancake Theater. Mike’s sketches have been featured on HuffPo Comedy and showcased at the Austin Film Festival. As a voice-over performer, Mike’s distinctive voices and impressions have been heard on the Howard Stern Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim’s “Mike Tyson Mysteries”, Showtime’s “Our Cartoon President”, as well as scores of anime titles from ADV Films. Mike has voiced such video games as Kingdom Hearts III, Toy Story 3, Where the Water Tastes Like Wine, and he is regularly featured in the DC Universe Online and KingsIsle Entertainment. Corporate clients have included Disneyland, Isle of Capri Hotels and Casinos, The Witte Museum of San Antonio, Security Service Credit Union, and Hewlett Packard. Go visit Mike's website at - www.mikemaccrae.com He can be hired for corporate events and voiceovers. Mike does some impressions for the guys, like, Mitt Romney, George Clooney, Vince Vaughn and more! Get ready for a hilarious episode that'll have you rolling by the end!

Jason Arriola, Vanessa Cahill, and John Lucero nearly give up on this podcast because of this one. If you’re looking for a really bad, bloody anime that was produced by an American anime distributor based on an American game, with the work having been done by a Japanese company, and having the Japanese-language version be the dub (it’s […]

We are so excited to share with you all our interview with the legendary, the iconic, the incomparable Tiffany Grant! You may know Tiffany from her performances in innumerable ADV Films and Sentai Filmworks dubs, including her most iconic role as Asuka Langley Soryu/Shikinami in Neon Genesis Evangelion and the Rebuild of Evangelion films. Tiffany was kind enough to give us some of her time to pick her brain about voice acting, how anime dubs/conventions have changed over time, what Evangelion means to her, and what happened with the original 3.0 dub.  If you'd like to connect with Tiffany online, check out her official fan club: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2405597801/ Also, most importantly, since Netflix is bringing back Neon Genesis Evangelion with a brand-new english dub this year, definitely sign the petition for them to bring back the original cast to reprise their roles! Also, please share it with your friends, @ Netflix, and include the hashtag #TiffanyIsAsuka.  Petition link: https://www.change.org/p/netflix-netflix-use-the-original-voice-actors-for-evangelion-re-dub Special thanks again to Tiffany for coming on the show! This will not be our only NGE related podcast coming this year. Look out for many more!  Want to support our podcast? Please share our episodes with your friends or visit our iTunes/Stitcher pages and leave a review, we would really appreciate it! Website: https://thirdimpactanime.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/TI_Anime/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thirdimpactanime/ PodBean: https://thirdimpactanimepodcast.podbean.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnD4tDaOg7m3A0xatHfAc1g iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/third-impact-anime-podcast/id1313595090?mt=2 Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/listen?u=0#/ps/Il3e2lqbq2awcml5zuxa64lh7m4 PlayerFM: https://player.fm/series/third-impact-anime-podcast-2361453 Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/third-impact-anime-podcast

Ben Pronsky grew up in Houston, Texas. He was born to a yoga instructor and a military man. He had studied theater and was doing a co-op theater audition in Houston, where he performed monologues that had a lot of distinct characters. One of the directors introduced him to the director of ADV Films who did a lot of anime and dubbing. After recording his first job for anime, he put together a voice over reel, got an agent and began working in the Houston market. Eleven years ago he made the move to Los Angeles for more opportunity. He feels that his work is all about coming from a place of authentic genuine creation of characters. Ben has studied regularly at the Larry Moss Studio and is currently a member of the Edgemar Theatre Company in Santa Monica. Ben has been lucky enough to work in video games as well as looping and ADR. Looping, or Wala work, is the background noise in a movie. Productions hire voice actors for call-outs, incidental voices and crowd noises. This is necessary for scenes in public such as restaurants, airports, or hospitals. Looping requires a very specific skill set. Ben says, “It is the perfect marriage of improvisation, voice over and stage. You feel like you are in a theater because you are on this big sound stage.” You can hear Ben’s looping work in the recent movie Deadpool. Ben’s advice is to take classes, work on your technique and your craft, and learn what your unique skill set really is. Secondly, don’t let the self-doubt in. Never second guess yourself. Third, surround yourself with a really good team; meaning your agent and representation, but also your colleagues, friends and families who are rooting for you. Find out more about Ben Pronsky at www.BenPronsky.com and @BenPronsky on twitter. For more advice on enhancing your voice over career, visit SixFigureVoice.com.

DJ Ranma S, Kuro Usagi, and Sailor Flare join forces as they give you the first half of their epic Otakon convention review! Also, they dive into what happened with ADV Films and the buyout of Marvel Entertainment by Disney! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/animejamsession/support

More info about ADV Films and the Dragonball movie is unearthed as DJ and Kuro talk about Power Rangers. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/animejamsession/support

DJ Ranma S, Kuro Usagi, Ari Rockefeller, and Sailor Flare talk about the first con of 2012, Kotoricon! Also, the staff discuss the downfall of Bandai, the downsizing of Media Blasters, and the 8 million dollar lawsuit that FUNimation smacked ADV Films and all subsiduaries with! And Ranma finally watched the live action Ranma 1/2 special... And he tells everyone what he thought of it! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/animejamsession/support

This episode is about GUILTY PLEASURES and SO BAD IT'S GOOD MOVIES with Benjy, Sam, and Jeremy Mortal Kombat, 3 NInjas, The Rock, and MORE! ATTRIBUTION: IMAGES COURTESY OF: Universal Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Buena Vista Pictures, Columbia Pictures, Comedy Central, New Line Cinema, ThatGuyWiththeGlasses.com, Threshold Entertainmentm, Film Roman, InVision Entertainment, ADV Films, Wiseau Films, Continue reading →

