This post will state the upcoming DVD/Blu-Ray release dates for certain anime.

Most of the Fall ‘09 animes are starting their releases.

22 Dec ‘09:

Ghost in the Shell S.A.C. 2nd GIG (Volume 2) [Blu-Ray]

Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Special Edition-II – End of the World [Blu-Ray] [DVD]

Genshiken 2 Box [DVD]

Sacred Blacksmith (Volume 01) [Blu-Ray] [DVD]

23 Dec ‘09:

Serial Experiments Lain RESTORE  Box [Blu-Ray]

Darker than BLACK – Ryuusei no Gemini (Volume 1) [Blu-Ray] [DVD]

The Twelve Kingdoms Box [Blu-Ray]

Black Lagoon (Volume 1 & 2) [Blu-Ray 01 & 02]

Inu Yasha: The Final Act (Volume 1) [DVD]

Kimi no Todoke (Volume 1) [DVD]

Kampfer (Volume 1) [Blu-Ray] [DVD]

25 Dec ‘09:

The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi 5.571428 (Volume 5) [DVD]

11Eyes (Volume 1) [Blu-Ray] [DVD]

Sora no Otoshimono (Volume 1) [DVD]

Note: The three images are the DVD covers of the anime in bold.

[All links lead to CDJapan.]

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Everybody who watches anime has experienced a terrible thing that happens all too frequently in anime: the TV series ends before the manga or light novel it was based on concludes. How many of you have wailed in agony because you will never find out what happens since you can’t read Japanese? How many of you have sat for hours calculating the likelihood of the novels being published in English to help ease your pain?

It is a terrible, terrible thing. And so, in order to comfort myself, I have decided to make a list of the top 3 animes I have watched that left me writhing on floor begging for more. (The reason I didn’t do Top 5 was all the others I thought off made less of an impact than these 3. Honorable mentions at the bottom, too!)

SAIUNKOKU MONOGATARI. Duh. This is the one that really upsets me, because it’s based off the least likely thing to get licenced in America: a light novel. And I know that there are wonderful fans out there translating small portions of the original novels, but being myself, I still cry because I’m not happy unless I can read it complete, in book form, very accurately translated and proof-read, with the original illustrations. Oh, the tragedy of being picky… and look how cute the novel covers are! They make me want to buy them all, even though I can’t understand them…

Well, this is turning into a Saiunkoku post… since that IS mainly the only one I’m desperate for the next season of. But, we must not be half-hearted. To continue…

NATSUME YUUJINCHOU. How I love Natsume Yuujinchou. I could watch it for years. Days on end. And I would, except there’s only 2 seasons, ie 26 episodes. And yet the manga is ongoing! With this one, I’m just lazy and I don’t want to go find translations of the manga online and read them. And besides, it’s well-animated and I would miss the music and voice actors if I were to read the manga. Sad. I feel like this is pretty likely to get a new season in the near future. After all, the first season was VERY closely followed by the second. Hold on, did I just jinx that? Shit. *Knocks on wood*

Anime and manga art.

THE TWELVE KINGDOMS. Another obvious one… same reasons as Saiunkoku. Although, the Juuni Kokuki books are being released in english by TokyoPop. Which is AMAZING. I actually bought the first one recently. However, that doesn’t mean I like their translating style. And I really loved the anime. I miss the anime atmosphere. But props to TokyoPop for including the original illustrations in the release!

Honorable mention

Skip Beat! – Well… I did read the manga first. And the problem with shoujo is that it’s never well-animated. It was kind of fun to watch, but a dissappointing adaption. What can I say? Shoujo just doesn’t translate well, I guess… But that horrible, awful ending did make it way worse. Subsequent seasons would help… please… I would still watch them…

Fruits Basket – Again, read the manga first. But at least they did a better job with the animation and music than Skip Beat… come to think of it, I haven’t watched Fruits Basket in years… also, they did a better job concluding the story prematurely than SkipBeat. Still… I would watch if they ever made more.

