Starship Girl Yamamoto Yohko (a J!-ENT Anime DVD Review)

“Years efore the 1999 26-episode TV series was a mid-90’s six episode OAV series based on the adventures of Starship pilot Yamamoto Yohko, all collected on one DVD for a great price!  Space  action, cool battles and a good dose of humor that will definitely keep you entertained!”

DVD INFORMATION:

DVD TITLE: Starship Girl Yamamoto Yohko (aka Soreyuke! Uchū Senkan Yamamoto Yōko)

DURATION: (6 OAV episodes – 180 minutes)

DVD INFORMATION: English and Japanese Audio, English Subtitles, Dolby Digital 2.0

CATALOG #: RSDVD9010

COMPANY: The Right Stuf International

RATING: 13 and up

STAFF INFORMATION:

ORIGINAL CREATOR: Shouji Takashi

DIRECTOR: Akikyuki Shinbo

ORIGINAL CHARACTER & MECHA DESIGN: Akaishizawa Takashi

CHARACTER DESIGN: Nakazawa Kazuto

MECHANICAL DESIGN: Hamazaki Ken-ichi, Ando Masahiro, Ishihama Masashi

CHIEF SCREENWRITER: Sekijima Mayori

PRODUCED BY J.C. Staff and T-Up

CAST INFORMATION:

Yamamoto Yohko – Takayama Minami

Mido Madoka – Hayashibara Megumi

Kagariya Momiji – Niiyama Shiho

Hakuhon Ayano – Miyamura Yuko

Rote/Lotte – Kanai Mika

Rouge – Tamagawa Sakiko

Curtis Lawson – Matsumoto Yasunori

A thousand years from now, the great battles between civilizations have been reduced to the shoulders of a handful of chosen champions.

When a war is waged, each side picks its representatives, gives them spaceships and the fight is on! Of course, if their champion loses, they must admit defeat and give into the wishes of the other. Very handy, very civilized…unless you don’t happen to have any good fighters…

Terra team has it tough lately: Ness “Red Snappers” team had things their way. Even with technically superior ships, things are bleak for Terra…

To make matters worse, they only have three pilots. Despite a concerted effort to recruit girls from the past, the team simply keeps losing! Now they desperately need someone special…someone powerful, capable, and who possess a killer instinct. A pilot of extraordinary skill to crew the new model ship. They need… Yamamoto Yohko!

Now if they can just convince her that a better life awaits her in the future, with new friends, new video games and some very powerful hyper-technology (well some things just take less convincing than others!), Terra might be able to defeat the Red Snappers for a change!

I stumbled upon an older issue of “Animerica” magazine that I had and to keep things within budget, I like to purchase complete OAV or TV series and realized that a 2003 release of “Starship Girl, Yamamoto Yohko” featured both the 1996 3-episode OAV’s and the 1997 3-episode OAV’s on one DVD.

Going online and finding them so cheap, can’t beat the price and definitely wanted to see what this series was all about.

A lot of the staff working on the OAV series were quite new at the time with the exception of director Shinbo Akiyuki who worked on sereis such as “Devil Hunter Yohko”, “Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha”, “Pani Poni Dash!” and many more.

But if anything, the price was the major consideration and the fact that you get all OAV series available. Also, who can resist “Ranma 1/2″ alumni Hayashibara Megumi (Ranma and plays Terra pilot, Madoka) working together with Takayama Minami (Nabiki, and plays the main character Yamamoto Yohko) for this series.

The episodes are featured as a total of six episodes, the first three was released back in 1996 and “Starship Girl Yamamoto Yohko II” featuring the remaining three was released back in 1997

FIRST OAV SERIES:

Episode 1- The first episode was an introduction to both the Terra and Ness teams. Terra featuring three pilots, constantly losing a battle and thus needs to find a special fourth pilot. Through the leadership of Lawson, the Terra team goes back a thousand years into the past (1996) to recruit video game shooting enthusiast Yohko.

A gamer that is confident about her video game playing abilities and Lawson and the girls of Terra do what it takes to recruit Yohko to the team.

