Crunchyroll.com is one of the hottest digital video sharing companies on the Internet.  Attracting 20 million visits per month, 200 million pages served and 5,000 new members per day, the company has also had its share of anime fans amd some in the industry not too happy with the company and their support of anime fan subs.

J!-ENT’s Dennis A. Amith interviews crunchyroll.com founder Vu Nguyen to learn more about the controversy surrounding the website, their success and also what may be in store for the future of the company.

Read the interview here

Anime Leader to Offer Subtitled Series Just Weeks After Japanese Television Debut

Fort Worth, Texas — October 20, 2008 — FUNimation® Entertainment has acquired digital, broadcast, theatrical, DVD and merchandising rights to the13-episode supernatural anime series Shikabane Hime: Aka (Corpse Princess) from King Record Co. and now airing on Japan’s AT-X television.

Starting Friday, October 24, Funimation will deliver high-quality, English subtitled streaming episodes of Gainax’s latest anime Shikabane Hime (Corpse Princess), through video-sharing partners YouTube.com, Joost.com and Hulu.com as well as www.funimation.com – all for free.

FUNimation will also offer a download-to-own option for these episodes through www.funimation.com at $1.99 per episode.

“Often by the time a licensing deal is signed to bring a series from Japan to the U.S.  the episodes are already available as illegal downloads,” said Gen Fukunaga, president and CEO of FUNimation Entertainment. “In bringing this series to anime fans within days of its premiere we are not only offering unique content and increasing the awareness of the series but we are offering a legal online alternative to illegal file sharing.”

Shikabane Hime (Corpse Princess) is a horror-action anime which tells the tale of a girl named Makina who is one of the living dead. If she is to ever find peace, she must hunt down and destroy her own kind. Aided by a secret society of monks, Makina’s quest to rid the world of the undead begins. Makina is voiced by Japanese television star Nana Akiyama.

Studio co-founder Hiroyuki Yamaga and Gurren Lagann producer Yasuhiro Takeda co-produced the series based on the manga by Yoshiichi Akahito. The anime was directed by Masahiko Murata and adapted from the screenplay written by Shou Aikawa (Fullmetal Alchemist).

FUNimation Entertainment plans to expand its distribution channels and offer similar digital content to U.S. anime fans in the future.

“The season 6 box set will probably be one of the better selling of the ‘Dragon Ball Z’ sets due to the popularity of the battles against Cell.  Definitely loads of action and for those that waited for Gohan and even Trunks unleash their full power, you’re going to love this season!”

BUY THIS DVD | Netflix Delivers DVDs to your home. NO LATE FEES. Try for FREE!

DVD INFORMATION:

DVD TITLE: DRAGON BALL Z (SEASON 6)

DURATION: 700 minutes

DVD INFORMATION: Animated, Color, DVD-Video, Subtitled, NTSC

COMPANY: Funimation

Released on September 16, 2008

Having at last achieved his Perfect Form the evil Cell’s powers have soared to terrible new heights overshadowing even the greatest of the Z-Fighters. Eager to demonstrate these newfound abilities and prove his superiority Cell proposes a tournament. He issues an ultimatum to the people of Earth: produce a worthy opponent or die!The day of reckoning upon them Goku and the Z-Fighters line up to participate in Cell’s twisted game the world’s best hope of defeating the monster. But they are not the only ones brave enough to accept the challenge - the reigning World Martial Arts Champion Mr. Satan has also stepped into the ring!Now with the fate of the human race hanging in the balance one of these valiant fighters must come forward to defeat the seemingly invincible Perfect Cell - but who will it be?

The Cell saga continues as Cell who has sinced absorbed the androids 17 & 18 is now complete but not it’s time for the battle that everyone has been waiting for.  Goku vs. Cell which later becomes Gohan vs. Cell.

Without revealing too many spoilers in regards to this season, not only is it full of action, the series had a great build up of how evil Cell was, his goal to achieve his complete stage but also to showcase the additional characters much stronger than before and trying to take Cell down.

Whereas the Friezer battles were long but I felt a bit drawn out for the sake of having many episodes, with the “Cell” storyline, I just felt that everything came together quite well and didn’t take forever to get towards the conclusion.

I really enjoyed the camaraderie of Goku and his friends and most of all to see Vegita and his acknowledgment that he has things about himself that he really needs to work on.

And you also get the introduction of Mr. Satan, world’s greatest champion which will be interesting on how he and his family become important to the series probably in the next upcoming season.  So, definitely stay tuned for that!

But overall, this is another wonderful box set for an awesome animated TV series.  Definitely for those who love action and can’t get enough of it.

As for my problems with the last season box set which disc 4-6 only featured three episodes, season 6 fortunately features a full disc 4 but season 5 and 6 has only three episodes each.  But I kind of understand as they transition to the next season which will take place several years into the future and these DVD box sets are created to have six discs and not five.

And again, for $29.99, for all these episodes, about the same price or less than buying an American television series box set and Funimation has definitely set the standard which I hope many of the anime industry will follow.  You get the bang for your buck for these season box sets!