This episode is about GUILTY PLEASURES and SO BAD IT’S GOOD MOVIES with Benjy, Sam, and Jeremy Mortal Kombat, 3 NInjas, The Rock, and MORE! ATTRIBUTION: IMAGES COURTESY OF: Universal Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Buena Vista Pictures, Columbia Pictures, Comedy Central, New Line Cinema, ThatGuyWiththeGlasses.com, Threshold Entertainmentm, Film Roman, InVision Entertainment, ADV Films, Wiseau Films, Continue reading →

Tonight we’re joined by Brett Weaver, formerly of ADV Films, and we are talking about Dirty Pair Flash, an extremely underrated anime OVA series from the 90s. Is it a reboot or a prequel? The answer is… uh… yes? (I … Continue reading →

A native Texan and avid anime fan, Josh Grelle was raised on stage and in the art studios of Central Texas. He performed on stage at the Tin Building Theatre for over 15 years prior to starting work for ADV Films at the start of 2004. Since then he has acted/starred in over one hundred […]

Monica Rial has been working in the anime voice over industry for over 11 years. As an actress for ADV Films and Funimation Entertainment has lent her voice to over 200 anime including: Air TV (Misuzu), Air Gear (Simca), Azumanga Daioh (Nyamo), Baccano! (Chane), Black Cat (Kyoko), Burst Angel (Jo), Chrono Crusade (Fiore), Claymore (Miria), […]

  NOTE: This was also cross posted in the otakugeneration LJ community. Shownotes :: (show 236) :: (website) :: (podcast feed) :: (direct download) :: (direct iTunes link) With Captain Tylor, recorded live December 14th, 2009. This week we talked about Captain Tylor, Ben was hanging out during the recording. Plus, we had a couple emails, segments and voicemail. So join us this week, for a simple, yet short show, and there's nothing wrong with that. =) Google Desktop users zOMG HARK there's a OG RSS Google Gadget! (O.o)?! Download it here! Community Watch us LIVE video stream while we record... NOW WITH MULTI-CAM... Interact with us while we record the weekly show. Check out our TokBox video chat... open 24 hours 7 days a week... come on in, hang out get to know other OG-ers. Vas built something unique for IE7 and FF 2.0 users... a search option for OGlink (click here) and shortner (also click here) that will let you get to the shortner/oglink redirect pages quicker! Check it out! 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Promos / Break Quirky Little Love Song :: by Derek Clegg Applesauce vs Sour Cream :: by The LeeVees Jefferson's Weird News/Stuff (1.0) by Jefferson This week Jefferson shares things interests him... Jeffersons “Otaku Top 15 of 2009” (link) :: 15. Dragonball Evolution (link) :: 14. GI Joe and Transformers 2 (link) :: 13. Watchmen movie (link) :: 12. Twilight and Harry Potter (link) :: 11. Astroboy (link) :: 10. Ponyo (link) :: 09. Michael Jackson's death (link) :: 08. Beatles 09/09/09 (link) :: 07. ADV Films shut down (link) :: 06. David Tennant's last year on Doctor Who (link) :: 05. Pixar's Up (link) :: 04. Dollhouse (link) :: 03. Life-size Gundam (link) :: 02. Nintendo DSi (link) :: 01. Star Trek Weekly DVD Releases (1.0) by Albert :: (releases@otakugeneration.net) 2009-12-15 Basilisk Complete Collection (Blu-Ray) Bleach (Uncut) Vol. #23 El Cazador de la Bruja Season 1 Part 1 El Cazador de la Bruja Season 1 Part 2 Ghost Hound Complete Collection 2 Honey & Clover: Complete Collection Part 2 One Piece (Uncut) Season 2 Part 4 Samurai Champloo Complete Series (Blu-Ray) To Love Ru Collection 1 Countdown Fanboy Forecast (1.0) by Bryce :: (fanboyforecast@otakugeneration.net) (anime) :: Naruto Shippuden (movie) Nickname ME! by Alan :: (nickname@otakugeneration.net) None this week. But don't let that stop you! =D We know you want one, come on admit it! Don't be shy! Email us and tell us something about you! Then you'll be uniquely identifiable among the other OG listeners! Check out the most recent nickname logo-mashup(s)! Shrimpy McMagnet And some other nickname logo-mashups we did! 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Area 88 Volume 3: Wings of the Wind,  Episodes 10-12. Published by ADV Films. Running Time: 75 minutes. Directed by Isamu Imakake (Captain Tsubasa). Screenplay by Hiroshi Ohnogi (Kekkaishi, FMA: Brotherhood). List Price: $29.98. Also available in a box set. There are only 3 ways out of Area 88. The first is in a bodybag. The second is to serve out your 3 year tour of duty. The last is to raise $1.5 million to buy your way out. You get a bounty for every enemy plane you down, but the pilot's ammunition and maintenence of their jet takes up a lot of money so the odds are stacked against that option. In this last volume, Shin Kazuma has scaled that mountain and only needs to shoot down one more fighter craft. Then he can go home to his beloved Ryoko and live happily ever after, remembering Area 88 only in bad dreams. Shin is usually on the ball when he's up in the air, but knowing he only has to take down one more plane puts a lot of added pressure on him. He also has visions of Ryoko dancing through his mind (not literally). This distraction almost costs Kitri her life during a dogfight and Shin's jet takes some damage. Shin is resigned at first to the delay in his liberation, that is, until he finds out Ryoko is getting married to his former best friend who also happens to be the dude that got him shipped out to Area 88! Back in the day Viz partially published the original manga upon which this anime is based. It was before the Tokyopop innovation of cheap and original size manga so the Area 88 volumes were those huge trade paperbacks Viz put out for $16 or so. The reason I bring this up is because as I watched the anime I couldn't help but feel that it was only scratching the surface of a much larger story. I didn't think we got much time to get to know the characters or to find out more about the war they were fighting. That's right, even after the series ended, I still didn't know much about the political situation or what brought the conflict about. I don't think I ever even saw the face of an enemy soldier. I guess maybe that was the show's intention, but I doubt that it was the case in the manga. From what the cast and director said about the manga, the original creator was very much influenced by shojo character designs. I would really like to read them, but Viz isn't exactly famous for putting out old series. Maybe under their "Signature" line? I guess I'll see if I can track some of them down on Ebay. I wish the show had been longer. Even with its brevity, I still really enjoyed it. The mysterious nature brought about by the shortness made the characters even more appealing, if that makes any sense. There is also an OVA collection from ADV that is readily available. I guess I'll be hunting that down next. Volume 4 Grade: A- Overall Series Grade: A- View the trailer below:

Kellen returns to Animezing Podcast fulltime with a brief, yet detailed rundown of the closure of ADV Films, and the new companies that have risen from the ashes. What does the whole situation mean for ADV's catalog, and why is SXION23 possibly the greatest insider joke ever? Listen to find out.

