FUNimation Breaks Out the EVA Units by Licensing "Evangeion 1.0"

Well, as expected, FUNimation has now licensed the movie Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone. I'm most certainly looking forward to getting to watch this movie, having enjoyed the original TV series as a whole. This is a title that I could see FUNimation actually trying to get into theaters, at least for a short run, considering how big the franchise is (and lets face it, ADV made the TV series its cash cow for many years with numerous re-releases).


I figure this will be the final FUNimation license in this blitz and fans will reflect their excitement, anger, fear, etc. on message boards all over. That will be interesting to follow.

You know, it is a shame that FUNimation couldn't now license-grab the TV series from ADV and the earlier movies from Media Blasters. I doubt that happens, but considering how FUNimation is big on taking what once was another company's license, it wouldn't surprise me if this happened.


Also, while I'm thinking of it, I wonder if FUNimation would be interested in trying to get the live-action Evangelion title off the ground again since ADV has gotten nowhere with it for years. Hollywood is so keen on bringing over certain anime titles as live-action titles (and apparently mostly failing at it) so now would seem to be the time to get that going again.

FUNimation's official Evangelion 1.0 site is here.

Ha!Ha!Ha! FUNimation Has Fun With Wailing Fans and Licenses Soul Eater Anyway

FUNimation clearly had the clue laid out which indicated that they had Soul Eater. However, they threw everyone a curve with two distro-licenses for Geneon rather than announce Soul Eater as EVERYONE with an opinion figured.


Oh the weeping and wailing and nashing of teeth that happened when Soul Eater didn't appear with the previous two FUNimation announcements. While I speculated that this title might in fact still be licensed or might have been delayed (as seen in this article I wrote), most people seemed convinced that FUNimation was lying to them or worse. Many seem outraged that FUNimation is calling license rescue announcements as "new licenses" despite the fact that these are in fact new licenses for FUNimation.


So, now FUNimation lays out their latest license announcement with Soul Eater and shows the hardcore fandom that post on forums how jumping the gun is not a good thing to do. Further, they revealed just how fickle hardcore anime fans are (and there were some who claimed that no one cared about Geneon license rescues when in fact many people do).

I've never seen this series but FUNimation has the whole thing, which is good. FUNimation's official Soul Eater site is HERE.

FUNimation Goes Warring State Hip-Hop with a "Samurai Champloo" Distribution License

FUNimation pulls another surprise "distro-only" announcement with Samurai Champloo.

What?!

Josh is on the case and has already reported that Lance from FUNimation has hinted there will be more licenses today since there are 24-hours within December 31st. *lol* I'm not sure about Soul Eater, but I think for sure that Evangelion 1.0 will be the last thing licensed before 2009 hits Central Time. It is also possible that Soul Eater will hit sometime later today, but we'll see.



As to the Samurai Champloo series, it certainly had that unique hip-hop meets 1600's Japan setting and frankly, considering how well Afro Samurai did, getting this on Spike or some other channel would seem to be in order (I don't know if it ever aired on TV before or not).

Whew! I'm going to bed. It will be fun to see if there are more licenses throughout the day or just the one (as I suspect) tonight.

Oh yeah, FUNimation's official site is here.

Negima! Chapter 237 SPOILER Images

Negima! 237 SPOILER Images
魔法先生 ネギま！Chapter 237 (Images)

Here's what many of you have been waiting for -- the original-sized, sneak-peek images for Mahou Sensei Negima! 237 as brought to you buy anonymous Japanese fans (click pic to make bigger, y'all).






Looks like Negi's been getting a bit too cocky and on the old power chart, is still not up high enough. ^_^;

I didn't expect these until Saturday but they've been out since Monday in Japan, which surprised me. The manga still won't be officially out for publication in Japan until January 7th though. Thanks to Neko for back-checking.

