AniMatsuri Issue #1 Release Date: 8/29/90 --------------------------A n i M a t s u r i--------------------------- Welcome! This is the first issue of the GEnie Anime RTŐs newsletter. We call it AniMatsuri, meaning anime festival. The focus of this newsletter is to cater to the interests of all anime fans--from dai-fans ("big" fans) to those who are just starting to get interested. We will have reviews of movies and OVAs as well as CD soundtracks. We will have manga translations and synopses. We will also have a beginners section to explain the mysteries of the anime world. Hope you enjoy the issue! This newsletter will be published sporadically (whenever we get enough material) and is always looking for contributing writers. If you are interested in writing, contact me through GEnie mail, on the Anime RTŐs BBS (type JAPAN at GEnie prompt), or during a real time conference (every Wednesday 10:30 PM EST--also located in the Anime RT). Philip Wong -----STAFF-------------------------------------------------------------- Editor: Philip Wong [P.WONG4] Asst. Editor: Richard Copeland [R.COPELAND] Writers: Richard Copeland [R.COPELAND] Wendell Hong [W.HONG] 2tom [H.TSUTOMU] Philip Wong [P.WONG4] Hitoshi Doi Wilson Ouyang Ajay Choudhri -----Introduction------------------------------------------------------- If you are a newcomer to the world of Japanese animation fandom you will notice a lot of unfamiliar terms floating around the Japanimation Mini RT Bulletin Board here on GEnie. In this first column (of what I hope to be many!) I will define for you as best I can some of the more common terms used by Japanese animation fans here in the U.S. ANIME: How the Japanese pronounce and spell the word 'animation'. Thus, this term is used by fans to refer to anything related to this type of animation. Items may also include, books, toys & posters and other things from shows like Dirty Pair, Gundam, Urusei Yatsura, Macross, and Nausicaa just to name a few. ANIMATSURI: Means "Animation Festival", which is why we chose this name for our publication. BGM Album: Stands for Back Ground Music. Many anime shows have great music soundtracks and these soundtracks usually end up on albums (CD's, Tapes, Records) just like we do here in the U.S. for movies. IMAGE ALBUM: Pre-production music, often very good but didn't make it to the actual feature itself. [Ed. note]: not necessarily pre-production--this album is something that will remind (bring up an image) you of a certain movie/ova. The 'flavor' of the music will be Megazone 23, for example. SYMPHONIC ALBUM: An anime show's soundtrack played by an orchestra. D.J. Album: The characters from an anime show act as D.J.s playing songs from the show and other things. DRAMATIC ALBUM: An anime album with a show done with the voice actors of the featured anime show. MANGA: The Japanese term for comics and so used by fans to refer to comics made in Japan. MECHA: The machines that appear in an anime show. OAV or OVA: Either way spelled it stands for Original Animation Video. These are shows produced just for video tape or laser disk to be sold in stores. I like the spelling as 'OAV' myself. ROBOTECH: A very controversial show. Some feel it should never have been done. Since what Harmony Gold did was take 3 unrelated shows (rumor has it they were trying for 4) and combined them into one story to be sold for weekday syndication. In effect also ignoring many of the fine points of each show and sometimes changing character personalities altogether. Just mention the show to a bunch of hard core anime fans and see what kind of reaction you get. JAPANIMATION or JAPANIME: Term used only by fans in the U.S. to refer to Japanese animation. GARAGE KITS: Plastic model kits of characters from anime shows or manga strips. In coming issues of AniMatsuri I will discuss other things a newcomer should know. By the way, if I missed any terms, sorry! Send questions, comments, suggestions, additions, corrections, and whatever to me via E-mail on GEnie and I'll answer/include them in a later issue of AniMatsuri. Wendell Hong -----How I got into the Anime world------------------------------------- How I got into anime My first encounter with was "Tohei Manga Matsuri," a series for kids. There was also "Doraemon," a movie, and "Sazae-san", a family animation on TV. My true start begun with "Getter Robo", "Mazinger-Z" and "Zero- tester." These were animations of the giant robot genre geared for kids. They are also what made me hooked on anime. In Japan, nearly all kids like anime because there are so many anime series on TV everyday. Of the bulk, "Moomine," "Gacha-nam," "Rydeen(?)," and "Gamba-no bouken" are my favorites. ---2tom How I got into anime My start into "cartoons" was like any other child's--I saw my dose of Scooby Doo, Jetsons, and Flintstones. My intro to japanimation was much later. Although as a child, I've seen Battle of the Planets (Scientific Ninja Gatchaman) and episodes of Kimba, the series that first