 8.31.2001 Digimon Tamers premieres tomorrow! Here's the FOXKids lineup... 08:00 AM - Digimon Adventure "Almost Home Free" 08:30 AM - Digimon Adventure "The Battle for Earth" 09:00 AM - Digimon 02 "A Chance Encounter" 09:30 AM - Digimon 02 "Duel of the War Greymon" 10:00 AM - Digimon Tamers "Guilmon Comes Alive" 10:30 AM - Digimon Tamers "Digimon, Digimon Everywhere" Plus, Medabots will follow from 11 to 12 with "Stung by a Metabee" and "Return of the Screws". Samurai Jack will be on KidsWB at 9:30. CUBIX is at 10. CardCaptors is at 8:30. You know that semester in Japan? It's more like a year. The winners of the sixth annual Kobe awards have been announced... Individual Award: Hiroyuki Kitakubo (director of "Blood") Best Theatrical Feature: Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi ("Spirited Away") Best TV Series: Kidou Tenshi Angelic Layer Best Computer Game Project: Grand Turismo 3 Best Computer Game Networked Project: Phantasy Star Online Best Audio Recording: W-Infinity (CD single by Hironobu Kageyama and Hitomi Mieno; Mieno performed the opening song of I My Me! Strawberry Egg, "Dearest") Special Achievement Award: Kunio Okawara (mecha designer for MS Gundam, Gatchaman, DaiturnIII, etc.) Veteran anime voice actor Kouichi Matsuo, who went by the name Matsuo Ginzou, passed away on August 25 of an acute interior hemorrhage. His current performances included Oyajide of Oja Majo Doremi, Kagome's grandfather in Inu-Yasha, and Biff from the Sunrise sci-fi action series Scryd. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty will debut in the US on November 13. MGS2 will be released in its home country on December 13. Wow. The Game Intelligence Agency is in trouble. If you're not a struggling college student (how fast those images of Trigun and Cowboy Bebop DVDs stopped dancing in my head), here are two little pieces of heaven... The die-cast Fuchikoma and Valkyrie Profile Material Collection. Also, the official site to the upcoming anime-adaptation of X. 8.30.2001 I love anime. I started work in a dining hall today. Hours of robotic labour? Anything but! As an Iron Chef aficionado, it was an exciting three-hour battle in Kitchen Stadium where Iron Chef Tatara amazed others with his double-barrel chopping skills and absolute speed of salad-making. Of course, they wouldn't let me invent anything. In other words, no curry noodles. Remember that Iron Chef USA will air on UPN very shortly. I wish I could say more, but I cannot. This time, it's not a matter of time. Rather, I don't have UPN. Ithaca does get the network. No Iron Chef USA (perhaps I'm lucky), SU2, and Enterprise. Utada Hikaru Unplugged now has "Kettobase! (Kick Them Away!)" and "With or Without You" available for viewing. On this date... Gen. Douglas MacArthur, commander of the Allied occupation of Japan, arrives in Atsugi, southwest of Tokyo. (1945) YS-11, the first postwar Japanese transport aircraft, succeeds in her maiden flight. (1962) A hotline link between the Kremlin and the White House is set up, designed to reduce risk of accidental war. (1963) A time bomb set by an ultra-leftist group explodes near the entrance of the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Building in Marunouchi in central Tokyo, killing 8 and injuring over 280. (1974) Tatara-san got his signed CD and video from Claudia Christian and attended the first ASIC meeting. (2001) I really, really, REALLY shouldn't talk about ASIC. I'm ruled by my emotions right now. There was point today when I felt ASIC was mine. It was an empty skeleton. I could rebuild it. Then... It's a long story, and I can't tell it all right now. So, I'll just give the bullet points. Long ago, Keegan-sama told me about college anime clubs. I laughed him off. He was right. He was so very right. First, the club's name is pronounced "A-Sick" as opposed to "A-S-I-C". Next, it does exist. I had asked around. No one knew anything about it. Why? I definately should stop writing, but I won't. It's just so sad. I was there, prostrate, ready to bleed for this institution. I wanted to show my work. I wanted to show the my beta ASIC site. I wanted to show my beta posters. Of course, no. I think I will stop writing. I'm angry. I'm very angry. One would think ASIC would be my utopia. No. It's someone's but it sure as hell is not mine. I don't know. How much irony is there that today was my first call of "Utopias and Dytopias". Baka. Baka. Baka. I love my new CC CD. I did see the first two episodes of Inu-Yasha and the first episode of Cowboy Bebop. Right now, I'm missing more Bebop, Trigun, and Parallel Dual. There is just so much wrong. And, I can't begin to write it. I had to get back to get a call from my mom. Her "anime is just a cartoon" speach really didn't help. I love anime. I want people to see it. But, if the existing club... So, to paraphrase Bender, "I'll start my own anime circle with blackjack and hookers." Wow. I can cry. That's refreshing. This hurts. This really hurts. Today's RR will be up tomorrow. I've got to read stuff for classes. It hurts so very much. In MARC, I existed for people. I love anime. I want to show it to people. It's not just a cartoon. Yeah, I bet you could do some psychological insight about wanting maternal acceptance. These first few weeks of college are going to be weird. I apologize. Now what? Petition my RA to do an anime night. Hell. I guess all that's left is total guerilla tactics. It's all about power. I don't know. I really just do not know. I'm just trying to crawl through the sharp glass of my shattered dream. It's my own fault, really. So, Tatara-san, what now? Well, the answer is watching taped Gundam and DragonBall at 1 AM. 8.29.2001 Tri-X ISO 400. "Kiki's Delivery Service" was on today. It was a nice surprise. ASIC will be doing it at some point. I have more about that, but not for now. What I do have is more of Miyazaki, "Spirited Away", and Disney. If you want a domestic release, you can help here. It was because of e-mails and letters that Disney put a Japanese language track in their "Mononoke" DVD. There is a wonderful piece of writing about "Blood: The Last Vampire" that is akin to my defense of "Final Fantasy". Read. Finally (yes, this is it), we have the new Toonami schedule. There would be more, but I was just told I have to buy 20 rolls of Kodak Tri-X film by next Wednesday. We'll get back to real updates next week. I'm sorry. Really. I am. So, the schedule. This comes from PlanetNamek.com through the BBS from bethama@aol.com... TOONAMI: Afternoon Line-Up 05:00 PM Gundam: 8th MS Team 05:30 PM Dragonball 06:00 PM Dragonball Z 06:30 PM Batman Beyond TOONAMI: Midnight Run Line-Up 12:00 AM Dragonball Z 12:30 AM Outlaw Star 8.28.2001 What to say? How to say it? Again, another brisk update. My normal classes start tomorrow, so I'll have a set schedule. Also, I'll be living inside the newspaper office. There is a long, ugly, painful story, but it's not for here. I'll conclude it with... I'm not actually "living" in the newspaper room, I'm just going to spend every waking hour there. There's a student from Germany who's been barking and assaulting me. And, I may be attended Shabbat services. There will be real udates. I'm only getting to my e-mail now. And, I am so behind in the BBS. Amanda the Great has posted Toonami's new schedule there. I'll echo it tomorrow. The first half of Epyon's Season Four is online. I've got so many feelings and emotions inside me, but none of them are conducive to writing. I can't have five pages about Claudia stating about how much she hates American college students. It just doesn't fit. Tomorrow will also have more about Miyazaki and Disney. I apologize profusely for these lacking days, but I just temporally can have no more. The XYZ Affair: Over the last year, Akadot has spoken with myriad animators in various capacities, all of whom had fascinating views on both the Japanese and American animation industries. Here is an interview with three animators more interested in picking our brains for how Americans understand anime than answering questions about how the Japanese understand the American scene. Changing Course: As an accompanying piece to "XYZ Affair," Akadot re-posts Luis Reyes's feature on animated full-length films in the US and Japan. The '90s were turbulent times for American feature-length animation, so much so that one major studio even closed down. Does this open the field for Japanese feature-length animation? RightStuf hasn't shipped my package despite e-mailing me that they had. My phone is now working. I'm running unopposed for my residence hall's seat in the student council. I'm doing fairly well teaching myself Japanese grammar. I want to hug Hikaru Utada. Paris. 8.27.2001 Hilby, the Skinny German Juggle Boy. Poor, poor, lucky Yamcha. This was the episode I have on tape from the early '90s. FUNi didn't cut anything more than the original. The censors must have been asleep. Harem. And, as I asked when I first saw this episode years ago... Bulma didn't have to wear the bunny ears. "More" will be on Toonami this Friday at midnight as a part of the music video special. It's an amazing short animation. "X-Men: Evolution" will air on Toonami Friday at 7:30. Goro Inagaki, a member of the pop group SMAP, who was arrested on suspicion of obstructing police officers from performing their duties and illegally parking his car, was released on August 26 following the Tokyo District Court's rejection of prosecutors' demands to continue detaining him. Inagaki, 27, was detained at Shibuya Police Station in downtown Tokyo. Why was today's update so short? Hilby, the Skinny German Juggle Boy. Hilby performed at Ithaca tonight. He's an absolutely horrible juggler with a pathetic act, but that's just the point. It's a socio-political commentary on fascism. There were plenty of shots at Nazi Germany and Soviet-controlled East Germany. There were also a few pokes at Communist China and one on Imperial Japan. Hilby can speak Japanese. Of course, I was the only one that understood what he said. The irony to Hilby's wholly enjoyable presentation was that, more than anything, it was mocking the audience, reveling in American consumerism. 