Denkyu: Anime Webzine

Everyone welcome Denkyu’s newest writer Tony! He’s off to a bang of a start… hope he doesn’t burn out soon. O_o And he couldn’t have come at a better time, that’s for sure. This whip toting editor will have a bundle of joy coming in a few months and she’ll need all the help she can get. No, I’m not threatening to beat up one of my friends… geez. Sure I’m that desperate for a few new writers, but I would never go that far! <_<; This past weekend I went to Anime Festival Orlando 7. It’s almost like a tradition for me and two of my friends to go to this convention every year. There were good times and there were bad times… mostly drama related between friends, but over all, it was a blast as usual. It’s always fun seeing my friends who live in Florida at this con. It’s sad that I only get to see them once a year though.

One of the panels at the con was about the topic of Bootlegging. It’s the classic case of good and evil. There were many good points brought up on both sides of the issue. Do you continue to download a series after it’s been licensed? What if they never finish bringing over the episodes? This stuff is on their regular TV over there, so why should we have to pay for it? But don’t they pay for it in a sense? Are the anime companies in the US fleecing us? Should the DVDs really cost that much?

So what is your stand on bootlegging?

Mommy to be
~Andromeda~

Makes 24 Pieces

1 chicken breast, cut into strips
2 tbsp teriyaki sauce
1 tbsp oil
1 quantity freshly cooked sushi rice
6 small sheets of toasted nori
2-inch/5cm piece of cucumber, peeled and cut into thin sticks

To serve
Shoyu (Japanese soy sauce)
Wasabi paste
Pickled ginger

Preheat the broiler to its highest setting. Toss the chicken in the teriyaki sauce, then the oil and lay out on a foil-lined broiler pan. Broil the chicken strips on both sides for 4 minutes, put into a bowl with any cooking juices, and let cool.

Divide the rice into 6 equal portions. Put a sheet of nori shiny-side down on a rolling mat with the longest end toward you and, using wet hands, spread 1 portion of the rice in an even layer on the nori, leaving ¾ inch/2 cm of nori visible at the end farthest away from you. Don’t squash the rice or make the layer too thick—you should be able to see the nori through the rice.

Lay the chicken strips in an even line onto the rice at the end nearest you. Add a line of thin cucumber sticks

To roll the sushi, fold the mat over, starting at the end where the ingredients are, and tucking in the end of the nori to start the roll. Keep rolling, lifting up the mat as you go and keeping the pressure even but gentle until you have finished the roll. Moisten the top edge of the nori with water to seal the sushi roll closed. Don’t worry if anything falls out the sides, just push it back in. The edges may well look ragged, but don’t worry.

Remove the roll from the mat and cut it into 4 even-size pieces with a wet, very sharp, knife. Turn the pieces on end and arrange them on a plate. Repeat with the remaining ingredients. Serve with shoyu, wasabi, and pickled ginger.

by tonyadpx

Based off of the novel Kouga Ninja Scrolls (which is set for release by Del Rey in December), Basilisk tells the story of two rivaling ninja clans who were long ago forced into an uneasy truce by the legendary ninja, Hanzo Hattori. Now, at the behest of the Shogun, Ieyasu Tokugawa, that truce has been broken in order to settle a family feud within the shogunate. Fortunately, these two clans are willing to become pawns in the bigger game of “who leads Japan next,” as their hatred for each other demands they settle this rivalry once and for all.

Yet Gennosuke, the son of the leader of the Kouga, and Oboro, the daughter of the leader of the Iga, live their lives in romantic innocence. They dream that one day their marriage will end the centuries-old feud once and for all. Unbeknownst to them, their parents have signed them, along with nine other ninja from each clan, into a fight that could change the future of Japan for ages to come. They do not know that they are now enemies and must, by the word of the Shogun, fight to the death.

The other ninjas of these two clans, however, want to fight, and that is exactly what they do. From start to finish, the first volume of Basilisk is nothing but fight sequence after fight sequence. Since the plot depends on the action, the story gets off to a fast start, as ninja from each clan fall one after the other. This manga makes it clear early on that’s the goal; the chapters are even called “Kill” and the subtitle of each chapter is a death count. The action also happens to be the strongest point of this manga–so far–so an overabundance of it was welcome, to be sure.

The characters were unique enough to be remembered from face to face. It’s still early yet, so knowing all twenty of the ninjas’ names are nearly impossible without multiples reads, they are still easily distinguished by their appearance. Some, admittedly, are monstrously comical. One looks like a spider, another has hair growing out of every hole on his face, and another is, quite simply, a torso and a face. But the goofy look of some of the characters works, as their appearance also links to their specific ninja abilities.