piqued my interest was Robotech. I'd seen Tranzor Z, Macron I, and both Voltron's (all of the giant robot genre), but Robotech was the first intelligently ported series. The giant robot series were targeted for the younger viewers (early teen/pre-teen). Robotech wasn't quite that bad. Since the series was still aimed for children, Macek had to tone down some of the scenes. Overall, however, I think it was a job well done. As you can see, I'm of the Macek school of thinking, or the Macek fan club, but that's a whole other issue. After Robotech, I went to college and was exposed to more anime. The JHU Nippon Students Association showed movies and ova's--the club also subtitled various anime. Now, I was seeing some high quality movies. The first few things that caught my eye were Miyazaki works and the Dirty Pair. Just about everyone who loves (or even likes) anime love the Dirty Pair, and I was no exception. Laputa and Nausicaa are among my favorites as best done movies. I had discovered a whole genre of films. Since then, I've made contacts (friends across the country) and gone to conventions to meet fellow fans and watch new anime. This leads to present day. My big project now is to do my own subtitling. Now that I own a Macintosh computer and laser disk player, I'm looking into genlocking boards to accomplish this purpose. This would allow me to do something that I've wanted to do for quite a while--as well as help people who don't speak japanese and like to understand what they're watching. I'm also working at managing the anime roundtable and drumming up some guest speakers. We have t-shirts in the works and other small projects too. See you at the RTC! [P.WONG4] How I got into anime and why I like it People who find out that I am interested in Japanese Animation often ask me, "Why do you like that stuff? You don't speak Japanese!" This is true, but I like it anyway. I will try to describe some of my feelings about Japanese Animation, and why more people should start to look into it. First of all, I have always enjoyed animation as an art form. As a child, I read lots of comic books and saw lots of saturday morning cartoons. Back in the 1960's, they were wittier and were allowed to have a bit more violence. I loved Tintin books, Johnny Quest cartoons, the Jetsons, and so on. Comic books and animated movies have always had an advantage over live action films, namely, they can go anywhere and do anything and have any camera angle with none of the limitations of the physical world. This lets the characters do anything that the authors can dream of. It's just as easy to animate a series about a family of Martians as it is to animate an earthly family. In the 1970's, though, animation seemed to die out as an art form. Comics got watered down, saturday morning cartoons became mindless pap, and the only feature length cartoons that were being made were geared for little children. Occasionally something good would be released (like some of the Bakshi films) but in general it was a bad time for animation. In 1978, I noticed a syndicated cartoon series called "Battle of the Planets." It was pretty silly most of the time, but it had some promise. Later, in 1979, I saw the series "Star Blazers," which was about a space battleship in search of "Cosmo DNA." I was hooked. It had a lot of elements from "Star Trek," but they were done in a very innovative way. "Star Blazers" took the time to tell a long story in short pieces, instead of insisting that each story be self contained. It was more like an extended soap opera than a cartoon show. You really got a chance to know each character in depth. "Robotech" extended this concept. It was an 85 (!!!) part show, so in effect you were watching a 42-hour-long movie in 30-minute chunks. Where else can you get such detailed characters, besides novels? And, in "Robotech," some of the major characters actually got killed off! Then we got to see the reactions of the rest of the characters. Powerful stuff for cartoons, when compared to most of the rest of the shows that was around. Up until this time, my interest in Japanese Animation was at this level. I would watch the syndicated shows that appeared on my TV and enjoy them. But in 1986 I went to the Worldcon in Atlanta and saw that several people there were sitting around in a room watching amazing cartoons that were in Japanese! They had a really strange rule in that room that nobody was allowed to say anything about what was going on (so as not to spoil the concentration of people who were watching), and that took a lot away from the excitement of a neophyte like me. But it looked fascinating. My next step was to try and get some of this animation. Some dealers were selling it at $100 a copy, but I had no idea what to buy. A few of my friends had a little material and they sent me copies. But they were 20th generation copies of programs, in Japanese, and they were very hard to watch. Also, there were no explanations of anything ... I just had to make up my own explanation for what was going on and hope it was right. It was interesting to look at, but also very frustrating. In 1989, I went to Honolulu on vacation and visited a friend there that I had met on CompuServe. He showed me around to the various stores that sold Japanese Animation goods (such as books, compact discs, etc). Art books and compact discs are great, because no translation is necessary. You can just enjoy them as they are. In late 1989, I moved and found that my friend from CompuServe lived nearby and was running an anime club at a local college. He was showing some of his laser discs on a projection TV and giving a translation on the fly. This was an amazing opportunity and I started going regularly. Now I have gotten a laser disc player of my own and I'm starting to buy copies of some of the discs I've seen at the club. It's getting easier to buy imported anime discs because several companies have sprung up to handle them. However, the discs are still in Japanese. I have gotten pretty deeply into the world of anime fandom now. When you know other fans, you can get translations of shows and tips on where to buy things, and you can talk with them about what they've seen lately. This is a big step up from where I was earlier, having to try and guess what I was watching. To close this out, I think there are five reasons why people are getting into anime. 1. Quality of artwork. Even the lowliest Japanese Animation TV series features high quality artwork. The best of them feature absolutely stunning artwork. If you appreciate animation as an art form, you should be looking into Japanese Animation. 2. Quality of story. Most of the Japanese Animation shows have highly original concepts and story lines that are well developed over a long period of time. You won't find many stories about cute little animals that have to find their mother. You will find complex stories about obnoxious aliens and witches with talking cats. 3. Cultural interest. Japanese Animation shows are mostly produced for the Japanese market, so they are set in modern-day Japan and feature modern Japanese people and their customs. Even though I've never been inside a Japanese schoolroom, I feel like I know what one would look like and how the students behave. Even though I've never eaten dinner in a Japanese family's house, I think I know what it would be like. Even though I've never filled up a box with little pieces of sushi to take on a picnic, I've seen how it's done. I've even learned a (very small!) smattering of Japanese by watching the shows and looking at the translation. I think this is all fascinating. It's a side of Japan that tourists would probably not get to see. 4. Availability. More anime is showing up in America all the time. "Akira" is making the rounds in art theaters. Lots of Japanese comics are being translated and published in America, and they're showing up in many comic book stores. Many science fiction conventions feature an anime room (with good synopses available). 5. Cult-ishness. Let's face it, there's some excitement in being involved in something that 99 percent of America doesn't even know exists. When you have a guest over and you pop in a little anime, they usually think it is great stuff (or they couldn't care less!!). Since anime fans are such a small group, they have to stick together and help each other out, which helps to build up some long lasting friendships. I often wonder why the Japanese don't have more luck releasing their anime films to the American market. The trouble is that America still thinks that cartoons are just for little kids. Hopefully, shows like "The Simpsons" will help to shake some of that image and pave the way for more anime. There's a ton of it already sitting in Japan, just waiting for the right time to come. I can't wait. Richard Copeland --Synopsis & Reviews---------------------------------------------------- AKIRA Akira is the latest masterpiece by Katsuhiro Otomo. It takes place in the year 2018, 30 years after destruction of Tokyo. Out of the ashes arose a Neo-Tokyo ruled by a citizen committee headed by Nezu, with a provisional army headed by The Colonel. The story unfolds with the struggle between the rebels headed by Ryu (secretly funded by Nezu) and the provisional army. According to the legend which bore the cult, Akira was an all- powerful being who cleansed Tokyo with its destruction. Akira was the product of a secret government research project to develop and control telepathic power that were surgically enhanced in selected test subjects. Enter The Pills, a bike gang embroiled in a turf-war with a rival gang called The Clowns. Tetsuo Shima, a belittled member of The Pills, was injured during an encounter with an escaped test subject named Takashi. This encounter catalyzed Tetsuo's latent powers. He was then acquired as the new test subject by the renewed research effort to replicate the powers of Akira. Blinded by their