Worlds Within Worlds...

Thanks for David for pointing out AoDVD's homepage, which posts Dr. Master's upcoming scedule, including Iron Wok Jan #13 and #14.

I still haven't read the first two volumes that I got from dollarmanga, but judging from everyone else's reactions, I think I'll soon be very glad it is still being published.

Akadot's mailing list happened to throw out
this tidbit. Jeff Stockwell is writing a script for Disney US for a live-action version of Kiki's Delivery service. I'm curious whether this will be based on Miyazaki's movie or the original children's novel by Eiko Kadono.

While we're on topics relating to Ghibli, Nausicaa.net also mentions that TV ads for the new english Beuna Vista DVDs are running on several major networks. They also have a video up of the Nausiaa one. Is anyone else excited that there are TV ads in the US for Ghibli movies?!

Lastly, it sounds like Miyazaki is going to continue directing movies. Countless times in the past he's claimed that he's about to retire, but it seems like he just isn't able to do it. I'm glad to hear that we'll have more movies from him, though I hope he'll physically be able to keep it up.

With the talk of no new blood in this article, I really wish Miyazaki's successor hadn't died. Still, I'm not sure it is as bleak as all that. I've still seen some really interesting anime coming out as of late...

Just wanted to mention David's latest Flipped column which reviews Manga: Sixty Years of Japanese Comics by Paul Gravett. I picked this up a couple of months ago and really enjoyed what I read of it. A nice combination of good historical information with a near coffee-table-book level of great artwork on display.

I love the two Schodt books, but it is great that new updated books on manga are still being written. The industry is just so massive and has such history that I think things like this are really important. Personally, I love pop-culture history in general...

While hopping around reading various threads, I stumbled on a comment from Althalus which among other things, mentions DC's lack of a feedback mechanism for CMX:

But I was very much taken aback by DC's practically non-existant customer service. There is no email contact specifically for CMX questions, in fact there's only this ridiculous "ask the editors"-column for any questions. They do have a forum, but in all the time since they opened it, not one single company rep (or even moderator) has graced it with his or her presence.

I wonder, are the expectations different in the manga and us comics communities? I know that I've seen US reps posting on various threads before, but is it as extensive as the anime and manga reps on a place like AoDVD? Is there any general things we can say, or is this all company by company on both sides?

Alas, it had to happen eventually.. I'm thankful I finally got around to ordering from Dollarmanga when I did, but I still wish I'd bought more. It has now become CubicMall.com. They say it'll be DrMaster (previously ComicsOne)'s official online site, and it now has more variety to the stock than the other site did.

However the prices are up and the shipping is still outrageous. Some of the titles that used to be $1 are now $2. Others are up to $5. The newest titles are full price. This isn't to say that some of the titles aren't still a good deal, but you're going to have to be a lot more selective and it is even more important to make a large order at a time.

But if you're looking for the newest titles, stay far away, since pretty much anyone else will cheaper when taking the shipping into account.

I know I've been kind of absent lately. Lots of things swirling around has made it hard to focus enough to blog on any one thing. However, in trying to catch up a little this morning, AoDVD's homepage reminded me of something very imporant. Buena Vista's next batch of Ghibli DVDs are out today!

Though out of the three, I've only seen Nausicaa before, all of these have very good reputations. If you're someone who is mainly in the manga realm, Ghibli is a good place to start when going to check out some anime.

Those that know me, know that Nausicaa is one of my favorite comics of all time, and while the anime is more limited in scope, it is still a great achievement. I also have a particular soft spot for it, in that I had Warriors of the Wind on tape as a child. While this was a very cut up version of the Nausicaa movie, it still made an impact on me as a child, and I'm sure is one of the contributing factors of making me a fan as an adult (along with such things as the Unico movies, Voltron, Robotech, and some of the slightly more adult american animation such as Starchaser: the Legend of Orin). A review of the new Nausicaa DVD can be found here, and seems to be in line with Buena Vista's other Ghibli releases.

I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to opera, but this still sounds very cool. Geoduck happened to spot some volumes of Comics The Masterpiece of Opera by Machiko Satonaka at a Kinokuniya shop in Seattle, featuring Madama Butterfly, La Boheme, Die Zauberflote and others. Aparantly each one is themed on a particular creator and features three operas.

I doubt we'll see any of these translated to english any time soon, but I'm glad to know that they're out there!