The historically based story also adds a lot of concrete to what appears to be a simple hack-and-slash manga. Most of the names in this volume–Ieyasu Tokugawa, Hanzo Hattori, Munenori Yagyuu, and even the names of the ninja clans–can be Googled for an informative exploration into Japan’s medieval history. Beyond that, Hanzo Hattori has already been made famous here in the states as the sword-maker in Kill Bill, and Yagyuu is a name that appears in probably one-fourth of all the samurai manga and anime ever created.

Now, for the bad. There isn’t a lot, but it can’t be ignored.

The bad mostly comes from the art within the manga’s panels. While the character designs are disturbing and unique, the settings behind them are hazy photos of real places. It was like the characters were photo-shopped overtop pictures taken during a trip to Kyoto. At some spots, this effect worked, like when Gennosuke and Oboro are taking a walk in the woods. But at others it just looked strange, especially when a tree was drawn in to fit a purpose (like being cut down or leaned upon). When you place a drawn tree next to a real one, well, it obviously isn’t going to look right.

Other than that, there seems to be an alignment problem with the binding itself. This isn’t too bothersome if you don’t mind over stretching you books, but it can be frustrating to those of us who enjoy to read their books more than once or twice.

Still, none of these problems are so bad as to ruin the experience. At least, it didn’t for me. The first volume of Basilisk was a thrilling read, and after getting about twenty pages in I completely overlooked the negative for the heap-loads of positive. This volume leaves behind the feeling of a very promising future, with plenty of tense action, a lot of drama, especially since right now the manga is still in an introductory phase, and a good amount of mature themes and situations to get the attention of anyone who likes and enjoys darker manga. And now is as good a time as any to pick Basilisk up, since the anime is ready for release in early August.

Licensor: Del Rey
Creator: Masaki Segawa; based off of a story by Futaro Yamada

by tonyadpx

The Stories of Last Order

Zack and Cloud have barely escaped the destruction of Nibelheim. Now, after facing a maniacal Sephiroth, who shares a lot of his revelations with Zack, Zack no longer trusts the Shinra Co. Dragging a catatonic Cloud along with him, Zack attempts to flee to Midgar in the hopes to start his life over again using the abilities he gained as a Soldier. Along the way, he must battle the Shinra army, as well as the Turks, led by Tseng (who narrates Last Order).

Leading up to those events, Sephiroth discovers the origins of his creation. So enraged by the revelations, he goes about destroying Nibelheim, stop one in his ultimate quest to end the world. Only a young Tifa, Zack, and a mere Shinra foot soldier are there to step in his way.

Production
The production of Last Order was done by Square-Enix, who have proved in the past that they and their writers are master storytellers with Fullmetal Alchemist as well as a horde of some of the worlds’ most beloved RPGs. Square-Enix brought Madhouse onboard for the animation production. And boy did they do one heck of a job. Think Gungrave at two-times the production value. The animation was clean, the action fluid, and the character designs were as close as they could get to perfect, meeting and going beyond any expectations.

What are Stateside Fans Missing?
Not much, if you were a thorough player of the video game. The story in Last Order can be seen–it actually finishes a little earlier than most fans would expect–in the video game. Last Order also takes some liberties with the events within the story that will unsettle a few purists. And, since all of what happens in Last Order can be seen in the video game, there really isn’t any mystery to what happens to Zack, Cloud, Tifa, and Sephiroth.

Yet I still believe fans could be missing a lot. Not only was the hidden movie hard to find, but it was also piecemeal at best, hopping from moment to moment with very little direction. Last Order gives us a better chance to know and understand Zack, as well as to truly grasp the battle that Zack and Cloud had with Sephiroth. Moreover, the excellent animation, probably the best produced by Madhouse since Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, is more than enough to draw in anyone interested in anime, let alone Final Fantasy. Besides that, the events in Last Order are some of the most dramatic moments found in the video game. This is when the truth is finally told. So seeing these powerful moments in full-motion animated format is as amazing as seeing it for the first time in the video game. Last Order makes you wish they’d animate the entire video game….

