Questioned By Fandom For The Week Of March 21st, 2015

First, I want this to happen. Preferably as a movie, even if it’d be largely forgettable against all the other action movies out there these days. It could work as a decent TV series too if they riffed it as a kind of Fast/Furious show.

As for casting, keeping in mind actors can change hair color easily enough, I’d go with Ariel Winter as May, Liam McIntyre as Bean and Katrina Law as Rally.

And I would just sit there and drool over it. Because of the cars. Not because of the casting.

Not soon enough!

I love this show. It really needs a solid release with some love and attention. Especially since it needs to keep the fans buying it across its entire run, which is hard to do for a series of length.

This is one of those titles that’s really stuck in that mystery zone that we get every few years where there’s so many rumors and it’s such a popular title that it’s hard to comprehend why it hasn’t come out. Hell, we’ve had Japanese companies before talk about how show X is licensed and then nothing happens for years – and still hasn’t, and nobody cops to having the rights to it.

That’s a hard one for me to truly answer because I’m not reading light novels at the moment and I haven’t had time to read manga in ages; and even then I end up seeing the anime first and that colors perceptions.

They have a pretty good point in terms of their own background and experiences, and length of time in the industry, that cannot be discounted.

But there’s also generational aspects at play that color their views.

I liken it similar to the comic book industry in the US where we have a lot of creators of an older age that can’t abide by what it’s all like now. Some of it is very legitimate, others really comes across as the whole old man yells at clouds kind of thing.

Neither really. It points to the fact that OniAi is a niche title that didn’t have much of an audience. I’m still shocked that they licensed it in general as while they do play to that area from time to time with the brother/sister stuff, that one was a bit stronger than others.

That said, I admit that I enjoyed the show, its designs and its love of fanservice that was beautifully done. But it’s not a show that I think was going to go big or warranted a huge investment. I’m still hopeful that they’ll do other releases like that, but at this point I think they’re being smarter in investing in their Broadcast Dubs over attempting to do more subtitle shows.

I’m all about the Galaxy Rangers, my friend. That show just delights me every time I end up catching a glimpse of it or just thinking about it.

A lot of the toons from back then don’t hold up. I have very fond memories of the early GI Joe specials/movies and I watched a ton of stuff because that’s what Saturday Mornings used to be about. But most of it has fallen away from memory, particularly since they were just so strong in being extended toy commercials.

And yeah, I had a ton of toys. I was an 80’s kid in playing with all that stuff. and loved it. It all fueled my imagination in a huge way.

Not really. There’s plenty of competition out there, they’re getting properties out in a lot of markets and drawing in a lot of fans, new and old, and they’re expanding in ways that I don’t think even more anime fans would have believed possible before with the Broadcast Dubs initiative.

In the grand scheme of things, FUNimation is a small player in a big world of entertainment. They’re a big player in the domestic anime scene and they’re a driver of how things happen because of it. But it’s not an area where I think “too big” really comes into play, at least at the moment. I can’t see anything that they’re doing that makes the “too big” = “bad” angle that a lot like to play either. Not saying you’re saying that, but it’s often the comparison of the “big bad company.”

I talked a lot about this back when it happened, so you’ll find plenty of thoughts further back in the profile.

I still gotta go with Batman. Batman > everyone else.

Angel Cop because it’s just plain ridiculous on so many levels. And it’s always fun seeing the rage and anger it inspires.

I don’t have any big lists overall, though I think Highschool of the Dead is the top ranked one. I’d love to see Book of Bantorra get some attention (and the title might even draw some Airbender fans in). They could probably do a pretty fun movie event with Mardock Scramble that would fit in with the midnight hour as well.

Purchase a small island, disappear.

I’ve not seen Guardian Ninja Mamoru, so I don’t know what the connection is there between the two.

While I would be thrilled beyond words to get Higurashi and all its works licensed, I really feel like those are a lost cause for quite some time unless something truly radical happens to make it feasible. The original series just did not do well, coming out amid the bust, the economy and the single disc format. I’d love to see someone take a chance with it, but business is a mix of risk and maximizing returns. Higurashi feels like a giant warning label is on it.

I definitely like both, and I really can’t say I prefer one over the other. I don’t see Discotek Media titles to begin with (they don’t send us review materials), and I’m not a dub watcher/listener myself for the most part. But I’m thrilled to see both of those aspects getting a lot more attention, as it likely helps the company a lot and it makes the fans even stronger supporters when their favorite titles get the love.

There is no right tone. Though I watched the show as a kid and had the toys, I can’t imagine this property working in live action form and having anything necessary to have the right tone for what it’s based on. I haven’t looked at the newer and more serious comics out there about it so I don’t know if those offer a way, but for me the entire potential idea of a live action film strikes me just as awful as the mario brothers live action film years ago.

I’m glad they exist. I get that some fans dislike them because of the packaging or that in some cases it cuts off other routes (though I think this is easing a bit), but for the bulk of casual fans, they’re a huge boon in making a lot of shows affordably accessible and building up a good collection without breaking the bank.

Some may go too quickly to that route for some fans tastes, mostly because it means they didn’t sell well and are trying to recoup some of the costs, but most are titles that have been around an age and are getting another lease on life for the next tier of purchasing consumers.

And we need purchasing consumers.

I grew up with cel animation and have a real love for it. With a lot of it, and especially TV anime, there’s a certain warmth to it that just speaks to me that I can’t get from what’s done today. What’s done to day has a greater vibrancy to it and fluidity that is hard to match, and I adore the color palette that’s now available. But the cel animation side just has something about it that clicks with me more.

I do wish we’d get more, but that’s simply a lost art for the most part in this very commercial enterprise.

Both result in a lot of splatter, so it’s more just a matter of what aesthetic you desire at the time. I’d probably prefer the headshot since you can have a bit more distance.

As long as I’m not on Krypton when it blows, I’ll take Kryptonian. There’s a fair share more abilities in general and a longer lifespan as well. Plus I’m just wary of the way the DBZ universe is so weirdly dangerous.

We’re starting to see it a bit more here, but when companies do things like this, they have to charge more for it. Especially with printing books and the like as it’s pretty damn expensive per unit. The problem is that once companies do more of it, people complain more and sales start to drop on titles. It’s a double edged sword that tends to stab said releasing company more than anyone else.

Haikyuu’s just worse off because sports simply doesn’t sell here. I’m just thrilled we’re getting it in HD.

Black Bullet has not been announced for release yet, so we don’t know what it’s getting. I’m guessing that will be a bilingual dual format release though.

Yuki Yuna is set for a Tuesday release in April and a Wednesday release in June.

Denki Gai has its first release on a Tuesday and its second on a Sunday.

What we traditionally see out of Japan is that a company sets its release on DAY X each month and releases it consistently from there. So if a series starts on January 25th, it’s released on the 25th each month for however many volumes it runs.

Which is to say, well, that’s Japan.

And Pony Canyon seems to be applying their methods here in general, so it’s not a surprise. Whether it holds is another story. But since they’re working with a limited number of retailers, it probably doesn’t have a huge impact, though it can muck up shipments for customers if they’re waiting for it since orders may be tied to other releases.

So order knowingly.

It’d have to be Sentai to initiate it for the most part.