The anime focuses on two teams: Terra and Ness and a big problem with this episode and future episodes is that there really is no strong character development. If anything, for the Terra team, you are familiar with mainly the Admiral Leon and Terra engineer Lawson, Yamamoto Yohko and pilot Midou Madoka because the two quarrel all the time. The other two members Kagariya Momiji and Hakuhouin Ayano are just there for team support and their characters aren’t fully explored in the OAV series.

The same can be said for the Ness team as you learn more about General Fluger, Ness leader Rouge (Yohko’s rival) and second sister Rote (known for being annoyingly cute and dumb). While third sister Lubrum and youngest sister Eryton are there, offer a few lines but similar to the Terra team, characters not fully explored in the OAV series.

Episode 2 – This episode features the ladies on vacation. The Terra team are now doing better with Yohko on their team and even during vacation, the two teams can’t relax as both Yohko and Rouge challenge each other in competitions.

Episode 3 – This episode focuses on team Ness as Rouge finds the remnants of starships and one that her mother worked on. Her mother was developing a system where plants and roses can survive in space. As the Ness team ventures into the laboratory, team Terra learns that a starship has an unstable nuclear reactor and is on a collision course for the planet Earth. Yohko makes her way to destroy the starship not knowing that team Ness is inside it.

SECOND OAV SERIES:

Episode 1 (or DVD episode 4) – An ancient legend in a distant planet states that four goddesses will one day descend from the skies and reawaken a goddess. What happens when the Terra team and Rote make an emergency landing on that planet and how will its inhabitants treat the pilots upon arrival?

Episode 2 (or DVD episode 5) – It’s rest time and Yohko is enjoying some rest and relaxation in her own time period. But suddenly , a skilled (and disgraced) pilot named Sara Dread from Terra’s past has stolen Ness technology and appears in Yohko’s timeline and wants her revenge against Terra by challenging their best pilot Yohko to a duel.

Episode 3 (or DVD episode 6) – It’s a time for celebration where command of Terra and a pilot gets to go to an extravagant ball to meet Ness command and Rouge. Rouge is in love with General Fluger and just wants one dance with him. But what happens when Yohko wearing a dashing outfit and a blonde wig gets that first dance instead? Also, a reappearance from a familiar face wanting a one-on-one duel against Yohko.

Overall, you get a good action-based anime OAV series which features space battles and some weird, crazy humor thanks to the character of Rote but all in all, the first episode didn’t win me over but after watching the remaining five OAV episodes, upon completion, I did enjoy it. It’s a fun series!

VIDEO:

For an older anime, even an OAV series, many made during the 90’s sometimes look washed out because of it’s age and this series is no different. There is a noticeable difference between part II which the colors look a bit more vibrant than the first. Things look a bit better animation-wise.

AUDIO:

Both audio is dolby digital 2.0. I watched the episodes primarily in Japanese with English subtitles and for me, to have a series with both Hayashibara and Takayama together again is a treat! As for the English dub, English dub was good but there were some mannerisms like the character Rote that voice actress Kanai Mika just nails! Job well done!

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Surprisingly, this DVD does have a few special features such as a slide show (still images from the animation to music from the anime) and the outtakes for the goof-ups from the English dubbing.

I have a mild interest in watching the TV series now after watching the OAV (unfortunately, no one licensed the TV series in the US yet).

The first half of “Starship Girl Yamamoto Yohko” gradually became better. Because the first episode of space competitions and racing around a planet was just not to my liking. But the story started to focus less on the competitions between Terra and Ness and focused more on the rivalry between the teams and storylines putting the two groups together. Mainly to flesh out some character development of certain members of the two teams.

Of course, the main thing that suffers with six OAV episodes is that although certain episodes did showcase some character development, with so many characters, despite having some speaking roles, a good number of them are just people I recognized as members of Terra or Ness and really didn’t care about them at all.

Granted, with its 26-episode TV series (which took place a few years after the OAV series), I would imagine that each character would have episodes that would feature more character driven storylines and more character development.