enthusiasm in the rate in which Tetsuo developed his telekinetic powers, the scientists unleashed a psychologically unstable monster who became obsessed with Akira. Kaneda, leader of The Pills and friend of Tetsuo, unknowingly stumbles into the rebel cause when he befriended a rebel girl named Kay. In the hope of rescuing Tetsuo, Kaneda joins Kay and the rebels. The story reaches the climax when Kaneda is forced to confront Tetsuo after the murder of a fellow gang member. As Tetsuo approaches the pinnacle of his power, the test subjects, powerless to cope with Tetsuo's power, are forced to reawaken Akira. Review: For those anime fans who love details and expect perfection in every frame, Akira is the movie to see. The fluidity in each character's motion is about as real as anything I have ever seen. The mechanical and functional aspect of the machineries portrayed were all believably realistic and many showed the imaginative ingenuity of it's creators. Akira, the eternally youthful ESP test subject whom the film is named, played only a low-key background part throughout the movie. Besides the brief flashbacks and the word of mouth, the character Akira left a lot of loose ends. For example, why do the scientists need to keep Akira in those cryogen cylinders if Akira has achieved a pure energy life form? Where and how did Akira "take Tetsuo away"? How can Key call Kaneda away from the energy envelope of Akira? And, if Akira was so powerful why couldn't he had prevented the destruction of Neo- Tokyo? The orphan juvenile delinquent gang members, Kaneda and Tetsuo, overshadowed all other characters' parts in the film, including Akira. With Kaneda as the protagonist and Tetsuo (or his power) as the antagonist, the duo's confrontations become the highlights of the movie. Commentary: Overall I loved the movie; though my critique appears to say otherwise, I must explain that it applies only to my disappointment that Katsuhiro Otomo didn't take the time to make the film longer so as to give a more detailed explanation to questions like those mentioned. >WHO< Unlike my colleague, I have problems in general with anime. Usually something is lacking, whether it be reality, artistic content, or general plot. The general story-line lent enough credibility for a futuristic metropolis to grow out of the ashes of old Tokyo. The cityscape was great, the drawing was very well done, the plot was existent (a little weak), and the characters were believable. Anime has to be taken with a grain of salt, but it still doesn't attract me. Akira, on the other hand, does a wonderful job of bridging the gap. As the movie opened, I was entranced by the painstaking details and the incredible artwork. The plot is simple to an extent with some external interference thrown in for good measure. The interference, though, is necessary to give the main characters a better focus. We see that Kaneda is human with his interest in Kay; Tetsuo is also human in his desire to show everyone that he is not really as inept as he seems. The Colonel, Nezu, the scientist, the rebels, and even Takashi all show qualities we can all identify with. From Nezu with his corruption to Takashi with his child-like wisdom and bravery. The plot line is obscured somewhat by the confusion of the special kids, but after reading the comic book, that all becomes clear. The little philosophical argument that Kay proposes is supposed to be thought provoking if not explanatory. The movie even though named Akira is centered around the duo of Kaneda and Tetsuo. Kaneda is my favorite character in the movie with Takashi a far second. I was more than satisfied with the movie, possibly due to the fact that I went in with a low estimation of anime in general. As a stubborn anime critic, I highly recommend this movie in ENGLISH, there are too many details to miss if you do not understand Japanese. I also recommend picking up the comic book series for a more entertaining and different story. Thumbs up here..... >A.J< Bubblegum Crisis 7: Double Vision Vision is a famous American rock singer who is giving a world tour. Her current stop is Japan, and Nene, a fan of Vision, is lucky enough to get a ticket from Leon. Nene attends and we find out Vision's story. She is the older sister of Irene who was killed by Genom's bumas (BGC 2). Her parents were also killed by Genom Corp. and the Gulf & Bradley Co. Her name is Leyca and must avenge her sister and parents. Using the crab-bot, Genki, she and her partner, Ko attack one of Genom's towers. They try to kidnap Dr. Kaufman, a Genom technician. Their first attempt, however, fails and they are forced to retreat. Kaufman, realizing the danger to his life, then hires the Knight Sabers to protect him. Leyca then decides to kidnap him with stealth rather than force. She infiltrates as a hooker and knocks him out with a needle concealed in her ring. She escapes the building with him and captures Linna as a spy. Linna then hears her story and realizes the