Ouran High School Host Club – did I just say that shoujo doesn’t translate well? Ahem. Here is an exception. (Of course, I didn’t read the manga first this time -_-) I just felt ripped off at the final episode of Ouran HSHC. The manga is ongoing…Why can’t they make more?

Edit (as of 8/21/09)

Ghost Hunt – How could I have left this out? Once again, based on visual novels and yet it never adapted the last few… Tragic. I feel like there weren’t quite enough story arcs, too… and I miss being scared! There aren’t any other slightly thriller-esque animes that I really WANT to watch, and I don’t want to be TOO scared. So why can’t they make more Ghost Hunt? EHh?

Animation Production – Studio Pierrot

Director - Tsuneo Kobayashi

Well crafted Japanese fantasy

The Twelve Kingdoms is an often mentioned example of one of the best fantasy works in Japanese animation. It certainly had the right backing with NHK and animation by Studio Pierrot (Bleach, Naruto). Like similar fantasy titles, such as El Hazard and Escaflowne, high school students are transported to a fantastical country full of different people, creatures, culture and rules. The Twelve Knigdoms TV series is based on the light novel by Fuyumi Ono which in turn was influenced by Chinese mythology.

The two words that sum up this show are adventure and politics. It starts of with the journey of the main characters understanding and fitting into this foreign world and the latter half of the series it more politically focused. The 45 episodes really allow the characters to progress and transform and allow the paths of different people to intersect. The enjoyment of the political drama is what it is and depends on how much you like feudal drama. It is done in a serious manner with little room for comedy or deviation from the story progression.

The problems with the show lie in the at times irrational character decisions that can make episodes seem drawn out. The series doesn’t have a conclusive ending and you could satisfactorily stop watching after certain arc points. For example the last episode is a recap of the preceding 6 episode arc. The Twelve Kingdoms is not a must watch show but is genuinely enjoyable if you are looking for fantasy themed Japanese animation.

Rating – B +

Genre - Fantasy, Drama, Adventure Length – 45 Episode series Year - 2002-2003

]]> http://animeaddicts.wordpress.com/2009/07/09/anime-releases-for-this-month/ Thu, 09 Jul 2009 01:49:18 +0000 jdodd91 http://animeaddicts.wordpress.com/2009/07/09/anime-releases-for-this-month/

{*NOTE*: I didn’t write this post, I got it from another anime blog-theanimeblog.com- I just wanted to share this post!}

ADV Films

July 7, 2009

• Grave of the Fireflies – 89 min
• Now and Then, Here and There Complete Collection – 650 min
• Those Who Hunt Elves Complete Collection (2009 Edition) – 600 min

July 14, 2009

• Aquarian Age Complete Collection (2009 Edition) – 325 min
• Burn Up! (2009 Edition) – 45 min

July 21, 2009

• Mezzo Complete Collection (2009 Edition) – 325 min
• World of Narue Complete Collection – 325 min

July 28, 2009

• MD Geist – 91 min
• Nuku Nuku, All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Complete Collection – 800 min

AnimeWho

• No releases this month

AN Entertainment

• No releases this month

Bandai Entertainment

July 7, 2009

• Freedom Part 1 – 100 min

July 21, 2009

• Eureka Seven Complete Collection 2 (Anime Legends) – 650 min
• Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Season 1 Part 1 (also w/Special Edition) – 225 min
• True Tears Complete Collection – 325 min

Bandai Visual

BandaiVisual.co.jp

• No releases this month

Bandai Visual USA, Inc.

As of July 1, 2008, Bandai Visual USA was absorbed into Bandai Entertainment. Titles will still be released under the Bandai Visual USA name. Bandai Visual USA titles will still be sold through their own online service (dot-anime.us website). Bandai Visual has recently launched a new label called Honneamise. Looking at their product line, it looks like it will be replacing the Bandai Visual label.