VIDEO:

The video looks great on DVD and for those of us who have multi-generation fansubs or fading VHS tapes, just having these episodes on DVD and everything looking great. I know some people have a problem with the show receiving some cropping but for me it’s quite miniscule.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Special features include trailers and open and ending themes. If there was one thing lacking, it’s the fact that there are really nothing in terms of special features.

Season 6 was another action-packed season that I could have probably watched in a full sitting.  I found myself really attached to each episode and not wanting to stop because there was so much action and this time around, each character has its importance.  From Kirilin having feelings for Android 18, Android 16 showing his love for nature and wanting to help the team, Goku showing his newfound power but noticing that his son has an even impressive power, Vegita and Trunks together trying to develop their relationship as father and son which never happened in the future Trunks lived in.  And so much more!

This was among my favorite seasons of “Dragon Ball Z” when I first watched it air in Japan but knowing what’s coming soon next season with the Super Saiyaman series and especially the Buu series and more characters and development, I can’t help but be excited with what is coming next from Funimation.

Again, more bang for your buck with these box sets and for “Dragon Ball Z” fans, you don’t want to miss any of them.  Check it out!

+ Characters you care about and a good balance with action!

+  One of the best nemesis storylines in the whole series!

+ Pretty awesome battles!

+ One of the best English dubbed anime series, if not the best out there!

- Lags on special features.

- Funimation cut the episode count down on disc 5 through 6 to only 3 episodes.

BUY THIS DVD | Netflix Delivers DVDs to your home. NO LATE FEES. Try for FREE!

Online Media Distribution Leader to Simulcast Highly Anticipated
Mecha-Action Title With Japan Premiere Schedule

San Francisco, CA and Tokyo, Japan (October 3, 2008) – Online media
distribution leader Crunchyroll, and GDH will provide anime mecha fans a
rare treat as the visually spectacular LINEBARRELS OF IRON (鉄のラインバレ
ル) will be streamed and available for download-to-own simultaneously as
each episode is launched on Japanese television weekly starting with episode
one (1) on October 3, 2008 at 12:45 pm PST. More information can be found at
www.crunchyroll.com <http://www.crunchyroll.com> .

Kun Gao, CEO of Crunchyroll states, “Crunchyroll has such a huge community
of anime mecha fans that we anticipate a huge reception from our members for
this visually spectacular title.  Additional benefits of a simulcast of the
title include increasing the attention of the brand on an international
level as well as curbing illegal piracy activities.”

“The story within the original comic of LINEBARRELS OF IRON consists of
exciting battle scenes and fascinating stories of each character. I have put
special value on that point when creating the animation of LINEBARRELS OF
IRON. I am always trying to find out how I can show cool & coquettish
mecha-battle scenes by showing sharp sense of speed & presence, and by
including ponder-able action scenes into the animation. I just hope this
anime will be a fun entertainment for fans to watch.  I am aiming high for
beautiful, cool, but cute mecha-animation! I just hope people will enjoy
it!”, exclaims 2008 Anime Expo® Guest of Honor and LINEBARRELS OF IRON
director Masamitsu Hidaka.

Streaming: Free. Download-to-own: $1.99/episode only for PC; $2.99/episode
for PC, iPod, PSP

Title Synopsis:
Fourteen-year-old Kouichi Hayase’s life has always been a mediocre one, if
not dismal. However, those days of being bullied by classmates and escaping
to a fantasy of being a hero are put to an end when a certain “accident”
bestows on him a girl and a gigantic humanoid robot called “LINEBARREL.” The
extraordinary power that Kouichi obtains puts him and everything around him
on a sudden rollercoaster ride of battles, intrigues and friendship! During
the course of his adventure, the boy starts to learn what life has to offer;
he meets new friends, bids farewell to the old ones, but most of all he now
has considerable responsibilities and is forced to confront the world around
him.

Cast and Staff
Character                              Talent
Kouichi Hayase                    Tetsuya Kakihara
Emi Kizaki                             Mamiko Noto
Hisataka Katou                    Jun Fukuyama
Reiji Moritsugu                     Yuuichi Nakamura
Satoru Yamashita                 Miyuki Sawashiro
Shizuna Endou                     Kana Ueda
Izuna Endou                         Rie Kugimiya
Risako Niiyama                    Noriko Shitaya
Yui Ogawa                            Sayaka Ohara
Kunio Ishigami                     Johji Nakata

Creative Producer                           Goro Taniguchi
Writer                                                            Kiyoko
Yoshimura
Scripts & Special Settings                Shigeru Morita
Character Designs                           Hisashi Hirai
SFX Director                                     Ichiro Itano
Mecha Designs                                 Tsutomu Suzuki
Sound Director                                 Masafumi Mima
Director                                             Masamitsu Hidaka
Animation Production                    GONZO

About GDH K.K.
GDH is a globally-focused Japanese media company founded in February 2000.
The group produces cutting edge entertainment for teens and young adults
through its GONZO animation brand. Kids and family product is distributed
through the GONZO FILMS and GONZINO brands.
GDH is a world leader in content development targeting both domestic and
international audiences with Japan’s trend-setting animation culture and,
usually, GDH controls licensing management and international distribution
for the content it produces.
For additional information, visit www.gdh.co.jp/english
<http://www.gdh.co.jp/english>  (for GDH) and www.gonzo.co.jp
<http://www.gonzo.co.jp> (for GONZO - Japanese only).
GDH group companies include GONZO Rosso K.K., GONZO K.K., Future Vision
Music K.K., GONZINO K.K., GDH Capital K.K. and GK Entertainment K.K.