8.26.2001 Uribatake's Secret Laboratory - Ithaca Branch. Aside from myself and MARC, there are five people in the US who are aware of Nadesico. None of the other four attend Ithaca. But, there are Escaflowne, Ranma, and EVA fans aplenty. I don't know how much college-type talk I'll be doing here. So, if you're interested in this doomed experiment called college, you'll find more in the BBS. I will say that I met a nice girl with a G4 (yes, she WAS walking with the G4). She was having trouble hooking it up to the campus's network. I offered to help. She gave me her cell phone number. But, the student telephone services are playing fun, fun games with me. I have yet to get through. Althought, I have helped half my dorm to get onto the internet. I'd say something about the politeness of Jovian society, but I'd just be talking to myself. Now, let's get to the news. Production I.G's Blood received first prize at this year's World Animation Celebration. Five Sailor Moon S episodes will be airing on KidsWB. Monday through Friday at 3 PM, only for the week of September 3. You can watch a Medabots promo. Spriggan will be opening October 12 in New York City. I'll be meeting Kevin Smith on October 1. And, because I am just so intrigued, a reminder to check out the (updated) website of Papillon Rose. Miyazaki's "Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi" won't be coming to the US at any time soon. Disney was disappointed with Mononoke's low performance, so they don't want to release "Spirited Away". You know, perhaps if Mononoke was given a wide release instead of some fifty art house cinemas throughout the country... Anyway, you can read about it in "Burnt Once by Anime, Disney Is Shy About Releasing New Japanese Blockbuster in the U.S." Now, there's a question to ask. Why did Disney spend millions to get the US rights to all of Miyazaki's animation if the company isn't going to release any of it? Why? Because, recent internal Disney memos have complained about the company losing ground to anime. Kids want to see giant robots and magical princesses with exciting henshin sequences. Disney hates Toonami. The point is that fearing someone else (ADV) would get their hands on Miyazaki's stuff, Disney bought it all to prevent its American release. Meanwhile, "Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi" has already sold its ten-millionth ticket. The Ranma TV series DVD boxed set will be titled "Digital Dojo" and will include the full contents of the first nine VHS volumes along with a bonus music video. This 18 episode box set will list for $99.98 for its 450 minute running time. Toonami has interviews with Leiji Matsumoto and Daft Punk. You'll be able to see all the Daft Punk videos on August 31 at midnight. Wait, wouldn't that make it September 1st? I don't know. What else? Devil May Cry demo. Cool. Very cool. It's definitely the second best game of the year (behind MGS2). Of course, one thing I cannot forget to mention... One thing I need to say... One thing that is just so amazingly good... One thing that you will drool over and over and over... What am I talking about? Xenosaga - The Eight Minute Trailer It's worth the day-long download. It's worth it. Fei. Elly. Shitan. The Gazel Ministry. Also, why not go to FF-Movie.net? 8.22.2001 The Flower of Babylon. Today's a birthday. Actually, today is two birthdays. If the name "Basket" doesn't mean anything to you, then you don't know the second. Of course, the second is actually the first. So, the first is the second. Don't you just love hiding the truth in plain sight? Today's the Sage Page's last pre-college update. To celebrate, we have an artist's rendering of Tatara-san's dorm, a map to Tatara-san's dorm, and the sign on Tatara-san's door. But, that's not all. We've also got a number of other new sketches and pictures in the gallery and a full doujinshi! Granted, "Doki Doki Arigatou, Vegeta-sama" isn't a real doujinshi... It's just a series of pictures wherein the humour is based on the premise that it is funny to see Vegeta in situations Vegeta wouldn't normally be in. The thing was drawn in October of 2000. (Yes, the PS2 picture was drawn on Launch Day.) It was the most I did all my senior year... Other than founding the Maginn Anime Research Circle. But, going back to the birthdays... Today is a very special day. I've mentioned a black project for the past few months. What is it? Why not pay a trip to the Ronin Reserve? It's no longer a beta site. All the graphics are there. (The Sage Page has some new graphics, too. Did you see our kanji "Ronin" on the splash page?) But, mainly, you should check the Reserve's library. Why? Did I start a new series? Today is the birthday of Claudia Gunshy. Today is the birthday of the daughter of Yost Gunshy. Today is the birthday of the Flower of Babylon. Did I start a new series? Epyon is more than just the gundam that Treize built. Epyon is Greek for "next". Ronin Reserve II: Epyon starts the future era. It starts the second half of the story. It is another five season arc. There is some anime news I'd like to report prior to the break. The EVA movies (now being billed as NOT having overlays) won't hit DVDs until March. I'm pounding my head into the desk. Wasn't my plan to buy EVA all together? So, we just move it down to the bottom of the list. Remember when I was going to buy it all this fall? At least I don't have to worry about it. Now, all I have to be concerned with are Macross and Cowboy Bebop. Bandai and Gonzo are at Komatsu Air Force Base to research their upcoming five-part OAV series "Sentou Yousei Yukikaze" based on a novel series by Chouhei Kambayashi. Gonzo, along with TV Tokyo, will produce the animation for the upcoming Final Fantasy anime series under the direction of Yoshikazu Miyao (Macross Dynamite 7, Blue Sub, Vandread, Turn A Gundam). Miyao-san will also provide the series's monster designs. The series is tentatively scheduled for debut in October. Clockworks and Beam Entertainment will distribute a 3 episode OAV series titled "Cosplay Complex" early next year. Finally, Gainax has said that they are moving forward on Hiroyuki Yamaga's follow up to "Wings of Honneamise". The sequel, "Blue Uru", was first announced over eight years ago. Only now is Gainax animating it. I'm just completely frozen with anticipation. I don't feel like making any speeches. The updates will continue within a week. The Sage Page has come a long way. To close, a line from my note to MARC congratulating them on the start of their 2001-2002 season... We're told that we are all equal. But, personally, I do believe than anime fans are better people. 8.21.2001 Makafushigi Adventure! Again, another Bulma joke is so easy. From Kyodo News... The science and technology ministry decided Tuesday to integrate three government-affiliated space agencies and create a new space development organization by fiscal 2003. The three agencies -- all affiliated with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology -- are the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA), the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) and the National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan (NAL), science minister Atsuko Toyama said. The move is in line with the government's reform policy on government-affiliated special agencies. This is the first time since NASDA's establishment in 1969 that the government has undertaken such a drastic review of its space development policies. The ministry said it will set up a panel to discuss plans for the integration next month, including procedures, details of the new organization and a schedule, as well as new legislation for the organization. The three agencies have been discussing since April cooperation in technology development following the government's rocket launch mishaps in 1999 and 2000. For the current fiscal year, the three agencies are focusing on improving the reliability of the main engine of the newly developed H-2A rocket for launching satellites as well as enhancing technology for solid rockets, among other projects, the ministry said earlier. They are also considering sharing ground facilities to track satellite launches, and information and telecommunications infrastructure. Japan aborted the launch of an H2 rocket in November 1999 after one of its engines abruptly halted, prompting the ground command to blow up the rocket including the satellite it was carrying. The government also failed to put a satellite into orbit in February 2000 because of a glitch in the rocket engine. NASDA is a special agency affiliated with the ministry and developed the H-2A rocket, while the ISAS is a national research institution and is in charge of scientific research such as planetary exploration using the M-5 rocket. The NAL is an independent administrative institution which studies transportation systems