Hey all. Eeeper here. It's with a heavy heart that we at ECP say farewell to Blogger.com. While it's being fun learning to blog and podcast from this site, we need a new place to expand into. We have had a great time both here and at podomatic but today we move to our new site at www.eeeperschoice.com. Please follow us over and check out show number 12! Also note that our new sites RSS feed is different from the feed your used to. It's here. I'll keep the old sites up for the next few weeks or so to help all of our listeners move to the new address.
Once again thanks for staying the course and please keep supporting us into this year and beyond.
This week we review Air Gear the manga, They Were Eleven and Birdy The Mighty OVA. Also we talk incessantly throughout the news section. Oh well. You're not listening to this show for the intellectual quota. Oni talks about furries (I think), I talk about Bandai Visual USA (I'm sure) and we both talk about Miller and Baileys(I'm certain).
Anywho if you need to contact me with hints, questions, comments, requests for reviews and anything else then drop me a line @
Leiji Matsumoto's Great Yamato #0 which is a sequel to the original series has started streaming the first 45 minute episode for free. With no restriction on location the only thing stopping you is your internet connection! Woot! [Link]
Bandai have announced their new Mobile Suit Gundam series. As the first Gundam to be set in "our" calender this should be good. So long as it doesn't suck worse than Seed Destiny. [Link]
Bandai Entertainment, at A-Kon, has said they are to distribute the next in the Galaxy Angel series, Galaxy Angel X and its spinoff S special. And no, unlike Bandai Visual, Bandai Ent. won't be charging 7,431 Yen for each episode. [As Bandai Visual: Expensive is Better!] [Link]
The live action Speed racer movie project has released images of the Mach 5 car from said film. Yay! Everyone leap for joy! Seriously though, the Wachowski brothers have already succeeded at Sci-Fi illusionist bollocks. Why can they succeed with family film illusionist bollocks as well? [Link]
LiveJournal and it's parent company, Six Apart are going to unsuspend some user accounts which had been suspended due to LJ owners feeling that some users who had lolicon and Shotacon themed LJ accounts were violating the terms of service required by LiveJournal. As a result the owners of LJ are in process of restoring about 250 accounts. My take: if you're into that aspect of culture, fine. But if what you're doing violates your TOS with the blog service, tough. You signed your soul away when you joined up. Now it's time to pay the price. [Link]
And finally Geneon Entertainment US has announced that rhey are to distribute select titles from their catalogue on Azureus' Vuze Bit Torrent service. Great. If you live in the US, that is. [Link]
Reviews
Air Gear
This manga by Tenjho Tenge creator Oh!Great is great if you're a big reader of PlayBoy and I don't mean for the articles. It's trying to tell some kind of BIGGER STORY but honestly I don't think that it matters. All you need to know is that Ikki, the protagonist, is a TOUGH guy! And he skates! And finds women, who he likes, naked!. A lot. Seriously, it's a good waste of time but no more than that.
The Air Gear musical. I don't know. And I don't want to know.
Christ! There's more of it!
They Were Eleven
This section is noticebly bare bones mostly because I've left Oni to write it up. Needlessly to say this is not one title that he was excited about. Despite my attempts, Oni would only agree that it's something you should watch if you have the time but don't go out of your way buy this.
Frigging excellent interview with Moto Hagio! All fans of Shoujo or 70's era manga should read this! [Link]
Birdy The Mighty
I freakin' love this OVA! Great crisp animation, nice self deprecating humour and a surprising choice for director. After waiting for under ten years to finally watch this, I wasn't disappointed. The manga has never been published in English but scanalations are around. Chikan Manga are currently translating the remake manga also by Birdy creator Masami Yuuki. I'm looking forward to the remake anime which should be out around the end of the year. If you can find the original OVA on Amazon or eBay well and good if not then hope the fact that it's a Bandai Visual title might mean they could re-release it themselves. Then again, I'm still waiting for them to release Dangioh so finger's crossed, huh?
eBay page for Birdy the Mighty stuff WARNING! Just because someone lists something for sale on eBay doesn't make it so. Always check the seller history before buying [Link]
Edit: Apologies to all who checked in and found the enclosure broken. Thanks to Anonymous for the warning! Despite me reloading the file twice I can't fix the "slow" robot voice at the start of the podcast. Also I've reached the limit of free space on Podomatic so next week we'll try switching to a new paid web host service. Bear with us again. Thanks to the Root Beer King and Anime Pacific for leaving comments on the site.