About Crunchyroll
Headquartered in San Francisco, California – Crunchyroll is hailed as a
leading online entertainment brand with the largest international online
community and destination focused on Asian entertainment including anime,
drama, music in addition to electronic entertainment and auto content.
Crunchyroll’s distribution channel and partnership program delivers content
to over four million passionate fans worldwide. Crunchyroll is funded by the
premiere group Venrock.  More information can be found at its website
http://www.crunchyroll.com.

Online Media Distribution Leader to Feature the Wildly Innovative and
Explosive
ROMANov HIGA 3D CG Anime Film

San Francisco, CA and Tokyo, Japan (September 30, 2008) ­ Calling all anime
fans!  Crunchyroll, and Organic Co. Ltd. proudly present open pricing of
ROMANov Higa’s highly acclaimed 3D CG animation title CATBLUE DYNAMITE to
its online community of over 4.5 million unique users starting this evening.
More information can be found at www.crunchyroll.com
<http://www.crunchyroll.com> .

“CATBLUE DYNAMITE is yet another groundbreaking ROMANov title, and the
Crunchyroll community will not only be interactively experience the brand in
our Crunchyland MMO, but our community will also be able to directly help in
the continuation and development of future CATBLUE DYNAMITE anime,” states
Rob Pereyda, Crunchyroll’s Head of Licensing.

Organic’s Deputy General Manager of Rights Media, Toshikazu Fukamori, also
adds, “The virtual merchandising opportunities for CATBLUE DYNAMITE on
Crunchyroll are extremely exciting for us to see.  We love the fact that the
Crunchyroll community is so open and welcoming for our first animation
title.”

Crunchyroll members will receive free CATBLUE DYNAMITE ears for their
avatars for joining the Catblue Group online. By contributing in the open
pricing for this award winning anime, fans will be able to help finance
future episodes of the title.

Title Synopsis:
Set in a stylized version of the 1970s, CATBLUE DYNAMITE is an action
adventure about Blue (Anna Kunnecke), a principled mercenary who is
half-human, half-cat and all female.  When two drug couriers get mixed up in
gang warfare over a mysteriously important Frank Sinatra tape they
unknowingly received from their boss, Blue uses her feline attributes, her
ability to shoot a gun with her tail, and her connections with the afterlife
to save the day. (3DCG Animation, Action.  42 minutes)

Open Pricing ­ High Resolution and Ad Free Streaming
$0.01 to $1.99 - PC HD download only
$2.00 to $4.99 - PC HD download, iPod and PSP formats
$5.00 or more - PC HD download, iPod and PSP formats, free Catblue Dynamite
Sword

ROMANov Higa (ロマのフ  比嘉), Director
CATBLUE DYNAMITE director, ROMANov Higa, is a young rising star and a member
of the promising new generation of 3D CG animation creators in Japan.  His
innovative use of cell-shaded CG in anime is a hallmark of  CATBLUE DYNAMITE
an independent project that captures Higa’s love of 1970s urban culture. He
is now applying his artistry to APPLESEED: GENESIS the highly anticipated
national TV animation series based on Masamune Shirow’s celebrated sci-fi
manga APPLESEED.  Higa began his career as an animator for video games
before becoming an independent filmmaker in 2001. He had joined Namco in
1999, having graduated from Japan’s renowned University of
Electro-Communications in Chofu City, Tokyo.

Cast and Staff

Blue                Anna Kunnecke
John Doe       Dominic Allen
Bill                   Herbert Q. Kendrick
Robert                        Matt Lagan
M                    Ruthann Morizumi

Director and Writer                                                 Romanov
Higa
Executive Producers                                                Ben Kato,
Hiroaki Ikegami
Producers
Hiroaki Hayashi, Masato Saie
Character Design                                                     Romanov
Higa
Music
ping pong musik
Background Image Art                                           KODAMA
Background Modeling                                            Fumikazu
Sato, Hidenori

Tanaka, Kei Nakabayashi,

Kuniomi Ito
Car Chase Sequence                                                Tetsuya
Watanabe
CG Edit
Romanov Higa
Character Animation                                              Romanov
Higa
Character Modeling                                                Romanov
Higa, Tact Aoki
Computer Graphics                                                 Fumikazu
Sato, Hidenori

Tanaka, Kaisei Kishi, Kei

Nakabayashi, Kuniomi Ito, NAGI

(assistant), Romanov Higa, Tact

Aoki, Tetsuya Watanabe
Lighting
Romanov Higa
Motion Actor
Junya Iwamoto, Naoyasu Achi