Kellen returns to Animezing Podcast fulltime with a brief, yet detailed rundown of the closure of ADV Films, and the new companies that have risen from the ashes. What does the whole situation mean for ADV's catalog, and why is SXION23 possibly the greatest insider joke ever? Listen to find out.

Kellen returns to Animezing Podcast fulltime with a brief, yet detailed rundown of the closure of ADV Films, and the new companies that have risen from the ashes. What does the whole situation mean for ADV's catalog, and why is SXION23 possibly the greatest insider joke ever? Listen to find out.

Kellen returns to Animezing Podcast fulltime with a brief, yet detailed rundown of the closure of ADV Films, and the new companies that have risen from the ashes. What does the whole situation mean for ADV's catalog, and why is SXION23 possibly the greatest insider joke ever? Listen to find out.

Area 88 Volume 3: Tightrope at the Speed of Sound. Episodes 7-9. Published by ADV Films. Running Time: 75 minutes. Directed by Isamu Imakake. Screenplay by Hiroshi Ohnogi, $29.98. The supplies are getting pretty low at Area 88 as the enemy has shot down multiple transports that were bringing fuel and ammo for the pilot's aircraft. Of course, the enemy know Area 88's dire straits and send out a raiding party to take out the base. They are not only sending fighters but long range bombers that could destroy the whole area! The base only has enough fuel and ammo to send up three jets. Shin is in charge of the mission and picks the new female flyer, Kitri, and young but talented Kim to go with him. Kitri has a real problem with Kim. She thinks he'st too young and a mediocre pilot that has no right to be flying fighters. Another thorny problem crops up when an enemy sniper takes up position around Area 88 and starts picking off its inhabitants. He's so skilled that if anyone tries to take off in a jet, he either shoots the pilot or takes down the plane before it gets off the ground. Wouldn't you know that Shin is gonna be the one to dare the impossible? The title of this volume refers to the last episode where the Area 88 crew must negotiate a canyon in Death Star-like fashion to avoid radar as they attempt to destroy an enemy base. The presentation of this series has always left me a little cold. It just seems like there's so much more to the story and characters that we're not getting to see. I was really glad that we got a little more backstory last volume and found out how Shin got stuck in Area 88, but it really just skimmed the surface. We only get very tiny glimpses of who the other characters, like Kitri, really are. In fact, I know next to zilch about where she learned to fly and why she got into Area 88. But I can say that about almost all of the characters. For example, what is Matoko's real motivation to capture all these pictures he's taking? Does he get a high off of it, like Speedgrapher, or does he want to show the plight of the pilots? You really needed a 24-26 episode show to get all these things into the light, rather than 12-13. Even if I feel Area 88 keeps the viewer in a box, I still like the show, especially for its dogfight sequences. It would be nice if Viz would republish the manga (I'm not gonna hold my breath). I think they published a couple of volumes back in the good old days of flipped, unnumbered, $17 volumes before Tokyopop enlightened them on how to publish magna. My Grade: B

Anime DVD review of Project Blue Earth SOS Volume 2: Infiltration. Directed by Tensai Okamura (Wolf's Rain, Darker than Black). Series Composition by Ryota Yamaguchi (Cowboy Bebop, One Piece, Escaflowne). Published by ADV Films (license has been picked up by Funimation),  Running Time: 90 minutes, Episodes 3-4, Rated 15+. The Labyrinth Alliance, backed by the corporation run by Billy Kimura's father, has come up with the ultimate checkmate to use against the aliens. The time is right to take The Invincible, a state of the art flying battleship, out on its maiden voyage. Decked out with the latest new fangled weaponry, it will join the Sky Knight as one of only two ships that can take on the enemy's helmet worms. Meanwhile, the aliens, calling themselves Baguans, continue to wreak destruction around the globe, destroying military targets and some targets meant to hurt us psychologically, like the destruction of the Eiffel Tower. In a most insidious move, the Baguans have begun reanimating and controlling dead human captives as the means to carry out their evil plans. Penny gets quite a shock when some of the alien saboteurs end up being his long missing parents! Suffice it to say, it causes quite a conflict of interest. If that's not enough, the Baguans have devised a way to shut down anything that runs off a G-Reactor, which means almost everything on Earth. It's up to our heroes to find a way to distinguish friend from foe and find a way to turn the lights back on.   I really want to get behind this show and love it because of the great characters and animation, but the writing is beginning to stink. First of all, letting an overconfident brat like Billy make world changing decisions for the military is a little bit much. Billy's plans mostly consist of sending up the latest ships and planes built by his company simply to get shot down by the Baguan flying saucers. He also doesn't seem to have any compunctions about getting innocent people killed as a result of his lamebrained schemes. The fact that Penny has to confront the dead bodies of his parents at least brings him off his high horse and instills his character with a bit of much needed humility and makes him realize that this isn't just some science project he can ace at school. That people are dying in this war. I really like the characters on this show, at least in terms of personality, they give SOS a lot of variety. In the hands of a good writer, Project Blue Earth could have been a really good anime. While it can be fun at times, it crosses the line of goofiness way too many times to ever be taken seriously. And what's up with Lotta Brest? When the opening credits roll, it shows all the characters along with their names. When I watched them for the first time, I assumed the hot and sexy Emely was named Lotta Brest (they appear together on the credits), but ironically, Lotta Brest was the 12 year old? Who the hell came up with these names? I also thought it was kinda sad that all we've seen of the aliens so far is a Doctor Evil "Bwuh, Ha, Ha, Ha!" laughing masked villain who gives the Earth 24 hours to surrender. I mean, if the Baguans are so powerful, why don't they just invade and take over instead of all these penny ante hijinks that our own native terrorists could pull off? The only extra is the clean opening animation. My Grade: C+  