in aerospace. The three agencies have a total of about 1,800 employees and have about 195 billion yen in total annual budget allocations. Also, a planned space flight in July by Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi will be postponed until November due to repair work on the US space shuttle he was to travel in with other astronauts. And, buy it while you can... Wings of Honneamise What else? There's a new Medal of Honor coming out this fall. It's sad when you have to read about it on a Japanese news site. Anyway... Medal of Honor: Allied Assault Urban Vision will release all six episodes of the Tekkaman Blade II OAV series on a single DVD on October 30. Bonus features will include a gallery of American fan art and digitally remastered Dolby 5.1 and Pro Logic sound. Bandai will premiere the first volume of Pilot Candidate on November 7, exclusively on uncut DVD. An edited version of Pilot Candidate will be broadcast on the Cartoon Network at a presently undecided future date. The New York Times has a Blood: The Last Vampire review. It's OK to rob banks if the money's for anime. Devil May Cry's theme, "Ring the Noise" is by Yukihiro. Yukihiro is the drummer for L'Arc-en-Ciel. For the past month, Toonami's had a new "twinkle" OP. What's humourous is that this new OP is what all of the KidsWB Toonami's "exclusive" animation comes from. Here it is all in one piece and without a neon color-scheme. DragonBall sure is great. DBZ was missing the Bulma-in-a-bath factor. Just wait until you see her in a bunny suit. Of course, a magical floating table appeared out of nowhere as Goku prepared for the tub. Tomorrow's the Sage Page's last update for about a week as I move to college and get in a fist fight over Sharon Apple's prettiest form. (It's the one with short orange hair!) While I'm away, keep the BBS busy. And, start checking back on Sunday for news. 8.20.2001 Red Cross Book... Or, an unflattering joke about Bulma. DragonBall premiered today, and I was impressed. It was fun. It was adorable. Visually, it was stunning. I loved it. I do have a few notes. First, you've got to understand the name puns. Virtually everyone knows, but just to be sure, Bulma means bloomers. Goku is... Goku is the monkey king from "Journey to the West", the story that DragonBall is based on. (No, there are no Saiya-jin in "Journey to the West".) The episode had some slight editing. I have the manga. And, the animation follows it almost to the letter. Goku's (nude) fishing scene may have been cut slightly. In the manga, Bulma also fires a few shots at Goku after he flips her jeep. And, Goku's line about Bulma's physical description reads, "You seem kinda softer and bumpier." The biggest change was the snipping of Bulma's exhibitionist moment in which she attempts to seduce little Goku. Goku tells her that he won't give her his DragonBall. Bulma replies that he must want something in return, calling him naughty. She flashes her panties, inviting Goku to feel. Of course, the kid replies, "Why would I want to feel your dirty butt?" Bulma gets angry and shouts, "My butt is not dirty!" All in all, it's an essential character-defining moment. Of course, she'll have to wait for Vegeta until someone feels her dirty butt. And, you'll have to wait until Wednesday for my "Doki Doki Arigatou, Vegeta-sama" doujinshi in which we see the joy of parenting from the prince of all Saiyans and the dirty underpants girl. And, FUNi made it a little unclear that Bulma had to go to the bathroom when she ran behind the hill. Most surprisingly, thought, was what was kept in. That final scene with Bulma pinned to the mountain and the gold sparkles in the air... That ain't sunlight. No, Bulma's reply in the manga to Goku's statement that everything's turned out fine is, "What's so swell about peeing in my pants?" Toriyama. Ain't he great? Of course, Dr. Slump is his crowning glory. Bandai recently released a new game for WonderSwan Color. "Gundam Vol. 2: Jaburo" is the sequel to "Gundam Vol 1: Side 7". Take a look at the site. Isn't Matilda dreamy? It's to bad that... Manga Entertainment confirmed that the special edition American release of the Shin Seiki Evangelion movies will contain digital overlays. AD Vision performed this type of digital editing on the first DVD volume of the Evangelion TV series then ceased doing so in response to overwhelming fan criticism. Of course, they won't listen to us Nadesico fans to stop overlaying our series! In case you're wondering what an overlay is, it's when Japanese text in the original Japanese version is digitally removed and replaced by English text. It fundamentally changes the original vision and look of the animation. Manga also confirmed that most of the explanatory material from the End of Evangelion movie program, commonly known as the "Red Cross Book," which was sold in Japanese theatres that premiered the film, will be included as supplemental material on the American Evangelion movies DVD release. Manga said there will be no new Wings of Honneamise: Royal Space Force DVD. I have yet to buy the thing because everyone who owns it tells that the visuals are just hideous. Manga Entertainment's distribution rights to the film will expire in March 2002, and they don't plan on renewing them. So, they aren't fixing the disc quality. The New York Times has a Blood: The Last Vampire review. I just wonder what would happen if Blood's Saya and Kite's Sawa ever met. I gotta get me some Dr. Slump manga. 8.19.2001 www.6-4tianwang.com Studio Ghibli is working on two animations. Hosoda Mamoru is working on Ghibli's main 100 minute project. They also have a 70 minute film in production that's being directed by a young freelance animator. You know that new Cowboy Bebop series? Well, there isn't one. Several from Cowboy Bebop's creative team are working together on a new project, but it's not a new Cowboy Bebop. Doesn't the Sage Page have fact checkers? No. You can check out the Dangaioh site in English. And, if you want to vote for your favorite anime from the past year, you can in BAAF's Anime Shoot Out and AnimeNation's Otaku Awards. I ain't saying anything more because a little series called Nadesico seems to have been left out of ever category. (Of course, I must give Gasaraki huzzah and kudos for its nominations. It's the underdog, but it deserves to win.) Well, just to let you know, the Sage Page is starting its own awards. And... Ummm... Nadesico wins. We'll also give an award to Inu-Yasha, One Piece, Ranma 1/2, and Xenosaga. If you want to talk more about the Sage Page's inpromtu awards or anything else, there's a place you can. Now equipped with the latest SVC-2027 processor, the BBS is extra fast and extra tight. Remember, DragonBall starts tomorrow. 8.18.2001 Is that a Mobile Suit in your pocket or are you just happy to see me? The problem with speculation is that it's a game of numbers. Yesterday, I took a stab at why CN only aired 11 08th MS Team episodes. I was wrong about two being chopped together. Bethama@aol.com sets me straight... Actually, you're wrong about 08th MS. The longer episode (for some reason) includes extra footage from the 08th MS Team Movie. The missing episode is an epilogue, where Michel and Kiki set out to find Shiro and Aina. My best guess is simply that it isn't long enough to qualify as an episode. She'd also like to say that she isn't 100% sure. Medabots begins September 1 on FOXKids. Transformers: Car Robots starts September 8. Here's the Car Robots cast... Steve Blum (Dark Scream) Jerry De Capua (Gas Skunk) Keith Diamond (Rapid Run) Peter Lurie (Slapper) Sandy Fox (T-AI) Bob Joles (X-Brawn) Neil Kaplan (Optimus Prime) David Lodge (Midnight Express) Dan Riordan (Megatron) Peter Spellos (Sky-Byte) Jason Spisak (Koji) Wankus (Prowl) Wally Wingert (Sideburn/Speedbreaker) That's right. TOM is Dark Scream. As of today, you can preorder Devil May Cry from Capcom's site. Don't. Wait a bit. Within a week or two, some preorder goodies will be added. But, if you order before the extras are uploaded, you don't get any. I preordered Megaman X5 the moment it went online. A week latter, a nice little Megaman pin was added as a preorder exclusive. But, because I was too eager, I didn't get one. Yukihiro's "Ring the Noise" single will sell for ´1020 starting 9.27. Digicube is releasing "Final Fantasy X: Tida & Yuna Tribute Album". The CD goes on sale 11.10 for ´1300. Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within is already in the top ten on Amazon.com. The DVD is slated for release on 10.23. Enterbrain (the publisher parent of Famitsu, among other mags) is releasing a DVD collection of the highlights from the The Guilty Gear X arcade championships tournament. Entitled "Battle for Saint," it's nothing but watching other people play a videogame. Limited-edition character figures and posters are rewards for preordering. Guilty Gear X: Battle for Saint comes to Japan on 8.30 for ´2200. You know how a lot of PS2 games are short? You know, that whole "what the hell kind of ending" factor you get at the end of ZOE... Well, it seems Sony's behind it. About a year ago, Sony officials suggested to many PS2 development studios to not necessarily make mammoth, epic games. Instead, they lightly suggested endeavoring to make shorter games with more polish and pretty graphics. That was in 2000. At this year's E3, the same message was sent to developers, but it was sent in a stronger way, and the Sony executives added that they wanted better looking, shorter games because they didn't want studios to spend too much money on each project (because the costs for next-generation projects are already high), but mostly it's because they wanted their PS2 games to look especially good when Nintendo's and Microsoft's games arrived on the next new systems. Mixed feelings. Sony Computer Entertainment Japan is selling an average of 100,000 PS2s a week. Since the release of FFX, it's been closer to 150,000. By the end of June 2001, SCEJ shipped 5.94 million units in Japan, with a total of 14.95 million units worldwide (5.94 million in Japan, 5.15 million in North America, and 3.86 million in European and PAL territories). Sony has said publicly that it plans to have shipped about 30 million units by Spring 2002. Also, Wanna build a mecha in cyberspace? You can. Behold, the pants! Have you seen the commercials for the Dockers "Mobile Pant". Yes, it's called "Mobile Pant". What is it? It's nothing but pants with an extra pocket, but with a name like "Mobile Pant", its gotta be leaking Minovsky particles. That's right, the tactical genius of the Mobile Pant is that one will never suspect the power that you wield around your waist. Is that a Mobile Suit in your pocket or are you just happy to see me? I think we all know the answer to this one. 8.17.2001 Day of No Laws. Thank you, Conan O'Brien! My mastery of katakana allows the Sage Page to be a leading "Devil May Cry" news source. So far, two majin forms for Dante have been revealed. Arasutoru is his electric aerial form. Ihuriito is a fiery incarnation. Romanized, these names are "Alastor" and "Ifrit". Sweet. We all know who Ifrit is. As for Alastro, he's an avenging deity or spirit, the masculine personification of Nemesis, frequently evoked in Greek tragedy. The game's released on 8.23 in Japan. Don't miss a new promo movie and the final versions of the DMC CMs. In case you're wondering why only 11 of the 12 episodes of 08th MS Team aired, the answer is in last night's episode which ran a suspicious 20 minutes longer than normal. What happened? As CN did with some of Tenchi, they chopped two episodes together to make one because of all the questionable content removed. No digital paint could hide Kiki's indecent proposal to Shiro. Now, onto Hikki. The next two songs from Utada Hikaru Unplugged are online. This week, "Addicted to You" and "Parody" can be watched. "Kettobase!" ("Kick Them Away!") and "With Or Without You" will be online from 8.24 to 8.30. "Automatic" and "FINAL DISTANCE" will be up from 8.31 to 9.6. Here's this month's "Mononoke Hime" schedule on STARZ... 8.16 - 10:20 PM 8.17 - 10:40 AM 8.21 - 5:45 PM 8.22 - 5:15 AM 8.26 - 11:15 AM As of August 13, Studio Ghibli's "Sen to Chihiro Kamikakushi" ("Sprited away") has surpassed the 10 billion Yen box-office mark. 25 days after its initial theatrical release, the movie has grossed 10,154,271,880 Yen in total (about $ 83,382,000) and drawn nearly eight million viewers to the pictures. "Mononoke Hime", by comparision, grossed 18 billion Yen after a showing period of eight months. You may have seen the new DragonBall promos on CN. Pretty sweet. It starts Monday. Yeah, this Monday. The new schedule? 5:00 - MS Gundam 5:30 - DragonBall 6:00 - DragonBall Z 6:30 - DragonBall Z Outlaw Star remains on the Midnight Run. Remember, Alastor and Ifrit were Sage Page exclusives. 8.16.2001 Boxed Sets Aplenty! Bandai has announced the DVD boxed set of Trigun will release on November 20 with a retail price of $199.98, a savings of $39.86 off the price of the eight individual discs. Pioneer has announced the DVD boxed set of Tenchi Universe will release on October 9 with a retail price of $199.98, again a savings of $39.86 off the price of the eight individual discs. A new Serial Experiments Lain DVD boxed set (4 DVDs in a cardboard slipcase, no premium items) will be released on October 9th as well. This one sports a retail price of $119.98, six cents more expensive than the individual discs. The Disney Channel will air Miyazaki's Kiki's Delivery Service on August 29 at 2:00 PM and 7:00 PM EST. The Starz Channel will be airing Mononoke Hime several times this month. You know that Macross DVD set I talk about almost as much as the Cowboy Bebop set (confirmed for November)? Well, it's going to feature some weird subtitles. Harmony Gold has insisted that names in AnimEigo's subtitled release not use the same spellings as the Robotech "translation". While many names were changed between Macross and Robotech, many were also left the same. So, we'll have to see the inventive way AnimeEigo spells "Roy Fokker". 8.15.2001 WWII ended on this date 56 years ago. Because it is Wednesday, we talk about Final Fantasy. More information about the DVD has been revealed. From the press release... Disc One: -Two feature-length commentaries: (1) Co-director (Motonori Sakakibara), sequence supervisor (Hiroyuki Hayashida), sets & props lead artist (Tatsuro Maruyama), Phantom supervisor (Takao Noguchi) (2) Animation director (Andy Jones), editor (Chris S. Capp), staging director (Tani Kunitake) -Isolated score with commentary by composer Elliot Goldenthal -Storyboard/Playblast selects of the film with optional filmmaker -commentary or subtitled factoids -Theatrical trailers -Interactive animated menus, featuring CGI introductions by Square Pictures -Scene selections with motion images -Production notes Disc Two: -Original interactive documentary - The Making of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within -Final Fantasy Thriller Music Video -Alternate opening sequence -Mini-movie: Aki's Dream -Trailer exploration -Seven in-depth character files -Three vehicle scale comparisons (Bandit, Quatro, Black Boa) -Two face wraps (Aki, Dr. Sid) -Character morphs -Compositing builds -Matte art exploration -Sets and props -Final Fantasy Shuffler: Become the filmmaker by re-editing a pivotal scene from the film. Complete the edit and play back your final cut. -Interactive animated menus -complete screenplay -Virtual tour of Square Pictures -Screensaver -Weblinks Additional Specifications: -Digitally mastered audio & video -1.85:1 aspect ratio (anamorphic for widescreen TVs) -Dolby Digital 5.1 (English) and Dolby Surround 2.0 (French) -English and French subtitles -Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence -Color -Closed-Captioned -106 minutes You know how CN's getting Cowboy Bebop? Know what CN Latin America is getting? Starting 9.3, they're getting Kenshin. From CD Japan... CD Japan is opening its brand new 'e-Manga' page produced and presented in exclusive association with Kodansha Publishing, one of Japan's largest and best established publishers of Manga comics. The online monthly comic magazine, 'e-Manga' is a new-style comic entertainment. The Mangas presented are partially animated, and some of them come with sound, all done principally through Shockwave. All Japanese texts are translated into English which are presented as subtitles. Each monthly issue contains 12 to 15 different Manga episodes, created by today's topnotch Manga authors and artists, and include e-Manga originals as well as acclaimed works already popular from hardcopy Manga magazines. For a fixed monthly fee, you can view an issue as many times as you wish for a month, and subscriptions are automatically renewed each month until you cancel it. You can now subscribe to 'e-Manga' on the following page where you can browse through a free sample: http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/e-manga/ Now, are you ready for this? Hold off on buying EVA if you haven't already. For what possible reason am I telling you to not buy Evangelion? ADV will be re-releasing it. The new version will feature remastered animation. Different sources claim that just the first disc, the first two discs, and the entire series will be redone. So, hold off on your EVA purchases. Remember, the movies come out in January. Also, Sakura Dairies will be getting a new release, too. The extended Japanese home video version of Sakura Dairies will be released as a double disc subtitled DVD set. Expect to see ZOE in early 2002. Now, any StarGate SG-1 fans reading this? SG-1 was not renewed by Showtime; however, Sci-Fi Channel couldn't let the wonderful series die. They bought the rights so it would continue to be made. Click here for the full story. CJB.net issued a message to all its clients stating that they will increase adds on URL-cloaked sites. What does this mean? There will be more adds on the Sage Page. If they are particularly annoying (and they will be), I'll turn the URL-cloaking off. So, while the address will still be "sagepage.cjb.net", you'll be seeing the actual angelfire addy of the page. 8.14.2001 My local news aired a little something at the end of their broadcast about Koizumi. They showed Korean monks cutting off their fingers in protest. Of course "Koizumi" and "Yasukuni Shrine" were absent from the report, which read, "Korean monks cut off portions of their fingers in protest of Japanese war actions especially during WWII. The monks said if no apology is made, their actions will become more extreme, and they will disembowel themselves." The footage of monks wither cleavers was then repeated a few more times for impact. "I don't have any comment on that. I don't believe we've ever had in the past, either," US State Department spokesman Philip Reeker answered when asked by reporters of Koizumi's action at a daily meeting. For continuing coverage, visit Kyodo News. If you want more Toonami-themed news, Akadot.com has an interview