(support), Tomoya Nishimura,

Wataru Koga, Yoshio Miyaki
Plop Modeling                                                          Kei
Nakabayashi, Tact Aoki
Post Effect
Romanov Higa
Rendering Setting                                                    NAGI
Scene Setting
Romanov Higa
Sound director
Kazuhiro Senda
Vehicle Modeling                                                     Kaisei
Kishi, Kei Nakabayashi
Volume Effect                                                           Kei
Nakabayashi

About Organic
Organic Co. Ltd. was established in 1997 and began producing high quality
collectibles and action figures based on popular Japanese culture,
specializing in manga and anime. Organic believes that play is an essential
element of the well lived life, a philosophy it pursues by extending the
audience’s experience of comics, animations, characters, games, music and
toys in a strategy it calls “fused play.” Most recently Organic is in
development on “Catblue Dynamite” with director Romanov Higa and is in talks
to expand that animated property into television, movies and other
platforms. The privately held company is headquartered in Tokyo with offices
in Los Angeles, France and Korea.

About Crunchyroll
Headquartered in San Francisco, California ­ Crunchyroll is hailed as a
leading online entertainment brand with the largest international online
community and destination focused on Asian entertainment including anime,
drama, music in addition to electronic entertainment and auto content.
Crunchyroll’s distribution channel and partnership program delivers content
to over four million passionate fans worldwide. Crunchyroll is funded by the
premiere group Venrock.  More information can be found at its website
http://www.crunchyroll.com.

“The battle against Cell box set is now available in retail but in a surprising change from previous box sets, Funimation puts only three episodes on disc 4-6 instead of the typical 6-7 episodes.  A sign for things to come?  Still a great deal for its price but I hope this is not a sign for future releases to come.”

DVD INFORMATION:

DVD TITLE: DRAGON BALL Z (SEASON 5)

DURATION: 615 minutes

DVD INFORMATION: Animated, Color, DVD-Video, Subtitled, NTSC

COMPANY: Funimation

Released on May 27, 2008

The Z-Fighters gather their forces in an effort to combat the Android menace that has been set loose upon the planet. But they are about to discover that the Androids are the least of their worries. An even greater threat has risen from the shadows: Dr. Gero’s most lethal creation Cell!Born from the genetic material of the greatest warriors ever to walk the Earth Cell is Dr. Gero’s ultimate weapon a perfect fighting machine capable of duplicating all of the Z-Fighters’ most powerful attacks. Now after years of waiting Cell has begun to unleash his terrifying powers wiping out entire cities as he gathers the energy he needs to fulfill his creator’s grand design.Time is short! The Z-Fighters must find a way to stop this monstrous foe before he completes his quest to absorb the other Androids and achieves his invincible Perfect Form!Contains the complete Imperfect and Perfect Cell Sagas (26 episodes).

One of my favorite episodes in the “DRAGON BALL Z” anime series was the Cell saga.  The toughest enemy that the team has fought yet and the series focuses on everyone trying to prevent Cell from absorbing the androids while the Saiyan’s Goku and son Gohan and Vegita and his son Trunks (future) train to get stronger, so they can prepare to fight Cell.

With each DVD season box set release of “DRAGON BALL Z”, as a hardcore fan of the series, it’s just incredible to get over 30 episodes for almost the same price or less than most American television box sets.

Season 5 surprisingly in duration wise, shorter than the previous volumes.  Where each DVD had around 5 or more episodes, on disc 4-6, there are only three episodes on each disc.

I was surprised and I have to admit that I would be upset if Funimation did this from here on in but I understand that it’s business and with everyone buying these box sets because it’s awesome price for a large number of episodes, you can’t beat it.  But I’m just hoping that this is not a permanent decision.

VIDEO:

The video looks great on DVD and for those of us who have multi-generation fansubs or fading VHS tapes, just having these episodes on DVD and everything looking great. I know some people have a problem with the show receiving some cropping but for me it’s quite miniscule.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Special features include trailers and open and ending themes. If there was one thing lacking, it’s the fact that there are really nothing in terms of special features.

Season 5 ends with a cliffhanger to the upcoming Cell games chapter and at the time of writing this review, Season 6 is now available in retail.

There is a lot of action in this series and no filler episodes.  It’s straight mayhem as Cell continues to absorb people and the heroes can do nothing but just hope they can hang on for a day or more while the Saiyans complete their training and hope to defeat Cell.

The Cell series was quite popular back then when I was watching the series in straight Japanese and the whole android storyline was just exciting to watch (especially the special episode in Future Trunks world which pits him and an older Gohan against the evil androids).

Speaking of the special, the special is not included and I assume that they will hopefully release it with the movie collection re-release.  But for those who have never seen it and don’t intend to buy it, there is an episode that shows footage from that special.

Overall, Season 5 is a very good box set.  I was put off by the sudden drop of episodes when you reach disc 4 and noticed every disc thereafter only has three episodes.  Again, I hope this is not where the future of the box sets are going.  But with season 6 now available, I guess I’ll find out.

