Thursday, January 08, 2004
The new NewType...
I forgot to do it for the last issue, but here's what's going on in the latest NewType USA magazine that might be of interest.
The DVD has an episode of Happy Lesson, which doesn't sound so appealing to me, but I guess I'll give it a shot. The last one had Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi, which I really enjoyed. It is a Gainax show and so has a lot of interesting stuff going on, but is a bit less crazy than FLCL. I really like the two main characters and how they interact. Was only one episode, but seemed to have a lot of promise. I'll have to get the first DVD at least at some point. Errr.. but that was last issue.. on to this one!
Lots of stuff regarding the new Eva game which I'll have to read through. If nothing else, interesting to see the various new Eva artwork.
A big thing on the Tokyo International Film festival which looks fairly interesting.
A multipage description of several of Dreamwave's properties, including Devil May Cry, Mega Man, Darkstalkers, Rival Schools, and Maximo.
There is a one-page article on a new (OVA?) from Production I.G. called Dead Leaves whose visual style looks amazing! It looks like a cross between FLCL and graffitti artwork crossed with a comic book. It is also mentioned that while there is mecha in it, there is no 3D animation at all, so it is all hand-drawn on computer. The home page on the official site has a different style, but looking around the site, you can see various images in the style of the actual show. Seems pretty interesting and proof that the styles in anime are still evolving all the time... There's also an article later on interviewing the char. designer and director of the show...
There's a review of an anime that sounds really cool called Futatsu No Spica. It seems to be a kids show with a girl who dreams of becoming an astronaut and is working to get into a vocational school that trains astronaunts, while having as her friend the spirit of a rocket pilot who died during a launch accident some years in the past. Described as a "gem of a sci-fi youth fantasy packed with warmth and kindness" it is seriously the kind of I'd like to see licensed and translated and in fact the kind of show I'd love to see actually made in the US to begin with. We could do with a few more shows that aren't so cynical...
Also a mention of BPS, which seems to center around a bunch of hackers and computer people sounds interesting, especially since the brief plot description seems to imply this is a set in the regular world without sci-fi elements. I'm always up for more shows with geeky main characters and computer stuff going on!
There's a nice article on the earliest days of the Japanese animation industry, as well as another which is an effort to figure out what anime was around in the US in the days before VCRs, including TV shows and rental 16mm reels.
There's also a profile of manga creator Minetaro Mochizuki, of special interest to me, as I saw the film adaptation of one of his manga: Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl, which I enjoyed. It sounds like he has quite a range of work, ranging from that (a short yakuza adventure with a normal lady that gets involved) to two kids trapped underground after a disaster, to a story of a guy joining a swim team to impress his gf. Seems like good stuff, and hopefully one of the companies will license some of his work eventually! Contrary to what some people think, there is still quite a bit of interesting material that hasn't come over yet...
Hmm.. another chapter of the Angel/Dust manga, none of which I've read yet. It seems interesting, so I'll have to sit down one of these days and read through it all.
There's an article on Saint Seiya (aka Knights of the Zodiac). I seriously need to buy some of the DVDs after seeing a preview in one of the NewTypes. Definitely falls under the category of guilty pleasure. It is total cheeseball fighting fun. "You must explode the universe within yourself to give your fists the power of shooting stars!" This is classic stuff! :)
There's an interesting article on an American design company called Draxhall Jump Entertainment (DHJ), which was aparantly started by comic artist Ken Lashley and has worked with companies such as Image and Hasbro (for Transformers). It seems like there's also a comic called Legends which will be collected to TPB eventually. I'd never heard of this company before, so it was pretty interesting reading.
A quick quip involving the Planetes anime, which I'm hoping is as good as what I've read of the manga so far. Could make for quite a nice show...