But with six episodes, not much you can do with character development with so many characters but the staff managed to make the episodes entertaining and keeping it focused on the primary characters Yohko, Rouge, showcasing the team rivalry and then Yohko’s battle between Sara Dread.

Overall, after watching episode 1, I really wasn’t expecting much from this anime OAV series but once the episodes progressed, I really started to enjoy it and for its price (especially since it was released back in 2003) and the fact that you get all six OAV episodes, it is quite a steal.

As for the viewing rating of 15+, I don’t recall nudity or fan service. If anything, it was primarily during the outtakes where the English dub voice actor for Lawson kept cussing when he messed up his lines.

I know many current anime fans have a disdain of watching older anime series but if you enjoy action series, especially featuring a near all-female cast, “Starship Girl Yamamoto Yohko” may be for you!

+ A fun OAV series with fun characters

+ A good balance of space battles and humor!

+ Ranma 1/2 voice actresses Hayashibara Megumi and Takayama Minami together again!

+ Because it’s an older anime DVD, you can find it cheaper these days and the fact that all six OAV episodes are in one DVD is great!

- Older anime and the visuals maybe too washed out for picky anime fans

- With only six OAV episodes, not much character development for the many characters featured in the OAV series (Fortunately, there is a 26-episode TV series that can feature more character development. Unfortunately, no one in the US picked it up the license).

Tags: それゆけ!宇宙戦艦ヤマモト・ヨーコ, Soreyuke! Uchū Senkan Yamamoto Yōko, Starship Girl Yamamoto Yohko

 

[J-ENT] DJ OZMA to perform in Macau

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Japantoday.com reported, “Singer DJ OZMA will take his mobile show pub “club Royal” to Macau on Sept 22, he said Wednesday. He will be the first Japanese artist to perform in Macau.”

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Tags: DJ OZMA

 

[J-ENT] Academic society to study “Mobile Suit Gundam”

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Japantoday.com reported, “An academic society to study the popular Japanese animation series ‘‘Mobile Suit Gundam’’ will be launched next month in Hiroshima, with an eye to foretelling a future image of the world, according to its support group, Hiroshima Animation Biennale.”

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Tags: Mobile Suit Gundam

 

[J-ENT] French director to make Murakami novel “Norgwegian Wood” to film

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Mainichi Daily News reported, “Norwegian Wood,” the best-selling novel by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, will be made into a film for the first time, production company Asmik Ace Entertainment Inc. advised.”

“The film will be directed by Vietnamese-born French director Tran Anh Hung, who will also write the screenplay. The characters have not yet been cast. Inspired by the novel translated into French, Tran proposed his idea of the film adaptation to Murakami in 2004.”

More on this article

Tags: Haruki Murakami, Murakami Haruki, Norwegian Wood

 

Seventh Tarz Armstrong – The Tokyo City Big Nights (a J!-ENT World Groove Album Review)

“Japan’s punk/rock music artist Seven Tarz Armstrong is back with another impressive album featuring multiple rock collaborations and more!”

ARTIST: Seventh Tarz Armstrong

ALBUM: The Tokyo City Big Night

LABEL: Cutting Edge

CATALOG #: CTCM 65102/B

DURATION: 35:56

RELEASE DATE: June 25, 2008

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

1. around the night, in NewJK.
2. t.o.a.s.t Under-Northlake
3. SiNaGanalWaharf.
4. i know… [ver. 2, For6.words]
5. serial numbers of SBvalley.
6. still life fractal [ver. Hi-CircleTemple.]
7. en-dless f/River2ChildBall. t/SixTrees.
8. IKBKR.owl tells westexitpark-syndro-me
9. goodnight war at 3Cafes.
10. my feeling feared [ver. Back of FieldsCamp.]
11. passport, imagination takes offrom Mt.Blue.

DVD: Region 2, DURATION: 5:23

1. around the night, in NewJK (Music Video)
2. still life fractal [ver. Hi-CircleTemple.] (Music Video)

Last year’s album debut of Seventh Tarz Armstrong’s “The World is Mine” became my summer album of 2007.