with Steve Blum... the voice of TOM (as well as other voices in Wings of Honneamise and Macross Plus). What's the basis of TOM's mentality? Tom's an arrogant little snot sometimes, which I love. When we were first honing Tom's demeanor, I remember the directors suggesting that I mentally put "you f***!" at the end of every sentence. Next, an article Cowboy Bebop on CN. And, an interview with Sadayuki Murai, head writer of Bebop. Also, a Cowboy Bebop 2 is in the initial planning stages. Animeigo's Macross box set will be shipping late September, almost a year after its original release date. Sigh. This box set was supposed to by my graduation present, but because it's only coming out now, I gotta buy it myself. I look forward to watching EVA on DVD in January. X will also come out on DVD this September, a full year after its original planned release. Hitting stores on September 25th, the DVD will include the 98 minute long film in widescreen with 5.1 surround and 2.0 stereo English dubbed audio and the original 2.0 stereo Japanese dialogue with optional English subtitles, a gallery of information on the tarot cards elemental to the X story, the theatrical trailer, an interview with director Rin Taro, a photo gallery, and more. You know the new Kenshin OAV? ADV is co-producing it and is partially being made in response to the success of the first OAV's American release. Further, the new OAV may extend beyond the initial two episodes. You know how ADV said they were going to release Noir but then said they weren't? Wanna know why? The existing Japanese DVD release is the TV version of the series. ADV will be releasing the series on DVD; however, not for a while because they are working for the definitive "director's cut" edition with extended animation. It's the exact opposite of how Japan got the EVA: Director's Cut. The Cowboy Bebop DVD box set will include six DVDs and the first soundtrack CD. The case will be sold separately for fans that have already purchased the individual DVDs. The American theatrical premiere of the Escaflowne movie has been delayed until January 2002. The Midnight Run of Gundam MS 08th Team is doing better in ratings than the afternoon original MS Gundam on Toonami. There are currently 56 first-run animated programs airing every week in Japan. And, for all of you who have preordered Claudia Christian's new CD and video, the Sage Page has an exclusive progress report from inside Team Claudia... we just received the box covers and the videos should be coming along shortly but I don't think we'll ship before august 30. we still have to get them all signed as well. That was exclusive news. 8.13.2001 Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine today to pay his respects for Japan's war dead. Koizumi was originally to visit the shrine on August 15; however, a massive international outcry against the act, fearing showing Japan's remilitarization, caused the Prime Minister to move his visit to today. Yasukuni Shrine houses the remains of some two million soldiers who have died since 1869. Included in the shrine is Hideki Tojo and thirteen others convicted of war crimes following WWII. Koizumi has been the first Prime Minister to visit Yasukuni Shrine since 1996. The kawaii Koizumi's action has spawned vicious outcries throughout the Pacific Rim. Note that US news networks are too busy with the Levy coverage to include this in their broadcasts. I've stopped watching FOX News because of that. CNN Headline all the way! "The Chinese government and people lodge their fierce anger and dissatisfaction," spoke Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue. Now, I don't want this to be taken the wrong way. And, you know just how very easily I could say something really, really, really stupid right about now. I'm not. I'm just reporting the news. But, I will say this. There is an irony when China and Korea scream that Japan has re-emerged as a military threat when the Japanese Self Defense Force has only the power to put up a half-hour fight and China and Korea are experimenting with longer and longer ranged ICBMs. If those were my neighbors, I'd want some protection. The European Union has refrained from commenting. Kyodo News has a great deal of coverage. The Gundam OAVS 0080 and Gundam 0083 may air as soon as this September on Toonami. Kia Asamiya will be making a public appearance at Jim Hanley's Universe in New York City this Wednesday (coincidentally the day WWII came to an end) between 12 and 2 PM. There's a new Slayers in production. "Slayers Premium" is a movie that will premiere in Japan in December, coupled with a Sakura Taisen film. The latest Newtype has updated lists of Japan's favorite anime and charas... Favorite Series 1. Cowboy Bebop 2. Noir 3. Startup Angel Angelic Layer 4. Kidou Senshi Gundam 5. Inu Yasha 6. Ah! My Goddess! 7. Card Captor Sakura 8. Sister Princess 9. Gensomaden Saiyuki 10. You're Under Arrest! Favorite Male Character 1. Spike Spiegel (Cowboy Bebop) 2. Inu Yasha (Inu Yasha) 3. Louie (Maho Senshi Riui) 4. Conan Edogawa (Detective Conan) 5. It-chan (Angelic Layer) 6. Genjo Sanzo (Gensomaden Saiyuki) 7. Bit Cloud (Zoids Shinseiki Zero) 8. Char Aznable (Kidou Senshi Gundam) 9 Amuro Rei (Kidou Senshi Gundam) 10. Claude C. Kenny (Star Ocean EX) Favorite Female Character 1. Misaki Suzuhara (Angelic Layer) 2. Belldandy (Ah! My Goddess) 3. Faye Valentine (Cowboy Bebop) 4. Sakura Kinomoto (Card Captor Sakura) 5. Kagome Higure (Inu Yasha) 6. Ruri Hoshino (Kidou Senkan Nadesico) 7. Kiriki Yuumura (Noir) 8. Mireille Bouquet (Noir) 9. Guu (Jungle wa Itsumo Hare Nochi Guu) 10. Miyuki Kobayakawa (You're Under Arrest!) It's a nice mix of old and new. And, I'm happy 'cause Ruri got her props. Hayao Miyazaki will be supervising Ghibli's next film. The animation will be directed by Hosoda Mamoru, director for the Digimon TV series and movies. The film is scheduled for release in the summer of 2002. No name of plot details have been revealed. KidsWB has stopped airing DBZ. The current premiere date of DragonBall on CN is September 10. 8.12.2001 Obon. Celebrated from August 13th to 15th, Obon is the Japanese festival of the dead in which families return to their ancestral tombs. For more information, I direct you to... What is Obon? by the Shingon Buddhist International Institute. A Journey to Ease the Heart by Joho Yoshimoto, Chief Priest of the Shoryu-ji Temple in Miyazaki Prefecture. The time to Remember and Appreciate our Ancestors by Rev. Eiyu Yoshiki. Obon no Koto, a personal explanation of Obon from a Japanese Canadian. It is just a coincidence that the final day of Obon falls on the final day of WWII. 8.11.2001 It's not foreign. It's Japanese. (Or, the girl is only available with the limited edition) Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within premiered in the US one month ago on this day. We'll be getting to Samurai Jack a bit later. A public completion ceremony for Cowboy Bebop: Tengoku no Tobira (Knockin' on Heaven's Door) was held in Tokyo on August 4. Hosted by voice actors Hirokazu Yamadera (Spike), Megumi Hayashibara (Faye) and the director Shin-ichi Watanabe, a version of the film was screened to the audience, but Watanabe admitted that the film is actually still not in "complete" finished form. Slight additional audio or video footage will still be added before its official Japanese theatrical premier in the first week of September. Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust premieres in the US on August 24. At the premiere in the Egyptian Theatre will be director Yoshiaki Kawajiri and animation director / character designer Yutaka Minowa. Composer Marco D'Ambrosio will also be attending and voice actors John DiMaggio and John Rafter Lee. John DiMaggio, besides his work in VHD, can also be heard in Final Fantasy. But, he's best known as Futurama's Bender. For Amanda, Inu-Yasha: Jidai o Koeru Omoi (Love Which Transcends Time) is scheduled to open in Japan in December. Rurouni Kenshin: Seisou Hen (Years Chapter) will consist of only two episodes. The story is by Nobuhiro Watsuki (Shueisha Jump Comic). Kazuhiro Furuhashi directs. Chara designs are by Aki Matsushima. Reiko Yoshida penned the script. Taku Iwasaki is the composer. Studio Deen is the animator. Anime Film Fest will be coming to limited theatres later this year. But, no one has any idea what it is. Ed, start saving your money now. Daily Yomiuri reports that Bandai Co. will begin selling "life-sized" plastic Zaku models. The models will be 1.5 meters tall and weigh 30 kg (a real life sized Zaku would be 20.5 meters tall). The model is the largest model ever produced by Bandai and will retail for ´198, 000 ($1620) when it goes on sale in December. From the looks of it, the 1/20 Zaku appears to just be an up-scaling of the 1/144 and 1/100 kits. But, there has been some modifications such as individual fingers. I so want this thing to come on giant plastic runners. You could also probably wear the thing if you modify it a bit. Wait, you still haven't seen it. I had to upload the picture to the Sage Page's server because I never want to be without it. Sieg Zeon! The Zaku will be sold in both a regular and limited edition package. The girl is only available with the limited edition suit. I'm currently listening to the Final Fantasy X OST. It may be Uematsu's best work. What's quite interesting is that the OST comes as a "kit" that must be assembled. Hikaru Utada will be appearing on MTV Japan this weekend. You can watch clips of Utada Hikaru Unplugged at