truth--the relationship between Irene and Leyca. Leyca then makes a deal with Quincy, head of Genom, for Kaufman. She feels that only with the death of Quincy can she rest. At the meeting place, the Knight Sabers encounter the crab-bot. Priss is unable to damage it in any way (they look pretty weak in this episode--time for new suits!). Then Bumas attack and they know their common enemy. The bumas are destroyed (mostly due to the crab-bot). Quincy shows up, but we find that he is a super-buma! (which makes us wonder if everyone at Genom is a super-buma) A battle ensues with the crab-bot and the knightsabers prevailing. We then find out that the super-buma was not the real Quincy. (not sure if this is a clone of Quincy or what) Linna then has a talk with Leyca. They talk about Irene and what she would have wanted. Linna, with some difficulty, is able to convince that Leyca should give up her vendetta. (hey, a BGC episode without a tragic ending :) ) Sorry for any inaccuracies in this synopsis. I don't know japanese and made this up from what I have heard and read and common sense. Do not take this as absolutely accurate, but as a guide to follow the action in BGC 7. Most if not all is correct. Review: This is one of the best of the Bubblegum Crisis series. The opening scene, Vision in concert, is done exceptionally well. The animation is very crisp. The action is simply incredible. The crab-bot may be an old idea, but it's done perfectly here. I can't think of a bad thing to say about Double Vision. It's certainly one of the best anime I've seen in a while. [P.WONG4] Kiki's Delivery Service 'Majo no takkyubin' (Majotaku) is Hayao Miyazaki's latest animated movie. Based on a story with the same name by Eiko Kadono, a famous story writer for kids (Do-wa sakka). The music was done by Yuzuru Hisaishi and theme song by Yuming (Yumi Matsutohya) (two previously released songs were used for the movie). The movie was produced, scripted, and directed by Hayao Miyazaki with 1,154 cuts and about 70,000 pictures (102 minutes long). Majotaku is a movie about independence. Kiki is a thirteen year old cute girl; she is also a witch. The stage and time of the story is unknown. There is a rule for witches; at the age of thirteen, every witch must train one year by herself at another place where there are no other witches. On a night with a full moon, Kiki decides to leave to train. A black cat, Gigi, goes with her. Kiki is excited about the prospect of leaving for a new place. She has only two magics: the skill to talk to Gigi and to fly by broom. Kiki begins her one year training at Koriko town, a big city on a peninsula. Since she could fly, she has starts as a delivery service. At a 'Goo-chyoki home bakery', Kiki starts her first career. There are many orders, an easy ones and a hard ones. Through her work and the responsibility with it, she grows up and matures. One day, she finds out that she is going to lose her magic powers. Without them, she can't continue her job. It also means that she fails the training to become a witch. What will happen to her...? Review: I believe the movie is not a kind of witch or sorceress story. It's a movie for everyone to relate to. Do you remember when you moved to the big city from a small town? Her main magic, to fly by broom, represents everyone's abilities, like a skill for painting, driving, or playing guitar. We can empathize with Kiki. Her slump, losing her magic, is something we all run into. We ask ourselves: when will my slump end, and am I on a right track? Kiki finds the answer from meeting with her friend in Koriko town, Urusura. (You will surprise to know that both Kiki and Urusura's voice are recorded by one person, Minami Takayama) If you like other Miyazaki's work, you should get it. It doesn't have the same gravity as Nausicaa or Laputa, and isn't as light as Totoro. The art is easily recognizable as Miyazaki's. If you have never seen any of his animation, 'Majo no takkyubin' is a good one to start with! ---2tom MADOX-01 Metal Skin Panic MADOX-01 is a technologically advanced mecha-armor suit under development for the army. In the first demonstration, ace female MADOX pilot Kusomoto Elle defeats Lt. Kilgore, a decorated tank commander. Humiliated by this defeat, Kilgore vows revenge for the loss of the bid for his personal battle tank project. In the process of transferring the prototype, an accident cause the loss of the armor suit in Tokyo. Sujimoto Koji, a lovesick mechanic, discovers MADOX, and in his curiosity, he inadvertently gets trapped in the suit before he was able to study the manual in detail. Meanwhile, the army sends Lt. Kilgore to retrieve the lost prototype weapon. Convinced that Kilgore is out to destroy MADOX, Elle activates the second prototype in the hope of recovering MADOX undamaged. Troubled with the fact that he has to meet his girlfriend Shiori before she leaves or lose her forever, Koji makes the dangerous trek across Tokyo in the multi ton suit. Koji