Anime dvd review of Ah! My Goddess: Flights of Fancy Volume 5: "That Old Black Magic". Directed and written by Hiroaki Gohda. Published by ADV Films. Episodes 17-20, Running Time: 100 minutes, Rated 13+, List Price: 29.98. Last volume, Marller suceeded in seprating Urd into her two composite halves, demon and goddess. The two bodies were rejoined into one but there are still some imbalance problems between the two personalities. Because her soul is out of sync, one of the personalities will be lost...unless Belldandy and company can find a higher power than themselves to help Urd. They rule out asking the "Almighty", or God, because Belldandy is afraid that he will get rid of her demon side entirely. That leaves only one other entity with the required power...Hilda, the queen of Hell, and the ruler of all demonkind!  She also happens to be Urd's mother.  She and Urd don't really talk much because Urd fears her corrupting influence. Of course, Hilda would like nothing more than for Urd to give up her Goddess life and come live with her. Hilda tells Urd that she will help her in exchange for a unknown favor. Urd agrees as long as the future favor will not conflict with her role as a goddess. Hilda becomes a new character that goads on the ever ineffectual Marller to continue to get out of her depth in an effort to strike a blow for demons everywhere. Marller even sends a magical ninja to take out the goody-two-shoe band of friends. Ironically, as befits Marller's small mind, the ninja is the size of a mouse. It was cool to see Urd's mom, who seems to have been married to the Almighty at some point. Now, that's weird... the queen of Hell sleeping around with God? Does that mean that the Almighty is Urd's dad? Ah My Goddess is a series that is at its least when it tries to get too serious, for instance, when Urd or Belldandy lose control of their powers or are possessed. It is at its best when it moves the story along with lightheartedness, humor, and a mood that almost strikes one as langorous. If you've gotten this far into the second season you should know the characters pretty well so they almost seem like old friends. The show is good at adding new twists and new characters like Hilda, which keep the story fresh and funny. Highly recommended. My Grade: A The six individual volumes of this series were published by ADV Films and you can pick them up at www.Rightstuf.com for $5 each. Funimation has the license now and just came out with the box set this week. Here's the official website:  http://www.funimation.com/ahmygoddess/  

Anime DVD review of Project Blue Earth SOS Volume 1: Invasion. Directed by Tensai Okamura (Wolf's Rain, Darker than Black). Series Composition by Ryota Yamaguchi (Cowboy Bebop, One Piece, Escaflowne). Published by ADV Films (license has been picked up by Funimation),  Running Time: 90 minutes, Episodes 1-2, Rated 15+. Something strange happened on the boundaries of space far above the USA in 1995. A pilot named James was testing out the new G-Reaction jet engine, which would allow a plane to circle the Earth in one hour, when a strange sight confronted him. James' last report was that he saw rainbow colored lights, then a flying saucer, and then ground control lost touch with him. Especially hardhit was his friend and commander, Captain Clayton. Now, five years later, strange occurences around G-Reaction powered vehicles have been more and more frequent. Planes, vehicles, and even aircraft carriers have been disappearing. One such incident introuduces us to most of the cast of the show. It is the maiden route of a new G-Reaction train that brings out most of the movers and shakers of Metropolitan, the capital of Earth. That's right, the capital of Earth. Apparently, in this world, all world governments have given up their sovereignty to the United Nations, one consequence being that the world's military is also controlled by the UN. Any weapons which could be seen as other than defensive have been discontinued. Among the important people at the train ceremony is Billy Kimura, the child prodigy and billionaire heir of Kimura Industries, the company responsible for the design of the G-Reactor. Meeting him there is Lotta Brest (what an unfortunate name!), daughter of a famous scientist, and her tutor, the stunning Emely. Just as they are about to board the train, another boy genius named Penny Carter rushes through the crowd with his faithful dog, named Washington, to warn them that something bad is going to happen to the train. At about this moment, cue the rainbow lights, the train is lifted into the air, and disappears in a blink! Billy and Penny reluctantly decide to join forces to figure out exactly what is going on. Little do they know that they are putting themselves into the middle of an alien invasion. On their side is a secret organization named the Labyrinth Alliance which is devoted to protecting humanity from this threat, and a mysterious pilot named Sky Knight, who appears to have the only weapon that can fight the invaders.  What little I had read about this series before viewing it was that it was a retro style anime with roots in 1950s pulp sci-fi magazines. I would say yes to that in theory. Back in the old days of sci-fi you could just name things like "black hole transponder" or "anti-matter gun" without having to explain how it worked and the readers let you get away with it. It almost seemed as if everything worked off of magic because there wasn't any scientific elaboration. Now, readers and viewers are a bit more demanding. While some of the plot devices seemed rooted in the 50's, I felt more reminded of 60's and 70's anime or even some of the old kid-friendly Godzilla movies where the little smug kid knew more of how to solve world threatening problems than the adults could ever dream of. Also, SOS kinda reminded me of Gatchaman and, surprisingly, Scooby Doo. So, I guess that whatever era you think SOS is a homage to, you have to accept it as a nostalgic trip. Almost as if it were written in another era. I enjoyed this show, especially its sometimes flagrant use of goofiness and whimsy. For example, cats and dogs help out our heroes at different times during the show.  The animation is definitely not retro though, and uses the latest cutting edge CG, and doesn't skimp during the action sequences. I thought it was cool that we don't even see a proper alien in these first two episodes (running 40 minutes each), except for a lone female preaching apocalyptic prophecies. Besides her, we see ships and robots for now. In fact, we don't even know if these aliens are FROM another world. So I liked the mystery of it. I also like shows with ensemble casts....as long as the characters are interesting and memorable. And the characters of Project Blue ARE interesting. I especially enjoyed the tug of war between Penny and Billy as they alternated between feelings of rivalry and respect. This is a really good start to a 3 volume series, but don't go in expecting hard sci-fi a la Ghost in the Shell. Just have fun. My Grade: A-