• No releases this month

BuenaVista Home Entertainment Japan (Movies.co.jp)

• No releases this month

Discotek

• No releases this month

FUNimation Entertainment, Ltd.

July 7, 2009

• Kaze No Stigma – Season 1 Part 1

July 14, 2009

• Case Closed – Season One – VC
• Claymore Vol. #6 – 100 min

July 21, 2009

• Suzuka – Box Set – VC
• xxxHOLiC – Box Set

GDH K.K.

• No releases this month

Geneon Entertainment (USA), Inc.

Some good news with select Geneon titles…FUNimation has signed a deal with Geneon Entertainment to manufacture, distribute, and sell some of Geneon’s DVDs in North America.

July 7, 2009

• Kyo Kara Maoh! Season 2 Box Set – 975 min
• Paradise Kiss Box Set – 300 min

Ju ly 14, 2009

• Elemental Gelade Complete Series Box Set – 630 min
• Gungrave Complete Series Box Set – 630 min

July 21, 2009

• Rozen Maiden Traumend Box Set – 312 min

Illumitoon.com

Until further notice there will be no more releases from Illumitoon.

ImaginAsian (distributed by Right Stuf!)

• No releases this month

Kadokawa Pictures, Inc.

• No releases this month

Manga Entertainment

• No releases this month

Media Blasters

July 7, 2009

• Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit Part 2 – 150 min
• Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit Vol. #4 – 75 min
• Twelve Kingdoms Complete TV Series – 1125 min

July 21, 2009

• Strawberry Panic Complete Collection LiteBox – 650 min
• Voltron: Defender of the Universe Set 8 – 400 min

July 28, 2009

• Voltron Fleet of Doom (The Movie) – 48 min

Nozomi Entertainment

• No releases this month

Right Stuf International, Inc.

• No releases this month

Sentai Filmworks (distributed by ADV Films)

• No releases this month

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

• No releases this month

Viz Media

July 7, 2009

• Bleach Box Set 3 (also w/Limited Edition Mask) – 500 min

July 14, 2009

• Bleach Vol. #18 – 100 min

July 21, 2009

• Naruto Box Set 15– 350 min

July 28, 2009

• Pokémon: Elements (Grass), Vol. 1 – 60 min
• Pokémon: Elements (Fire), Vol. 2 – 60 min
  

  Warner Home Video

  

  • No releases this month

If you’re a big fan of anime and have been keeping your finger on the pulse, you’ll probably have heard of the beautiful anime Junni Kokki, or Twelve Kingdoms. Unlike most anime, Twelve Kingdoms did not start as a manga, but rather was based on a series of fantasy novels by Fuyumi Ono, a prolific Japanese horror and fantasy writer. While the anime was wonderful – well animated and creatively directed, it was also partially incomplete, leaving a number of storylines unresolved.

However, watchers of Twelve Kingdoms will be glad to find their questions answered soon as Tokyopop, distributor, translator and publisher of many manga, has released translated versions of three of the Twelve Kingdoms light novels.

Sea of Shadow is the first of the three released novels and follows the story of Yoko Nakajima, an ordinary girl afraid of standing out from the crowd.

Yoko is kidnapped by a mysterious golden-haired young man named Keiki and his collection of strange beasts and mythical creatures. Yoko finds herself forcibly transported from her high school in Japan to the mystical world of the Twelve Kingdoms, but her travels are violently interrupted as she reaches the shores of the Kingdom of Kou. She is soon seperated from Keiki and left to fend for herself in an alien world ruled by immortal kings and magical beasts, plagued by demons and blessed by gods.

As she travels throughout the Twelve Kingdoms, Yoko also journeys to find her own abandoned identity. At the same time, Yoko must battle against the demons that continually attack her and discover the truth behind Keiki and his motives for transporting her to the Twelve Kingdoms.