is eventually trapped in a high-rise by Elle; however, Kilgore tricks Elle and disables her suit so that he is free to eliminate MADOX-01. Here begins the paramount struggle between Koji and Kilgore where only the winner shall survive. Review: Overall this short story by Aramaki Nobuyuki is a good production. For those who love mecha, this is a must see movie. The mechanics can even rival that of the Bubblegum Crisis OVA's. The staging for each scene is well thought out and the artists made excellent use of perspective during the action sequences. I did feel that Kilgore's prototype tank should have been more advanced and loaded with more technical weaponry to be competitive in the arms bid. As a mecha fan, I thought MADOX design was incredible, especially the footage shown in the intro. This is a short action film that closes its plot quickly with minimal complexity. In conclusion, I would recommend this film on its action merits alone. >WHO< Metal Skin Panic is about 45 minutes and a far cry from the complexity of the previously reviewed AKIRA. I really find it hard to pass judgement on anime that includes a lot of mecha action. Even though anime has its roots in mechanized armor suits and such, there was no great appeal to me. I have to say it was well drawn as usual but it falls short in terms of a concrete definition of a short movie. Given the action content and its theme, anime fans who deal in mecha should enjoy this. It did seem to be a heavy mismatch with an air of predictability around it. >A.J< Kimagure Orange Road episode 1 "Tenkousei! Hazukashinagara hatsukoi shimasu" Kyosuke is counting the stairs in a park near his house. A brisk wind blows a red straw hat in his direction. Kyosuke jumps up and catches it. Madoka thanks Kyosuke for catching it. She says there are 99 steps total. Kyosuke climbs all the way to the top and counts to 100. Madoka and Kyosuke argue about the number of steps. They settle on 99.5. Madoka gives Kyosuke the hat and leaves. Kyosuke had just moved to this city. When Kyosuke returns home, a large dresser slams into him and drives him into the wall. Kyosuke's family has supernatural powers, and his sisters were using their powers to move the furniture. They have moved every time that someone finds out about their powers. This is the seventh time. They have a cat called Jingoro that the girls always "play" with. The next day, Kyosuke and his sisters go to school. They see Hikaru coming to school on the back of a bike. The guy asks her out but she turns him down. Hikaru yells at Kyosuke and his sisters for staring. Kyosuke gets introduced to his class. He meets Komatsu and Hatta. Madoka was not in class as she was "escaping". Komatsu tells Kyosuke to stay away from Madoka if he wants to avoid trouble. During break, they hear the sound of a saxophone that Madoka was playing. Komatsu tells Kyosuke that her nickname is "pick no Madoka". Near a riverbed, Hikaru is surrounded by a bunch of burnouts. They start to fight because Hikaru wouldn't go out with them. Kurumi was watching all of this as she followed Hikaru. She thinks that Hikaru is cool. Just when Hikaru was captured, "pick no Madoka" comes to the rescue. Madoka beats up all the guys. After all the guys leave, Kyosuke and his sisters go down to Hikaru and Madoka. Madoka was about to light up a cigarette, but Kyosuke stops her. He says, "If you smoke cigarettes now, you won't be able to have healthy babies." Then Madoka slaps Kyosuke. At home, Kyosuke remembers about the two Madoka's that he met. The nice girl who gave him the red straw hat, and the tough girl who fought and slapped him. Hitoshi Doi -----Soundtracks & BGM------------------------------------------------- Bubblegum Crisis 7 Soundtrack Review This CD is probably one of the best for the series. The music is hard hitting with a heavy beat. The opening song by Vision, "Say Yes," is one of my favorites of all the soundtracks. "Yes, Do it!" is another song which is cute and steals a riff from Paula Abdul. The BGM is especially effective. If you've seen the OVA, the music accompanying the crab-bot attack and fight sequences is very intense. The BGM is much like some of the other better BGC soundtracks. The music conveys the "action" of the scenes--you can almost see the battles. This is great stuff--a must for any BGC fan and a good soundtrack for any fan of good BGM with beat (all you Megazone BGM fans). 11 tracks with 5 vocals: 40 min long [P.WONG4] -----Books-------------------------------------------------------------- Ken-Ichi Sonoda This B-club special (book compiled by the magazine/company) is the artbook for all Bubblegum Crisis fans. Ken Ichi Sonada (for those who don't know) is the artist for BGC. This book is full of full color pages of the various album, LD, and poster art made for BGC. The pages are high quality paper and I wish I had a 24-bit color scanner. Must be seen to be believed. Also in this album is art from Riding Bean and some other pictures. A high quality book well worth it's price. 