Kannagi 13 (finale)

かんなぎ Episode 13 (final episode)
Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens 13

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

After the audience is shown that Nagi is staying with the family that runs the Kannagi Shrine, Jin is shown to still be very depressed and upset over things, even telling Tsugumi it is none of her business where Nagi is. Shino and Takako inquire of Tsugumi to find out what happened with Nagi and why Jin is so down and out. They won't talk to him themselves but after talking with Tsugumi, they realize that this is none of their business. Tsugumi ponders over this and after school, decides to wait for Jin. At a nearby park, Tsugumi goes off on Jin for basically abandoning Nagi, stating that it is obvious to her that Nagi wants Jin to come find her.

After Tsugumi gets through telling him off, Jin realizes she is right and takes off on his bicycle to try to find Nagi. Tsugumi goes home, where she pulls up the Nagi-sama website and calls Jin to let him know where Nagi has been spotted in town. Eventually, this leads Jin to the river where he finds Nagi standing on the bank dressed in black. She tries to leave, but Jin grabs her. Jin tells her that it is OK that she doesn't remember everything and that it was Nagi visiting him as a child that made him what he is today. He promises to find the answers with her. Nagi has a good cry but they've made up.

As Nagi is using tissues to wipe away her tears, a young woman in a kimono named Shige shows up, glad that Nagi found her family finally. Shige sees Jin and immediately recognizes him, telling Jin that she can tell him more if he wishes. Jin is confused, but Shige is very happy and takes him by the arm. She points out some areas and talks about the past, asking Nagi (whom she addresses as "Kannagi-sama") if she remembers some of these things. Nagi says she does and even speaks of them some. Shige talks of how Kannagi-sama prevented Shige from hanging herself after Shige learned that her husband had been killed in the fighting during World War II. Shige then speaks of her happiness to have met Kannagi-sama again, and the audience is shown a scene with Nagi hugging the elderly lady that Jin met from before.

After Shige leaves them, Nagi tells the puzzled Jin that she is from the first family of her followers -- the Kamimori family (god-protector). With that, Nagi takes Jin to where a memorial for Shige is being held. Jin tells Nagi that this is difficult to understand, which Nagi understands. She wonders if it is OK to refer to herself as a kami and starts to falter again, but Jin takes her by the hand and encourages her, reminding her that they'll have to keep searching for the answers. They walk home holding hands and this is seen and reported on the Nagi-sama board. They return to Jin's home where there are messages, including one from Shino and Takako reminding them not to take the reconciliation too far.

Nagi goes to take a bath and suddenly, this bothers Jin in a way it hadn't before as he becomes very flushed and "excited" over this, especially if he thinks about it. So, he turns on the TV to take his mind of things, where Zange-chan is promoting her new CD. Jin starts pacing to burn off energy and Nagi finishes her bath. However, Nagi realizes she didn't bring a change of clothing into the bathroom. So, she puts on a towel and tries to sneak out, but is seen by Jin anyway. She tries to run away, but trips and when Jin tries to catch her, she ends up on her back on the floor with Jin on his hands in knees above her. It is this that Tsugumi comes in to find, causing her to go into shock before fleeing. Jin starts to explain but Nagi goes off on him, even whacking him with a frying pan while Tsugumi runs away, wondering why she's crying.

Thoughts/Review:

I had wondered how the series could possibly recover its great comedy aspects when the story had become serious with Nagi's having left Jin and so many things about her remaining a mystery. The end of the episode quickly put that question to rest with the cliched half-naked girl haven fallen on the ground and the hapless boy having fallen on top of her or over her (we saw that a lot in Love Hina for example). Nagi's going off on Jin was the non-depressed, self-confident Nagi of old, so should there be a sequel series (and I really hope there is one), providing the same production team stays in place, I expect we'll see more great comedy.