Speaking of next week, what are we reviewing? Next week, Oni has said that he wants to tackle Ken Akumatsu's Negima manga. Hey watch me tear into him over this title. It's going to get ugly. Me, I'll be tackling the utter fantastic one shot manga, Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms by Fumiyo Kouno. Stay tuned. It's only getting better from here.
As always, I'm constantly checking in the Animejump, Otaku USA, Moonmasters, Fast Karate and GMEP forums. If you spot me, send me a PM.
The shows almost finished. Tweaks here and there to be done. Coffee and cream cakes to consume. In the meantime check out this link: http://oglink.com/18o.
Howdy Y'all! If you haven't stopped by in a while then you might notice we're making changes to the site. I like the look of our Wordpress site so until I can find some way of getting the blogspot equivalent for it then this will have to do.
Also I'm just about to start editing show number eleven so hopefully it will be Wednesday when the show is up. I've about three hours of talking to go through so please bear with me.
Until then, I remain your ever loving Blue-eyed Eeeper.
My laptop arrives tomorrow. After that myself and Oni will sit down and record. After that I start editing. Then the show will be released. Then you'll all be happy. Woot!
P.S. Thanks to everyone who emailed in to ask where the show had gone. And to all who've been corresponding with me and keeping me sane these last few months.
Hey there everyone, Eeeper here. Recently we added Oni as a co-host and had just started to gear up for some kick ass reviews and topic discussions. Unfortunately some time after show 10 was recorded we were doing show 11 and our laptop that we were using blew. I don't know what the problem was but from what Oni said, under than expletives, was that this computer had had it's day. So here I am using the family computer to type this message to you guys. And no, we can't use the main computer to record with.
All is not lost. At the moment I am scraping the money for this laptop. So about early May is when we'll be back up and running. Sorry to all who have been listening in and downloading. If we can get up and running faster, we will. But for now if you can't wait for your Oni and Eeep-fix head on over to our wordpress site to read our reviews for the titles we would've reviewed.
This week Eeeper reviews, for the retro choice corner, Project A-Ko while Oni reviews Ninja Scroll! Yes I've got a co-host now in the form of Oni. Who is he? Well, you'll just have to listen and find out. He's been waiting to join the show for a while but only recently could he do so. The tone of the show is going downhill from here on in.
Also at GoogleTalk Voicemail @ eeeperschoice- at -gmail.com
The MyChingo flash voicemail box in the sidebar
Send me an Odeo in the sidebar
Snapvine Voicemail (US)+1-641-985-7800 then press * then 1723766
Please note that all images (excluding Show Artwork included in the mp3) unless otherwise stated are the respective copyright and trademark of their respective owners and licensers. No copyright infringement is meant or implied.
News
The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya is set for a May release in both standard and vol 1+artbox versions courtesy of Bandai Entertainment. Yes, the hardest working Internet launched anime in history is coming Here's hoping this doesn't turn out to be another Azumanga Daioh...[Link]
Also on 25th January just under 1/4 of a million people viewed the special ending of Haruhi from volume 7 of the Japanese DVD when it was posted up on YouTube. A quarter of a million people!?! Have these people no real lives!? Oh, wait. Sorry, wrong person to ask that question... [Link]
Mushishi is being courted for a release of it's l;ive action version. God, I must have missed this when it first came out. So, on the podcast no offense was meant to Mushishi fans at all. Betcha one of parties interested in the film was ADV and another was Harmony Gold. I mean without any new licences, they only have Robotech to fall back on for profit. Right? Right!? RIGHT!?! Oh here's that link to Jo Odagiri's ANN page. [Link]
Funimation announced they have the rights to Mushishi the anime, Ragnarok The Animation and Suzuka. OK, let's just hope they finally fix their subtitle problems this year....YEAH, RIGHT!!!Christ, I can't escape from Mushishi! And it's been given one of the worst re-titles for this year. BugMaster! (As Weevil Underwood(English Version)): Oh no, you've broken my Great Moth! We hate that voice actors take on Underwood.