Hikki's site. You're going to fall in love with this girl. I've already ordered "Wait and See -Risk-" from CD Japan. And, in case you need it, here's all her releases. L'Arc-en-Ciel's Spirit Dreams Inside - Another Dream remains one of CD Japan's top ten preorders ever since first being announces. Cubix. Pokemon with robots. And, just like Pokemon, I fell in love with it before developing a searing repulsion. What's interesting is that the Cubix catchphrase, "Robots for everyone", is the catchphrase of Robotix, the company in the Cubix world that makes the robots. And, as for the names, every robot name ends in "ix", it's the same idea of "mon" in Digimon. And, the the first part of the name is a description of the robot. So, Cubix is a blocky robot. The animation is quite good and quite cute. I've already got a crush on the girl. My only reservation is Cubix's voice. It's just not right. Cubix should sound like a little kid and not an action hero. CMs for the new season of DBZ and Justice League could be seen during Samurai Jack. Samurai Jack. I'm mixed. I both liked it and didn't like it. As it started, I was totally impressed. I thought the animation was beautiful, looking based on a wood-cut. The fifteen minute wordless sequence of Jack's training and education was totally power. Anime is a visual medium. It is based on manga. It all comes of the Japanese tradition of images telling stories that goes back to the feudal era. And, I saw this in the beginning of Jack. But, then Jack gets sent to the future and goes to the disco and meets the talking dogs and fights the robot bugs. Everything that I fell in love with was undone. From "cartoony" sound effects to cheap jokes, they just didn't fit. The talking dogs could have been handled differently. It was interesting and could have worked a great deal better. I thought Aku being this commercialized demon lord was an amazing concept. It is something that could be so thoroughly fleshed out and gone with. But, it won't. Samurai Jack doesn't have a beginning, middle, and end. There is no continuous story linking the episodes. It is ideally suited to tell the story of a hero's journey, but Tartakovsky isn't doing this. In the documentary following the premiere, Tartakovsky said that he wanted to make a cartoon with a lot of action. And, I have a problem with that. First, I object to Tartakovsky's power. His simple want to do an action series gets it made. But, more, it is the shallowness of it. Action is action, but there needs to be a reason. We all love to see giant robots fight. But, why do we watch? We watch because we care about the pilots inside. And, Jack's battle with the robot bugs was impressive, but at a point, I started to wonder how many ways it the animators could draw a mecha beetle being cut in half. There just this lack of substance under the surface. What was the point of Jack being covered in black oil? To me, it instantly meant a tarnishing of Jack's mind. To me, it was the black blood of my Ronin Reserve series. But, it meant nothing. It was shallow. It was the closest that Tartakovsky could come to having Jack covered in blood. Samurai Jack could be a good story. But, I just don't know. Because, you need a story. Tartakovsky seems to be set on making Samurai Jack a very action-intense subject. And, action is action. But, there needs to be drama for us to care about the action. I just think it and Tartakovsky are shallow. And, in the end, it's just a cartoon. Tartakovsky repeated referred to Samurai Jack as just that. Cartoon. Cartoon. Cartoon. Cartoons are for kids. Animation is for adults. And, Samurai Jack, with its dogs sticking their heads out of rocket ships and comic sound effects puts it firmly in the first camp. A panel of animation experts gathered Tuesday during the first day of the World Animation Celebration conference in Hollywood for a panel titled "American Animated Movies For Grown-Ups: Will They Really See the Light of Day?" The result of the panel was the affirmation that, "American audiences flock to films with sex and violence in them -- as long as that sex and violence doesn't involve animated characters." Yahoo News has the story. You need to read it. You also need to read John's answer to the question. Of course, you already know the answer. American culture squarely labels animation as existing exclusively as a thing for children. And, once once grows up, it is no longer fitting for one to be entertained by moving pictures. All this comes from the work of Disney and similar corporations who remain in business because of their perpetuation for the juvenile nature of animation. Anime is foreign. Big eyes. Blue hair. John talks about these things. We accept them. But, have you ever actually realized that when you watch anime, you're watching a foreign cartoon? Anime isn't foreign. It's Japanese. Animation will never be accepted in America as anything other than a babysitter. Why? Because Disney is as American as apple pie. This is the way things have always been. There are too many people who are born, live, and die without ever raising a single question and asking if things are done differently. Anime is Japanese. No matter what I would show in MARC, there would be questions. Why are their eyes big? Why is their hair blue? Why don't they look Japanese? I'm glad I got people asking questions. The point that I am trying to make is that Samurai Jack is no different from anything else. Cowboy Bebop is coming very soon. Watch an episode. But, you don't even need to do that. You can watch an episode of Gundam, Outlaw Star, DragonBall Z, or even Digimon. And, you will see the soul of the animation is different. And, it is the soul that is important. 8.10.2001 Best birthday wishes to Claudia Ann Christian. Miss Christian turns 36 today. Samurai Jack premieres tonight at 7 PM on CN. Initially, I was skeptical about the series, but I'm now eagerly awaiting it. ICv2.com has a nice article on it. Actually, it's an articles on two articles. And, it includes "if it's animated (or drawn), it must be for children". I've been up for the past 34 hours making an Akito Tenkawa cosplay uniform. I ruined two shirts and have made three separate attempts. Finally, not letting the shirts die in vain, I am almost complete. It is grossly inaccurate, completely out of proportion, and looks like it was sewn at 3 AM while watching SportsNight. Ain't cosplay fun? I watched episode 22 last night. Wow. It's all coming to an end. I've never loved Nadesico more than I do now. Videogame news? Have you been to acecombat04.com? No? Well, get clicking. Read articles about the Ulysses meteor and San Salvacion. Download images and movies. Know who's going to be the dub voice of Tidus? James Arnold Taylor Have you seen the Silent Hill 2 trailer? Here you go... Honey, did something happen to you? A sacred place Reflection Just put the gun to their head Never so scared... He had it coming You could be her twin Light and sound Heaven's Night I'm here. I'm real... You've got to see the trailer. Besides the CG, the music is incredible. And, as in the first game, darkness plays a key element. Japan's respected Famitsu magazine has given Capcom's upcoming Stylish Hard Action game Devil May Cry a Gold award, receiving scores of 9, 8, 9, and 8 from the four-man review squad. Whatever happened to X-Box? New details on Z.O.E. 2173 Testament. It's not a direct sequel to the original game. Leo Stenbuck, Jehuty, all his friends are nowhere to be found. Players will control Cage, a completely different young boy unexpectedly thrust into the heat of battle. When Cage stumbles into a LEV mecha, he must link up with a band of Martian rebels in order to fend off the mysterious adversaries looking to take back their property. Unlike Leo, Cage won't be the only playable character. While no other characters have been revealed yet, the strategy RPG-style gameplay involves controlling several units of troops. Today was going to be the launch of the black project. Originally, it was to start now. However, I changed the unveiling of this shadowy thing to August 22 a month or two ago. August 22 will be my last update prior to college. Now, today is Friday. So, shouldn't there be some Xenosaga rant? Well, yes. Only, Namco didn't release anything. Well, not until two minutes ago. Remember when I wanted clips from Mitsuda's score? Miracle Ormus 8.9.2001 Nagasaki was destroyed on this date 56 years ago. 8.8.2001 It's Wednesday. We bow our heads to Final Fantasy on this anniversary of its release. You can read an excellent interview at Ars Technica. There is also more information on Final Fantasy's DVD. Box art is finished. There will be multiple audio commentaries, an interactive documentary, an alternate opening sequence, a film deconstruction, outtakes, and a music video. I really don't know where to start. So much goodness. I would like to say that the box art is going to be hideous. Again, Huzzah and kudos to Columbia's promotion department. As you could probably guess, the Japanese promotion of the film is nothing like the American fiasco. Do you know what the Japanese posters look like? They are an image of Aki and Gray kissing. On December 4, we will be seeing B5's "The Gathering" and "In The Beginning" come to DVD. They'll be $19.95. No word on the Harlan Ellison commentary. Warner Brothers is releasing these DVDs because of constant fan pressure. But, the WB has historically done everything in its power to hurt Babylon 5. Don't expect to see the rest of the series any time