Anyway, while it was immediately clear that Shige was the elderly woman that Jin had spoken to about "Kannagi-sama," what was interesting to me is that to her, Nagi isn't "Nagi" but "Kannagi-sama." When Nagi stated that some of what Shige said happened before Shige died is something Nagi can't remember, I began to think back to these other moments when Nagi becomes kami-like. Maybe the reason Nagi can't remember much is because she's from a piece of the Kannagi tree. As such, she's a personality that exists based on the limitations of that form, but "Kannagi-sama" is the true deity and because Kannagi is so powerful, Nagi cannot support that form of herself for long, thus losing consciousness immediately after losing that form. To be able to support the Kannagi form for a longer period, Nagi would need more supporters I'd think in order to have the power required.

So a really enjoyable episode for me with plenty of material to explore in a sequel series as well as plenty more comedic moments to exploit.

FUNimation to Distribute Gungrave and Explains Why So Many License Rescues.

With FUNimation haven taken several titles completely away from Geneon, Geneon proves they are not totally out of the game as FUNimation only has a distribution license for Geneon's Gungrave title. From a personal perspective, it is a little disappointing that FUNimation didn't get the license free and clear as they did with the Geneon titles, but we can't have everything. Gungrave does nothing for me, but I'm sure there are lots of folks who are happy about that.

One question people have is, "was this the clue that everyone thought would be for Soul Eater?" Just for a quick reminder, here is the clue.

"Bobby,
Thought you'd like to know that your grandpa and I went to eat at Smith's Pie shop last night. Bless your soul, you always got so excited about their pies during summer visits!
Come see us soon, sweetie! All of my love, Granny"

I would put forth the following ideas.

1. FUNimation is going to announce it tomorrow night. That would mean the Evangelion 1.0 license announcement is on hold.
2. FUNimation is going to announce Soul Hunter and Evangelion 1.0 for a big finale (possibly holding Eva for the 31st and New Year's Eve).
   
3. FUNimation is holding off on a Soul Hunter license at the moment and went with Gungrave as the best title they had ready to go that might fit the above-mentioned clue.
4. FUNimation threw us a curve with the clue to make it look like Soul Eater but Gungrave was always the intended title.
   

Lance Heiskell, one of FUNimation's powers that be, had some interesting insights on why FUNimation is doing so many license rescues at this time.

For months people wanted more Geneon back-catalog titles well....back.

Timing on contracts for new shows add a few wrinkles into the mix with announcing. Rescue licenses are an easier contract - hence faster announcement and delivery on DVD release dates.

That "wrinkle" comment makes me think that maybe something happened with either Soul Eater or Evangelion 1.0 but we'll see tomorrow.

Regarding getting more new titles, Lance had this to say.

We've got a full year lined up. Don't worry about that.

So there you have it. BTW, FUNimation's Gungrave site is here.

Keroro Gunsou 85

ケロロ軍曹 Episode 85
Sgt. Frog anime, 85
Keroro Gunsou episode 85

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

There's a toy vending machine in the hall entry way when Natsumi comes home with a sign warning to not touch it. Naturally, Natsumi turns the leaver and is turned into a little toy in the plastic ball. This is as Keroro and Kururu planned, so using the toy, Keroro becomes Natsumi to find her weaknesses. However, Keroro-Natsumi is grabbed by some female classmates to help with sports clubs. Meanwhile, Natsumi comes to and is not happy by her change in appearance -- she's Keroro. No one believes her story about being switched. As such, there's nothing for her to do but Keroro's craft job with Moa-chan and the chores, which she learns are very difficult with Keroro's body while at school, Keroro-Natsumi learns how tough Natsumi has it. In the end, when Natsumi-Keroro comes home, he wearily agrees to change back with Natsumi, both having a better understanding of the other.