Podcast Anime Review Episode 95: 5 Centimeters Per Second. Written and directed by Makoto Shinkai. ADV Films, $29.98. Takaki and Akari have been friends since they were young kids but when Akari moves away, their relationship gets a bit strained simply because of the physical distance between them. Now in high school, Takaki finds out he too is moving and he will probably never see Akari again. So he makes a desperate try to reach her via train on a night when heavy snow is making such a trip nigh impossible. Even though 5 Centimeters is packaged as a single movie, it can also be broken down into 3 distinct segments chronicling the continuing breakdown of the love between Takaki and Akari. Well, more accurately, the failure of Takaki to move on with his life when he realizes he will never be with Akari. The second segment offers a bit of hope as a classmate of Takaki's is just dying to tell him that she loves him, but will Takaki even notice? My Grade: A+

Air TV Volume 4. Directed by Tatsuya Ishihara. Series Composition by Fumihiko Shimo. ADV Films, $29.98. The true finale of Air TV, which took place on Volume 3 as Misuzu fell dead into the arms of her adopted mother was pretty painful to watch. This last volume opens with a recap episode of her short life and ends, again, with her death. The other two episodes on the disc go back to the middle story arc in which the winged girl, Kanna, along with her handmaiden, Uraha, and her warrior guard, Ryuya, are trying to make their way to Kanna's mother while being pursued by soldiers from the temple where Kanna was confined. These two episodes are entirely new and fill out the relationships and adventures the three have, focusing more on the comedic side of things. While the first episode was a waste of space, as are all recap episodes unless you haven't watched a series for a while (does anyone remember the one ripoff volume of Wolf's Rain which was entirely FILLED with recap episodes?!), the last two episodes were really enjoyable. Air TV was always a series that took itself too seriously, suffering from the bipolarity of being a moe comedy at one point, then shifting to a magical girl historical drama, then to a pathological torture session of Misuzu intended to make an otaku weep. The two episodes that close Volume 4 injected something much needed by the series as a whole: a little lightheartedness, a little more comedy, to take the edge off of the tragic hardships most of the characters go through. The final arc focusing on Misuzu's slow decay was especially hard to watch and seemed to have no point. In fact, Air TV had one of the worst endings that I've seen in a long time, even though it doesn't reach the depths of the aforementioned Wolf's Rain in terms of "Uh, what just happened so you're telling me this whole show was for nothing and that the characters are just going to have to repeat their struggles till infinity over and over..." but it comes pretty close. The landscapes of the Japanese countryside and the town are beautiful even though the female characters with their plate sized luminescent blue eyes seem a bit creepy at times. Overall, this series is worth watching, but don't expect to get a satisfactory conclusion. I'll probably be watching the movie version sometime soon. My Volume 4 Rating: B+ My Overall Series Rating: C

Area 88 Volume 1: Treacherous Skies. Episodes 1-3. ADV Films. Running Time: 75 minutes. Directed by Isamu Imakake. Screenplay by Hiroshi Ohnogi, $29.98. Makoto Shinjo is a war photographer that shows no fear when it comes to capturing the essence of his subject, even if his life is on the line. He's come to the desert of Aslan to document the lives and battles of the mercenary pilots fighting against anti-government forces. It's pretty easy to sign up as a mercenary but very hard to get out after you agree to a 3 year tour of duty. You can break the contract early IF you pay the sum of 1.5 million dollars. Even though the pilots are paid very well for every enemy they shoot down and various missions they fly, they are also required to pay for room and board, food, weapons, and maintenence of their aircraft. So it's very hard for them to save up any amount of money. And that's just how the government forces like it. To have the mercenaries underfoot and in debt. Even if they allow them to break the contract they still get a million dollars to hire another one. Makoto is focused on one pilot in particular, Shin Kazama, the only Japanese pilot on the base, and one of the most enigmatic. He doesn't have much to say but he is possibly the best flyer of the whole group. The only things we know about him is that he is utterly miserable working for Aslan and is desperate to get back to a woman in Japan. As is the problem for most first volume anime dvds that only contain 3 episodes, there is a shortage of material to truly judge the merit of the series. If you enjoyed movies like Top Gun or Stealth or the anime Yukikaze, you'll most likely enjoy Area 88. If dogfighting jets are not your cup of tea, then you would do best to avoid Area 88. The jets are all CG and look quite nice, if a little cold and flimsy, but they make you feel at times as if you are watching a promo video for the latest Ace Combat videogame. The main characters are not given enough space in these episodes to breath and show much individuality. That was Volume 1's main weakness. We don't learn enough about the characters to care about their dreams or hopes for the future or the extreme dangers they find themselves in. I will wait till I watch the other volumes before making an overall judgement about the series. My Grade: C

