Curious as to what's selling through the site here? Check out the top 10 orders for July!

NEWS: 07/29/99

I'm dodging a major thunderstorm rolling across the area, so let's be brief: Check out Steve Brandon's first non-Tenchi review, Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Rose Collection 1.

NEWS: 07/28/99

New title announcements from Pioneer today: Tenchi in Tokyo - A New Challenge DVD on 10/12/1999 and Battle Athletes Victory - Willpower DVD on 10/12/1999 as well, give or take a week as seems to be the norm.

In what could only be a good sign to bolster pre-orders, the SciFi section of IGN.COM has an article on the Macross release from Animeigo. Thanks to Justin for the link!

Interested in seeing Kodomo no Omocha (Child's Toy) licensed here in the U.S.? A petition drive to encourage U.S. companies and Tomy, the Japanese license holder, to bring the series here is underway at this address. I'm telling ya, if I had my own authoring studio, this and Legend of the Galactic Heroes are the two titles that would rule my world.

Can't remember what shows and preferences you've made over at Animeigo with their preorder petitions for shows? Check out the handy new resource to let you know where your vote went (and correct it if necessary!)

Some news on the Fushigi front came up on the forum today. Looks like the dual layered discs with two tapes worth is how things will play out. So we'll have four discs for the entire 26 episodes series. Very cool. And if you want to argue with me about how I'll say cool to the Pioneer release versus the Animeigo UY release, well, go cry to someone else. If you can't tell the difference between what Pioneer is able to do and what Animeigo is able to do (with their first in-house release no less), then I'd rather not hear from you. I've had enough vehemence from the Animeigo mailing list members insulting me outside of the list, thank you very much.

NEWS: 07/27/99

With all the varied discussions going on lately, both on and off the site, Andrew Tei has sent in this great DVD 101 article for everyone today.

Street dates: Battle Athletes Victory #4 has been pushed back to 08/10.

Animeigo has updated their Macross page. Current Signups: 586 DVD, 38 VHS as of this time. Ok.... can we guess whose really interested so far? They also go on to state that the individual releases will start appearing around Christmas 2000, approximately 6 months after the Collectors Editions come out.

DVD... Fangirls Like It Too. At least that's what the latest article in the July issue of CPM's Animail says. Quite interesting reading!

Keeping up with the couple of reviews from yesterday, Sean Connolly has sent his latest on the Revolutionary Girl Utena DVD.

Speaking of Sean. In my quest to get more things done right and not done solely by myself as my time will start to become more limited this coming winter, I've asked Sean to take over the Anime Showcase site. While there is still work being done, the preliminary outline is set and we're moving forward with that site. The site will go forward as a more general all purpose anime site with the same style and timeliness of the DVD site. I'm sure as we get rolling, people will get involved there as they do here and we can spread the word some more. This also means that the Showcase forum will basically be the "general anime" forum, so post your questions there if it's not really DVD related. And speaking of moving people into positions...

For those of you who enjoyed the DVD Retailer Review posted last week, well, there's more coming and you can help out with it. Newly appointed assistant webmaster, Roman Martel along with Christine, will be taking submissions and more. Check out this thread in the forum for more information.

T-shirts. I got this email from the people working on them this morning: "Your t-shirts do look great and should be completed today."

NEWS: 07/26/99

Doing a little more cleaning today and I find that I have a DVD to give away. Check out the contest page!

Reviews, reviews... what do we have for reviews...

Serial Experiments Lain by Sean Connolly

Serial Experiments Lain by Eirias

Saint Luminous Mission High File 1 by Jerry Hsu (region 2 review)

NEWS: 07/25/99

We're taking a quiet day on the site here and basically goofing off in the real world, but this was emailed to me today as posted in the anime newsgroup by Mediablasters:

Also for you DVD fans we have decided to finally put DVD into our releases for next year. The titles confirmed for DVD release are as follows:

KITE
Ninja Cadets
Best of Kitty (Orchid Emblem, Advancer Tina and Battle Team Lakers EX)

MKR is being planned but not confirmed as of yet. When we have release dates for the confirmed titles above we will let everyone know ASAP.

Very cool news indeed! I'm glad to see some official support from Media Blasters. Any chance of the DVD of Kite getting the cut sequences available as a special feature? :) Thanks to Adam Schenker for emailing me bout this.