What Fans Who Saw Last Order Are Saying
It seems that the current hype is a little mixed. While a lot of fans feel that Last Order is a great addition to the FFVII storyline, others believe that the changes made to the original events had a negative effect on their experience. After seeing it myself, I’ll say that there were a few noticeable differences but the overall plot never changes. I do, however, see the purists’ point, namely because most of the changes came in some of the more important moments, like during the battle with Sephiroth, and the last moments of Zack and Cloud’s trip to Midgar.

Chances of Getting a Stateside Release
Some companies, like ADV and Central Park Media, have been known to publish shorter anime, but I think should one of these companies pick this OVA up it couldn’t possibly get the treatment it deserves, due to the simple fact that these companies do not have the same capabilities as Sony. Only Sony should get the rights to this; they have the power and the money to get the voice-actors needed to make the North American release genuine. The fact that they were unwilling to pursue the license as a special feature, though, kind of says they aren’t overly interested in this title.

A sub only release may work, but because of the massive popularity of Advent Children, which sold to both anime fans as well as none anime fans, I’d say this would be a bad move. The best way to promote a Stateside release of Last Order would be to use Advent Children, which had an all-star cast of voice-actors, in the ad-campaign. Thus fans would expect at least half the quality that was in Advent Children. Finding that it’s subbed only will leave a lot of fans disappointed (Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence is proof enough of this).

Right now, the ultimate answer to this question would have to rely on the demand of the fans. Sony, or even another company, needs to be sure that this product will sell if they are going to spend the small fortune it will cost to license this high profile OVA.

Do I personally think it will get licensed? Simply put, yes, but I’m an optimist. Though Sony should have found a way to add Last Order as a special feature in the Advent Children release (more on this in a moment), as it was with the special edition Japanese release, I believe the demand is still high enough for this title that fans will line up for it, even with the slight plot alterations. With a decent ad-campaign, this title should easily be one of the highest sellers as a Stateside anime release in whatever month it’s released. Even handled poorly, whichever company that ends up with this license should still see some profit.

Consider also the future DVD format Blu-Ray. There is still a chance that this OVA could end up right alongside Advent Children in the very same release. As we all now know, Blu-Ray DVDs have a massive storage capability, and putting a full movie alongside a half-hour OVA wouldn’t be a problem.

Before that, though, Last Order must find a licensor willing to put some effort into this OVA. At less than a half-hour, it doesn’t pack the same impact that Advent Children had, but it is still an important part of the FFVII story. Zack is an enigma in the game, especially if you were unable to see the hidden movie, and he’s even more of an enigma as Aeris’s spiritual partner in Advent Children. Last Order shows what kind of person he is and how much he cares for his fellow “experiment” Cloud. Thus, it explains why he’d be there in the final moments of Advent Children. In essence, Last Order is the introduction to Zack, therefore important.

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by Andromeda

Prepare your mind to delve into the world of the supernatural. Meet the attractive Yuuko, a woman who claims to grant wishes� for a price. Or is she just a fortune teller trying to pull your leg in order to get your pocket watch? If you�ve read Tsubasa Chronicles or seen the series, then you may have heard her referred to as a witch. I�ll leave that for you to decide. But for poor Kimihiro Watanuki, she�s his new tormentor.

Watanuki seems like the typical school boy, but what others around him don�t know, is that he can see evil spirits. Some would refer to it as a cursed gift. It�s definitely something that he wishes he didn�t have. Because of this wish, he meets Yuuko who is supposed to grant him this wish, at a cost. The price? Being a part time employee for the very eccentric Yuuko.

If Watanuki thought seeing evil spirits was strange, he�s in for a whole new ball of wax now that he�s employed by Yuuko. One of these strange occurrences is when he and a classmate, who he sees as a rival, have to go to his school late one night to find out why strange things have been happening. Apparently the young girls think it�s cool to summon the spirit known as Angel. Facing this evil spirit will have Watanuki fighting for his life and trusting in his rival.

For those of you who have read the xXxHolic manga series by Clamp, then this sounds familiar to you. The story of this animated series tends to mirror the manga. How far it goes, I�m not sure. I�ve only read the first two volumes and have seen only the first four episodes. Even the artwork is very much the same with the elongated bodies, which gives the series its character. The art itself is a tad on the dark side at the right times and at others very beautiful and inviting.

If you enjoyed reading the manga and enjoy anything by Clamp, then you surely will enjoy the animated version of xXxHoLiC, and I see it as only being a matter of time before its licensed. Even the opening and ending themes are worth a soundtrack purchase.

What I’ve seen of the series I’ve enjoyed very much and can’t wait to see the rest of it.

Original Creator: Clamp
Animation Production: Production I.G.