Category Archives: News

Bakacast Episode 3 – Lucky Star Wars

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You can download the episode directly or subscribe using our RSS feed or the iTunes store.

For this episode, we talk about the legality (or lack thereof) of the Chris Handley case that’s been going on for two years now, followed by our thoughts on whether Nippon Ichi Software America’s venture into anime licensing will succeed. Then, in the review section, we trip out on Interstella 5555 and bravely don our flame-shields to give our mixed opinions on Lucky Star.

Regarding Chris Handley:

Regarding NIS America:

Regarding Lucky Star

Regarding the spring season:

Haruhi ranked 7th for opening weekend

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You like me with long hair eh?

The Disappearance of Haruhi was shown at a mere 24 screens, and 60,306 watched the movie this weekend. Reviews are still mixed but these numbers rank it 7th in showing for the weekend. So you say 7th? Why not first? Simply put anime movies don’t make into the top ten in their first weekend unless they are established franchises. This initial showing proves the fan base is still there. Here’s hoping once the reviews start coming in, the ‘endless 8’ fiasco will be forgotten.

Bakacast Episode 2 – Beating Like a Disco

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Click here for the direct download or subscribe to the RSS feed.

On this episode of Bakacast, we go from super-serious to super-goofy in the span of one LOST episode. First, we use this article on the Akihabara killer as a springboard to talk about…well…a lot of stuff. Then, we discuss Blu-Ray sales going up and what that might mean for our anime collections. Plus, the ASOS Brigade is back with a new voice actress for Haruhi. Finally, we wrap the show up with our finalized impressions on the Silent Mobius movies and a review of the Dirty Pair TV series. Be sure to watch the clean OP that Jon/Ryoko uploaded. It’s disco-riffic and perfectly encapsulates the style of the show.

Minori Chihara Sings For Haruhi Movie

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We are really getting close to the cinema showing date for the up and coming film The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya and the trickle of news items is starting to increase. Minori Chihara, the voice behind Yuki Nagato, has appeared in a six minute long video of her song Yasashii Bōkyaku. While I personally find the song a bit whiny, the video depicts the scenes in Tokyo upon which the Suzumiya series were based in and around. Examples include the hill rising towards the school, the entrance area, the old clubhouse, etc.

Also, in other news Bandai Entertainment has licensed the DVD’s of the second season of Haruhi for the USA. Unfortunately, this also means another dub into English; a waste of time and effort which I frown upon. How anyone can listen and then favour the English dub over the original (and superior) Japanese casting is beyond me.

–Via ANN

Japan Airlines files for bankruptcy

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JAL Bankruptcy

Itsuo Inouye / AP

After citing debts of approximately 2.3 trillion yen (@ 25 Billion U.S.D.). J.A.L. Asia’s largest airline filed for the Japanese version of a U.S. Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Tuesday morning J.S.T.(Japan Standard Time). Job cuts of more than 15,700 and discontinuation of 30 unprofitable routes are part of the deal struck with the Japanese government as part of the Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp of Japan (ETIC) take over of the company.

J.A.L.’s market value is reportedly less than the cost of a Boeing 747 ($150 Million U.S.D.) it’s reported that the shareholders will be wiped out and that lenders will forgive about 730 billion yen in debt.

This is the third time in the past ten years that the Japanese government has bailed out J.A.L however this time the current board is required to resign and the E.T.I.C. plans to take the company to profitability by 2013.

In this economic environment, I wish them well…

JAL’s Statement of Intent

MSNBC coverage

The Guardian UK coverage

Bakacast Episode 1 – Aliens Among Us

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This is the first “real” episode of Bakacast (the chronologically first episode was a proof of concept), a podcast hosted by Shamisen, Ryoko and myself. For this episode, we talk about alien designs in both Japanese and Western media, a point-and-click adventure game called The White Chamber and first Silent Mobius movie. Shownotes for this episode are after the break.

Click the image to download the podcast directly, or subscribe to our RSS feed here.

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Disappearance Sketches Appear…

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Okay, so we do not yet have a trailer for the up and coming film, The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya. Instead we have a newly released poster with some character sketches of the main characters in and around the SOS Brigade. Located in the margins, some lucky sod scanned the whole thing in high enough resolution for our viewing pleasure. See the sketches after the jump.

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