Nevertheless, you still get over 20 episodes but after being spoiled with 30 or more episodes per box set, it just sucks to get this drop.  But I understand it’s a business decision that probably will work since people are hooked on this DVD box set for its sheer amount of episodes and great price.

All in all, another cool box set release from Funimation, just a bit sour about the drop in episodes though.

+ Characters you care about and a good balance with action!

+ Pretty awesome battles!

+ One of the best English dubbed anime series, if not the best out there!

- Lags on special features.

- Funimation cut the episode count down on disc 4 through 6 to only 3 episodes.

BUY THIS DVD

“The fact that Funimation continues to sell these anime box sets for a low price is just amazing and this latest box set focusing on the battle against the Androids and the introduction of the future Trunks is just another awesome chapter in the popular anime series”

DVD INFORMATION:

DVD TITLE: DRAGON BALL Z (SEASON 4)

DURATION: 735 minutes

DVD INFORMATION: Animated, Color, DVD-Video, Subtitled, NTSC

COMPANY: Funimation

Released on Feb. 19, 2008

Having returned victorious from their battle with Frieza the Z-fighters can at last breathe a collective sigh of relief… But they won’t have long to rest. A new host of villains has appeared ready to wreak havoc on the Earth - and Goku the Z-Fighters’ greatest hero is still missing!In the face of these new dangers a mysterious youth with Super Saiyan powers has come bearing a bleak prediction for the future: in just three years’ time an evil greater than any the Z-Fighters have ever faced will emerge to cast a shadow of destruction and despair over the Earth. If the young Saiyan’s prediction is correct the Z-Fighters will have to train like they have never trained before in order to have any hope against these seemingly unstoppable foes: the Androids!

With each DVD season box set release of “DRAGON BALL Z”, as a hardcore fan of the series, it’s just incredible to get over 30 episodes for almost the same price or less than most American television box sets.

Season 4 is definitely going to excite some fans as one of the more popular characters, Future Trunks is featured on the box cover.

The season starts off with the Garlic Jr. arc that I wasn’t too caring for, while the fate of Goku is still unknown after the battle with Frieza, everyone else gets accustomed to their own lives as Gohan is stuck at home studying for school exams and his mother Chi Chi is very striict with him. Piccolo continues to train and Krillyn dates a beautiful, busty woman named Maron.  

But eventually everyone reunites to take on the latest threat to their world when Garlic Jr. unleashes the black water mist upon the world and everyone turns evil with the exception of Piccolo, Krillyn, Gohan, Maron and Master Roshi.  With the help of Kame and Mr. Popo, the group take on Garlic Jr. and must save the world from the black water myst.

The next chapter features the return of Frieza and his father Cooler.  After Goku’s battle with Frieza, it is learned that Frieza’s father saved his son and made him even more powerful by taking his body parts and creating a cyborg.  Of course, Frieza now back, wants revenge on Goku and friends.  

As everyone prepares to battle against Frieza and Cooler, a mysterious guy from the future makes an appearance. 

The unknown warrior defeats Frieza and Cooler with ease and everyone realizes that he is a Saiyajin.  But the warrior tells everyone that Goku should be arriving that day and everyone is shocked to find out that Goku will be coming back.

Upon Goku’s return, the future warrior reveals to Goku that he is Trunks, the son of Vegita and Bulma and warns him of upcoming danger as his world has been destroyed by the Androids.  He comes to the past to warn Goku to get him and his friends prepared for their battle because he can defeat the androids but he must take medication to help eliminate a virus that he is going to have soon.  According to Trunks, everyone except Gohan is killed but Goku dies due to a virus.  But by giving him an antidote, Goku can survive the virus once he gets sick.

So, for the next few years, Goku, Picollo and everyone must train for this major threat from dr. Jiro and the androids.

AUDIO:

This is where I’m so happy with these Funimation releases.  The fact that you can watch the series in both Japanese or English dubs but can listen to the English dub with the new digital music or the original Japanese music.

Having watched the series in its original Japanese language when it was first released, this time around, I have been watching the series in dub format and its one of the best English voice acting as Goku, Picollo, Gohan, Krillyn, every character…the voice acting is just well done.  There is not one character where I felt the voice acting was off or didn’t fit.   Voice acting is well done!

VIDEO:

The video looks great on DVD and for those of us who have multi-generation fansubs or fading VHS tapes, just having these episodes on DVD and everything looking great.  I know some people have a problem with the show receiving some cropping but for me it’s quite miniscule.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Special features include trailers and open and ending themes.  If there was one thing lacking, it’s the fact that there are really nothing in terms of special features.

As of this review, the latest Season 6 was released and I have started on season 5.  But I was quite pleased with Season 4, the whole android saga was great to watch when it first came out and to see future Trunks, Super Saiyan Vegita and everyone all together, fighting together once again.  It’s just an all out great, mega-brawl and it’s one of the reasons why “Dragon Ball Z” has become my favorite action anime series of all time.