Also Funimation expand their programming block on their Funimation Channel. Now we can watch more DragonBall then ever before! [Link]
Bandai Visual USA have said they will release Gunbuster 2[Link]
Manga Entertainment have announced that they will release the Ghost In The Shell:SAC movie Solid State Society in July. Apparently they weren't brave enough to release it on Blu-Ray [Link]
I've tried to find the article on Anime News Service about Blu-Ray outselling HD-DVD in Japan but as of the time of my writing this, I've had no luck...Any one who read it can email me the link at the usual address.
YouTube and Google reps met with members of the The Japanese Society of Rights of Authors and Composers (JASRAC) and The National Association of Commercial Broadcasters in Japan. With literally hundreds of thousands of copyrighted clips of anime available on YouTube, JASRAC is starting to get nervous. What!?! They're only getting nervous now?!?
The GITS DVD we were talking about can be found here but is now out of print. You might be able to find it on Yahoo.co.jp Auctions but it's up to you.
And finally, as I promised here is the Wiki Entry on Pentacost
Reviews
Air Gear
Huh? Where's the review? Sorry the section with Oni ran long so it's going to be next week before you can listen to Eeeper review this.
Project A-Ko
This amazing movie from 1986 remains one of Eeeper's favourite anime of all time and set a benchmark for parodies of anime and manga to come. Captain Harlock, Maison Ikkoku and Fist of the North Star are some of the titles that get poked to death in this treat. Eeeper goes all over the world for sport in this review before actually getting to the PLOT. Try and stay with him on this one, it does pay off. Central Park Media released this movie along with the OVA sequels comprising of the DVD volumes Love and Robots and Uncivil Wars. Oni watched Uncivil Wars but Eeeper didn't so only the first film and part of the OVA's are covered. This film was one of three VHS available to rent from 24-Hour Video in Eeep's hometown (the other two being Giant Robo Part One of the OVA and StreetFighter II: The Animated Movie) so it got serious playtime in the Eeep household.
Yeah! This kick ass movie from 1993 has it's flaws (no character devolpment for secondary characters for one thing) but it's getting the Manliest award from us. It may be replaced soon ( Mazinger Z and Getter Robo are on order) but for now bask in the glory of it's testosterone! The plot doesn't matter! After all it is a public safety service announcement from Yoshiaki Kawajiri. Oni has never tried to review anything before this so his review should be taken in the spirit in which it was approached. Which is the Spirit Of Vengeance. Go Ghost Rider!
Yep, it's our first give away and up for grabs is the first volume plus artbox of Fafner! Yeah I know it's an Evangelion rip-off but it's brainless, entertaining stuff anyway. The competition is open to all regardless of location. Only stipulation is that you must be able to play Region ! DVD's . That's it. To win you'll have to listen in.
Open Request to all podcasters! If you have a podcast promo that you think we can play on our show send them in, please!
Also speaking of podcasts, we are now on Digg,Technorati,Podcast Pickle and also Podcast Alley. Please add us to them! We need all of your help! Don't make us beg! It'll be embarrassing and sticky....
Next Week: Oni will be reviewing the classic shoujo sci-fi film, They Were Eleven. While Eeeper will tackle another Kawajiri title from 1995, Birdy The Mighty plus the late review of the manga Air Gear by Oh!Great. Just in time for the anime from ADV.
This week I review the manga'a Infinite Ryvius by SUNRISE and Legal Drug by CLAMP and the retro choice anime OVA Giant Robo! Woo-hoo! Free nuclear-powered robots for everybody!
This week's show has NO news as I haven't had time to check the news. Yeah I heard that Haruhi Suzumiya got licensed. The whole of the anime related internet has heard. If you want to know my opinion on Haruhi check out show 03. Normal news service will be resumed next show.
Also at GoogleTalk Voicemail @ eeeperschoice- at -gmail.com
The MyChingo flash voicemail box in the sidebar
Send me an Odeo in the sidebar
Snapvine Voicemail (US)+1-641-985-7800 then press * then 1723766
Please note that all images (excluding Show Artwork included in the mp3) unless otherwise stated are the respective copyright and trademark of their respective owners and licensers. No copyright infringement is meant or implied.