Looking for some DVD catalogue software? I've tried quite a few, from making my own MS Access versions to the DVD Tracker site. I think I've found one that I really like and is shaping up to work like the CDDB that's out there. Check out Intervocative sometime and let me know what you think. I've sent in suggestions for additions so hopefully it'll get some more anime support.

NEWS: 07/24/99

My review for Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Rose Collection 1 is now up for your perusal.

Good news on the Animeigo mailing list: In the first 24 hours, there have been over 300 pre-orders for Macross TV. And the initial pre-order price is 300$, not 360$ which is the suggested retail price.

NEWS: 07/23/99

I would like to take a moment welcome the latest affiliate we've got here, DVD City. You'll see their banner popping up as well in the sponsor section. They're the fine folks I bought my region free Pioneer 414 player from and they carry several types of them. Definitely a bonus for anime fans looking to get into the game.

Browsing through the Utena DVD I got in today from DVD Express, I noticed a few titles not mentioned that can be found in the web connex portion of the disc. Only the second Utena release has a date (October), but other titles are: Battle Skipper, Cybernetics Guardian, Darkside Blues, Genocyber, Knights of Ramune, Midnight Panther, My My Mai, Strange Love and Wild Cardz. On the Anime 18 side, we have Beast City, Lady Blue and Urotsukidoji Perfect Collection. Save those pennies folks, we're growing by leaps and bounds!

Have you seen the news over at Animenation regarding the Anime Village DVD's? I've made my inquiries, and according to AV, these issues are still under discussion and nothing has been discussed publicly. They don't know where Animenation got the information. So, get your panties unbunched. I'll try to get some poll up about it soon.

I can only imagine the debate it's going to spark, but for those who are like me, you'll sign it without hesitation. Click here to go to Animeigo and see what the deal is with Macross TV DVD's and VHS.

NEWS: 07/21/99

The first in an series of articles to be done through the holiday season, Christine and Roman Martel have sent in the first of the DVD Retailer Review articles. We hope that these articles will help consumers new and old to anime DVD to learn through humor and timely information.

Reader "Usagi3" sent in this bit today: AK Video in France will be releasing the first French anime DVD, City Hunter - Secret Service, as a test to see how the response is. We wish the French well even as we curse SECAM. ;)

NEWS: 07/20/99

The prime forum is now back online. I'll be transferring over some of the bigger topics later this evening.

My review for Project A-Ko is now up and available for your reading. Be sure to fill out the poll at the bottom of it!

All right, looks like people are taking my "for shame" comment out of context. What I'm referring to below is that if a show as a dub and a sub, both must be on the same disc. Not a dub release out on its own disc along with a sub release on its own disc. We're not talking about titles like Urusei Yatsura, the Legend of the Overfiend Perfect Collection or Macross. We're talking about new shows like Don't Leave Me Daisy and Silent Mobius and others. They'll have a dub (since dubs are the dominant market). If anime DVD's are to thrive in the marketplace, they must have a dub on it if it exists.

Let's bring the Anime DVD Code back out and see what we can work with here.

NEWS: 07/19/99

Talk about information overload! I head off for the day to take my wife to jury duty and come back to over one hundred emails worth of information. You guys are the best!

First off, let's talk Akira. Contrary to previous information that some mainstream DVD sites had reported on, MGM does not have the rights for it. Pioneer snagged 'em. Cool! No theatrical releases seem to be planned, but one kick'n DVD should be in the works for next year. Pioneer reps also mentioned that Fushigi Yugi box set (under 200$) and El-Hazard box sets will be out by the end of this year. Looks like they also got 3X3 Eyes in their catalog now as well, so we'll hopefully see that as well when they get it cleaned up.

Urban Vision and Kitty/Media Blasters are still crunching the numbers on DVD, though next year may be better for them. Ah well.

ADV claims to have intentions of putting upwards of 30 discs out by the end of the year? Bold statements that I hope they can carry through on (this is when I start wondering if I'll receive any review copies...). Something was also mentioned about an Evangelion box set, but I don't know if that was all the discs at once or a box with the first disc.

Anime Village. Guys, I am so disappointed. Not in AV, but in the fans at the panel. Word has gotten back that most people wouldn't care if the DVD's were subtitled only. For shame. Shame shame shame. AV higher-ups may be taking this as something to release separate discs in the future based on this feedback. This is just plain wrong and goes against the abilities of DVD. I admit my first full disappointment in anime fans since starting this site. I talked with one of the AV people and said the best thing that can be mentioned to the big guys right now is that the con goers are primarily hardcore fans, and if you want to read a wider audience, bilingual is the only way to go.