009-1 Volume 2, ADV Films, $29.98 In the world of 009-1, the Cold War between the Western and Eastern Blocs has gone on for 140 years.  This is not a war fought between great armies on desolate nuclear battlefields. This is a war fought by covert agents on both sides in a cat and mouse contest for technological advantage. Mylene Hoffman, cyborg agent 009-1, is the best spy the Western Bloc has, but she has one distinct weakness. She still has a heart. Time and again, she has faced situations on her missions where her compassion has compromised her original orders. Her superiors are even beginning to wonder whether it's worth the risk to keep her in the field. Her old mentor, ironically named Ironheart, told her a long time ago that the worse thing an agent could do was to let their emotions get the better of them. Wouldn"t you know that Mylene would be seen to talk her one-time mentor into rejoining the Zero Zero Organization or face execution.  She also opens  a heap of worms when pity gets the better of her when she helps a stranded motorist outside Rome who is being chased by gunmen. Mylene  also uses a kid to get closer to a suspected enemy agent and faces another moral quandary. In the last episode we get a flashback to Mylene's past and how she came to become a 00 agent, which is unusual because in most series of this type, the lead character"s past is left a mysterious blank with nary a hint of how they developed. This second volume of 009-1 suffered from a sophomore slump after an intriguing but sometimes flawed first volume. While I respect the complex emotions the writing was going for, the episodes were a bit too predictable. They seemed nothing more than a series of moral debates in search of a storyline, or a sequence of yes or no questions. Will she shoot her old mentor? Will she lie to the young boy? Will she help the stranded motorist?  With questions like this, you have a 50% chance of guessing the outcome of each episode. The animation quality was very high and the 1960's wardrobe and car designs were definitely cool in a chic retro sorta way. But the writing didn't aspire high enough for a series with such a beautiful look. My Grade: B

Podcast Episode 62: Tokyo Majin Volume 1 Anime DVD review. Directed by Shinji Ishihara. Series Composition by Toshizo Nemoto. Character Designs by Jun Nakai. ADV Films, $29.98, Episodes 1-5, 125 minutes. Transfer student Tatsumi signals a marked change in the life of Magami High School in modern day Tokyo. He soon gets into an confrontation with thug and wooden sword wielding Kyouichi and gets challenged by wrestling club captain Yuuya. Aoi, student council president, and her best friend, archery club Komaki try to stop them from fighting, but the contest is put on hold when all the action stirs up a demon spirit. During the course of their struggle with the demon, they find that they have strange powers that augment their natural abilities. For instance, Kyouichi's sword and Komaki's bow give them the means to kill demons, while Tatsumi's martial arts skills become even more powerful. My Grade: A+

Cyborg 009-1 Volume 3 Anime DVD Podcast review. ADV Films, Episodes 9-12 plus Bonus Episode, 125 minutes, $29.98. Director: Naoyuki Konno. Series Composition by Shinsuke Onishi. Based on Shotaro Ishinomori's 1960's manga, Mylene Hoffman is a trained to kill without blinking cyborg spy for the Western Bloc, but lately, she's found that doing her job isn't good enough anymore. She has beauty, brawn, and a to die for body, but she doesn't have a family. She doesn't have a normal life. She will probably never have children or settle down. Even though she realizes she can never walk away from her job, this doesn't keep her from longing for things she cannot have. This is brought home in the first two episodes of this dvd when she hitches a ride with a nice family and hooks up with a suspected double agent. Then she has to save the world from nuclear annihilation at the hands of child mutants. My Grade: A

Episode 51: Red Garden Volume 2. Director: Kou Matsuo. Series Composition: Tomohiro Yamashita. $29.98, ADV Films, Episodes 5-8, 100 minutes. Release Date: 11/20/07. Volume 1 picks up right where Volume 2 left off as Rachel has a breakdown after beating the brains out of a dog man with a baseball bat. She begins to question, along with the other girls, exactly what they are doing with their second lives. What are these beast men? Why are Rachel, Kate, Rose, and Claire having to kill to survive? Who is Lula and who is she working for? What really happened to Lise? There are no easy answers, and now the four girls are not only having to deal with risking their lives on an almost nightly basis, but there nighttime activities are also beginning to derail what little normalcy they have in their daytime lives. My Grade: A

Venus Versus Virus Volume 1: Outbreak Anime DVD podcast Review Episode 50. Directed by Shinichiro Kimura (also directed Burn-Up Excess, Maburaho, Sugar, and Popotan). Series Composition by Yasutomo Yamada. ADV Films, $29.98, Episodes 1-4, 100 minutes. Release date: 11/13/2007. Viruses are demons that are attracted to the few humans who have the ability to see them. They take shapes from the lowliest dark blobs to humanoid/animal crossovers that have superhuman abilities. Those they attack in turn become more Viruses. It's up to the Venus Vanguard to exterminate the Viruses and protect humanity from a threat most of them are ignorant of. Lucia, the cool and beautiful goth-loli gun toting killer, and Sumire, her bumbling partner, are on the front-lines of this battle. Lucia is equipped with anti-Virus bullets and Sumire has the ability to become a living anti-virus, which gives her so much power that she can literally rip Viruses into pieces using her bare hands. The problem is that when she enters this Berserker mode, she cannot differentiate between friend and foe. A stylish action anime that also relies on comedy to get the character's personalities across. My Grade: A

Anime DVD review for Innocent Venus Volume 2: Blood of Betrayal, ADV Films, $29.98, 100 minutes, Episodes 5-8. Jin, Joe, Sana, and Gora are still on the run from Phantom but they manage to find at least a temporary respite from the pursuit by hiding out at the dojo of a man named Chikura. A man who just happens to be Sana's grandfather. He is training rebels for the growing insurgeny against the Logos. He also has a lot of the scientific research left behind by Sana's father, which Jin is mightily interested in. Mysteries deepen when Sana reacts very strongly to particular musical notes as she and Jin play a piano piece, causing her to faint and lose consciousness. But our heroes can't stay in one place for long before Phantom and government forces arrive to root them out. Jin and Joe and the others hook up again with the pirate leader and former Phantom member Toraji Shiba as he transports them to his home city of Satsuma, a city which prides itself on equality and peacefulness. A city, by the way, that is priming a secret war fleet to strike against the Japanese government. Volume 2 of this series really upped the ante in terms of quality as the plot became more clear and the writers came up with some very good character twists. While Volume 1 was good, with all the action and emotional baggage the characters had, the viewer had a hard time making sense of the world of Innocent Venus. Now that we've settled into the show a bit, it's a little easier to understand everything that is going on. The animation of this show is incredible. Even during the fastest battle sequences, the show never uses cheap stills or motion lines to imply action. The mecha battles, which are done with CG, still do not blend extremely well with the rest of the show, but it is less blaring because most of the fights occur at night. Be prepared for a cliffhanger at the end of this volume. Extras are pretty skimpy. Only includes clean opening/closing. My Grade: A-