soon. ICv2.com talks about shoujo. CPM has a site for the Utena movie. FOXKids will premiere Digimon Tamers on September 1. Transformers: Robots in Disguise, the dub of the Japanese Transformers: Car Robots, starts on September 8. KidsWB will begin Yu-Gi-Oh on September 15. Beginning this Thursday and following a regular schedule of every second and fourth Thursday of every month, DragonBall Z.com will host chat sessions with American DragonBall voice actors from 6-7 PM EST. This week's guest will be Chris Sabat, voice of Vegeta, Piccolo, and Yamcha. Only 500 registered members will be allowed to participate in each chat session, and questions will be limited to three per person. Now, we've all been constantly thinking about the original DragonBall, right? The series was supposed to start a week after Outlaw Star first concluded at the start of the year. But, it was pushed back and pushed back and pushed back. We'll finally see it on August 20. But, what have we forgotten? That's right! DBZ! The new season of DBZ will begin on Toonami on September 10! You had forgotten about it, hadn't you? I got the Akira DVD today. It's metal. I also got Nadesico Vol. 11. Only one more. And, I spoke with Capcom, RightStuf, and CapitalOne. Remember, Special Unit 2 returns tonight to UPN at 9 PM. There are no higher themes. There's not an ambitious moral message. It's just one hell of a fun ride. 8.7.2001 The Houton Press has an article about anime on their website. Tooned Into Anime is a wonderful look at the whole of anime in America, from your 13-year-olds fans to the president of ADV. The irony is in the anti-fansub statement given by ADV. If you look at the majority of American anime distributors, they are pro-fansub. Fansubs create an awareness and want of a title. Animations like EVA have such a strong following because of fansubs. But, since ADV is now so big, they see it as a threat to profits. I am so going to start an anime company. Nothing's stopping me! All it takes is money. Just you wait twenty years. The article does constantly repeat a single idea, though... There is something to be said about geeks who know they are geeks. People who are self-aware about their place in the world possess, at the least, a sense of humor. Anime fans and computer nerds fall into this category. Goth people and Renaissance festival fanatics do not. Yes, we're geeks. Of course, I prefer the label otaku. The article does have a lot of good stuff. I think a lot of these kids, you meet them and they are more the awkward kids. They're not the cheerleaders, the mainstream type, but they're not brainiacs. They're kind of something in between, and I think that's why they bond together, and anime is what bonds them together. I've been saying this for some time now. It's a community. I'm the way I am because I wasn't part of a community. I don't want there to be another ronin or wolf... At least not solitary. MARC was a great experiment. It will begin its second year with a new leader this fall. I will be in Ithaca working my magic in the ASIC. Anime: more expensive than drugs Truer words were never spoken. How many times have I said that anime keeps me off those bad things? We all have our poison. We can't change that. But, at least we can choose the one that kills us. I can't afford any other vices. Hell, I can't afford anything. Now, would you like to show your anime-loving heart to the world? Urban-Vision is releasing Tekkaman Blade II on DVD... Are you a big fan of Tekkaman? Do you love to draw? Now's your chance to share your skills with all Tekkaman fans! We are accepting submissions of Tekkaman Blade II fanart! Ten winners will get their artwork displayed in a special gallery on our DVD! We will be releasing the Tekkaman Blade II Complete Collection DVD on October 30, 2001! We are accepting submissions through August 24, 2001. Send your art via e-mail to info@urban-vision.com with the subject header "Tekkaman Blade II DVD", or mail a hard copy to our offices at: Urban Vision Entertainment Re: Tekkaman Blade II DVD 5120 W. Goldleaf Circle, suite 280 Los Angeles, CA 90056 According to the latest issue of Weekly Jump, a new Rurouni Kenshin OAV will be released in December. The "Seisou Hen" (Passing of Time Saga) will be a continuation of the first "Tsuioku Hen" ( Memory Saga) OAV series and will conclude the anime. Look for more dark samurai action and the fate of Kenshin this December! Of course, you'll also need a plane ticket to Tokyo. The 50-episode Turn A Gundam series will be adapted into a two-part movie for theatrical release in the spring. Written and directed by Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino and featuring mecha designs by Syd (Blade Runner) Mead, the movie will consist of two acts... "Earth light" and "Moonlight Butterfly" A 23-minute-long full CG side-story to Mobile Suit Z Gundam titled "Gundam Neo Experience 0087: Green Divers" is scheduled to open at the E-Field theater in Shibuya on the August 10th. The limited edition version of the Utena movie DVD will include an AnimeZone sampler DVD and come packaged in a transparent pink DVD case. Limited to only 10,000, it will be released on the same day as the regular edition "Utena: Apocalypse of Adolescence" DVD. Both will hit US retailers on October 23 and carry a price of $29.99. Claudia Christian is narrating a five-part documentary called "From the Waist Down: Men, Women, and Music" airing all this week at 10 PM on VH-1. And, with the recent announces by Severino Antinori and colleagues on the topic of human cloning, don't get your torches and pitchforks yet. Cloning does not mean that Antinori can take your hair and return in half-an-hour with an identical person with all your thoughts and memories. Don't be like Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger can shout that Antinori is trying to "emulate Hitler". 8.6.2001 Hiroshima was destroyed on this date 56 years ago. 8.5.2001 Tatara-san goes shopping. I make it a point to always have one article of anime-related clothing on me. From a simple Treize lapel pin to a full-blown Gai Daigoji cosplay uniform, I can always be identified as an otaku. Recently, I've begun clothes shopping for college. It's been a long while since I stepped foot into a large mall. And, you know, I didn't like it. The place reeked of rampant capitalism... And, not the good kind. The whole of the mall was an institution to shallow vanity and appearances. I won't be prostituting myself for the sake of Tommy Hilfiger or the Gap. No. I won't be their ad space. Instead, I'll use their own game against them. An anime T-Shirt is your best friend. It attracts pretty girls at college orientations and creepy guys at malls. It's a silent way to broadcast your subversive message. I spent all of two minutes in "Old Navy" before feeling nauseous. I did not belong. I've got a great deal of anime shirts. They are a true investment to any fan. I've just purchased Final Fantasy "Deep Eyes" and NewsRadio shirts. Of course, I would like to spend a lot more on these kinds of things, but there is just so much to the world of anime that one cannot properly devote themselves to any one object. I'd really like another EVA shirt, and there are some nice new Trunks ones, too. Be warned, though, if you wear a DBZ shirt you're practically saying "I'm a newbie". I've gone up to people wearing Goku shirts and asked them about anime. Most have no idea what I'm talking about, having bought the shirt because it just "looked cool". Sigh. I wish there were some higher quality Nadesico shirts available. I must finish my Gai Gaigoji suit. But, cosplaying is for another day. So, we're buying clothes. Basically, I'm buying twenty variations on the same black dress shirt. Wait! I'm going to college. Why dress shirts? Twelve years of catholic education will do this to you. It's also made me adamantly opposed to the organized Roman Catholic doctrine, its hypocrisy, corruption, and power through guilt. But, that's also not today's topic. So, I've got a great collection of black and grey dress shirts. Why? It's who I am. These shirt and my anime shirts combine to transform me. It's a militaristic recklessness. It's a chaotic uniformity. On the horizon? Hachimaki. Shipping's a killer, though. But, by year's end, I'll have a few hachimaki. 8.4.2001 Can you say "international incident"? The new season of CardCaptors started today. Does Li sound different? When I reveal my black project, you'll see the name "Eli". I didn't steal the name from CardCaptors. I started this project long before this new season. Actually, I stole "Eli" from "SportsNight". This will all make sense 8.22. Cubix starts next week on KidsWB. Yu-Gi-Oh will start the week after. Of course, the big news is about a cowboy. For what's seemed like months, I have patiently persisted that CN would air Cowboy Bebop. Some thought I was just a bit over zealous. Some thought I was plain wrong. Let's see what CN has to say... Cartoon Network Acquires Cowboy Bebop for Adult Swim Series Will Make Its U.S. Debut September 2 At Midnight During Cartoon Network's New Animation Block Cartoon Network introduces Cowboy Bebop, an episodic anime series that will air in one-hour blocks, premiering on Sunday, September 2 at 12 midnight (ET, PT) during Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, the network's new adult-targeted line-up. Taking place in a future where the population of Earth has migrated into space, Cowboy Bebop deals with the exploits of the ship Bebop and its bounty hunter crew as they take on various assignments in a hyperspace world rampant with crime and opportunities. The show follows the exploits of bounty hunters, Spike and Jet, as they roam the galaxy with their dog, Ein, tracking down criminals. Cowboy Bebop is a production of Bandai Entertainment. Cartoon Network extends its mission as the world's leader in animated entertainment on September 2, when it splashes down with ADULT SWIM, a new block of animated programming aimed at adults ages 18-34. The block will air only on Sunday and Thursday nights from 10 p.m.