The music featured a more Western rock style that can be comparable to an Avril Lavigne and several other female rockers.

And last year, it wasn’t a surprise since according to the official website and bio of Seventh Tarz Armstrong attended Cal State Bakersfield and learned English in California.

Enjoying the music so much, I researched more and more to find out that Seventh Tarz Armstrong is actually Girl’s Box pop idol Hoshii Nanase’s other identity (common with some solo female artists in Japan most notably Tomosaka Rie, who had another artist identity as Sakamoto Eri).

So, the whole bio of Seventh Tarz Armstrong, not sure if its just a story set around her this persona but nevertheless, both Hoshii Nanase and Seventh Tarz Armstrong are like apples and oranges when comparing both their image and musical styles.

Nevertheless, I would come to think that this identity as Seventh Tarz Armstrong is what Hoshii is comfortable with since she is more of a fan of Shiina Ringo, Radio Head, T.Rex, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Maroon 5 fan and her transition to this new persona fits her much better image-wise and musically.

Personally, it’s cooler, it’s a bit dark, vibrant and just overall kick ass!

So far, Seventh Tarz Armstrong releases have been very cool and I have given each positive reviews and the accompanying DVD’s for her first two mini-EP’s featured an actual two-part film and her last EP titled “7 Shortracks” was interesting because it was mostly tracks primarily songs 1-3 minutes long.

This latest album features multiple musical collaborations with talent from the US, UK and Japan and overall, the music for this album just surpasses the first album in a many ways.

Vocals by Armstrong are more confident and just works overall with the music. Again, the music is very Western in a rock n’ roll sense but manages to keep the Japanese side with Armstrong’s high-pitched vocals.

Similar to previous albums, the majority of the words were written by THE COWBOY BLASTERS and this new album is supported by Fender USA.

As for the titles of the songs, for this album, it appears the titles of the songs came from experiences and in a blog-like style, the CD insert booklet features a diary/blog like style with the title of the song and experiences of that day and its relation to the songs.

The music for the majority of the tracks are upbeat, fast rock-based with a strong emphasis in electric guitar and

The first track “around the night, in NewJK.” features music written by Tim Pagnotta of the California-based rock band SUGARCULT (known for their rock hits “Memory” and “Pretty Girl (The Way)” and Brooke Heller. Pagnotta plays the electric guitar in this track.

The second track “t.o.a.s.t Under-Northlake.” features music written by Fujino Hiroyuki (of clip.). Fujino contributes to electric guitar in this track.

The third track “SiNaGanalWaharf.” features music written by Jez Ashurst (of FARRAH), Richie Wermerling and Ryan Shaw. Jez Ashurst is a singer/songwriter/musician who has done work for Ryan Cabrera and Kimura Kaela. Ashurst contributes musically via electric guitar and bass.

The fourth track “i know….[ver. 2, For6.words]” features music written by MY SUMMER PLAN. This song was originally featured in her last ep “7 Shortracks” but this is version 2. For this track, Yasushi Ishi of My Summer Plan contributes musically via playing the electric guitar, bass and pianoforte.

The fifth track “serial numbers of SBvalley.” features music written by SUGGY (of STRIPE EFFECT and MR. ORANGE). SUGGY contributes musically via electric bass, electric and acoustic guitar.

The sixth track “still life fractal [ver. Hi-CircleTemple.] features music written by Dan Likacinsky (from THE ONE THOUGHT MOMENT). This song is very unique that it’s sung by STA and the band members of The One Thought Moment and also THE COWBOY BLASTERS.

The seventh track “en-diess f/River2ChildBall. t/SixTrees.) featuring music written by Kevin Ridel. This song is probably the most different compared to the other tracks. Where the others are very electric guitar and fast-paced, this track is a bit more mellow and casual.

The eighth track “IKBKR.owl tells westexitpark-syndro-me” featuring music written by Duncan Redmonds (of SNUFF, THE TOY DOLLS, BILLY NO MATES). Duncan Redmonds contributes musically via the drums, electric bass and keyboard. The song is probably my favorite musically and arrangement-wise. The music is just hard hitting and wonderful!