Podcast Episode 47: Welcome to the NHK Volume 1 anime DVD review. ADV Films, Episodes 1-4, $29.98. 22-year-old Tatsuhiro Sato has a big problem. He is an Hikikomori, a recluse who refuses to leave his apartment except for extreme neccesities like food. He has deluded himself into thinking his problems are all caused by a vast conspiracy being perpetrated by the NHK, a Japanese broadcasting company. Sato believes that by airing so many good anime shows, the NHK has a plan to turn everyone into Hikikomori. Sato does not see any way to change his life until he meets a cute girl named Misaki, who promises to cure him if he will sign a contract with her. He also becomes involved in making an ero game with his next door neighbor in a bid to return to the normal world and to prove to Misaki that he is not a complete loser. My Grade: A

Episode 45: Anime DVD Pocast Review for Xenosaga the Animation Volume 1, ADV Films, $29.98. Running Time: 100 minutes, Episodes 1-4 4,000 years after humanity has left Earth and colonized the galaxy, we are at war with an alien race known as the Gnosis. Normal weapons are ineffective against them because the Gnosis can dematerialize at will a la Kitty Pryde and let weapons pass through them. Only an attack known as the Hilbert Effect can make them become solid enough to destroy. Shion Uzuki, an engineer for Vector Industries, has helped develop a beautiful anti-Gnosis android weapon named Kos-mos to help in the battle. In addition to being surrounded by 30,000 Gnosians, she is also on the ship that has the Zohar, a mysterious golden monolith that not only attracts aliens but also various human factions that want a slice of its power. My Grade: B+

Air TV Volume 2 Anime DVD Review. Released 9/25/07 by ADV Films, 100 Minutes, List Price: $29.98. Yukito's quest for the winged girl beyond the clouds takes second priority as the girls around him face large problems that could threaten their lives. Misuzu is getting weaker and weaker as her dreams increase in frequency and intensity. He gets angry with Misuzu's mother for being insensitive about her daughter's plight. But then he remembers that his mother told him about a girl that suffered like Misuzu before she passed away. She had the same kind of dreams and a bizarre and frightening condition. The closer the girl becomes to people, the sicker she became. Eventually, she died. Ironically, Yukito comes to believe that his proximity and emotional ties to Misuzu are the very things that are endangering her life! Meanwhile, there's something weird going on between the quiet and introverted Minagi and her best and only friend, the crazy Yukito-bashing Michuru. When Yukito walks Minagi home, he is shocked when Minagi's mom calls her by the name of Michuru which leads to the revelation of a mental illness of Minagi's mom and and an explanation of why Minagi is so withdrawn. Then we go back in time about a thousand years to learn about this famous winged girl named Kanna that everybody's been talking about for the past seven episodes. Kanna is pretty much incarcerated by priests and carted around the country to bless various things because she is seen as a messenger to the gods, even though she can barely fly. Instead of being a divine messenger, she is really just a young girl who is feeling increasingly entrapped in a role she does not feel she is suited for. Two of those near to her, her guard, Ryuya, and her servant, Uraha, plan a daring escape to free her from the shackles of religion and superstition. I must admit that I had a bit of reservation about this second volume because it seemed at first to be more of the same as Volume 1 without any plot progress. But as I got drawn more and more into the strange tale of Minagi and Michiru, I was intrigued by the subtle layering of the story which at times seems strange and at times creepy. The last episode, which began to tell of the events a millenium ago was like a breath of fresh air into a show that was beginning to drag a bit. Hopefully, we'll get some answers in the past that will explain what is happening in the present. Even though I'd like the mysterious atmosphere and strange occurrences to stay in place a little longer. While this show can be a tad too sentimental at times, it has a very quiet beauty and an ethereal feel that can draw you to another time and space that you might not want to come back from. My Grade: B

Reunited And It Feels So Good. After a brief overview of this series, it's on to a podcast review of the third volume of the second season of Ah My Goddess. Keiichi has his hands full when a fourth goddess, Peorth, arrives on the scene to fulfill his hidden desires. She sets about doing anything to get him alone in order to seduce him into uttering his wish. But even Keiichi is at a loss as to what that wish is. Then an ex-member of the auto club comes to town, and is shocked to see how much the club has changed since she left. Her and Keiichi hit it off and agree to race tiny motorcycles. Urd has her own romantic entanglements as an old lover called the Troubadour returns after years or centuries of questing for the mythical Golden Nightingale. ADV Films, $29.98, 100 minutes. My Grade: B

Podcast review for Red Garden Volume 1 anime DVD directed by Kou Matsuo. Series composition by Tomohiro Yamashita. Episodes 1-4, 100 minutes. ADV Films $29.98. 4 girls from the same private school in New York City have two things in common. They have all lost their memories from last night and all of them were friends with a missing student named Lisa Meyer whose dead body was recently found. At first glance, it appears she committed suicide but two police investigators suspect some sort of foul play. The four girls, Rose, Claire, Rachel, and Kate begin to see mysterious butterflys which lead them to a meeting with a mysterious woman named Lula who tells the girls that they are dead! She tells them they were brought back to life, that she tried to save Lise as well, but couldn't secure her body. To continue the pseudo life they are living they will have to fight. Just at that moment a man approaches them with glowing eyes, and running along on all fours making dog noises, his legs deformed into the shape of canine back legs.....Lula tells the four that they have to kill him... My Grade: A-