111 pages with many color pictures. [P.WONG4] Akemi Takada Artbook (Complete Visual Works) Another B-club special--this one is for the art of the Orange Road artist, Akemi Takada. This book, however, has no pictures of Madoka, Hikaru, or any of the Orange Road characters. There are pictures from Creamy Mami, Fairy Angel, Magical Eyes, Girl's Dream, and something called End. Most of the pictures are pastels and the way she uses the flesh tones is very nice. Her drawings are very "soft" (as pastels usually are), but cover many subjects. Many of the pictures are just beautiful...the poses seem natural and the faces seem realistic. This is another highly recommended book for those who like pastels or Orange Road. [P.WONG4] -----Legends & History-------------------------------------------------- Onigokko and Urusei Yatsura Hello, it's 2tom again. Have you seen the first episode of Urusei Yatsura on TV series? Lum-chan and Ataru-kun did 'Onigokko' on first episode. Actually, they also did 'Onigokko' on the last episode. On the other hand, some would say they did 'Onigokko' throughout the whole story of Urusei Yatsura. 'Onigokko' is a kind of "Catch-me game" and it's very popular for Japanese kids. Usually, one person become a 'Oni (ogre)', which is the tagger of the game. The 'Oni' seek other people on the field, which is usually a park. When the 'Oni' touches another person, the role of 'Oni' is switched. There are many kind of 'Onigokko' in Japan: Taka-oni (covered from 'Oni' by hight), Iro-oni (by color), and Kan-keri (a variation of 'Onigokko', I think). Please give me any questions/opinions about this topic. ---2tom -----Special------------------------------------------------------------ Laser Disc Player Review Since I have recently bought a Laser Disc player, I've done some research into the differences between the various brands. Many companies make LD players, but the two that stand out as most popular are Pioneer and Sony's players. Pioneer has been the forerunner for Laser Disc technology. They created the LD 14 years ago. They have been making LD players for 14 years; hard to believe coming from someone who thought LD's have only been around for about 5 years. Pioneer is the established leader, and as such make the servos (motors) that drive all the other brand LD players. All, except Sony's. Before really starting the comparison, I must address a question that has often been discussed. Sony is the only brand that has made servos for it's own LD players. This has caused a controversy over the quality of the Sony LD player. One group says that there are LD's that will not play on Sony players because of the difference in servos. The other group says that the first is crazy and all disks that play in the Pioneer players also play in the Sony's. Both groups are somewhat right. There are discs that won't play in the Sony players, however, there aren't many that won't play. I have never encountered this problem, so I don't think this should really be a consideration in choosing your player. One reason to look at one or the other is simply the brand. If the rest of your system is Pioneer, I'd definitely get Pioneer. I, however, have a Sony tv, and the Sony LD player remote has buttons to control tv power, volume, and channel. This was an unexpected bonus for me. Pioneer has other nice features with their system components. I've heard about a synchro-dubbing if you have the Pioneer LD player and cassette deck. You start the CD at a certain point, and the cassette deck will automatically start dubbing. In choosing your brand, look at your system and components, and what you plan to buy in the future. At the time this article was written, Pioneer released a new line of LD players: 1080, 2080, 3080. Sony has the same models: MDP-310 & MDP-510. Pioneer also has last years models for sale at many stores: 1070, 2070, 3070. The main difference between the xx70 series and the xx80 series only comes up in the 3080. The other differences are, by my standards, minor. They've raised the signal/noise ratio, gone from 4x oversampling to 8x--all of which, I wouldn't notice the difference unless I used benchmarking equipment. The one important difference comes up in the 3080--Pioneer has added a better digital time-base corrector. What this means is for scenes where there is great contrast (like the contrast between a sail and the blue sky), you will see some jitter. One example that is very noticeable is observe the titling of The Last Crusade in the opening credits. The words are very jittery and unclear. The time-base corrector "corrects" for this problem. Pioneer's 3080 and reference LD players have it, Sony's don't. Pioneer and Sony's players are all combi-players (not including the Pioneer 870), meaning they can play CD's, CDV's (CD-Video's), LD 8" (usually for music videos), LD 12" (standard LD), CD 3" (CD singles). This is great if you do not already own a CD player. Pioneer