Looks like the Animeigo demo of UY suffered some technical issues, but Robert Woodhead assures is they look great. I'll continue to take his word, especially since I'm so psyched for Macross DVD's due out next year.

ADV looks to be releasing the Parasite Eve show on DVD in the 2nd quarter 2000, possibly timed with the release of the sequel to the game on PSX?

Manga says to look for Perfect Blue, the Black Jack movie, Wings of Honneamise, and Macross Plus 1-2 in September, Castle of Cagliostro and Macross Plus 3-4 in October and Devilman in December. Back catalog titles as time allows. I'm just reporting it, doesn't mean I'm believing it.

One other comment I received was that CPM is looking to negotiate the next deal with Image Entertainment for more releases. They've apparently said that Image jumped the gun on a few releases and shipped them before CPM could even see them (i.e. Lodoss being the main one mentioned) and the new contract would allow CPM a lot more control over the titles. Honestly, at this point, I wish CPM wouldn't sublicense to anyone like Image or DVD Limited. What they've been putting out themselves excels over these other companies releases and they would be better served continuing that way. But, that's just my opinion.

My thanks to all who sent in news bits and personal thoughts on just how big a presence fans had in regards to DVD this year. You guys are pushing the format hard, and the companies are taking notice. Let's not slip up though!

NEWS: 07/18/99

For those following the Evangelion movie mystery (i.e. who will buy it), the answer was given at AX 99 today: Manga. Anyone want to start a pool on which year we might see it on DVD?

Steve Brandon has sent in his latest in-depth piece on Tenchi in Tokyo Volume #4. Give it a read!

Talk about the shortest petition in the sites history. After about five hours, the Macross TV petition has been taken down due to the email from Animeigo that Macross will definitely have a DVD release. For those curious as to how a title co-owned by Bandai may have been negotiated so quick, my guess is that when Harmony Gold bought the very long-term rights to the series, they did an all media clause. After all, we've seen planned video games, VHS, laserdisc, toys and so forth. DVD would fall easily into that category.

Contrary to the seemingly unreliable Diamond Previews, Pioneer has announced 8 volumes worth of Trigun to start in February. There's also word that they are co-producing some new Sol Bianca show(s) which will also have a DVD releases here as well.

Another rumor I've seen starting to spread is in regards to the Escaflowne series from Anime Village. Looks like plans are in the works for a dub of the TV series for February or so next year, but the DVD's may come a bit earlier and without a dub on it. While I'm keen on seeing the show, I'd much rather wait for the dub. But there's also rumor that the dub is being done to woo broadcasters for television, which means some cuts would need to be made possibly. Which then leads me to "give me the uncut subtitled version please".

Well, looks like there's some amazing news coming out of AX from the Animeigo panel. As reported on the newsgroups and DVD Animania, Animeigo has secured the subtitle rights for the uncut Macross TV series. Harmony Gold still retains the rights to the dub, so that's still on moratorium. However, it looks like brand new masters will be used by Animeigo.

Pioneer also got their official announcement out about Trigun with a February release date, which makes Westfield Comics and Diamond Comics seem a little off with their September information. No mention of Nazca yet either. C'mon guys, get announcing! :)

NEWS: 07/17/99

Anime Village has made it's DVD announcements today. I don't know if dates/features/prices have been mentioned, but the titles we can initially look forward to is the ultra hot Cowboy Bebop and Outlaw Star. I'll be chatting with the folks over there over the coming week and see what else we can look forward to (there should be more!) and what's known about these two planned series. Everyone happy? I know I am after seeing the first episode of Cowboy Bebop at Otakon this year! My hat's off to the folks over at AV who have kept me updated with this information to get it out to everyone who's interested in a timely fashion.

The petition section of the site has been updated to reflect the two new shows we're getting, and I've also started putting in the total number of signatures that we had upon the ending of each petition. The only one I can't seem to find is for Tenchi though.

Roman Martel sends in his thoughts on the newly released Serial Experiments Lain: Navi disc while I chime in with a brief review of Dragonball Z Vol. #7: Destruction.

NEWS: 07/16/99

All right, here's my review of Serial Experiments Lain Vol. #1: Navi!

The "old" forum is being worked on (progress!) but there's some glitches that are being worked out. My thanks to those who've offered various solutions (honestly, they are greatly appreciated!) but I've invested some good money into this forum software and want to see it through.