Sea of Shadow is an incredibly fascinating tale that breaks the normal conventions of fantasy, not just because of its oriental background, but also because of the very alienness of the world of the Twelve Kingdoms. All normal physical rules do not apply to this world – babies grow inside fruits on magical trees and rain is caused by punctures in a magical floating sea in the sky. The story also has an expert weaving of interesting concepts such as the Divine Right of government and the relationship between a king and his or her country.

The novels differ from the anime in a number of areas. Firstly, characters like Asano and Sujimoto are conspicously absent as both characters were created by the directors of the Twelve Kingdoms anime to give the story a bit more screen value. Secondly, Yoko spends no time with a travelling troupe. Finally, a lot more emphasis is given to Yoko’s behaviour in both the world of the Twelve Kingdoms and her life back in Japan.

The translation is a little clunky. Where Japanese romanji could have come in handy, Tokyopop has decided to replace such transliterations with complex compund words, disturbing what could otherwise be a smooth rhythm of words. A particularly jarring example of this is the term “shitsudo” – an illness suffered by mythical beasts, translated as “the losing of the way”. The text is also commonly broken up by Chinese characters to emphasize the importance of names and writing in the world of the Twelve Kingdoms. While the Chinese characters would have meaning to Chinese or Japanese readers, the meanings would be lost to a Western audience unschooled in foreign languages.

While the translation of the novel could have been much better, these distractions from the rhythm of the text do not quite detract from the overall excellent quality of Fuyumi Ono’s fairy tale.

For more information about the Tokyopop translation of Twelve Kingdoms, you can visit Tokyopop’s Pop Fiction section at http://popfiction.tokyopop.com/. They also carry a number of other light novel titles like Scrapped Princess and Trinity Blood.

The Twelve Kingdoms [volume 1] The Sea of Shadow
by: Fuyumi Ono
published by: Tokyopop
summary: For high-schooler Yoko Nakajima, life has been fairly ordinary–that is until Keiki, a young man with golden hair, tells Yoko they must return to their kingdom. Once confronted by this mysterious being and whisked away to an unearthly realm, Yoko is left with only a magical sword; a gem; and a million questions about her destiny, the world she’s trapped in, and the world she desperately wants to return to. (from Tokyopop)

Ramblings:

Tokyopop actually did an alright job with this. Thank goodness, because when I heard these novels had been licensed, I was exceedinly excited!

I really wish I hadn’t waited for the paperback version and just gone ahead and bought the hardback version. If you have the choice, buy the hardback. It’s like $8-ish more (unless you buy it from Amazon), but it’s well worth it. (But I’ll talk more about the hardback ones with volumes 2 and 3). :]

At 462 pages, this isn’t exactly a light read, though it is still technically a light novel (apparently the Japanese version was originally 2 books and not just one).

Though it’s been a while since I last read this, from what I can remember, Tokyopop made quite a few errors that could have been fixed with simple editing. :/

Weirdest part of the novel: most of the novel where Yoko has this weird conscience monkey following her around… that and when Yoko’s mouse friend turned out to be a human… D: Can you say shipping though??? xD

Heute geht es mal um ein Thema, welches auf diesem Blog komischerweise sehr selten zu finden ist, obwohl es schon seit jeher ein großes Hobby von mir ist: Anime
In letzter Zeit hat dieses Hobby sogar einen noch viel größeren Platz in meinem Tagesablauf eingenommen; ich schaue wirklich einen Anime nach dem Anderen.
Und genau deswegen werde ich wohl eine neue Kategorie einfügen (genau, “Anime”), wobei ich dann immer einen Artikel zu jedem Anime schreiben werde, den ich gerade fertig geschaut habe.