Tama brings a stash of magic sticks, looking like the batons from mahou shoujo anime. However, as Keroro reveals, they are not magical, but technical. Different buttons do different things. As such, Natsumi is able to transform into a magic girl and Fuyuki is able to transform into a young, school boy wizard. Mokona comes by and soon joins in the fun, which also includes broom flying. Since Aki-san is so busy, she can't play with her children or the platoon, so she's off to work. Wanting to do something nice for their mother, that night, everyone comes by her office building where in sparkling lights, they spell out that they love Mama. She's touched but it is then that the batteries on the magic sticks run out and everyone has a date with the ground.

Thoughts/Review:

KU!Ku!Ku!Ku! Well, when I read the manga, I didn't imagine Natsumi still having Keroro's voice and vice versa, but oh well. It had to be done I guess to keep the audience from being confused. While it was funny seeing Giroro's reaction to what he thought was Natsumi and her bath offer, I didn't like how the story was changed to make Keroro and Natsumi understand each other. In the manga, the plan was to have fake proof of the invasion progress with Natsumi-Keroro storming in on Keroro-Natsumi and attacking, showing Keroro kicking bottom. Oh well.

For the 2nd story, it was funny seeing everyone getting into mahou shoujo gear (save for Fuyuki, who's outfit appeared to parody Harry Potter. I don't know if the other costumes used were parodies of mahou shoujo anime titles or not, but oh well. The story was OK, I guess. It is pretty bad that Aki-san works such strange, long hours though.

As an aside, I initially had this erroneously labeled, thus the re-publication.

Oh, and FUNimation has Slayers Evolution-R Too

FUNimation sent me a heads-up (along with ANN and possibly other places) that they have Slayers Evolution-R as well as Slayers Revolution. Right now, there's no word on how this will be released or even if FUNimation will use the "Slayers Evolution-R" name. Personally, I hope they do to keep it in line with how the Japanese are releasing it. I guess we'll see some online videos for both series in 2009 with DVD's coming out in 2010.

Either way, I'm excited. I thought we might not get an official announcement of Slayers Evolution-R until after the series was underway in Japan, but I'm very glad to be proven wrong there. ^_^

FUNimation Licenses Something Special for AstroNerdBoy -- Slayers Revolution

Heh!heh!heh! OK, so FUNimation didn't actually license this title for me, but I have to say that the licensing of Slayers Revolution has me very excited to say the least and was on my short wish list along with Kannagi. Yeah, I know, FUNimation's license rescue of Slayers, Slayers Next, and Slayers Try left something to be desired after everyone got their hopes up. However, this time, FUNimation is getting to do everything from scratch, so I'm really hoping for some good things like proper name, place, and spell spelling as well as the untranslated use of "Mazoku." Maybe I'll get super lucky and score some additional information in the near future.

One item of interest is that while Enoki Films is listed as "Distributor" for Slayers, Slayers Next, and Slayers Try (something that also was there when Central Park Media had those licenses), this time, it looks as if FUNimation has it free and clear from Enoki Films.


I've already watched Slayers Revolution and those wanting to see a review (which will have some spoilers in it) may do so here. FUNimation's official Slayers Revolution website can be located here (which is different from their regular Slayers page).

Urusei Yatsura 95

うる星やつら episode 95 (TV anime)

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Ataru is upset that his share of the otoshidama (the present of money given at New Year's) is so low and he attributes that to Lum and Ten-chan living at his house. So, Ataru wants them to show some appreication. Ten-chan refuses, but Lum wants to treat Ataru to a nice meal. Naturally, Ataru is down for that, but gets angry when Ten-chan wants to tag along on his date. Fortunately, Cherry arrives with a baby sitting proposal. So to put Ten-chan to sleep, he weaves an elaborate tale, formed from many different Japanese fables (which of course star Ataru, Lum, and Ten-chan) but that puts everyone to sleep.