-1 a.m. (ET, PT). In addition to Cowboy Bebop, Adult Swim will include programs such as Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Home Movies and Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law. So, there we have it. Just a reminder that the Cowboy Bebop box set will be coming out this winter. The irony is that I would rather CN not air Bebop until after the set is released. I so would rather have my first experience with the animation to be in its uncut form. What's next for CN? Trigun is out. Something about being "too violent". The Trigun set also comes out later this year. So, what's the next series CN will show? Well, FOX is doing nothing with Escaflowne. But, ADV is pushing Nadesico. Bandai of Japan has announced that they will be re-releasing the original Macross transforming VF-1J Valkyrie toy this December. Originally manufactured by now-defunct Takatoku Toys in 1982, Bandai seems to have acquired the remaining stock of these high quality die-cast steel and ABS plastic action figure toys. They will return for ´6,800. The valkyrie toy is completely poseable and fully tansformable between battloid, gerwalk, and fighter modes without removing any body pieces. The markings of the body, originally decals, will now be painted on the toy. Sony's Metreon's Action Theater in San Francisco, California will theatrically screen "The Best of Ranma". The screenings are free and run at 6 PM through Sunday. The Best of Ranma VHS boxed set will also be available exclusively at the Metreon for just $19.95. Akira was America's best selling DVD for the week ending July 29. The film was officially re-released to home video by Pioneer on the 24th. The limited edition DVD has sold out at the wholesale level, selling all 100,000 copies to wholesalers two weeks before the June 24 street date. TRSI has e-mailed me, stating that my Akira DVD and Nadesico VHS have begun shipping. I ordered the DVD three months prior to its release for the sole purpose of getting the limited tin. If I don't get a tin... TRSI's servers are undoing an upgrade... Thanks to all of your suggestions, Right Stuf is currently undergoing a massive computer upgrade to improve the quality of services to you. You've asked for better online store features such as tracking, item availability and order status checking - they're coming. As we make this transition through the coming months, we ask for your help and understanding as we work through the bumps along the way. There will be a number of changes to our systems both online and off. Our staff will be learning how to use this new system as fast as they can and the website will be undergoing a massive upgrade including a new server and a new backend store engine. As our upgrades occur, there may be periods where certain parts of our system may go offline or become unavailable. We will do our best to inform you of these outages in advance, but uncontrollable spontaneous outages may occur. At this time, we know that we will be shutdown from 8/3 to 8/12. During this time, our staff will be undergoing training and the final stages of our system will be completed. This will cause us to be unable or access information regarding the status of your order to process orders received via phone, fax, mail or web. We also know that we will be unable to ship out any orders during this period, but we will work doubly hard to insure that once the system is back up all orders are shipped out as promptly as possible. Should you experience any technical difficulties with the website, please send us an email at info@rightstuf.com explaining your browser type (i.e. Netscape 6.0 / Explorer 5.5) and the problem you encountered so we can fix the problem as fast as possible. Thank all of you for your continued support and we hope that you bear with us through this transition. Sincerely, Shawne Kleckner President, CEO As a side note, Shawne Kleckner had emergency appendectomy Tuesday night. Finally, Production I.G's Justin Leach is asking for questions about life in Japan. He keeps an online journal cataloging his experiences working on anime and life in Japan. Just wait until Tatara-san spends his semester in Tokyo. 8.3.2001 I ordered Resident Evil: Code Veronica. Now, didn't I say I couldn't fit it in? Yes. But, with the EVA movies supposedly delayed, I can potentially push back buying the series. Also, I was going to get two hachimaki, but the shipping was a killer. So, instead of $20 for two strips of cloth, I'm spending $60 on a DVD. Actually, I bought it because I'm getting three DVDs. I'm getting Code Veronica, the Devil May Cry demo, and the Wesker Report. Of call there, Code Veronica is at the bottom. It's all about loyalty and devotion. I have Resident Evil, Resident Evil 2, and Resident Evil 3. I so cannot wait to watch the Wesker Report... Albert Wesker's investigation on the history of the T-Virus. And, the Devil May Cry demo... Let's talk about Devil May Cry. "Devil May Cry" is actually the name of a bar / stripclub in the game. It is owned by Trish, who is an all-important chara. The official site has a new media page. Hopefully, the actual CMs will be posted soon. In the meantime, you can watch behind the scenes clips from the set. Mizuno appears in one of the ads. Of course, the Otoha videos will be what everyone's downloading. If a girl in lingerie with a big sword isn't what you're after, would you care for Trish or Dante? Devil May Cry will hit the US hard on October 17. Code Veronica will arrive sometime between August 15 and 29. Final Fantasy Tactics has been re-released; however, EVERY disc is defective. That's right. EVERY copy of the game has a flaw that will cause it not to boot up. Square has currently shipped 2,140,000 copies of FFX to the Japanese market. The company previously estimated profits at ´500,000,000. Square has changed that number to ´800,000,000. Konami has contacted the winners of their Your Name in MGS2 Contest. I didn't win. Blah... Blah... Blah... Choose life... Naomi sure was wrong about that one. 8.2.2001 I hope we see a lot more of Matilda Ajan. Ecchi. I'm guessing "Garma's Fate" doesn't involve Garma taking control of Zeon, ending the One Year War, and living happily ever after in an estate in Buenos Aires. Poor, poor Garma Zabi. AnimeFringe.com has been updated with more on Kia Asamiya and Obon. Toonami.com has been updated with a whole new look and more on Daft Punk. Remember that week of DragonBall Z on KidsWB? Well, it ain't a week. You'll be seeing DBZ every weekday at 4:30 on KidsWB from now on! And, you can also see it Saturdays at 11 AM. Also, we may be seeing a DBZ movie next Friday on (you guessed it) KidsWB. The KidsWB / Toonami relationship is a sickening deal. And, there's a lot of bad coming from it. But, perhaps there could be some good. There hasn't been any RW news in quite some time. It's an old show. KidsWB wants to dump their old shows on Cartoon Network. Could it not work the other way? Could CN not dump their old shows on KidsWB? And, there's one old show I know of in particular... So, e-mail toonami@cartoonnetwork.com. And, it wouldn't hurt to send a letter KidsWB's way. There still are RW fans. Another victory for the Sage Page over the big guys! I reported on VampireHunterDBloodlust.com going online on 7.30. Larger sites are only posting this data now. It's a game of inches. There's a Hong Kong move called The Legend of ZU. You better take a look. Wanna hear something cool? "Planet of the Apes" is currently out in Japan. Its Japanese release date was the same (or right after) the US start. But, "Planet of the Apes" isn't at the top of the Japanese box office. What is? Miyazaki's "Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi". Ban on human cloning but drilling Alaska for oil is ok? Sigh. 8.1.2001 It's been one month since the Sage Page transpositioned to the current layout. And, I don't know. I don't know if the new design looks elegant or common. Personal feelings prevent me from deciding whether the original design was unique or just ugly. I'm from the spartan school of design. I believe that the internet's primary purpose is to proliferate knowledge. It is all about information. Data is why we live. Now, thought, the Sage Page has a completely frivolous side to it. The old site was utilitarian with nuts and bolts fully exposed. It wasn't pretentious. I'd like to say the new look is like a katana. It maintains the functionality, but it also has an appealing shape. Look at Megchan's Digimon Sekai, Anime News Service, or the Drudge Report. The Sage Page used to be in that same category. Any comparison with the Drudge Report (even if I'm the one doing the comparison) makes me feel good. But, now, we've got a racing stripe and some color. I just don't know. I can't judge. In the past, I constantly referred to the change as paving over Tokyo Bay. This was an allusion to Patlabor. All in the name of progress. Now, I guess, I'm having second thoughts, but, it's too late. |