Los geht es heute gleich mit einem Anime, der einiges zu bieten hat: 12 kingdoms.
Ich werde keinerlei spoilern, sondern nur erläutern, was mich an diesem Anime begeistert hat, und was nicht so berauschend war.
Bei 12 kingdoms fällt ein Punkt von den beiden schonmal fast komplett weg. Negatives ist nämlich sogut wie garnicht vorhanden. Ankreiden könnte man, dass es ein wenig Zeit braucht, um in Fahrt zu kommen. Es hat zwar einen genialen Anfang, aber danach wird es ein wenig unspannend. Dieses Tief hält aber auch nur maximal 5 Folgen an, und die Folgen danach sind dafür umso besser.
Ein ganz großes Plus an 12 kingdoms ist nämlich, dass es das beste Ende hat, dass ich jemals gesehen habe. Es gibt insgesamt 45 Folgen, aber das richtige Ende ist die 39te Folge. Das sage ich nicht nur so, dass scheinen auch die Macher so gedacht zu haben, denn hier laufen auch Credits usw. während der Folge ab. Die 6 Folgen danach sind vielmehr eine Nebenhandlung, um das Ende ein wenig klarer zu machen.
Diese 39. Folge ist wirklich godlike, denn hier fließt wirklich alles zusammen und kommt zu einem mehr als epischem Schluss.
Kennt ihr solche Momente beim Film oder Anime schauen, bei denen ihr einfach schreien wollt vor Freude? Genau das war ein solcher Moment für mich.

Gut, ich habe jetzt geschätzte Tausend Zeilen über das Ende gequatscht, aber trotzdem wisst ihr nichts vom Ende (außer dass es endsgeil ist) oder von der Handlung des Anime ansich.
Inhaltiliche Angaben zu geben ist aber auch nicht mein Ziel, sondern einfach, euch den Anime zu empfehlen. Er ist wegen dem einen Negativpunkt nicht mein Lieblingsanime (das ist und bleibt Death Note), aber der Zeichenstil, welcher wirklich schön ist, die Tiefe der Handlung, welche ich nichtmal ganz verstanden habe beim schauen, und vor allem das Ende bringen 12 kingdoms defintiv ganz weit nach oben in meinem alltime-ranking.
Es ist schwer zu erklären, warum er so gut ist. Die Story ist einfach mal komplett was Neues und bis zum Ende durchdachtes, was man so über 45 Folgen nur selten sieht. Meist gehen komplette Geschichten in Anime ja nur ungefähr 20 Folgen und sind dann Schluss, oder Anime bestehen aus ganz vielen kleinen Nebenhandlungen, die irgendwie zueinander zusammenfließen, der aber nichts mit dem Anfang zu tun hat, aber hier zielt wirklich jede einzelne Folge auf das (glorreiche ) Ende ab. Was an der Story auch noch genial ist, ist, dass die Charaktere nicht nach typischer Hollwood-Manier gestaltet sind, sondern hier stirbt auch einfach mal eine wichtige Person oder verschwindet anders aus der Welt, ohne das ein Spektakel darum gemacht wird. Die anderen Charaktere weinen kurz drum, aber eine ganze Folge handelt nicht von dem Tod dieser Person, wie es zum Beispiel in Naruto der Fall ist. So kommt es auch, dass man 5 Folgen schaut, und sich dann wundert, wieviel in nur fünf Folgen passieren kann. Die Handlungs-Dichte ist einfach unglaublich hoch.
Wem der letzte Absatz jetzt zu unverständlich war, weil ich wirklich ein wenig komisch geschrieben habe: Die Story und Hintergrundstory von dem Anime ist einfach nur genial -punkt-

Ich werde mir weitere Kommentare sparen und euch einfach sagen: Wenn ihr auch nur annähernd Freunde vom Anime-Schauen seid, dann downloadet euch gefälligst 12 kingdoms, sonst verpasst ihr was gewaltiges.

Einen Ratschlag muss ich euch aber noch vorher geben:
Wenn ihr sehr gut Englisch könnt, dann holt ihn euch wie immer auf Japanisch mit englischem Untertitel. Wenn ihr es aber weniger gut könnt, dann sucht ihn mit deutschem Untertitel. Ich würde mal behaupten, dass ich Englisch zumindest sehr gut verstehen kann, aber bei diesem Anime hatte selbst ich manchmal Probleme, alles zu kapieren. Die Fülle an Informationen ist einfach gewaltig groß, sodass ich glaube, dass man sie selbst auf Deutsch nur schwer komplett versteht.