Innocent Venus Volume 1 Anime dvd Review. ADV Films $29.98. Episodes 1-4. 100 minutes. After a series of hyper hurricanes kill off half the Earth's population, nations have to find ways to rebuild. Japan develops power suit and mecha technology that gives them a military advantage over their neighbors. It also gives the Logos, the inhabitants of the cities, power to control the Revinus, the inhabitants living in the slums outside the cities. Jin and Joe are trying to whisk Sana Nobuto out of the reach of Logos and their bloodthirsty extreme ops force, Phantom. My Grade: A-

Air TV Volume 1: ADV Films, $29.98, Episodes 1-4, 100 Minutes, Ages 14+. Directed by Tatsuya Isihara. Animation by Kyoto Animation. A down on his luck puppeteer named Yukito comes to a strange little town searching for a winged girl that lives beyond the sky. Instead he meets a bevy of cute girls who all seem to harbor strange secrets. A strangely surreal dreamlike take on harem anime that soothes and perplexes instead of titillates. My Grade: B

Daryl has an advance review of Le Chevalier d'Eon, Gerald gets sprung with Utawarerumono, and Clarissa reflects upon Nerima Daikon Brothers. As a test to see if we can hang with REAL reviewers, all of us have decided to review just Volume 1 of shows we've never seen before, all courtesy of ADV Films. We're going nowhere fast. Visit www.animeworldorder.com for full show notes and supplemental links.

This latest show has been delayed but I've now finished up the show notes finally! This weeks show has Densha Otoko from CMX Manga, DNAngel from ADV and Kimagure Orange Road from Animeigo which may win this hamsters vote for the best old school anime I've seen this year(tying into joint first place with Giant Robo) and the dodgest dancing this side of Miami Vice....... Anywho if you need to contact me with hints, questions, comments, requests for reviews and anything else then drop me a line @: eeeperschoice- at -gmail.com eeeperschoice- at -podomatic.com Eeeper's Choice Podcast Eeeper's Choice Voicemail Also at GoogleTalk Voicemail @ eeeperschoice- at -gmail.com Please note that all images (excluding Show Artwork included in the mp3) unless otherwise stated are the respective copyright and trademark of their respective owners and licensers. No copyright infringement is meant or implied. News CPM will re-release four titles with reduced prices on January 30: Black Jack DVD Collection 1 ($29.95), Ichi The Killer: Episode Zero ($14.95), Time Bokan ($9.95), and Hammerboy ($9.95). Satoshi Kon's next film Paprika is screening at 10 a.m. at Laemmle's Grande 4-Plex in downtown Los Angeles through Sunday. This screening makes the film eligible to be nominated for an Oscar.I've checked out the ANN page on Paprika. It's as good a synopsis as there is on the film so far.(P.S.: I know I was late with this news clip but I was too F***in' tired to edit it out!) ADV Films has officially announced their license to SGT Frog, which includes merchandise and gaming rights as well as other areas (everything but the manga). Separately, Diamond Distributors has relayed that ADV has announced that Volume 1, which is listed in the December Previews for a February release, has been rescheduled for later in 2007. A new trailer for Makoto Shinkai's upcoming Byousoku 5 Centimeter movie trilogy is now online. The films will be released next spring in Japan. The official site for Gonzo's Master of Epic anime series is now online. The show premieres next January in Japan. With grateful thanks to the ANN Reviews Densha Otoko Densha Otoko or Train Man is supposedly based on a true story but with all things Internet related I'll let you decide. I found it to be a nice read while commuting so if you like your heroes nerdy but not Harem Heroic then this could be the title for you. It doesn't have a UK based publisher as far as I know so you'll have order it State-Side for now. DNAngel DNAngel was the title I got back into Anime and Manga after an almost ten year absense. And I know what some fans and listeners will say 'He chose That Title to come back to!?!' but it's the perfect title to show some who's been away from the Crusade for a while. Not terribly bad, not great just a little bit non-engaging. The manga is longer but has way more Shoujo elements to it than the TV series. Kimagure Orange Road KOR is fast becoming a favourite of mine but it's purely an acquired taste. If you can't stand 80's anime this may not be your bag but then if you never watch 80's anime then your not being a true Otaku are you? If you don't like it then you don't like it. Animeigo did a fantastic job translating it but they recently lost the license by that I mean that is that the Japanese label that controls it just recently brought out their own boxset in Region 2(Japan) land with better image and sound quality. In other words We're not letting you produce any more of this DVD while we bring out our outrageously priced version that the fans in Japan must buy rather than pick up your nice, cheap version.....As I said before Animeigo did a fantastic job. Here's the web page for their liner notes on the TV series. Animeigo regularly bleed for their customers and so many of us ignore the fact that back in the day they were the ADV and Funimation of their day. They just annouced their next license here. Eriko Hara's(Hikaru) ANN pageHiromi Tsuru's(Madoka) ANN page Tohru Furuya's(Kyosuke) ANN page Finally here's some images from KOR (Please note ALL images taken from Kimagure Orange Road are for review purposes only and no copyright has been taken away from the owners or implied) Madoka. The Heroine of the story.I think.. Kyosuke. Our Hero. Poor unlucky bas*&!d A quiet moment between Hikaru and Kyosuke. It can't last. Told ya. Kyosuke getting the job at ABCD from Master. Good Times. Good Times..... Promos This Week: R5 Central Ninja Consultant Weekly Anime Review(WARP) Fast Karate For The Gentleman Anime World Order I'm going on a short break to recharge the batteries so the next show won't be out for two weeks. But on the next show I'll be reviewing two manga titles, Infinite Ryvius based on the series by SUNRISE and Legal Drug by CLAMP and the truly awesome OVA series Giant Robo! Chuala Boola or what!?! Eh, eh!?! Ah, I don't know why I bother...