Remember I mentioned the NewType ad being on G4? It is funny in that they published a letter where someone mentioned seeing it. Not only that, but there is an ad for G4 in the magazine, meaning it is a cross-advertising thing, always a good sign. It is also interesting that almost every time an anime or manga ad appears, it gives a list of locations it can be bought at. Sometimes the ad seems to be for the store itself, as is one of the cases of a Suncoast manga ad... There's also one with both Waldenbooks and Borders very prominant. Are these two owned by the same umbrella company? It is also funny to see an ADV manga ad which says "availible everywhere".
There's a list of manga/manhwa for January. Let's see... about 79 titles listed (althought a couple I know have been out for a while, so perhaps are newer editions?). Some interesting stuff for me is Planetes #2, Tuxedo Gin #4, and Girl Got Game. Also a bunch of stuff on series I need to start or get caught up on, like Basara #4, Petshop of Horrors #4, GTO #16, Gundam: The Origin #9, and a bunch of other stuff. I need more $$$!
Random thought.. what's up with Shinji Ikari being the 9th most popular male character according to Japanese readers of NewType, right under Spike Spiegel? I myself can identify him as I have some similarities of personality (but quite so extreme), but do THAT many people identify with him in Japan? Scary thought...
One interesting thing is out of the top 10 of current popular manga titles in Japan, 6 of them are licensed and either currently being released or will soon (Naruto, Tsubasa, Paradise Kiss, Bleach, XXXHolic, and Hana Yori Dango). Seems like the American market is really starting to catch up...
An interesting variety of movies reviewed, including Millenium Actress, Onmyoji, Biozombie, Pistol Opera (I must see this!), and the Kikaida TV series. Kikaida is something I'd really like to see at some point as we get so few of this kind of classic cheesy power-rangerish show brought over in its original form.
Some reviews for the Fiction album from Yuki Kajiura and Haibane Renmei. I've heard so much good stuff about Fiction that I'll have to try to pick it up at some point. As for Haibane, it has one of the prettiest covers ever! It'd be somewhat silly to get it just for that, but it also has a good reputation, so the combo may win me over....
One interesting feature that is starting up is called Bringing It West and is focusing on the industry and how it works. The first one interviews a couple of people at various anime companies to ask how they select which shows to bring over. It is fairly superficial, but still interesting to see, and having a pic. of Shawne Kleckner of Right Stuf was pretty neat after seeing him post so often online..
Now, as far as the actual book section goes, there is a really nice two-page article on Foo Swee Chin, who aparantly has done some work for Slave Labor Graphics including Nightmares & Fairy Tales and Chimney 25. Her style looks really interesting, so I'll have to check out some of her comic works...
Regular reviews are for Baby Birth, Ai Yori Aoshi, Trigun, Anime Poster Art, Amano, Gunslinger Girl, Brigadoon, Nadesico, Alien Nine, and Dukylon: CLAMP School Defenders.
For Bagged & Boarded, there is a year-end awards thing with three different people running down their favorites in various categories. I dunno if I should type in the whole thing. An example would be Top 5 Ongoing Series. Corey says Alias, Catwoman, Captain Marvel, Ultimate Spider-Man, and Fables. Troy says 100 Bullet: JSA, Y: The Last Man, Fables, and Ult. Spidey. Jen says Ult. Spidey, Legion, Batman, Avengers, and Nightwing. For Best Original GN, Corey says Sandman: Endless Knights. Troy goes for Blankets (Sandman: EK close second), and Jen goes for Barnum. Other categories include Top 3 Writers, Top 3 Artists, Best Hero, Top 3 New Titles, Best Villain, Best Reason to be an indy Comics Snob, Best Colorist, Best Inker, Best Mini-series, Best Comic-related Merchandise, Best Editor, and Best Quote.