Thoughts/Review:

This episode is best watched by those who know all of the Japanese fables parodied here. Here's what I was able to detect -- Shita-kiri Suzume (舌切り雀 -- "Tongue-Cut Sparrow"), Momotarou (桃太郎 -- "Peach Boy"), Kintarou (金太郎 -- "Golden Boy"), Issun-boushi (一寸法師 -- "One-Inch Boy"), Taketori Monogatari (竹取物語 -- "Tale of the Bamboo Cutter"), The Fountain of Youth (couldn't find the Japanese names so if someone has that, let me know), and even a Star Wars reference in the form of a crashed X-Wing fighter. *lol*

Were I more than just casually aware of these fables, I dare say that I would have found this episode to be rather humorous, especially since some of the roles are reversed for this story (from their original tale). As it is, the episode is fine, though it did make me do a bit of research. ^_^

For FUNimation's Next Trick -- "Gankutsuou: the Count of Monte Cristo"

Another of the predicted titles has come true as FUNimation has announced the license for Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo. I never read the original Alexandre Dumas novel in French or English and I never watched this anime adaptation of the classic novel. It looks weird to me and that alone doesn't cause it to grip me. I've heard a lot of positive things about the anime, but I've also heard from those who've said it was impossible for them to get passed the stylistic visuals. I could read up more on it, but frankly I have such a massive backlog of anime as it is that I don't need another title.


FUNimation's official site is --> HERE.

It Has Been Two Years!

Today marks the 2-year anniversary of my anime blog starting. So to celebrate, here's a Belldandy poster (~1200x1600) from Ah! My Goddess. ^_^


Back when I started, I wasn't sure exactly how the blog would be received, especially since I'm a latecomer into the world of anime blogging and there were already so many anime blogs (as well as manga and other related blogs) out there with huge followings. However, that really didn't matter at the end of the day. I would write what I wanted to write about. If people began to follow my blog, great. If not, well as long as I enjoyed what I did, that's all that mattered.

Still, people did come and check out my dribble. The first year was kinda slow but I did pretty good for a newbie who (1) wasn't watching tons of new anime and (2) couldn't watch anime as it aired in Japan. This year has seen my blog traffic grow by almost 400% over last year. That's way better than what I had dared hope for, especially since I'm not trying to blog every new anime series that comes up, only those titles I'm interested in.

So thank you all for coming and checking out my piece of the anime blogdom. I hope that I can continue to provide you guys with stuff to keep you coming back for more. ^_^

Oh No! Negima Chapter 237 is WHAT?

The review for this week's chapter isn't even up yet, but I already see people looking for Negima! 237. I got bad news for you guys -- Negima! is on a break this week. Yeah, I know, Negima! had a 3-week break and now has another break. Well, that's the way it is, y'all. That said, I hope to have the spoiler images up on January 4th and this time, I'll keep looking for a couple of days thereafter if the first batch of images is stingy.

In the meantime, here's my favorite Eva-Chachazero image. I've kept my eyes open for the possibility that someone in Japan or elsewhere may have cleaned this up and given it a really quality color-job, but thus far, nothing. If someone has something, PLEASE let me know. ^_^

FUNimation's Next License Is New, Y'all -- "Oh Edo Rocket"

Well, those who've not been happy with FUNimation's license rescued are now getting an all-new license announcement -- Oh! Edo Rocket. This is a title that I'd not hear of until the guessing started. I took a look-see and on the surface, it isn't gripping me. I don't know how much stock can be placed in this factoid, but when I did some image searching on both U.S. and Japanese sites for this series, I came up with very little. In fact, FUNimation and Madhouse are using the identical background for the official websites (FUNimation is HERE and Madhouse is HERE for comparison). So lest this post have no image, I just did a grab of what they did.

I'll be interested in seeing how much of a response this gets though.

Update: Fixed links. Sheeze. This simple post has been a pain, first with not finding any decent images, then the dang thing publishing ahead of schedule, then the links getting wiped. Whew. Hopefully this time everything is fixed 'cause I'm going to bed!