The ninth track “goodnight war at 3Cafes.” features music written by Scott Murphy (of ALLISTER, THE GET GO). Another awesome rockin’ track! Scott Murphy performs all music for this track.

The tenth track “my felling feared [ver. Back of FieldsCamp.]” features music written by Joe (of VIBEDRED).

The eleventh track “passport, imagination takes offrom Mt. Blue.” featuring music written by SIMON. The track is relaxing and mostly acoustic guitar-based in its first half and transitions to a much faster upbeat song during its second half.

The DVD features two music videos for “Around the night, in NewJK.” and “still life fractal [ver. Hi-CircleTemple.]. both music videos are similar with the group performing in a room and frenetic filming, quick transitions on the musicians and vocalist.

The CD insert features the production credits and instead of the lyrics, each song is written in like a diary style of setting but with photos and the title and time in a blog-like style.

I really enjoyed the first album by Seventh Tarz Armstrong immensely. The second album is very good and the multiple collaborations with established with American and UK-based musicians definitely lends a fresh sound that you may hear from several bands such as ELLEGARDEN, FAT PROP, MY SUMMER PLAN and others who have adopted that Western style of rock music.

With the release of the first album, I wasn’t too sure if this persona of Hoshii Nanase was long-term. Especially since there are Girl’s Box activities that are still going on but from what I’ve seen, both persona’s have been kept separate and I have to admit that Seventh Tarz Armstrong is just exciting overall and because of the style, the dark clothing, the jet black hair and how it just works in conjuction with the hard hitting music, guitar thrashing sounds.

Now how this style of music is appreciated in Japan, I have no idea. What I do know is that I hope that STA gets more visibility not just in Japan but also outside of Japan (note: There has been interest in having Seventh Tarz Amstrong perform in the USA) and that people support the music.

As for “The Tokyo City Big Nights”, the multiple collaborations have helped in STA’s favor by bringing in awesome music and a style that you don’t get from Japan from other female rock artists.

It is of course staying on path with the goal of Language Destruction Sounds (L-D-S) that was set for the first album and that is not focusing so much on the language but focusing on the sound and how it can be appreciated worldwide. The second continues that with a good blend of musical styles from the USA, UK and Japan.

Again, another wonderful album and I hope more and more people open up to the music of Seventh Tarz Armstrong.

BUY THIS ALBUM:

Tags: Hoshii Nanase, Nanase Hoshii, Seventh Tarz Armstrong, The Tokyo City Big Nights

 

[YouTube] Fan Video of the Week – mydodolook

mydodolook has posted a new video. This one showing her pride for China for the upcoming Beijing Summer Olympics.

DISCLAIMER: youtube.com videos are courtesy of youtube and are not on J!-ENT servers.

Tags: mydodolook

 

Toki Asako – Summerin’ (a J!-ENT World Groove Album Review)

“A summer album featuring original and cover songs by former Cymbals vocalist Toki Asako combining pop, rock and jazz music and creating a casual, sensual and elegant atmosphere. Definitely an album worth checking out!”

ARTIST: Toki Asako (土岐麻子)

ALBUM: Summerin’

LABEL: rhythm zone

CATALOG #: RZCD-45913

DURATION: 32:46

RELEASE DATE: June 25, 2008

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

1. LIBERTINE
2. サマーヌード
3. 小麦色のマーメイド
4. Reach Out, I’ll Be There
5. La Isla Bonita
6. smilin’
7. 都会

For those not familiar with Toki Asako, she is a member of Players SMA Inc. (Players Sony Music Artists, Inc.) which represents artists such as Ska Paradise Orchestra, Rolly, Watanabe Shunichi and others on various labels.

Toki was a member of the Japanese rock group Cymbals (1997-2004) and since their breakup, has been able to carve her own niche with her own style of music.

Toki Asako returns with her seventh album titled “Summerin’”, an album with a few new songs and cover tracks featuring a total of seven tracks and an album that shows good balance between pop, rock and jazz.