Add in the usual nice assortment of model kits in the gallery, video game reviews, a poster and a centerfold, VA interviews, and various other articles and reviews I didn't mention, and you have quite the multi-faceted magazine. Of course this is mainly a feel-good promotional type magazine without huge amounts of depth in most areas, but I still really enjoy it, and it takes like 15 minutes just to flip through it before getting around to reading anything.. ;)
The DVD has an episode of Happy Lesson, which doesn't sound so appealing to me, but I guess I'll give it a shot. The last one had Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi, which I really enjoyed. It is a Gainax show and so has a lot of interesting stuff going on, but is a bit less crazy than FLCL. I really like the two main characters and how they interact. Was only one episode, but seemed to have a lot of promise. I'll have to get the first DVD at least at some point. Errr.. but that was last issue.. on to this one!
Lots of stuff regarding the new Eva game which I'll have to read through. If nothing else, interesting to see the various new Eva artwork.
A big thing on the Tokyo International Film festival which looks fairly interesting.
A multipage description of several of Dreamwave's properties, including Devil May Cry, Mega Man, Darkstalkers, Rival Schools, and Maximo.
There is a one-page article on a new (OVA?) from Production I.G. called Dead Leaves whose visual style looks amazing! It looks like a cross between FLCL and graffitti artwork crossed with a comic book. It is also mentioned that while there is mecha in it, there is no 3D animation at all, so it is all hand-drawn on computer. The home page on the official site has a different style, but looking around the site, you can see various images in the style of the actual show. Seems pretty interesting and proof that the styles in anime are still evolving all the time... There's also an article later on interviewing the char. designer and director of the show...
There's a review of an anime that sounds really cool called Futatsu No Spica. It seems to be a kids show with a girl who dreams of becoming an astronaut and is working to get into a vocational school that trains astronaunts, while having as her friend the spirit of a rocket pilot who died during a launch accident some years in the past. Described as a "gem of a sci-fi youth fantasy packed with warmth and kindness" it is seriously the kind of I'd like to see licensed and translated and in fact the kind of show I'd love to see actually made in the US to begin with. We could do with a few more shows that aren't so cynical...
Also a mention of BPS, which seems to center around a bunch of hackers and computer people sounds interesting, especially since the brief plot description seems to imply this is a set in the regular world without sci-fi elements. I'm always up for more shows with geeky main characters and computer stuff going on!
There's a nice article on the earliest days of the Japanese animation industry, as well as another which is an effort to figure out what anime was around in the US in the days before VCRs, including TV shows and rental 16mm reels.
There's also a profile of manga creator Minetaro Mochizuki, of special interest to me, as I saw the film adaptation of one of his manga: Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl, which I enjoyed. It sounds like he has quite a range of work, ranging from that (a short yakuza adventure with a normal lady that gets involved) to two kids trapped underground after a disaster, to a story of a guy joining a swim team to impress his gf. Seems like good stuff, and hopefully one of the companies will license some of his work eventually! Contrary to what some people think, there is still quite a bit of interesting material that hasn't come over yet...
Hmm.. another chapter of the Angel/Dust manga, none of which I've read yet. It seems interesting, so I'll have to sit down one of these days and read through it all.
There's an article on Saint Seiya (aka Knights of the Zodiac). I seriously need to buy some of the DVDs after seeing a preview in one of the NewTypes. Definitely falls under the category of guilty pleasure. It is total cheeseball fighting fun. "You must explode the universe within yourself to give your fists the power of shooting stars!" This is classic stuff! :)
There's an interesting article on an American design company called Draxhall Jump Entertainment (DHJ), which was aparantly started by comic artist Ken Lashley and has worked with companies such as Image and Hasbro (for Transformers). It seems like there's also a comic called Legends which will be collected to TPB eventually. I'd never heard of this company before, so it was pretty interesting reading.
A quick quip involving the Planetes anime, which I'm hoping is as good as what I've read of the manga so far. Could make for quite a nice show...