Kannagi 12

かんなぎ Episode 12
Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens 12

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Jin checks with a teacher to obtain information about who runs the Kannagi Shrine. Before heading there, Daitetsu shows Jin that he found Nagi's abandoned baton on the roof of the school. After school, Jin discovers an eccentric older couple are the current guardians of the shrine, not Shinto priest. Living with them is an elderly lady (known as "Baa-chan" for "Grandma") and she reflects back on how "Kannagi-sama" helped the people during the war (WWII). Jin takes all this to heart.

That night in the city, three punks come upon Zange, who's still selling her ¥100 confessions. They want more than a confession and mean to rape her, but she beats them something fierce, combining an impressive array of martial arts moves. With the punks defeated, she makes the two standing punks carry off their unconscious comrade. An older man comes out of the shadows and has a canned beverage for Zange for her efforts. Jin, who'd witnessed the fight, realizes that Zange was never in trouble the time he rescued her.

Jin talks with Zange about her being a kami. Zange has the same non-answers that Nagi had regarding removing impurities from the world and the problems they cause. However, unlike Nagi, Zange doesn't get angry about it and she's not concerned that she doesn't understand things more than what she has stated because it isn't important. Jin tells her of his conversation with Suzushiro-sensei and how Nagi and Zange could be spirits, not deities. Zange is a little frustrated with that, but does concede that since Nagi's humanoid form came from the sacred tree, it is possible a spirit took Nagi's form while inhabiting Jin's carving.3

Jin comes home to find it empty, save for a note from Nagi apologizing for having lied to Jin. Jin then finds Nagi's school uniform in the trash. He spends the night getting little sleep but before he goes to school, he adds a note to Nagi's note telling her to stay as he won't get angry. He leaves the door unlocked and goes to school. When Tsugumi notices Nagi missing, Jin says she's not coming, implying she's sick. After school, Jin learns that no one has seen Nagi, so he bails on art club to go home, leaving Tsugumi worried. In the rain, Jin rides his bicycle trying to find Nagi but fails. He returns home very depressed and refuses to take a call from Tsugumi. Falling asleep, Jin has a dream-vision of Nagi unconscious in an alley. The following day at school, a worried Tsugumi asks about Nagi, leading an exhausted Jin to tell her that Nagi may never come back.

Thoughts/Review: What happened to the storm from last episode? This episode looked to pick up right where last week's left off.

While this episode certainly takes a stronger turn into serious territory, the humor wasn't completely forgotten, despite Nagi's absence. For example, when Jin went to the home of the shrine guardian, it was amusing that Jin kept getting offered snacks, but the grandmother is the one that gave me the biggest laugh with her sudden speech (I half-expected her to be dead after she wouldn't respond to Jin). Zange-chan kicking thug but was also amusing to me somehow, though not in a big-laugh way. I'd been afraid that the series, which I love most for its humor, would not handle this serious stuff well, but surprisingly, it works well.

As I watched this, I really wished I knew if this is how the manga went. Why? Because many good anime adaptations feel the need to tie things up even if the manga is ongoing and thus write their own ending. I would hate it if this were the case here because it would make having a sequel Kannagi series very difficult and frankly, this series is too good not to have a sequel (and as an aside, hopefully the manga-ka TAKENASHI Eri-sensei is able to recover from whatever illness she had and resume the manga).

So, what exactly happened to Nagi? Of all the places Jin looked, why not check out the construction site? As serious as things are here with Jin's depression over Nagi's absence, his dream (or vision) of Nagi unconscious in an alleyway, Nagi's tears last episode, the baton left behind, the uniform thrown out, Nagi's note, and Nagi's absence from this episode in general, I can't help but think that when she shows up next episode, there will be some gag about this. I can almost see Nagi telling Jin, "you think I would let all this keep me away?" Then again, maybe that will be part of it with Nagi returning because a new tree is planted on the sacred site. I say this because of all the places Jin looked, he didn't go there.

Sadly, we are down to the last episode. I sure hope FUNimation licenses this one.