News
No news this week
Reviews
Infinite Ryvius
This manga created by original creators Hajime Yatate(insider joke: look up on google who actually is Hajime Yatate) and Yousuke Kuroda(original scriptwriter) with art from Shinsuke Kurihashi. This is published in two volumes by the now-defunct Comics-One and it's successor DRMaster. Told from the perspective of Aoi Housen, and her roommates Kozue Izumi and Reiko Ichikawa and while it's not following the plot exactly it's excellent. Full of tension and all that good stuff, it's a nice addition on your shelf next to the DVD of the original show. WARNING: UNLESS YOU WANT THE SERIES SPOLIED FOR YOU, WATCH THE ANIME FIRST
CLAMP always do great stories even if sometimes the actual plot makes no sense. That is true for Legal Drug, a three volume manga originally in Japan by Kadokawa Shoten and in the US/UK by TokyoPop. This follows the adventures of two psychics Kazahaya and Reiko who work for Kakei at the GreenDrug Store pharmacy. As well as doing regular jobs, the two boys have to do "special" deliveries for Kakei that utilise their mental skills. Only complaint I have is that CLAMP haven't finished this story, as they are currently working on other projects.
I've been promising myself I'd get round to this title sooner or later. This is the best title that I've seen in the last year and that's all there is to it. Listen to my review for more info and why I think this.
Well we come to the end of another terrible show, folks. Next show, I might have a surprise for you. Metacarpals crossed! Next show I'll be reviewing the manga Air Gear, the anime Ninja Scroll(Yosh!) and in the Retro Choice section I have the classic anime, Project A-ko! Wooo-Hooo!
This latest show has been delayed but I've now finished up the show notes finally! This weeks show has Densha Otoko from CMX Manga, DNAngel from ADV and Kimagure Orange Road from Animeigo which may win this hamsters vote for the best old school anime I've seen this year(tying into joint first place with Giant Robo) and the dodgest dancing this side of Miami Vice.......
Also at GoogleTalk Voicemail @ eeeperschoice- at -gmail.com
Please note that all images (excluding Show Artwork included in the mp3) unless otherwise stated are the respective copyright and trademark of their respective owners and licensers. No copyright infringement is meant or implied.
News
CPM will re-release four titles with reduced prices on January 30: Black Jack DVD Collection 1 ($29.95), Ichi The Killer: Episode Zero ($14.95), Time Bokan ($9.95), and Hammerboy ($9.95).
Satoshi Kon's next film Paprika is screening at 10 a.m. at Laemmle's Grande 4-Plex in downtown Los Angeles through Sunday. This screening makes the film eligible to be nominated for an Oscar.I've checked out the ANN page on Paprika. It's as good a synopsis as there is on the film so far.(P.S.: I know I was late with this news clip but I was too F***in' tired to edit it out!)
ADV Films has officially announced their license to SGT Frog, which includes merchandise and gaming rights as well as other areas (everything but the manga). Separately, Diamond Distributors has relayed that ADV has announced that Volume 1, which is listed in the December Previews for a February release, has been rescheduled for later in 2007.
Densha Otoko or Train Man is supposedly based on a true story but with all things Internet related I'll let you decide. I found it to be a nice read while commuting so if you like your heroes nerdy but not Harem Heroic then this could be the title for you. It doesn't have a UK based publisher as far as I know so you'll have order it State-Side for now.
DNAngel
DNAngel was the title I got back into Anime and Manga after an almost ten year absense. And I know what some fans and listeners will say 'He chose That Title to come back to!?!' but it's the perfect title to show some who's been away from the Crusade for a while. Not terribly bad, not great just a little bit non-engaging. The manga is longer but has way more Shoujo elements to it than the TV series.
Kimagure Orange Road
KOR is fast becoming a favourite of mine but it's purely an acquired taste. If you can't stand 80's anime this may not be your bag but then if you never watch 80's anime then you're not being a true Otaku are you? If you don't like it then you don't like it. Animeigo did a fantastic job translating it but they recently lost the license by that I mean that is that the Japanese label that controls it just recently brought out their own boxset in Region 2(Japan) land with better image and sound quality. In other words We're not letting you produce any more of this DVD while we bring out our outrageously priced version that the fans in Japan must buy rather than pick up your nice, cheap version.....