also has the nice feature of "alpha turn", meaning that the player can read both sides of the LD. This means you don't have to get up to flip the LD over to watch the second side. Pioneer's 2070, 3070, 2080, and 3080 have this feature. None of Sony's players have this feature. For the couch potato's, you won't have to get up for up to 2 hours! (each side of an LD can hold up to an hour's worth of video). The real player's to consider are the Pioneer 3070 & 3080 and Sony MDP-510. All three of these have the jog/shuttle that gives you special effects with both CAV (constant angular velocity--30 min/side) and CLV (constant linear velocity--60 min/side). This device allows you to fast forward at whatever speed you desire, controlled by a dial. You can also move frame by frame with the jog. This is a very nice feature if you are planning to do frame grabbing, subtitling, or any sort of editing. This is where the Sony player had the advantage over the Pioneer players. The Sony player was much cheaper--up to over two hundred dollars cheaper. The Pioneer 3080 does have the nice feature of the digital time-base corrector, but since it is so new, is guaranteed to be pricey. The 3070, however, may drop down in price making it more competitively priced with the Sony player. All these players have at least 4x oversampling (the Sony MDP- 510 and Pioneer 3080 have 8x), 18 bit Digital Filters, jog/shuttle, combi-player, and optical/digital outputs (for when the technology makes digital outs consumer affordable). The Pioneer player's are more popular and are considered the name in LD players, but the Sony players are cheaper. You will have to decide based on your wallet size and your system. I've outlined the main points concerning choosing an LD player. You will still need to talk to a salesman about the basics if you have trouble understanding some of the terms I've used. The points I've covered, will answer the questions of those experienced in stereo equipment and know a little about LD players--for you people, I think this will be enough info for you to make your choice (some of you may want to know the exact signal/noise, DAC's, or oversampling). I feel that LD players will become the new medium for movies. Although it won't be as noticeable as the conversion from cassette to CD, people will move from VHS to Laser Video. The price of your average movie is relatively inexpensive compared to what they used to be on VHS (Top Gun sells for thirty dollars, Raider's of the Lost Ark for twenty- five dollars). LD rentals are also rising. Although you still need to be in a big city, I've heard certain Blockbuster's Video carry Laser Discs for rental. LD is definitely a better medium to rent. I've often been irritated when I rent a movie in surround sound that's been played 1000 times. What you hear is lots of static between words and such. With care, the LD will last forever. I would predict that within five years, the Laser Disc will break into the consumer market. Right now, not enough people are aware of the benefits and price of LD's, but within the next five years, I think there will be an upsurge in LD stores and LD rental outlets. The prices for the players vary. You will save a lot of money if you buy through mail order rather than a showroom. I've seen the Pioneer 3070 sell for $1400 in a showroom. The average going cost of the Pioneer mail order will be around $700-$800. The average cost of the Sony MDP-510 is around $600. If you check an issue of Video Review, you will find many mail order retailers. I paid $590 for my Sony MDP-510 through AV Distributors. The GEnie On-line Store also carries the Pioneer and Sony's at good prices and they double the warranty. The best price I've ever seen is by Computability--$530 with shipping included. For phone numbers, check out an issue of Video Review or email me. If there is interest, I will write an article on the basics of Laser Disc technology, or more on the concerns/dislikes I have for LD players. [P.WONG4] -----Stores & Vendors--------------------------------------------------- Anime Vendors Here is a short list of my favorite mail order anime vendors. For laserdiscs and compact discs: Laser Perceptions (415) 753-2016 Great selection of LD's and CD's Nikaku Animart (408) 971-2822 Good selection of CD's (slightly cheaper than LP) Almost no selection of LD's AniMagik (714) 941-9750 Great selection of LD's and CD's & Patrick knows anime and can help with questions For posters, books, etc: Nikaku Animart (408) 971-2822 Great selection of posters, books, manga, etc. [P.WONG4] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Well, that's it for our first issue. Hope it was informative. Again, if you are interested in contributing (be you beginner or expert), please contact Richard or myself. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ These views do not necessarily represent the opinions of General Electric or GEnie. GE and GEnie are trademarked and copyrighted.