 a hundred thoughts running around at the same time aren’t that easy to coalesce into something coherent.
I would say that Dark Horse is officially getting serious about manga, considering the fact that they have bought out Studio Proteus, the company that has been doing manga translations for them. This is a good thing, because Dark Horse is a big name in the comics industry, and the more serious they are about manga, the more likely that it will continue to rise in popularity in America.
It should also be noted that Dark Horse also publishes Hellsing in America, and will be publishing future volumes of Megatokyo, which is one of my two favorite web comics (along with Penny Arcade, of course).
already sold by retailers throughout the U.S., including major booksellers and mass merchants.
I’ve never been a big fan of Astro Boy, or many shows from that era for that matter, but I’ll have to admit, the Cine-Manga concept intrigues me somewhat. From what I gather, they take screenshots from the shows or movie, and intercut dialogue, so it’s essentially like some types of children’s books I remember as a kid. I don’t know if the story is condensed in these any, but knowing Tokyopop, they will likely be very high quality. Apparently, Tokyopop has done many other Cine-Manga titles, though most are of shows that I despise (Spongebob Squarepants, Kim Possible, Spy Kids, to name a few) but they did do one on Akira, so I may have to check that one out just to see how they pulled it off. This type of “manga” is undoubtedly marketed towards more of a mainstream audience than traditional manga is, but I still think it could be interesting if done properly, and if any company can, it’s Tokyopop.
The Right Stuf has announced that in April, they will be releasing a remastered version of the adult anime, I Dream of Mimi, which is also known as Buttopi CPU. It’s an odd series about a boy who unknowingly buys a robot girl computer that does everything he wanted in a computer, but she needs to be upgraded, and to upgrade her, he has to, well, you know. It’s hentai, use your imagination. Anyway, TSRI will be including a trailer, outtakes and an art gallery on the disc.
On August 10, Tokyopop will be releasing the first volumes of 6 new manga series in America. They are: Tramps Like Us (romantic comedy, drama), Abenobashi: Magical Shopping Arcade (parody), Warriors of Tao (sci-fi action adventure), Et Cetera (action adventure), Dream Saga (romantic fantasy), and Instant Teen: Nuts Like Us (romantic comedy).
Greetings. For the last few weeks I’ve been writing about anime that you, an anime fan, should know. This week, in celebration of St. Valentine’s Day, I offer a twist on things. First off, rather than discussing an anime you should know, I offer up an anime series that most people will never have heard of. Secondly, it’s not a romance, but one of the most violent anime series’ that I’ve ever seen. With that being said I give you….
Anime Towards the Future!
2003 saw many manga titles become anime. Mohiro Kitoh’s Narutaru was one of them. Originally it began as manga in 1998, and has seen American release in Dark Horse Comic’s Super Manga Blast! as well as trade paperback under the name Shadow Star. The series is short, complete in 13 episodes.
When I first saw the opening, I didn’t know what to think. I was reminded of another series I had found ULTRA MANIAC. With a title like that I expected blood, guts, and violence… instead I got cute witches in high school. Narutaru is the opposite though, happy pop-music intro, very serious anime.
The main character is a young girl named Shiina who discovers a creature… a dragon. Born from stars, these “dragons” have come to Earth and bonded with certain humans. Shiina and her dragon, Hoshimaru, meet other children with dragons in the course of the series.
Each of the supporting characters has some kind of problem. No one really thinks of themselves as evil, and we see this in Narutaru. A group of kids want to kill everyone on Earth except the strongest people and “start society over.” One teenager wants to leave him seed on the world. Oh yeah, and there’s a witch with a dragon broomstick.
The series deals with some very mature issues: teen suicide, pregnancy, death, mortality, right and wrong… you name it. This is one of the most serious and violent anime series’ ever. Not something to watch if you’re squeamish.
As for the anime itself, the animation style is very well done. The character design and presentation are beautiful. The music isn’t anything too special, but it is great as setting the correct mood for a the scenes. Overall, a decent production.
Well, I hope that you’ve enjoyed this glimpse at a recently new anime in Japan. Hopefully it will see American release sooner rather than later. To conclude, I’ve included a picture of a stuffed Hoshimaru that I made myself.
Eric knows wrestling. Eric also knows politics. If I were amongst the cool crowd, I would say that Eric is the “shizzy hizzle”, but since I’m not cool, I’ll say that he’s a great read for anyone who considers themselves a thinker in any way.
Hope this one is in sooner, Bryan. Which it should be! Bryan talks about Nintendo missing their lofty goals, Take-Two screwing up, and games becoming brands. Whatever happened to games being made because they were fun? Oh, already did that commentary.
Liquid asks some very good questions about the Nintendo DS. Do gamers need a second screen? Nope. Does Nintendo need a third console? Hell no, especially not one that will potentially eat into the profits of their best selling (the GBA) console. Time will tell if this thing is a good idea or not.
Alex is now a NORWEGIAN ATHLETE. And this week, the NORWEGIAN ATHLETE gives himself a new format, which is to say he’s going to do a recap week in addition to his DDR stuff. So read the NORWEGIAN ATHLETE or DIE!
It’s 30-28 in Alex’s top 30 RPGs countdown! This is really great stuff, so check it out. And regarding his question about Slayers 4, I couldn’t find any information, but I tend to think that they were just trying to find a catchy title for a song (it’s on a Slayers OST), and maybe to get people wondering. But I haven’t heard of anything else about it.
Cory talks about this Simmons guy that I’d never heard of before he talked about him before, and he also hits on the marriage of Marvel and EA, THQ, the Kasumi pillow, and the EA European football game.
Fred has a fever. And the only cure is Dr. Mario. And more cowbell.
I’m glad he picked a name for the column, because it makes my template happy. He talks about Miyamoto’s recent interview (including a nice dissection of the interview), Sega’s announcement to develop for the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP (then again, they develop for the Ngage, so they will officially develop for any platform known to man now), virtual pets (dammit, my wife has gotten hooked on these Pocket Neopets toys!), and a purty PS2 (that we Americans don’t get).
Chuck not only bashes NFL Street, but he also gives some loving to Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance 2. You know, I really need these games. I’ve heard nothing but good about anything using this engine. So I’ll probably get at least one of them (BG:DA2, Fallout, Champions of Norrath) sometime in the near future.
Hopefully, HOPEFULLY, I’ll finally get myself back on track. In the very near future, I’ll be able to build myself a nice computer so that I can’t use the “my wife was on the comp” excuse anymore. Hopefully, I won’t need to apologize for this being late anymore (especially to Chris and Widro, who have to deal with it more than anyone else). Keep your fingers crossed.
Everyone in Japan knows the alphabet and will be able to understand Japanese names and words written in romaji. It's common on street signs, train station displays, tickets, etc.

If your name is easy to pronounce in Japanese (Like "Anne" or "Linda," for example) people will probably be able to generally approximate the pronunciation. Most names, though, will be very hard for Japanese people to understand in native English pronunciation, especially if they have consecutive consonant sounds that don't exist in Japanese  like "Carly" or "Marvin." If you know someone Japanese, try asking them how they would write your name in katakana and that will give you an idea of how Japanese people will probably end up pronouncing it. It's common here for non-Japanese names to be pronounced very awkwardly just because of the nature of the Japanese language. It