The first track “LIBERTINE” is an original Toki Asako pop song but with jazz and funky style elements. Very enjoyable and relaxing. Beautiful electric guitar, bass and electric piano playing in this track.

The second track “Summer Nude” and is a cover of the Magokoro Brothers hit. An upbeat jazz hit with cool bass, acoustic and electric guitar, electric piano and flugelhorn and trumpet. Another beautiful track on the album!

The third track “小麦色のマーメイド” (Komugi Iro no Mermaid/Wheat color mermaid) is a jazzified upbeat version of the sultry 80’s slow jam by Matsuda Seiko.

The fourth track “Reach Out, I’ll be There” is a cover of the Four Tops 1966 hit. The song is sung in English where the original was soul, Toki’s version has the original elements of the Four Tops hit but this version is more of a happy, Katrina & the Waves (Walkin’ on Sunshine) style.

The fifth track “La Isla Bonita” is a jazzed up version of the popular Madonna hit. The song is sung in English and a song where bass, acoustic guitar, smooth percussion and trumpet has a great presence in the overall track. A very smooth and sensual cover of the popular pop hit.

The sixth track “Smilin’” is another original track by Toki Asako and features a hip, jazz track where the electric piano/synth, flute, trumpet and flugelhorn, guitar and bass creates a fun and enjoyable atmosphere.

The seventh track “都会” (city) is a cover of a 1977 song. A beautiful slow jazz song featuring piano, bass and a string quartet.

The CD insert is a quad-fold featuring lyrics and production credits on one side and photos of Toki Asako on the other. Also, a rhythm zone flyer with June 2008 releases is included.

Toki Asako’s latest album on the rhythm zone label is definitely a winner. Although it doesn’t include many tracks, the overall music is quality and Asako’s voice is just sensual and “Summerin’” was a pleasant and enjoyable album overall.

I have to admit that its really interesting to see rhythm zone now incorporating more genres to the label. Typically known for their urban, soul R&B sound, with Toki Asako and Dorlis being promoted by the label, definitely signifies a change for the label to diversify into other areas.

I definitely look forward to listening to more of Toki’s musical works and for those wanting to try something new, I definitely recommend this album.

BUY THIS ALBUM:

Tags: Asako Toki, Cymbals, Inc., SMA Players, Summerin', Toki Asako, 土岐麻子

 

[WII] WII-KLY UPDATE: ONE WIIWARE GAME AND TWO VIRTUAL CONSOLE GAMES ADDED TO WII SHOP CHANNEL

July 28, 2008

If variety is the spice of life, we’ve got an extra-spicy lineup for you this week on the Wii™ Shop Channel. From bouncing balls to out-of-control cars to hardcore fisticuffs, the latest game additions offer an incredibly diverse mix of Wii™ thrills. So if you’ve been saving up your Wii Points™ for something new and different, here’s your opportunity to cash in and kick up some serious fun. Enjoy!

Nintendo adds new and classic games to the Wii Shop Channel at 9 a.m. Pacific time every Monday. Wii owners with a high-speed Internet connection can redeem Wii Points to download the games. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel or at retail outlets. This week’s new games are:

WiiWare™

Pong Toss-Frat Party Games™ (JV Games, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone-Mild Language, 800 Wii Points): Pony up-it’s Pong Toss time. Compete against your friends or the computer in this ultimate party-game favorite. Play on a regulation table with up to four players. Make consecutive shots for the Fireball bonuses and Roll-Backs as you or your team try to dominate the table and reign as Pong Toss champs. In Speed Pong, up to three challengers can compete at the same time. Speed and strategy are the keys to this fast-paced game. Jack up your opponents by using a slew of power-ups that will slow them down. The first one who sinks the last cup wins it all. Be fast. Be furious. Be victorious.