Also of note is that DVD Animania is reporting that Manga will be delaying the first volume of Macross Plus until the end of September. Follow-ups on the forum have resulted in a "ho hum" approach, which seems to be confusing some of our newer readers. Has apathy about Manga set in regarding their releases? I know it has in my mind, as much as I want to root for them (and all the other companies too) in getting their product out. But I'm definitely not getting excited about any Manga disc until I have it in my hands. Be sure to send them email though expressing your concern about this!

I've gotten reports of online retailers selling out very fast with Lain. If you're still on the hunt for it, check out Animenation who still has copies (as well as Project A-Ko; I'm still waiting for my copy from another vendor!).

And while it may not be everyone's cup of tea, Revolutionary Girl Utena finally hits the streets next week. With it being a good sized 3 hour compilation of this great series, there will definitely be some good buzz about it.

NEWS: 07/14/99

I'm pulling a long work week this week (12+ hour days) so updates will be minimal. This Sunday (after taking in Eyes Wide Shut) I should have several reviews and assorted bits up. I will try to get my review of Lain up tomorrow night however. Alternate angle reviews are graciously accepted but will also be held off on until the weekend.

NEWS: 07/13/99

Recommendation: I got in my first order from www.cdjapan.co.jp today. Took only 4 days air mailed from Japan to the east coast. Very nice indeed. Got in copies of To Heart, Blue Seed and El-Hazard. Anyone got scripts for the first two? :) El-Hazard looks great. And the 5.1 Japanese track is just as good as the Tenchi one from a quick check. This'll be a great U.S. release when it happens.

Tidbits: Anime Village's Anime Expo '99 panel is scheduled for 1 PM this coming Sunday. Expect to have info up shortly thereafter. DVD Express has finally gotten in their copies of Lain, for all who were having trouble with them.

My review for Dragonball Z Vol. #6 - Immortals is now up for your reading.

NEWS: 07/12/99

Following up on what they reported on a couple of months ago, Animenation has posted a link/graphic to the latest Pioneer catalog which indicates that, yes, we will be seeing Sailor Moon bilingual DVD's in 2000. Sign of the apocalypse? You be the judge. I'll be enjoying the disc.

News out of the VSDA, or the newly renamed National Video Week, shows that nearly a 3rd of rental shops now rent DVD. 10,000 or so out of 33,000 nationally. Have you bugged your local rental shop about DVD or anime DVD? Well, why not?! :)

Due to the drain on bandwidth, I've opened a forum with Vantagenet, the folks who handle the polling. please note that any advertising while in the forum comes from them and not from me. Thanks for your support during this issue.

I'd like to take a moment to welcome our latest sponsor, 800.com! For those looking for a great deal at the moment, check out this link to them and get some upcoming anime titles for as low as 8.94! I got my copy of El-Hazard on order already....

NEWS: 07/11/99

Marc Yu has sent in his latest column, Anime DVD Sales. Check it out in our articles section!

Ethan Butterfield has sent in his first alternate angle review of the newest Image release, Project A-Ko. With all the bad buzz I'm hearing about this disc, we may need to start a campaign for CPM to do a version themselves.... a Special Edition perhaps? And no, you haven't missed my review of it. I'm still waiting for my copy to ship.

NEWS: 07/10/99

The T-shirt project is now fully underway. All checks have been deposited and the screeners are working on them now. Unfortunately, it will take 6 days or so to complete everything and then ship it to me. No go for AX. Gomen!

I've gotten word that Bandai has postponed their VSDA announcement regarding their DVD titles. Look for Anime Expo '99 to be the place to hear it. With any luck, I'll have it here minutes before they do. ;)

Sort of unrelated note... hopefully someone will be able to help! My wife is looking for sewing patterns to create Asian outfits such as kimono's and the like. Anyone have any good places to start searching or know where to find them? Any help would be most appreciated!

NEWS: 07/09/99

Region 2 round-up! Check out Ken Chen's review of the Magic Knights Rayearth Memorial Collection 1 box set while Victor Kim chimes in with Rurouni Kenshin Tsuiokuhen OAV #2 - Mayoi Neko ("Lost Cat") and Cowboy Bebop Session 2.

NEWS: 07/08/99

Curious as to how the new Utena DVD is going to look? Check out the large (and I mean large) image over at DVD Empire!