As I said before Animeigo did a fantastic job. Here's the web page for their liner notes on the TV series. Animeigo regularly bleed for their customers and so many of us ignore the fact that back in the day they were the ADV and Funimation of their day. They just announced their next license here.
Finally here's some images from KOR (Please note ALL images taken from Kimagure Orange Road are for review purposes only and no copyright has been taken away from the owners or implied)
Madoka. The Heroine of the story.I think..
Kyosuke. Our Hero. Poor unlucky bas*&!d
A quiet moment between Hikaru and Kyosuke. It can't last.
Told ya.
Kyosuke getting the job at ABCD from Master. Good Times. Good Times.....
I'm going on a short break to recharge the batteries so the next show won't be out for two weeks. But on the next show I'll be reviewing two manga titles, Infinite Ryvius based on the series by SUNRISE and Legal Drug by CLAMP and the truly awesome OVA series Giant Robo! Chuala Boola or what!?! Eh, eh!?! Ah, I don't know why I bother...
It's still not dead!?!..Errr...I mean, Welcome back! This weeks show has thrills, spills, chills and that weird fluff you find between your toes after you've put on a new pair of socks.... On this weeeks show I review the manga Basilisk by the late Futaro Yamada and art by Masaki Segawa, the Playstation 2 game Yakuza and in the Retro Choice I review the OVA series Sohryuden or Legend of The Dragon Kings.
Also at GoogleTalk Voicemail @ eeeperschoice- at -gmail.com
Please note that all images (excluding Show Artwork included in the mp3) unless otherwise stated are the respective copyright and trademark of their respective owners and licensers. No copyright infringement is meant or implied.
Basilisk is Samurai Action the way I like it. Nice Scenery, great characters and a boat-load of Ninja-action and hemoglobin. Just when Jubei thought he could retire as the baddest samurai, Gennosuke turns up looking for the toughest motherf*&^er around award.
The review of PS2 game Yakuza replaces an anime review that I started to review but realised was too thin given the size of the series. I played Yakuza for about two or three days and thought it might be worth reviewing. Let me know if I should continue to review games or not.
Sohryuden was another anime that I watched on Channel 4 back in the day. I remember it being longer but time has refreshed my memory. It's a fairly decent anime but if I could be blunt it's a poor man's X. Only watch it if you've already seen X or you're bored of X. Anybody got any better alternatives let me know. The link to AWO's review of They Were Eleven(which I mentioned in the review) can be found here
With the dawn comes the sun! And that just slept odour. Bleuughh.This week it's all about chicks, er, females,no, women. Yeah that's it. This week I review High School Girls the manga, the anime Sister Princess and my Retro Choice is the OVA/OAV 3X3 Eyes. Also this week will be the last time I have to use my crappy ISP. Next week the show will be better. I promise. With Sprinkles on top. Moe flavoured.
Also at GoogleTalk Voicemail @ eeeperschoice- at -gmail.com
Please note that all images (excluding Show Artwork included in the mp3) unless otherwise stated are the respective copyright and trademark of their respective owners and licensers. No copyright infringement is meant or implied.
High School girls is any clueless male's gateway into understanding school life for girls. Despite the fact that the characters are Japanese I'd say that there's a universal truth for all girls who've ever been to high school to view here. And that frightens me. All I can say is that I always thought guys had it worse then girls in school.
This is an old title from 1991/1995 and Eeep was incorrect when he said he saw the whole thing back in '91. Duh, the second part wasn't even made by then. So he probably seen it in 1996. Loser. Incidently Megumi Hayashibara was the voice of Pai in this. Eeep didn't know that until he went researching this title. Also buried in the ANN page on the second OAV is the fact that Wendee Lee was a voice on the show.