I do have to say that the android saga leaves off with a cliff-hanger and continues in Season 5.  So, you’re definitely going to want to pick up Season 5 as it leads into another major threat that relates to the android-saga.

Again, for the price of over 30 episodes for $30 is a great deal!  I just hope that Funimation sets the trend of other companies considering their anime DVD releases via box set for a similar price.  But nevertheless, if you are a “Dragon Ball Z” fan, you can’t go wrong with this series.  Cool characters that you care about, storylines that capture your attention and a series that is just action-packed.  

Another season of “Dragon Ball Z” worth owning!

+ Characters you care about and a good balance with action!

+  Pretty awesome battles!

+ One of the best English dubbed anime series, if not the best out there!

- Lags on special features.

BUY THIS DVD

“The anime does preach a lot about ecology but its an anime that is made to make viewers think and whether or not its message gets through to you or piss you off depends on the viewer.  I, for one, enjoyed the series and because anime such as ‘ARJUNA’ is unique in many way, I can understand why it has received 50/50 reviews.  Some will love it, some will hate it.  But it’s all about the message and if one can make a change in their life because of this anime, then its mission accomplished.”

DVD INFORMATION:

DVD TITLE: ARJUNA - ANIME LEGENDS COMPLETE COLLECTION (aka Chikyu Shojo Arjuna)

DURATION: 325 minutes

DVD INFORMATION: Animated, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, NTSC

COMPANY: Bandai Entertainment

RATING: Unrated

STAFF INFORMATION:

DIRECTOR AND ORIGINAL CREATOR: Kawamori Shoji

SERIES COMPOSITION: Kawamori Shoji, Ohnogi Hiroshi

CHARACTER DESIGN: Kishida Takahiro

MUSIC COMPOSER: Kanno Yoko

THEME SONG BY: Sakamoto Maaya

High school, archery club, and boys were the things that filled Juna’s daily life. But when an accident leaves her clinging tenuously between life and death, fate intervenes as she becomes the sole witness to scenes of Earth’s destruction along with humanity’s reckless pollution of the sky, the Earth, and water. It is here in which Juna is given a new chance at life and bestowed the powers of the Earth, a power she must wield in order to stop an evil bent on Earth’s destruction.

Contains all 13 Episodes of Arjuna!

When it comes to ecology and the environment, it’s usually a topic that some people welcome and a topic that many people know about but really don’t want to get involved in.

And I suspect that when you have a top tier anime director/creator Kawamori Shoji (”Visions of Escaflowne”, “Super Dimension Century Macross”, “Macross Plus”, “Macross 7″, “Macross Zero” and “Macross Frontiere” to name a few) and composer Kanno Yoko, theme song by Sakamoto Maaya and character designs by Kishida Takahiro (”Tenchi Muyou”, “El Hazard”, “Heat Guy J” to name a few), you expect to have a quality anime series.

The 13-episode TV series that aired on TV Tokyo back in 2001 received a DVD release in the US back in 2002 and for so long I have wanted to watch this series.

The anime series is primarily about a teenager named Ariyoshi Juna.  Your typical high school girl learning archery and spending time with boyfriend Oshima Tokio.

With her skills at archery training not going as well, she tells her boyfriend that she wants to see the sea.  Tokio, being so in love with Juna, decides to take her to the sea via motorcycle and everything seems well until an entity flashes in front of them and in the process, both are thrown of the motorcycle.

Juna is rushed to the hospital and she pretty much is dead.  That is until she hears a voice of Chris Hawken (a powerful entity)  who tells her that he will give her life back if she saves the world.  Juna is given a glimpse of the Planet Earth, especially Japan in terrible shape with drought, famine and more.  Not wanting to leave her mother and Tokio behind, Juna agrees and is given her life back.

All of a sudden, while Tokio and her mother are pretty much saying goodbye to Juna, Juna awakes and runs up to the hospital roof and there she is met by some secret organization known as S.E.E.D.

It appears that Juna has a special power to turn into Earth Maiden Arjuna and able to see these monstrous worm-like entities known as Raaja (which are literally Earth’s bacteria).  Arjuna thinks her job is to use her powers to fight the Raaja but Chris keeps giving her messages of “why do you want to kill?”, “What are you trying to do?” and Juna really doesn’ t know what her job truly is.

Throughout the whole series, we start learning a lot about ecology, organic food and how there is a cycle of everything that we use and eat but because of pesticides and pollution, our Earth is being hurt by it.

In one episode, Juna and Tokio stay at a farm and learn from a farmer about organic vegetables.  Juna and Tokio not knowing why people would want to eat vegetables that have been eaten by bugs.  Also, being taught that pesticides hurt the system.  Because there is a cycle to food.  The bugs, the worms undergorund, the soil, everything has its purpose.

And from that point, we see Juna becoming more of a vegetarian and just can’t eat regular food without having images.  For example, Tokio tries to get her to eat at a fast food restaurant Merikan Burger and images of the cows just make her sick.

She now lives a lifestyle of wanting to protect the environment, eating the right food but yet everyone around her doesn’t understand why.  They don’t like being preached about the environment, especially from her.