Viel Spaß mit dem Anime
Sayônara

PS: Rakushun und Keiki sind einfach mit die geilsten Charaktere ever!
PPS: Vielleicht sollte ich mal eine Charakter-TopList machen?!

Few characters can impress me as much as the Rational Male Companion. These are the characters who are frequently well-acquainted with headstrong women, and though they may not have the guts or the power to rescue damsels in distress, they seek to provide understanding and kindness for the women they hold dear.

When Yoko finds herself stranded in the land of the Twelve Kingdoms, betrayed by everyone she ever trusted, It is the half-man/half-rat/non-ninja Rakushun who proves to her through his gentle and inquisitive nature that there are still good people in the world. Linn Jinto is not the brightest or the strongest man in the Abh empire, but his close friendship with Lafiel exhibits his sincerity and empathy, as well as his subdued sense of humor. Dominic Soleil does not even have the benefit of an entirely sane love interest, but his persistence and use of his own personal strengths (intelligence-gathering as opposed to Giant Robot Fighting) are indicative of his complete devotion to Anemone.

It really doesn’t have to do with the Rational Male as much as it has to do with the fact that he is someone’s Companion. They forge deep bonds with their friends and lovers, a bond tempered by the kind of self-confidence one can only find by being comfortable with oneself, accepting one’s own strengths and weaknesses.

The Twelve Kingdoms by Fuyumi Ono

Warning: Possible spoilers ahead.  No like, no read.

I’m sure we’ve all asked ourselves, what would I do if I were suddenly transported to another world?  What if I had no time to say goodbye?  And what if I couldn’t get back?

All these thoughts become reality for Yoko Nakajima, an ordinary student at a girls’ school in Japan.  Yanked to another world by a man named Keiki, she finds herself abandoned and utterly defenseless.  Stranded in the highlands of a foreign country, she has to find shelter, find out where in the universe she is – because she’s certainly not in Kansas anymore – and try to find help.  The only problem is that world-crossers aren’t exactly welcome on this planet – sometimes, in fact, they’re hunted down.  The question now isn’t finding civilization; it’s finding a civilization that will accept her.

Along the way, Yoko finds out that some things in this world are similar, and somethings are very, very strange.  The people are plagued by demons, and the social structure is very different from the one she is used to.  Her kind – those who crossed the Void Sea – are called kaikyaku, and they are both feared and revered.  Children are not born to their parents; at least, not like we think they are.  And she still has to find out why she was brought to this world in the first place.

Throughout her journies, Yoko struggles with the intricacies of human nature and her own personal morals.  For instance, she must decide when, if ever, to trust someone, and how much of her old life she is willing to abandon.

This book was well-written, enjoyable, and complex enough that it wasn’t a light read.  However, there is one big downfall which I must point out: its length.  This book is annoyingly long, and it abuses the high number of pages by taking forever to explain things.  I actually put it down at one point because I was so frustrated and lost.  Still, if you can push through the boring bits, the book is quite fun to read and very fascinating.  There were some perks, though, the most obvious being the pictures sprinkled throughout the book.  What, pictures in a novel?! Yes indeed.  They are beautiful full-page ink illustrations in the manga style, but detailed enough that they would probably never appear in a graphic novel.  Yoko looks exactly how I imagined her.

Possible objectionable content: death, violence, and a little bit of moral screwiness, along with a total lack of any religion.  Other than that, nothing.  12+ rating from me.

Jenni’s rating: 8.5 out of 10 butterscotch candies

Quotes – not that many!

• “Yes, I am a cat, and this is my claw.  And it is very, very sharp.” ~Yoko

Done as per request of CJ.  This review (and others) can be found on my blog.