Question:
I love the anime Basquash, but after reading that both the chief animator and director have been replaced, I’m wondering what that means for the show’s future, and is a move like this common for a show halfway through it’s run?
Question:
Why do we have no magical girl robot anime aimed at any age group? Recently animators have been making new works by mixing genres. Sailor Moon + fighting aimed at girls makes Pretty Cure; aimed at otaku it makes Lyrical Nanoha. Is it just a matter of time before we get Sailor Moon + Gundam? Pretty girls, become robots and fight evil!
Question:
was Hamlet ever turned into an anime in any way shape or form?
Question:
Is it really impossible to do a good anime adaptation of Blade of the Immortal? What does Blade have that works as a manga that just can’t make it as a manga in motion with sound? Isn’t the problem not that Blade can’t be adapted but that it was adapted poorly? It’s hard to believe that no amount of talent and budget can make a good Blade adaptation.
Question:
With Capcom releasing Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars on the Wii internationally later this year, could we possibly see a new interest in Tatsunoko properties over here? Could it give a show like Casshern SINS a better chance at getting licensed? Could a company like ADV or Media Blasters possibly license rescue the Casshern, Polymar, and Gatchaman OVAs from that 90s that we received from ADV and Urban Vision, respectively, to help introduce people to these characters without having to go to the original 70s shows? In fact, the Polymar OVA was never even released on DVD over here, though it was dubbed. Finally, should anime companies even take advantage of this new focus Tatsunoko is getting from the game and license titles from the company now or after the game is released, i.e. have the titles out pre-emptively for those who might get interested after playing the game or wait until overall reactions are made?
Question:
Why isn’t there some sort of Dirty Pair anime revival in Japan? They got sequels and spin-offs of a lot of old shows including some obscure Go Nagai mech anime from I.G and even Casshan in spite of the live action movie bombing. They even brought back Bubblegum Crisis in spite of Crash, and managed to make Gegege no Kitaro a viable property again. And Miike’s live action take on Yatterman ended up being a bigger hit in Japan than James Wong’s take on Dragon Ball. But it seems like the adaptations for Dirty Pair died with ‘Flash.
So is the proliferation of moe to blame, since a pair of heroines of legal age can’t compete? Or has darker shonen and seinen anime and like Trigun and Hellsing cornered the whole “shooter” market so there’s no room for more light-hearted fare like Dirty Pair? Or is there a possibility that Takachino himself isn’t interested, since he’d have to be forced into allowing his female characters to dress and act sluttier to compete with the likes of Tenjho Tenge and Ikki-tousen?
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Question:
I saw this comment, “Too bad they can’t remake Nadia like the Eva movies, with top notch art and updated designs. That would be cool,” and wondered what you thought.
Question:
What would you consider to be the best example of bondage anime to feature shibari?
Question:
Will America’s current ennui for CG animation - or at least the talking animals/objects - help to cultivate more sophisticated tastes in animation, and possibly save anime in the process? Or will this just hurt the animation industry in general? Ratatouille was less profitable than The Simpsons movie. Bolt lost to Twilight. Pixar’s Up got upstaged by The Hangover. Yet A Scanner Darkly did better than the director’s previous rotoscoped work, Waking Life. Persepolis had enough buzz to be nominated for an Oscar. Are these recent trends simply flukes? Or does this mean that some day the next Sword of the Stranger, Girl Who Leapt Through Time,or Appleseed can become a hit?
Question:
In a lot of mecha anime, there’s an apparent trend in the antagonists having young women fighting for their side in a way that is utterly exploiting them (e.g. various Gundam series, Overman King Gainer, Eureka Seven). What kind of message or implication is made with these characters? Are these characters created out of some underlying theme of gender roles or sexism?
Question:
I’ve noticed that Funimation has recently acquired distribution rights to shows such as Samurai Champloo and Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo, both of which were formerly owned by Geneon/Pioneer. But I’ve noticed that other shows such as Hellsing (the original series) and Trigun, also owned by the former Geneon/Pioneer, haven’t shown up under any of the English DVD licensors. Can we expect to see these and other shows being released in box sets by Funimation or ADV or something? Or will they just continue to hang out in limbo? And while we’re on the subject, I’m also curious as to what lead to Geneon/Pioneer’s downfall. What happened there?
Question:
I’m curious to hear why you find 2D gore “tasteless,” John. Not that it isn’t, I suppose, but I don’t see it as any more or less tasteless than simulated 3D gore. Creating both is a work of art, no? I’ll grant that 3D genuine gore is the epitome of tasteless grotesque entertainment, but as Jorg Buttgereit cleverly points out, “If you love special effects gore but can’t handle the real thing, you don’t really like to be offended by cinema.”
Question:
When I started anime collecting I was a huge fan on Record of Lodoss War and collected every bit of anime, even the spin off stuff and its sequel TV series. It seems the shoes it left have yet to be filled. What good sword and sorcery anime has been released in the last 5 years that’s worth collecting or comes close to the fantastic work done on Record of Lodoss War saga? Is there still hope that the Lodoss series will continue in anime ever again?
Question:
John, have you ever seen “Meimon! Daisan Yakyubu”? It’s a late 80’s baseball show. If you have seen it, what did you think of it? Touch is the baseball show most fans probably want most. Is there any chance either would be licenced?
Question:
Almost a year ago it was announced that a third anime series for Black Lagoon was greenlit for production, but since then there has been no new information. Do you have any information as to when maybe an air date will be announced. You don’t think it was cancelled do you?
