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Ms. Answerman
The Island

by Rebecca Bundy,



Yes, it's that time when the newest shows are airing on Japanese TV. I should have more next time as well once I get around to watching them.

Koi Koi Seven
Let's go over the first five minutes of the first episode.
1. Two helicopters, manned by horribly designed and generic girls, chase two other girls of equally horrible design as they outride the helicopters on a bicycle.
2. Girl on bicycle pulls out a rocket launcher from uh...some magical place hidden in the back of her shirt. She fires and hits one helicopter, then (showing off her ET powers) gets the bike to fly so she can shove a lightsaber (which also came from that same magical spot) into the second helicopter.
3. Male protagonist arrives at school and realizes that he's the only guy at an all-girls school. Helicopters crash and the wind blows up all the skirts of all the girls and shows off an assortment of colored panties.
4. Hideously oversized limo nearly runs over our male protagonist, who is saved by a flying pink-haired girl who looks like she's drooling every time she smiles and insists on using ‘desu’ to end every sentence.
Needless to say, this was a painful show that should be reserved for the worst of enemies.

SHUFFLE!
For once, a show that focuses on the fact that guys and girls are both equally shallow! It takes a bit for this series to actually get to the story (boy can become head of demons or gods, depending on which daughter he wants to marry), but the really beautiful animation (though somewhat generic character designs) makes up for the wait. It's hard to tell yet if this series is a keeper though. I see potential for it becoming a very dark series, but it's just as likely to go nowhere and instead focus on how everyone wants to shag the two daughters except for the guy who they want to marry.



G'Day Answerman,
I just found out today that Manga Video is going to release an unrated special edition of "Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence" on July 12th. Can you please look into this for me and find out what new scenes, as well as supplemental material, will be available on it? Thanks for getting back to me on this issue.
Elak Swindell

We're a little confused about this question, are you talking about the Music Video Anthology that Bandai Entertainment is releasing on July 11, the Ghost in the Shell (not Innocense) UMD that Manga Entertainment is releasing on August 23rd, the Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence DVD that Manga Entertainment UK is releasing February 1st, 2006 or the Ghost in the Shell Special Edition DVD that Manga Entertainment released in January?

Here are 4 answers just for you:

Case 1: Contrary to what you might be thinking, this new release doesn't include any new material or really expand on the movie in any way. What you'll be buying, if you decide to shell out the $25-$35 depending on which version you get, is a shortened version of the movie that's been divided into seven music videos, each set to music from the movie's soundtrack. It might not sound like much, but the Innocence Music Anthology basically takes the best things of the movie (namely the visuals and music) without having to deal with some of its weaker aspects. For $35 bucks you can buy the special edition and also get a CD with the entire soundtrack on it. There's also two ‘bonus’ features, but they're basically two additional music videos.
Just in case anyone bothers to look at the images provided for this special release, it does NOT come in a tin case. It might look like it in the picture, but it's not.

Case 2: The August 23rd release from Manga Entertainment is actually a UMD (Universal Media Disc) for the PlayStationPortable. And it's the original Ghost in the Shell movie from the 90s.

Case 3: Yes, Manga Entertainment UK's release of Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence will include one very special "extra" that was not made available in North America; an English dub. But our information suggests that this isn't coming out till 2006.

Case 4: Manga Entertainment's release of Ghost in the Shell - Special Edition included a host of new extras that you can read about here.

Sorry if none of those cover what you were thinking of.



Hi hi Ms. Answerman,
I'm a huge GTO fan, especially the manga. So at the beginning of the year, August was supposed to be the month when the final GTO volume would be released. So to my surprise, I saw the last volume out at my local Borders. The release date on Tokyopop's website still says 08.09.05 for the final volume. Any reason why it was out at Borders almost a month earlier? This isn't the first time. I've found volumes at Kinokuniya Bookstore in Japantown a couple of days before the supposed release date. Seems like those dates aren't set in stone, which I don't mind. So what happened? Things finish ahead of schedule, so they provide an earlier release? Or are those dates on the website a ploy to keep us waiting and surprise us? Just wondering ...
Thanks for your hardwork.
Eric

It's a little strange to see a title a whole month before its release date, but it's not unheard of. Titles are generally shipped ahead of time and the boxes are marked with when they're supposed to be opened, but it's rare for all stores to always wait until that marked date. A really good example of this is Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Even though it was made very clear that lawsuits would be brought up against any store that put the books out early, a few still managed to slip into buyers hands because the stores/employees ignored the dates on the boxes.
For the less popular titles that make up 99.99% of the books out there, putting a book on the shelf early is not an unusual sight. Employees want to get the work done faster and in one large clump, so they put things out a few days to a week early so that the work is done. For the title to show up a month in advance, it's possible that Tokyopop had everything ready and shipped it out early so that they also wouldn't have to deal with it later.



Hello. I was reading some info on Real Bout Highschool and saw that the main character is a student to learn the " Hiten Mitsurugi " sword Technique. I know thats also what Himura Kenshin uses. I cannot remember what " Hiten Mitsurugi " translates to in english. I wanted to know if this is some weird coincidence or one creator used the others idea.
Thank you for your time.

Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu is a fictional sword technique that was based on Kawakami Genzai's ability to kill a man with one swing (though in truth the idea of “putting everything into the first strike” is a pretty popular idea in various forms of martial arts). For Real Bout High School, the “Hiten Mitsurugi” is a bit different since it lacks the Ryuu but I'm not sure if it was borrowed from Kenshin or if it was just a coincidental merger between the Hiten Shrine and Ryoko Mitsurugi.
As for a translation, it's actually hard to translate and would be something like “Soaring Heaven's Honorable Sword”. Both the anime and the manga leave the original Japanese in so there isn't an official translation as far as I know.


Ms. Answerman,
I was checking out the encyclopedia in your site and I noticed that under Ah! My Goddess TV you put the such and such date to season 1 under vintage. My question is...When did TBS, the production company responsible for Ah! My Goddess TV, say that there is a second season? I checked the ratings for week 2 to 5....and it was pretty high for a late show anime. I know Hiroaki Ghoda said that if the ratings were good, they would continue. However, isn't it too early to assume that they are already in plans of making season 2? This questions my purchase of this series since there are other series that I would like to purchase in the future (Boys Be…, To Heart, Cowboy Bebop Remix, Card Captor Sakura clow boxsets..etc etc...).

The number 1, as lonely as he is since there's only one of him, is oftentimes assumed to be pretty popular since many believe he can not exist without the number 2. This is especially true when the word Season precedes him, which many companies use when correctly labeling a first season “Season 1”.
This does not mean that there is a second season or that someone assumes there will be! Could you imagine if companies started labeling it “Season 1 and Only” or “Just One Season Here Folks”? When someone labels something as “Season 1”, it means that it is the first season. There are no guarantees that future seasons are planned or that a company is jumping the gun; only that one season exists.



I'm sorry for my english but I'm italian ^^
However I wanted give a council to you: why you do not write the Italian characteristics for every manga and annime? You have put the Japanese and English characteristics and could put them also Italian not?

AnimeNewsNetwork is an English site dedicated to Japanese anime/manga/etc, so it makes sense that our Encyclopedia would have both the Japanese titles and the English titles (either official translations or basic translations if an official one doesn't exist). If a title is being released in other languages with other titles, those titles can also be submitted and added to the Encyclopedia. We can't, however, include translations in all languages for all titles since it would really clutter up the pages. If a particular title is officially released and translated into Italian with a different name, feel free to scroll down to the “Contribution” section on the page and select the “Alternative title” option. You can submit the Italian title there.


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