Animated News
Dattebayo to Stop Fansubbing Naruto on January 15
The fan group Dattebayo has announced that it will stop subtitling and distributing the Naruto anime franchise “permanently” on January 15. That date is when the Naruto.com, Crunchyroll, Hulu, and Joost websites will officially begin streaming the latest episodes of the Naruto Shippūden sequel series one week after their Japanese broadcast — for free. A Dattebayo organizer who uses the alias “Interactii” says that an episode of Naruto Shippūden would get 450,000 downloads from Dattebayo in its first week. According to Dattebayo, the group accumulated 976,405 downloads for episode 20 in 489 days.
“Interactii” notes that Viz Media, the North American distributor of the Naruto anime and manga , had never asked Dattebayo to stop subtitling and had never sent a cease-and-desist letter to the group. He continues, “But like any symbiosis, you have to know when its time to move on. That time has come. Viz and Crunchyroll have gotten their acts together and are trying something new, with one of the most popular shows in anime today. I, and the rest of the staff, know that if we continue to subtitle it, they will have to ask us to stop. That’s something they probably don’t want to have to do, because it will most likely make all of you very mad at them. That’s something they really don’t deserve.”
Crap! …but I have to agree.
Composer Yoko Kanno’s CM Yoko 2 Album Now on iTunes
CM Yoko 2, the newest album from composer Yoko Kanno, is now available in Apple’s iTunes Store not only in Japan, but also in the United States and other countries. The iTunes online digital release arrives on Wednesday — two months before the planned April 22 release on standard CD, Japan’s Mora digital music service, and Napster. While Yoko Kanno is best known for her work in anime such as Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Cowboy Bebop, several Macross projects, and Escaflowne, this new CD contains her commercial themes. The first CM Yoko album ranked as the top album on the soundtrack chart, the iTunes Plus chart (of songs with no digital rights management or restrictions), and the overall chart.
I want it but I don’t want it from iTunes. I want to own it, not rent it.
How bad is Dragonball Evolution? I have never seen a more scathing review.
Albright:
Psst. iTMS no longer uses DRM on (almost all) music. Pass it on.
Ha ha, no, now Apple uses hardware DRM on the new Shuffle so that you can’t even use your old headphones with your new shuffle. Glad I don’t buy overpriced Apple crap.
Fata Morgana:
Albright:
Psst. iTMS no longer uses DRM on (almost all) music. Pass it on.Ha ha, no, now Apple uses hardware DRM on the new Shuffle so that you can’t even use your old headphones with your new shuffle. Glad I don’t buy overpriced Apple crap.
Apparently third-party adapters are on their way, but I won’t try to defend it as not a dumb idea. Though in my opinion, the one-button user interface is a bit of a crime itself, even if it were optional.
But hey… no DRM on the iTMS means you don’t have to use an iPod to listen to iTMS music anymore. I’ve been using a SanDisk Sansa e200 with RockBox quite happily for a few months now.
Since you’re such a big fan of Zac Bertschy, AB, I thought you might be interested in his thoughts about being at the Tokyo Anime Fair - his first trip to Japan.
There were a couple of noteworthy articles posted at ANN recently:
Industry Group Head Says Anime is a Bubble that Burst
According to those numbers they don’t have it half as bad as the banking industry. Still, it isn’t good. Maybe The One will float them a few hundred billion bailout. Hell, we can afford it, right? It’s spending after all so it’s good for the economy, right?
Chicks On Anime - Copyright Enforcement
In a way, I kind of hate to say it but the industry seems to be getting smart about this stuff. Too bad the music industry refuses to learn about their changing markets.
GrinfilledCelt:
Hold on a sec while I reel from shock.
Okay. Done reeling.
Interesting. I wonder what kind of education she has - she seems to know her stuff, quoting bill line numbers and stuff. And it’s always nice to see an industry which has learned from the ineffective, vitriol-inviting sue-the-world methods of the MPAA/RIAA.
In case you missed it the first two times they showed it, AS will begin re-airing Seirei no Moribito tonight at 1:30 AM. They are supposed to show all twenty-six episodes this time instead of just the first ten.
Get your 1:1 scale Gundam kit today!
Miyazaki to Appear in S. California
Go and take pictures, AB, or I will hate you forever.
Miyazaki will appear in S. California. I am in N. California. I’m glad to see attendance at that event will only be $5, but it’ll cost me hundreds to drive down there and get a room (though I might be able to stay at a buddy’s place), and that’s before factoring in losing a couple of days’ pay to go to this thing in the middle of the week. Sorry, man. Let me know the next time he comes to San Francisco or northerner on a weekend.