Remember I mentioned the NewType ad being on G4? It is funny in that they published a letter where someone mentioned seeing it. Not only that, but there is an ad for G4 in the magazine, meaning it is a cross-advertising thing, always a good sign. It is also interesting that almost every time an anime or manga ad appears, it gives a list of locations it can be bought at. Sometimes the ad seems to be for the store itself, as is one of the cases of a Suncoast manga ad... There's also one with both Waldenbooks and Borders very prominant. Are these two owned by the same umbrella company? It is also funny to see an ADV manga ad which says "availible everywhere".
There's a list of manga/manhwa for January. Let's see... about 79 titles listed (althought a couple I know have been out for a while, so perhaps are newer editions?). Some interesting stuff for me is Planetes #2, Tuxedo Gin #4, and Girl Got Game. Also a bunch of stuff on series I need to start or get caught up on, like Basara #4, Petshop of Horrors #4, GTO #16, Gundam: The Origin #9, and a bunch of other stuff. I need more $$$!
Random thought.. what's up with Shinji Ikari being the 9th most popular male character according to Japanese readers of NewType, right under Spike Spiegel? I myself can identify him as I have some similarities of personality (but quite so extreme), but do THAT many people identify with him in Japan? Scary thought...
One interesting thing is out of the top 10 of current popular manga titles in Japan, 6 of them are licensed and either currently being released or will soon (Naruto, Tsubasa, Paradise Kiss, Bleach, XXXHolic, and Hana Yori Dango). Seems like the American market is really starting to catch up...
An interesting variety of movies reviewed, including Millenium Actress, Onmyoji, Biozombie, Pistol Opera (I must see this!), and the Kikaida TV series. Kikaida is something I'd really like to see at some point as we get so few of this kind of classic cheesy power-rangerish show brought over in its original form.
Some reviews for the Fiction album from Yuki Kajiura and Haibane Renmei. I've heard so much good stuff about Fiction that I'll have to try to pick it up at some point. As for Haibane, it has one of the prettiest covers ever! It'd be somewhat silly to get it just for that, but it also has a good reputation, so the combo may win me over....
One interesting feature that is starting up is called Bringing It West and is focusing on the industry and how it works. The first one interviews a couple of people at various anime companies to ask how they select which shows to bring over. It is fairly superficial, but still interesting to see, and having a pic. of Shawne Kleckner of Right Stuf was pretty neat after seeing him post so often online..
Now, as far as the actual book section goes, there is a really nice two-page article on Foo Swee Chin, who aparantly has done some work for Slave Labor Graphics including Nightmares & Fairy Tales and Chimney 25. Her style looks really interesting, so I'll have to check out some of her comic works...
Regular reviews are for Baby Birth, Ai Yori Aoshi, Trigun, Anime Poster Art, Amano, Gunslinger Girl, Brigadoon, Nadesico, Alien Nine, and Dukylon: CLAMP School Defenders.
For Bagged & Boarded, there is a year-end awards thing with three different people running down their favorites in various categories. I dunno if I should type in the whole thing. An example would be Top 5 Ongoing Series. Corey says Alias, Catwoman, Captain Marvel, Ultimate Spider-Man, and Fables. Troy says 100 Bullet: JSA, Y: The Last Man, Fables, and Ult. Spidey. Jen says Ult. Spidey, Legion, Batman, Avengers, and Nightwing. For Best Original GN, Corey says Sandman: Endless Knights. Troy goes for Blankets (Sandman: EK close second), and Jen goes for Barnum. Other categories include Top 3 Writers, Top 3 Artists, Best Hero, Top 3 New Titles, Best Villain, Best Reason to be an indy Comics Snob, Best Colorist, Best Inker, Best Mini-series, Best Comic-related Merchandise, Best Editor, and Best Quote.
Add in the usual nice assortment of model kits in the gallery, video game reviews, a poster and a centerfold, VA interviews, and various other articles and reviews I didn't mention, and you have quite the multi-faceted magazine. Of course this is mainly a feel-good promotional type magazine without huge amounts of depth in most areas, but I still really enjoy it, and it takes like 15 minutes just to flip through it before getting around to reading anything.. ;)
