Tag Archives: ANN

Thar She Blows: One Manga Signs Off

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Well, it has finally happened. One Manga, one of the biggest scanlation hoarding websites on the internet today, is closing up shop at the end of this week due to ‘publishers recently changing their stance on scanlations’. It was only a matter of time before the popular website submitted to pressure from the multi-national manga anti-piracy coalition, which aims to reduce the huge amount of manga piracy on the internet. Indeed, the scalp of One Manga will be a big victory for the coalition as, according to ANN, One Manga was ranked #935 on Google’s 1000 most visited websites on the ‘net. This is quite a staggering thought; to think that a website that relies on such blatant piracy could rise to become one of Google’s top 1000. No wonder it had to go.

Do you visit One Manga frequently? I know I did, yet as I said in my previous article, and I say again now: lets pull our fingers out and start supporting the industry we love. Consider the death of One Manga the final wake up call.

The Four Laws of Moe

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Is this moe's true form?

This is a refined and expanded version of an editorial I originally wrote for Japanator. The original can be found here.

It seems one of the biggest problems in the ongoing moe debate is the lack of any concrete definition for the term “moe.” This has lead to all sorts of argument among otaku; some believe the term can be applied to any female character the viewer considers cute, while others argue it should be strictly limited to its original Japanese definition. Personally, I think the truth lies in between these two extremes. After all, language is defined by its usage, not by the opinions of a few crazed fanboys or some dusty old dictionary. Therefore, based on my own observations and research, I have created the Four Laws of Moe. I believe these laws lay out, in clear and concise detail, the exact parameters of moe and what traits a character must exhibit in order to be considered as such. Of course, these laws are merely a reflection of my own opinion; feel free to improve upon them, argue against them or even construct your own alternative theory. Whatever the case, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below.

Read more after the break!

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Crunchyroll on the Road to Profitability

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Earlier yesterday, ANN reported that Crunchyroll—the formerly illicit streaming anime site that went legit in January of 2009—broke even in May. This is huge news for advocates of on-demand and simulcasted anime like myself. It proves that Crunchyroll’s strategy can work, which hopefully means Japanese companies will be less hesitant to put their stuff online.

To put this in perspective, the enormously popular YouTube has yet to turn a profit, though this is likely because the service was largely ad-free for quite a while. Crunchyroll, on the other hand, supports itself by charging subscription fees for instant access to their newest shows and—for non-subscribers—including commercial breaks in their videos. It would be interesting to see what percentage of their revenue comes from each source, though it’s highly unlikely Crunchyroll will ever release that kind of information.

Whatever the monetary breakdown, Funimation and the Anime Network are probably feeling much better about the chances of their own streaming services. And if they succeed, us fans may finally get decent, legal alternatives to DVDs.

K-ON! is licensed by Bandai

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Are they laughing with Bandai… or at them?

I’m still in shock.

Despite their financial woes, Bandai Entertainment has just announced at Anime Expo that they’ve acquired the rights to K-ON!‘s first season. There’s no word yet if it will be dubbed or released on Blu-ray. Bandai also announced a series of live-action K-ON! marketing videos similar to the ASOS Brigade series for Haruhi. For these, they’ve cast Christina Vee as Mio, Karri Shirou as Yui, “Kix” as Tsumugi and “Briana” as Ritsu.

Hang on a second… Christina Vee as MIO? She’s got a great singing voice, but their personalities couldn’t be more different. This is going to be most interesting…

I think it’s likely that Bandai will give K-ON! a dub, probably recycling many of the cast members from the Haruhi and Lucky Star dubs. However, in my opinion, their English version of “God Knows” was ear-splittingly painful, especially when compared to the original Japanese song. Given how music-oriented K-ON! is, I’m hoping they can track down some voice actors who can actually sing. Of course, I’d also be perfectly happy with a sub-only release.

Oh, and Bandai? If you try to pull the same “no Japanese audio track” crap that you did with Kurokami, I’m not buying it. Period.

[Via ANN]

Railgun OVA Announced!

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Mai waifu!

Those of you who have been reading this site for a while know that I’m a huge fan of A Certain Scientific Railgun, as well as its leading lady Mikoto Misaka. I’ve been hoping for more Railgun ever since the first season ended, and now it looks like I’m getting my wish! Hooray!