So, literally her relationship with her family and with her boyfriend Tokio is being tested.  And her best friend Shirakawa Sayuri seems to be getting closer to Tokio because her involvement with S.E.E.D. and her enviromental perspective is dampening her relationship with everyone she’s close with.

So, for the first eleven episodes, we see as Arjuna comes into contact with the Raaja and Kawamori finds ways to get his message out to viewers on ecology, protecting the environment and how industrial pollution and pesticides and a variety of other things happening in today’s world is really hurting the environment and if people don’t change their ways, it will be too late.

Throughout the series, we meet other characters.  The major player outside of Juna and Tokio is the other person with spirital power, Chris Hawken who is literally dying since he gave part of his life to revive Arjuna.  He can’t talk and communicates through a young telepath named Cindy.  Cindy despises Juna maily because Chris tries to get close to her and Cindy really cares for him.   When Juna screws up, Chris is there to try to help in his weakened state but there is only so much he can do.  But he tries to help Juna become aware of why she was chosen and why things are happening to the planet.

And in the final episodes, that is what happens.  The city of Tokyo has now been invaded by the Raaja, water and food and anything that is absorbed by the Raaja is affected and people now are dying.

The series is a mix of sci-fi mecha, sci-fi bishojou magical girl and your typical high school love triangle all together in one series.   The “mecha” in this series is mainly a protector of Arjuna who shows up to make sure she is not killed.  The “magic girl” part in this series is what Juna can transform into. She can fly and as a weapon, use a specialized bow and arrow to fend off attacks.  And of course, the high school drama is between her, Tokio and Sayuri.  And of course, there is other drama such as Juna’s relationship to her mother and sister, her teacher and of course with Chris and Cindy and other members of S.E.E.D.

VIDEO:

As for the video, I enjoy anime series that show a large variety of scenery.  This is anime features the city, a farming area and various locations that I really enjoy that and it really pushes the staff to create so much scenery and beautifu backgrounds and animation and all in all, I really enjoyed the animation.  Granted it was created in 2001 but nevertheless, in 2008, I enjoyed it very much.

AUDIO:

I watched this series both in Japanese and English.  I enjoyed the Japanese version and found Higashiyama Mami’s acting as Arjuna and Seki Tomokazu’s voice acting as Tokio to be really well done.  But I soon discovered that I really do enjoy the English dub voice acting which I felt was done very well.  Maggie Blue O’Hara and Andrew Francis did a great job with their voice acting as the couple and everyone else as well.  So, both languages are just exceptional.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Special features include interviews with Kawamori Shoji, the cast and an Arjuna dictionary.  Also, music videos.

Just an interesting note that “ARJUNA” features different ending themes and so after each episode, you more than often get a different ending theme which I found interesting.  Also, a live ending that was reminiscent of the bubbly “Kare Kano” but actually featuring a school girl running into the sunset.

For me, it was a plus to get a series from Kawamori Shoji that was not “Macross” related but even moreso, an anime series that would tackle on ecology and various topics within the scope of environment but also a few other things which I don’t want to spoil for the viewer.

The series does get preachy and remember those after-school specials that were shown on TV trying to let people know about a wide range of topics from racism, ecology or something to catch your interest and make you think.

This is an anime series that does just that.  There is a message that Kawamori wanted to get through and even in the anime series, a message of, if one can make a change, possibly that one can make others change.

Reading the various reviews on the Internet, I can see why this anime series is loved and hated.  No one likes things being driven down their throat but on the other hand, for those who are open to hearing out another perspective, then it’s fine.

For me, I try to do my part for the environment but I’m not as hardcore as Juna.  I have no qualms eating my Boca or Veggie burgers, recycling, purchasing organic vegetables and being considerate of the environment but at the same time, I have no qualms of going to Burger King and ordering a double cheeseburger as well.

But Kawamori’s message did reach out to me and this series did give me a good understanding about pesticides and for me, I enjoy learning new things and open to hearing other perspectives.

So, I enjoyed the series for that.  I also enjoyed that twist of, “OK, we warned you that there will be problems if you don’t change your lifestyle” and where people think it won’t be in their lifetime, in this series, problems happen immediately and destruction and chaos comes.

Granted, when we see news about the melting glaciers, drilling for oil in the ocean because of escalating gas prices and the hole in the ozone layer, how does one feel about those topics?  Passionate, bored, interested or don’t care?

So, that is where “ARJUNA” as a series is being interpreted by anime viewers.  You either love it or hate it.  And you either care about the message or look at it as a pathetic attempt to a person’s beliefs being driven down your throat.

For me, I enjoyed the series.  It was a great blend of sci-fi, love triangles and bishojo heroines.  But of course, the main thing about this series is indeed the message of making a change in your life and accepting of what is happening in this world.  You either get it or you don’t.  You either welcome that message or you don’t.

So, by saying that…if you are open to Kawamori’s message on the environment through a series like “ARJUNA”, check it out.  If you are the last person who cares about hearing details on the environment, this anime series is definitely not for you.

