Ms. Answerman
The Stage of History
by Rebecca Bundy,
One reader wrote in and asked what my favorite anime and manga series
were. Most of the titles are popular and common, or in the case of the manga
list, being released with translations. Some of you might look through the manga
list, however, and run across a title that you've never heard before.
What exactly is Peacemaker?
Peacemaker was created by Kurono Nanae back in 1999 and is still being published
monthly in Comic Blade. This series has two parts: Shinsengumi Imon Peacemaker
(which ran for six volumes) and Peacemaker Kurogane (three volumes, with more
to come). Like Rurouni Kenshin, Peacemaker is based on actual events from Japanese
history and use real people as the characters for its story. In Kenshin, we
only get a small taste of who and what the Shinsengumi were, either through
flashbacks or through Saitou Hajime's presence. In Peacemaker, the focus
is completely on the Shinsengumi and their interactions with their newest member,
the 15 year old Ichimura Tetsunosuke, who's seeking revenge against the
man who killed his parents. Though this is the basic premise for the series,
every character brings their own history and challenges into the plot, creating
a story that fluctuates between quiet philosophical conversation, goofy interactions,
and violent scenes that test the physical and psychological strength of every
character involved.
For history buffs, you'll find that Peacemaker remains true to historical
events such as the infamous incident at the Ikeda inn which made the Shinsengumi
legendary and the tests that were given before someone was accepted into their
ranks. All of the higher members of the Shinsengumi are there, with emphasis
put on Okita Souji (captain of the first troop) and Hijikata Toshizou (Vice
Captain).
If you're not a fan of manga or can't read Japanese, fear not! An
anime based on this series is on the way, so anime and manga fans alike will
be able to enjoy this incredible series. On this wonderful note, it's
time to answer some questions!
I was planning on buying some of the Inuyasha DVDs, but i was wondering if there was a Box set coming out soon. If there is, I'll just wait and save my money, but if there isn't, I'll but the DVDs now. Thanks!
Actually, you're in luck! Viz is now releasing the series in sets of three DVDs at a time, for a retail price of 49.99; chances are, if you shop at Best Buy, they'll have it marked down to 44.99 or so. The first one is due out December 9th, and should come with a spiffy limited edition art box. This is a much better way to buy the series than the individual discs.
Dear Answerperson,
Why is it that big anime companies license a lot of series to fill up their back catalog, but never release them until they have had the rights for a long time? Also, how come a lot of ADV's early DVD releases (Like Panzer Dragoon or Tekken) and some of their releases dubbed by Streamline only have the English dub and nothing else? I can't really figure that out.
- Rex the 3rd
Companies will buy the rights to a series that they want to release.
If there are a number of shows that they want, they'll license them all
so that other companies cannot buy them. I can promise you that they are not
licensing those series and then ignoring them. Sometimes there's not enough
time or manpower to take care of every title, so certain titles ‘fill
up their back catalog’. Other times problems come up with a certain show,
causing delays until the problems can be fixed. There's always a reason
why companies chose to wait before releasing certain series.
As for your second question, earlier DVD releases only had the dub because dubs
sold better than subs. Subtitled VHS sales were extremely low and many companies
stopped releasing them because the majority of the consumers wanted their anime
in English. Since there was little demand for subbed anime (specifically, ADV
estimated that there would be zero demand for a subtitled version of Tekken
or Dragoon; as such, I think this is the first time I've heard anyone
complain about either of those titles), companies decided not to include them
on the DVDs. In the case of the Streamline titles, they're simply taking what's already been released, converting it to DVD and then putting it out there. Since most of these titles (Doomed Megalopolis, anyone?) have very little modern consumer appeal, it isn't really worth it to someone like ADV to put the time and money into securing the rights to the Japanese audio track and paying someone to translate and subtitle it. More recently there has been a demand (thankfully) for both.
Hello Ms. Answerman. I'm not sure if this question has been asked before or not but here goes. I am in the process of buying the Love Hina and GTO manga collections. I'm also wanting to buy the Berserk manga. My question is: are the US/English versions edited for content (not language differences). This question goes for not just these titles but all manga. The reason I ask is because I recently found out that the new Ghost In The Shell 2 comic/manga (US/English) is heavily edited. I prefer to buy things that are uncut as much as possible. Thanx.
A loyal reader - Swdfsh
That's the biggest question/concern on the mind of every Berserk fan. Considering the uncut (to my knowledge) and harsh nature of Battle Royale, I'd say that there's a good chance that Berserk will be uncut as well. There's a chance that the language might be toned down, but this will probably be due to translation/language differences (should I even mention how many ways I've seen ‘teme’ and ‘kisama’ translated?). Series are edited to either accommodate a younger audience or incorporate a broader age/gender range. With this in mind, if Dark Horse wants Berserk to include anyone under the age of 18, they'll probably have to cut some things out in the later issues (nudity, rape, anything that includes Gatts when he's gone berserk, etc).
Sorry
if you've answered this question before... I just wanted to know what your personal
favorite anime and manga were. I can get some inkling from the kinds of answers
you give to certain questions, but I'm just sorta curious....Ryuko
This is a long one, so I've decided to list them off. This list
also includes a mix of licensed and non-licensed works.
Anime: Berserk, Matantei Loki Ragnarok, Inu Yasha, Rurouni Kenshin, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Juuni Kokki, Hikaru no Go, Naruto, Wolf's Rain, Yami no Matsuei, Escaflowne, and Sailor Moon (not SuperS though).