Virtual Console™

Chase H.Q.® (TurboGrafx16, 1 player, Rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and Older-Drug Reference, Mild Violence, 600 Wii Points): This is a different style of racing game in which you attempt to catch criminals by chasing them and ramming their cars off the road. Playing as two cops from the NYPD special “CHASE H.Q.” unit, the first half of each stage involves you maneuvering your unmarked car in a heated chase, followed by an action sequence in the latter half. Once you reach the target vehicle, you flip on your lights and siren, and then try to stop the culprits by repeatedly colliding with them. Use your different gears wisely as you make your way through streets and around corners, and be careful not to hit objects or other cars, or you’ll lose speed. Also at your disposal are turbo units for temporary extra speed and ramming power.

ART OF FIGHTING 2 (NEOGEO, 1-2 players, Rated T for Teen-Alcohol and Tobacco Reference, Violence, 900 Wii Points): Released in 1994 by SNK, ART OF FIGHTING 2 sees 12 characters compete for the title in the toughest fighting contest of them all: King of Fighters. Each character has a range of deadly techniques in his or her arsenal, and players must use these lethal techniques to fight their opponents. As in the original ART OF FIGHTING, however, using a deadly technique lowers a character’s mental-energy gauge. For this reason, players must use these techniques carefully. Meanwhile, players can taunt an opponent to exhaust his or her mental energy, and even suppress their opponent’s techniques if successful. This type of mental-energy offense and defense gives ART OF FIGHTING 2 a uniquely enjoyable spin on the fighting-game genre. Further adding to the strategy required to win, an attack will become stronger or weaker depending on exactly when the button is pressed. And even if a player is thrown, defensive action is possible with the timely press of a button. All of this adds up to an intense and nail-biting fighting-game experience not found anywhere else.

For more information about Wii, please visit wii.com.

Tags: Nintendo Wii, Virtual Console, WiiWare

 

[ORICON] Oricon Top 10 CD Singles / Daily Charts – Mr. Children takes the #1 spot (7.30.08)

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It’s new release Wednesday. Which artist or band took the #1 spot on the Oricon CD Single Daily Charts?

NOTE: Mr. Children takes the #1 spot.  Comedy group Aladdin takes the #2 spot and C-ute takes #3.  Another anime week with ALI PROJECT and Fujimaki and Ohashi in the top 10.  Last week’s #1, Hey! Say! JUMP drops to #10.

1. Mr. Children – GIFT
2. Aladdin – Hi wa, Mata Noboru
3. ℃−ｕｔｅ – Edo no Temari Uta II
4. Takamizawa Toshihiko – Tsukihime
5. Remioromen – Motto Toku e/Orchestra
6. RIP SLYME – Taiyou to bikini
7. Fujimaki Fujioka and Ohashi Nozomi – Ponyo on the Cliff
8. ALI PROJECT – Waga Rotashi Aku no Hana (Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 Outro Theme)
9. Kalafina – sprinter/ARIA
10. Hey! Say! JUMP – Your Seed

Tags: Mr. Children, Oricon Daily Charts Top 10 CD singles

 

[ORICON] Oricon Top 10 Album Daily Charts – Amuro Namie at #1 (7.30.08)

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Which artist came #1 on the Oricon Charts for new release Wednesday for albums?

NOTE: Amuro Namie with another consecutive #1 album release with her best album “Best Fiction” featuring her best tracks since 2002. Last week’s #1 EXILE drops to #1 and a great showing for R&B group color. GReeeeN and AYAKA continues to stay strong on the Oricon album top 10 and the only June-release albums still on the Oricon top 10 for album releases.

1. Amuro Namie – BEST FICTION
2. EXILE – EXILE ENTERTAINMENT BEST
3. COLOR – BLACK ~A night for you~
4. GReeeeN – Aa, domo. Ohisashiburi desu.
5. Kimaguren – ZUSHI
6. Various Artists – Ai no Uta
7. Matsumoto Hitoshi, Takasu Mitsuyoshi – Hososhitsu 4
8. SOUL’d OUT – Movies & Remixes 4
9. Ayaka – Sing to the Sky
10. ELLEGARDEN – ELLEGARDEN BEST 1999-2008

Tags: Amuro Namie, Namie Amuro, Oricon Daily Charts Top 10 CD Albums, 安室奈美恵

 

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