+ A cool collaboration from top tier people in the industry, Kawamori Shoji, Kanno Yoko, Kishida Takahiro, Sakamoto Maaya and more.

+ I dig the message on the environment

+ Very good voice acting on both Japanese and English dubs

- Some may find this series to preachy about the environment, thus this anime is not for everyone.

BUY THIS ANIME DVD TODAY:

THE ADVENTURES CONTINUE …

~BLOOD+: VOLUME THREE~

Contains the Next Five Episodes

of the Popular Adult Swim Anime Series

SINGLE-DISC DVD DEBUTS OCTOBER 21

CULVER CITY, CALIF. (August 11, 2008) – Fans of the Blood + series will be able to add to their collections with Blood +: Volume Three, debuting October 21 from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. This is the third volume of the Blood + series to be released on DVD in a five-episode single disc format, a popular option among anime collectors. Blood +, the dark and visually impressive Adult Swim series from The Cartoon Network, is based on the anime movie Blood: The Last Vampire. Blood +: Volume Three will be available for $24.96 SRP.

SYNOPSIS

Saya Otonashi, a seemingly normal high school student, suffers from amnesia and can’t remember the past year of her life. One day, after a man appears and gives her a katana sword, her destiny changes forever. Soon Saya finds herself fighting the latest threat to humanity – Chiropterans, ravenous immortal creatures that can change form and disguise themselves as human beings. An organization known as the Red Shield has been waging a private war to wipe them out and now, with Saya’s help, the struggle has grown.

DVD Special Features Include:

· Full Screen Presentations

· Audio: English, original Japanese

· Subtitles: English, French

· Closed Captioned

Blood +: Volume Three Episodes Include:

After the Dance

Lured by the White Mist

Jungle Paradise

The Last Sunday

I Want to Pursue!

BROADCAST YEAR: 2007 (Adult Swim – Cartoon Network)

Blood +: Volume Three has a run time of approximately 120 minutes and is not rated. Artwork is available at www.SPHEPUBLICITY.COM. Visit Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on the Web http://www.sonypictures.com/homevideo/index.html

Online Media Distribution Leader Expands Its Anime Offerings

San Francisco, CA (August 9, 2008) ­ Online media distribution leader
Crunchyroll today announced an agreement with ADV Films, one of the top
producer-distributors of anime in North America, to provide streaming,
subscription, and download-to-own viewing for twelve animated series and
feature film properties.  These new offerings will begin appearing online
later this month at www.crunchyroll.com <http://www.crunchyroll.com> .

ADV maintains one of the largest anime catalogs outside of Japan and has
played a key role in building anime¹s worldwide popularity over the past 16
years.  Crunchyroll is the largest online community focused on Asian
entertainment, serving over four million fans worldwide.  Today¹s
announcement substantially expands Crunchyroll¹s anime content and extends
ADV¹s online reach dramatically.

Vu Nguyen, co-founder of Crunchyroll, said ³Crunchyroll is delighted to
partner with a pioneering US anime distributor to bring these great titles
to our passionate online community of anime fans.²

³Consumers ­ particularly the 18-34 year old demo ­ are hungry for what we
have to offer, whether it¹s at the video store, on cable, and increasingly
over the Internet,² said ADV Films co-founder and president John Ledford.
³As the largest community of its kind, Crunchyroll is the perfect platform
to reach new, tech-savvy anime fans.²

Over the next twelve months, Crunchyroll will host nearly 72 hours of ADV
Films content, including TV series, animated features, and live-action
films.  A full list is provided below.

Angelic Layer                                      26 episode animated
series

BASToF Syndrome                              26 episode animated series

Best Student Council                           26 episode animated series

Chance Pop Session                            13 episode animated series

Lady Death                                         animated feature

Magical Play                                       22 episode animated
series

Martian Successor Nadesico:
Prince of Darkness                             animated feature

Nurse Witch Komugi                           6 episode animated series

Parasite Dolls                                     animated feature

Saiyuki                                                 50 episode animated
series

Sin                                                       animated feature

Yesterday                                            live-action film

About ADV
ADV Films is the #1 producer-distributor of Japanese animation (³anime²) in
North America and has the largest English-language anime library in the
world. With best-selling titles such as Neon Genesis Evangelion, Elfen Lied,
Gantz, Robotech, Azumanga Daioh, and Hello Kitty, ADV Films¹ extensive
catalog is fueling the popularity of anime around the globe. Parent company
A. D. Vision, Inc. encompasses a variety of complementary media divisions
including television, licensing and merchandising and continues to expand
into new areas. Founded in 1992, the company is headquartered in Houston.
For more information, visit http://www.advfilms.com.

About Crunchyroll
Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Crunchyroll is hailed as a
leading online entertainment brand with the largest international online
community and destination focused on Asian entertainment including anime,
drama and music in addition to electronic entertainment and auto content.
Crunchyroll¹s distribution channel and partnership program delivers content
to over four million passionate fans worldwide. Crunchyroll is funded by the
premier group Venrock.  For more information check out
http://www.crunchyroll.com.