Accordion to ANN Eden of the East Gets Two Theatrical Films Green-Lit
The King of Eden to open in Japan on November 28, Paradise Lost in January
The final episode of the Eden of The East television anime series has confirmed on Thursday night that a theatrical adaptation has been green-lit — as two films. The first film, Eden of The East the Movie I: The King of Eden, will open throughout Japan on November 28. According to the official blog of the animation staff, the second film, Eden of The East the Movie II: Paradise Lost, will open in January of 2010.
It’s a bit misleading. The only one who is the least bit concerned about “saving the planet” is Liam Neeson’s character. I’m still geeked. August 14th, mark it on your colander. That way, you’ll be reminded every time you drain pasta.
Fata Morgana:
I also can’t wait. :) (No, I haven’t watched a pirated copy of the film)
Just as well. The only copy I have found isn’t very good quality. Nevertheless, I have probably watched it ten times by now. I haven’t been this geeked about a movie release since KOHD. Remember how vaguely disappointed you felt after Howl’s Moving Castle? As good as it was, some something just wasn’t quite right about that film. You won’t feel that way this time.
It’s apparently been out for over a month, so how come nobody’s linked to the trailer for The Princess and the Frog yet? Disney comes back to traditional animation, and it looks a lot more entertaining than Home on the Range!
…Well, that’s assuming that Disney doesn’t make a joke out of the script by trying to make it into some preachy, PC, “save the planet”, POS. I wouldn’t put it past them.
Not to change the subject, but…
Writer Peter Craig Speaks on Cowboy Bebop Flick
There are some good indicators in there. The guy is as geeked about the show as any of us ever were (except maybe Fata). I don’t know if it’s all just hype and spin or what, but it contained this line:
Fox sent me every episode of “Cowboy Bebop,” including a few that had never aired in the U.S.
What?
I don’t think that some of these ever aired. You also have to put up with ads for the latest Borat rip-off.
And ultimately, that may be why Ponyo, at least as the newest member of Miyazaki’s hallowed filmography, may be considered something of a letdown by longtime fans of the artist. It’s light as a feather, with little to no real meaning or subtext… In short, if Princess Mononoke was a sumptuous 7-course meal, Ponyo is a well-crafted crème brulee. Which is all well and good, but Miyazaki fans might show up expecting that 7-course meal, and that’s where the inevitable mild disappointment may set in.
Okay. That is the first review I have seen from anyone that wasn’t pure raves. It’s also the first review I have seen of the English dub. I thought it was every bit what I expect out of a Miyazaki film, but then, I don’t view Totoro as an anomaly as he seems to. Most of his criticism is about the story. He keeps saying that it isn’t like his other films except maybe Totoro without ever getting around to saying that it’s target audience is the same as for Totoro. He repeatedly says it isn’t as deep as Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle. Well, yeah. Those are for older kids. This one isn’t and neither is Kiki’s Delivery service, Pom Poko or Porco Rosso, which he doesn’t seem to remember.
He points out that whatever Ponyo is isn’t clearly defined, saying, “A red-headed fish-girl-whatever thing, followed by an army of baby fish-girl-whatever things (they’re mermaids, apparently, but they resemble no common mermaid imagery)” is true enough. Sosuke calls her a goldfish and others who see her don’t argue with him, a couple of characters call her a mermaid and Ponyo refers to herself as a fish. Fact is, Ponyo keeps changing. She starts out looking like what I’d call a sea anemone with flippers and a girl head:
This is Ponyo with her sisters. Ponyo is about six inches long in this form.
Then there is the half-human/half-fish stage:
In human form, she will briefly revert to this form when performing magic. Note the three fingered hands and pointed, fish-like face.
Then there is her human form:
She changes back and forth through these forms at various points in the film.
A few salient points that Zac neglected to mention (or missed, or weren’t in the English dub), are:
Ponyo and Sosuke are five years old and act very much like it. They really don’t have anything like a romance going.
Fujimoto (Ponyo’s dad) used to be human.
Zac says, “Did the undersea wizard have sex with the goddess of the ocean, because if so, ew!” What? Ponyo’s mother is a total babe. Perhaps he is referring to the fact that she is about the size of two football fields and missed the fact that she, like Ponyo, can change her size.
Fujimoto acts like any single dad (Ponyo’s mom doesn’t seem to be much interested in child rearing) would when he finds out his daughter is sneaking off to be with a boy.
I wish he had said something about the “Grannies” at the home where Sosuke’s mom works. They were adorable in the sub and I’m looking forward to seeing Betty White and Lilly Tomlin’s version of them.
Other than that, I really liked Zac’s review (Really. I’m not being sarcastic). He did a fairly good job of describing a difficult to describe story.