Sister Princess was one of those titles that Eeep wishes he'd rented rather than bought. If you've put off by the Moe-like leanings of this show don't be. Wataru never so much as showed planning permission let alone an erection around his 'sisters'. And a good thing to or Eeeper would have run a mile. It's not a harem show nor slice-of-life. The game apparently allowed you to score with one of your sisters. But I think the producers wanted to make this title more main-stream but just couldn't decide on the format and so you got a mish-mash of things. Not great nor bad, merely functional.
Nest week I'll be reviewing the manga Basilisk by Futaro Yamada, the OVA series Sohryuden - Legend of the Dragon Kings and a secret title(read in this: Eeep hasn't yet figured out what title he's reviewing)
This week I've joined the internet revolution of making myself appear smarter than I actually am.This week it's thriller/comedy(!?!) manga Remote from TokyoPop and on the anime side I finally review a series in it's entirety in the form of Stellvia of the Universe in the firing line. If this keeps up I'll actually sound like a professional soon!....NOT THAT KIND OF PROFESSIONAL!....In the news Bandai threatens to tie up fansubbers with piano wire, The Anime Network continues to delude itself that it's the Cartoon Network, Edward Alric whores himself out to MySpace and the UK contniues to rub my nose in the ground with FilmFour's Miyazaki season. Oh, Lord! Why do you hate me so!
Also at GoogleTalk Voicemail @ eeeperschoice- at -gmail.com
Please note that all images (excluding Show Artwork included in the mp3) unless otherwise stated are the respective copyright and trademark of their respective owners and licensers. No copyright infringement is meant or implied.
This week the madness continues with my ISP problems. I've discovered that Skype won't let me call out at all. I can hear the other person but they can't hear me. So no guests on the show for a while. Enough of this maudlin'! Now it is time to laugh again! Aha Ha! Ha ha! Ha ha!Ha ha!Ha ha!Ha ha!......OK that's enough laughing for now. This week I talk about the manga Keroro Gunso, the anime Jigoku Shoujo and not much else. The retro corner will return and also I'll attempt to review a J-Pop CD next week. God help us all. Direct Download
Anywho if you need to contact mewith hints, questions, comments, requests for reviews and anything else then drop me a line @:
Also at GoogleTalk Voicemail @ eeeperschoice- at -gmail.com
Please note that all images (excluding Show Artwork included in the mp3) unless otherwise stated are the respective copyright and trademark of their respective owners and licensers. No copyright infringement is meant or implied.
This week I've finally got a podcast finished! I know most artists have problems cutting the infamous second album but I fell on my third one! On this week's show I talk about the manga Yotsuba&, the anime The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, catch up with the news and introduce a new segment! The shows structure has been changed around a little thanks to some helpful pointers from a fellow podcaster. Hopefully you guys won't have to wait so long for show 04!
Post Note: In reviewing this show I realised I've made some mistakes within the show. Itai! I thought I'd edited these out but I guess they must slipped through. I'm putting together a new show right now so while that's on the burner, I'll reedit the third show! Sayoonara!
Today I review Super Robot Wars Original Generation OAV, drink Diet Coke with Lime, talk briefly about my tastes in RPGs(not that kind of RPG!...get your mind outta the gutter!) and, oh yeah, talk with Jerome Mazandarani for a bit.
Jerome is the marketing head honcho at Manga Entertainment UK. We chat about Manga as a company, where they went wrong in the nineties, Mangas licence for Naruto, Tokyo Underground, Ghost in the Shell and what's happening this year for the company. Check it out and let me know what you think.
Also at GoogleTalk Voicemail @ eeeperschoice- at -gmail.com
Please note that all images (excluding Show Artwork included in the mp3) unless otherwise stated are the respective copyright and trademark of their respective owners and licensers. No copyright infringement is meant or implied.
My first show. May. God. Have. Mercy. On. Your. Soul.Eeeper talks about Mai Hime the anime, Sugar Suagr Rune the manga, CPM and lint.(Well, maybe not lint......) Direct Download
Anywho if you need to contact mewith hints, questions, comments, requests for reviews and anything else then drop me a line @:
Also at GoogleTalk Voicemail @ eeeperschoice- at -gmail.com
Please note that all images (excluding Show Artwork included in the mp3) unless otherwise stated are the respectivecopyright and trademark of their respective owners and licensers. No copyright infringement is meant or implied.