The latest preview issue of the Railgun manga included an advertisement for a new OVA, which will be released on October 29th. More details about this OVA will be revealed in the upcoming August edition of Dengeki Daioh, which according to ANN ships on Saturday. This announcement is apparently unrelated to the “Certain Beach Video Extra” filler episode that’s bundled with the upcoming Railgun Official Visual Book, due for release this Thursday.

Hopefully this new OVA will adapt more of the manga’s storyline instead of giving us more of that pointless filler that plagued the first season. Ah, who am I kidding… I’ll just be happy to see my waifu Mikoto again.

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Manga Aggregators: I Turn My Back

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I-It's not that I like you or anything, MangaHelpers! Geez!

In recent weeks there have been numerous articles all over the interweb explaining the coming demise of manga aggregator websites.  All the big hitters in manga publishing have formed a “multi-national manga anti-piracy coalition“, aiming to stem the flow of un-authorised content distribution through popular websites such as MangaHelpers, One Manga, Mangafox etc. These websites became popular with readers because of how easily they could tap into the scanlations available online, display them all together on one webpage, and as a bonus the owners could charge some ad revenue as well. Now, MangaHelpers is the latest of websites to take the cue and jump ship after threats from the anti piracy coalition to threaten offending websites with legal action. More after the jump.

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Haruhi’s One Night Stand In LA

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One night. One place. 300 people, some of whom WILL be cross dressers. Sound exciting? Yes, our favorite brigade leader will be in Los Angeles on the 24th of June, starring on the big screen for one night only. The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, the recent feature length film from Kyoto-animation and Kadokawa, will be making a short and un-dubbed debut in the Laemmel Sunset 5 cinema in L.A.

Thats fantastic for the people in L.A, but what about the rest of us? Sure there some of us are closer to the west coast then others (*glares* @ Ritsu), but I am in a completely different country, let alone hemisphere. Where is that DVD release, Kadokawa? Hmm?

For those of you who are lucky enough to grab some tickets, be sure to drop us a line or something. It would be interesting to hear what sitting through a movie will be like whilst in the seat next to you there is a 6’5″ man dressed as a Japanese school girl.

–Via ANN

Past Masters: Project A-ko

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Did you know that without Project A-ko, anime as we know it would not exist?

Okay, so maybe that’s a slight exaggeration. Still, Project A-ko was hugely influential on the 80s-era American anime fandom. It was one of the first non-artsy anime to be successfully imported to the States without being ripped to shreds à la Robotech; therefore, it fulfilled the role of gateway drug for many aspiring young otaku, introducing them to anime and launching their lifelong obsession with Japan that would eventually mutate into the modern monstrosity known as otaku culture. So, next time you’re glomped by a middle-aged 300-pound man dressed as Sailor Moon at a con, you can shake your fist at the sky and angrily scream, “PROJECT A-KO!”

But what’s the history behind this oh-so-important anime? Keep reading past the break to find out!

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Kyoani’s Next Project is Nichijou

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Kyoto Animation, the masters of all things moe, have announced their next project: an animated adaptation of Keiichi Arawi’s gag manga Nichijou.

Cover of Nichijou volume 1

Yeah, I’ve never heard of it either. Apparently it’s something of a mix between Azumanga Diaoh and Cromartie High School, featuring moeblob characters, slapstick comedy and random bouts of deer wrestling. Sounds like this series is right up Kyoani’s alley.

The announcement in Shonen Ace.

Could this be the next Lucky Star?

[Via ANN]

Bandai licenses Haruhi-chan and Churuya-san

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Christina Vee and the ASOS Brigade have just announced a new Haruhi license by Bandai.

Wow, the acting in that was worse than usual. Could you tell they were reading from cue cards?

Anyhoo, it seems we’ll be getting Haruhi-chan and Churuya-san on DVD starting this summer, complete with a Bang Zoom dub using the same voice actors as the main Haruhi series. Of course, if you can’t wait that long for your next hit of Haruhi, you can always head on over to Crunchyroll and watch both shows for free.

[Via ANN]