Carlos Salgado has sent in an alternate angle review of the region 2 import, Spriggan. Be sure to give it and the original review a read for what will surely be a very interesting (and hopefully day and date) domestic release.

Some new information has cropped up on the Animeigo DVD mailing list! The first TEST disc has been examined. What do we have? "Video quality is excellent, it really looks sharp." says Robert Woodhead. How are the subtitles you ask?

And logo friendly? Here's what else Mr. Woodhead had to say, "We are changing the coding so that you can skip over the opening logos and copyright messages."

Ah, the joys of counting down the days. CD Japan has told me my copies of El-Hazard, To Heart and Blue Seed have shipped! Time to get cranking on those language lessons!

Speaking of imports, if you're interested in seeing images and clips of a few of them, make sure you get yourself over to the Anime Emporium. Gary has set up several RealVideo clips of some slick shows.

NEWS: 07/07/99

T-shirts: Ok, the silkscreeners have the art now and will be going forward with getting the master set up for it. Checks/money orders will be deposited on Friday. I have no timeline yet on when they shirts will be ready. Believe me, I will do my best to have them out in time for the Anime Expo, but can make no guarantees. I'm doing my best and hope that you'll hang with me on this.

It's official. ADV has sent out their email regarding the Sakura Wars DVD. I'm still impressed that you'll be able to get it on DVD for under a 3rd of the cost of the two VHS tapes.

NEWS: 07/06/99

Just got this hot off the newsgroup and direct from the Right Stuf website. Looks like on October 26th, we'll see Sakura Wars from ADV which will contain both volumes for 29.95. Yes, this is coming out on the same day as the second VHS tape. Basically, the DVD is a compilation of both VHS volumes for half the price. Too slick guys, too slick. Well, there's one more 2000+ signature petition out of the way...

My apologies to Jerry Chu of Anime Village, whom I mistakenly called Jeff in the Otakon Travelogue. So many names and information that weekend! Anyway, he wanted me to pass along to everyone that there will be TWO titles announced during VSDA/Anime Expo, with a slight possibility (i.e. it's not firm) of a 3rd title. Things are looking up, folks!

Please note that there are new polls starting to appear at the link just below the rotating banner above. Be sure to take a moment or two to add your own thoughts to them!

Looking for information from the Otakon convention this past weekend? Browse through my travelogue of the event which contains information about ADV, Right Stuf and Anime Village!

NEWS: 07/05/99

Some of you may have seen the "Community" section I started on this morning. This feature has been removed as I've received emails from some users who have now reported me for spamming by using their email. Granted, they gave me their email when they signed the petition and it does say that it will be used. Nevertheless, I've taken them down and removed the lists. Now we'll just have to wait and see if my Netcom account gets removed and so on, which will result in my just plain giving up at this point.

One bit that didn't make it into the con report was mention that not only does MGM indeed still have the rights to Akira but that they're also redubbing it and doing a 5.1 remix of it. Could it be anamorphic as well?

Don't forget to check my in-depth Otakon 1999 Travelogue posted last night to bring you up to date. There's bunches of good information in there!

Looks like the forum is still weirding out and the holiday hasn't helped. Please use this forum until the matter is resolved.

The following petitions have been removed from the site:

• Battle Angel Alita - 07/04/1999
• Bubblegum Crisis 2040 - 07/04/1999
• Martian Successor Nadiesco - 07/04/1999
• Neon Genesis Evangelion

  The following petitions have been added to the site:

• Irresponsible Captain Tylor
• Kite
• Ninja Cadets (Ninja Mono)

NEWS: 07/04/99

 

Happy July 4th! I've been back for three hours now, and have just now finished writing my thoughts on this weekends Otakon Convention. Check it out!

DVD.COM has put up another piece of commissioned work from me. Looks like one or two pieces may have been rearranged as I don't recall mentioning the 1992 series as being on TV... but the exposure is good for anime I hope!

T-shirts. Ok, I've been informed that they company SHOULD have gotten the artwork at last on the 30th. I have not yet heard from them. I will contact them Tuesday when they reopen from the Holiday to see what's what. If it's nothing satisfactory, I'm canceling the t-shirt project and will deal with everything at that point. My continual apologies regarding this matter. You can guess I won't be doing this again.

There appears to be some issues with the forum. This is being worked on, and with luck should be fixed Tuesday night Pacific time. Please continue to try the regular forum, but if the problem continues to persist, please use this forum until the other one is up and running. This is the old forum that moved off on April 23rd, so topics are naturally out of date.