"Love Hina" Receiving New Subtitles From FUNimation?

On FUNimation's forums, Lucky Seven brought it to my attention that there's a new trailer for Love Hina's forthcoming release. At the end of said trailer, it mentions that there will be new subtitles. I grabbed a screen capture for you to see.


Those who know me are well aware of my preference to have honorifics retained in the subtitles. Further, I hate it when subtitles receive domestication -- removing Japanese jokes for American ones, removing Japanese references for American ones, etc. That kind of stuff is OK for a dub audience who won't care much (if at all) about Japanese references and jokes, but if I'm watching this in Japanese, I want the Japanese perspective all the way around.

With this in mind, when I learned years ago that FUNimation's licenses all contained subtitles which not only retained the "core" honorifics (-sama, -dono, -san, -chan, -kun, -sensei, -senpai), but some titles went further, using more honorifics or even terms like "youkai" (Yu Yu Hakusho) or "ninpou" (Basilisk), I became a fan of FUNimation's work. That's why when FUNimation license rescued Slayers but did not give the series new FUNimation-quality subtitles at the very least, I was highly disappointed.

Now, if the above screen-shot is accurate AND the new subtitles have my honorifics and don't have the domestication stuff that Bandai put in there, FUNimation will for sure have made at least one double-dip sale from me (as soon as I land a new job that is). I dare say they will score more than a few new double-dip sales from people like me who are into the honorifics.

On a related topic, watch the trailer and then tell me here or in the Love Hina thread on FUNimation's Forums what you think about the marketing scheme being used. Make mention on whether you've seen Love Hina or not.


Update: (February 20, 2009) I just received my FUNimation DVD release of the TV series. No honorifics are in the subtitles that I saw through spot checking of the first four episodes. So I pulled my Bandai DVD's off the shelf and checked the first four episodes on my computer against the FUNimation release. The scripts are identical. I'll try to find out what happened but no promises.

FUNimation says, "Get more Gonzo! This time, make it 'Last Exile!'"

Another license rescue as FUNimation does appear to be VERY keen on acquiring every GONZO title ever made. That said, Last Exile is a pretty good anime title with the beautiful art and animation one would expect from a GONZO title and a pretty interesting story to boot (though some unresolved questions, which seems typical in a fair amount of anime titles). I love the idea of flying ironclad ships as well as biplane-style flying craft, only without the wings. Conceptually, there are a lot of good things here.


I liked the anime so much, I actually splurged and bought the boxed set with Lavie doll and mouse pad from Geneon back in the day despite knowing their subtitles wouldn't be up to FUNimation standards (and I'd actually forgotten I'd done that because the doll is still sealed up and the mousepad is boxed up somewhere). I highly doubt FUNimation will have such goodies with their release, but who knows -- they may surprise us yet.




Oh, and before I pass out from lack of sleep ('cause it is midnight mountain time as I write this, though it will auto-publish at 06:00MT), FUNimation's official Last Exile site is HERE.

Merry Christmas -- "Fate/stay night" Style!

I've never watched Fate/stay night, but after seeing this wallpaper combined with having been sent the entire series for Christmas, well, I think I need to watch it sooner rather than later. ^_^


Merry Christmas everyone!

For Christmas, FUNimation Announces "Nabari no Ou"

For all the people hungry for a non-license rescue, here's the first new license from FUNimation -- Nabari no Ou. Frankly, I'm amazed that they are using this Japanese name for the R1 release rather than rename it to say something like "Ruler of Nabari" or "King of Nabari." Regardless, this is a title I've never heard of, though it does sound somewhat interesting (its got ninjas, y'all) so maybe I'll check it out. Yen Press is doing the manga, so I might have to check that out as well. If any of you have read the manga or watched the anime, post a comment on your thoughts about it.

Here are a couple of Nabari no Ou images (click images for full-sized version).





FUNimation's official site is HERE.