Manga: Berserk, Peacemaker, Matantei Loki (Ragnarok), Hellsing, Naruto, Yami no Matsuei, God Child,
Ms. Answerman,
After doing a search and a relatively well-done scanning of the results, I would feel very bad if I discovered this question had already been answered.
If such is the case, I apologize, because I would so hate to take up space for more worthy questions. But I'll ask anyway, on risk of feeling idiotic: While doing a web search recently, I stumbled across a Q. and A. site. I skimmed through it, and one of the questions I happened to look at had one
of the answerers (for lack of a proper word) mentioning a 27th episode of Cowboy Bebop titled "Collection Blues." I had never heard of this, so of course I quickly did a search on it to see if someone was making it up. My evidence is still inconclusive. I found reference to it on two separate
forums, one stating that it was a recap episode of the first 26 episodes that never made it to the U.S. I also found it mentioned on a site for downloading, which was unfortunately in French, and it wasn't available for download in any way that I could see. So I was wondering if you, Ms. Answerman, in all your question and answering glory, could clear this rumor up for me. Does "Collection Blues" exist? And if so, what exactly is it?
Sincerely,
Wings
You probably had trouble finding information on this series because ‘Collection Blues’ is a translated title. The 27th episode of Cowboy Bebop is called Session XX: Yoseatsume Blues (I've also seen this translated as Mish-Mash Blues). Session XX is a recap episode that was originally supposed to follow the ‘end’ of the series at episode 13, but because the series went longer it was pushed back until after the 26th. The episode is narrated by the characters and they spend the episode talking about their experiences and personality quirks. This is a great episode for all the die-hard Bebop fans, but for everyone else it'll probably be another boring recap episode.
Hi,
I just finished watching Fooly Cooly on Cartoon Network and I absolutely loved it. I'm tempted to buy the dvds now but I was wondering if there's a boxset available instead of the 3 separate videos. If not - any plans to put one out?
Thanks!!
Synch-Point has stated that there are no plans as of yet to release a boxset. There IS a limited edition volume 3 that comes in a box to hold all three disks, but only 10,000 of them were released. If you didn't buy one at any of the summer conventions, you'll probably have trouble finding it (for the record, I've seen it at Gamestop quite a bit, for 29.99).
Answerman
how's it going? I'm a big fan of all the Tenchi series and just finished up
watching Love Hina and loved it. I was just wondering if there is any more Love Hina out there? Besides the movies.
Thanks Jay
Unfortunately there is more out there. Tokyopop will release the final volume (#14) in September, and the OVA Love Hina Again is slotted for a September release as well. If you don't own the movies/specials, hold out until November and buy the boxset which includes the OVA and the specials.
Hello, I'm a big fan of the Crest/banner of the stars series. I know
the stories come from a group of novels in Japan, and I'm wondering if
there are any translated versions of these novels.
Thank you
Seikai no Monshou (Crest of the Stars) was written by Morioka Hiroyuki and spans
six novels. There aren't any official translations, but check out http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Shrine/4777/Seikai/seikai.html
for a nice summary of the novels as well as everything else related to Seikai.
hi there, ms. answerman. hope you are feeling better these days. ive become a big fan these days of the series " tenshi na konamaki"(a cheeky
angel).ive watched it up to episode 16. what i want to know is: is there a strong possibility that this show will become licensed for the north
american market. megumi hayashibara"s performance as megu-chan is her strongest in years and should be heard by her many fans here in the good
ol" u.s.a.br> thanx for your time.
dana moore
Jesus, don't you people know what a shift key is? -ed<
It's possible that Tenshi na Konamaki will be licensed, especially since other cross-gender shows (I, My, Me – Strawberry Eggs, Ranma ½) have already found their way over here. The story focuses on Megumi-chan, a beautiful girl who was a boy before he ran across a book that granted him a single wish... only to twist that wish around! As for Hayashibara Megumi, people might not know her name but I doubt there's a single anime fan out there who hasn't heard her voice before. A few of her more popular roles include female Ranma, Lime, Lina Inverse, and Faye Valentine.
Oh Goddess of anime knowledge, please answer my
questions!!
First, have any manga by Kaori Yuki (Angel Sanctuary Manga-ka) been licensed,
or is there any hope of them being licensed? Second, has Yami no Matsuei been
licensed. I think the TV series got licensed, but I like the manga better. And
finally, can you suggest some Manga for me? I've been reading Clamp alot lately,
but I also like Ranma 1/2, some Kaori Yuki stuff, R.O.D. things like that.
Anyway thanks a million!!
Unfortunately, none of Kaori Yuki's works have been licensed.
Yami no Matsuei also remains unclaimed, but all of these series have a chance
at being licensed in the near future. Zac is a huge fan of Yuki's, and
I love reading God Child and Yami, so expect some cheering from us when any
of these series are licensed.
Since you're familiar with Yuki's work and the Yami manga, I'll
assume you can read (or at least follow the beautiful artwork and attempt to
read) Japanese. Going off of this, Zac recommends Seimaden and Dramatic Irony
for the Yuki fans, and I'd suggest God Child if you haven't read
it already. If you'd prefer series that are being published in English,
check out Blade of the Immortal, Petshop of Horrors, and Berserk once it hits
the shelves.
this article has been modified since it was originally posted; see change history