John Needs Help

[John]

After more than a year we've now fixed the "Ask John" page to allow me to be able to edit, alter and correct published "Ask John" articles. However, as Murphy's Law dictates, somehow I've lost the nearly 80 e-mail messages I had saved that suggested alterations and corrections to "Ask John" articles.

So now I'm asking, if you know of any typos, errors, corrections, additions or any other alterations that need to be done to any articles on the "Ask John" page, please inform me of them via e-mail or this message board and I'll see to them immediately.

[sailormech]

In this article you said that Bandai hadn't announced plans to release 08th MS Team: Miller's Report.

http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=357

Bandai had actually just announced the release at about that time.

[John]

The third and fourth paragraphs of the "Ask John (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=487)" article discussing the meaning of the Utena movie have been revised. You may need to delete your temporary internet items cache then refresh the page to see the alterations.

My thanks go out to the two readers that sent in e-mail comments regarding this article. You know who you are.

[el_j]

I'm not sure if this would be of some help, but
there's this website, whose URL is
http://www.archive.org/internet/index.html
and they're some crazy ppl that have been archiving
the net since like 1996, and they have like a billion
terabytes of crap.
http://web.archive.org/web/20011021054241/www.animenation.net/news/aj-archive.php3
directly points to the old archive of Ask John, which has
been stored on their server. Might wanna check it out.

[John]

The Japanese spelling of the title to the Macross movie has been corrected, and the Western title rephrased from "Love, Do You Remember?" to "Do You Remember Love?" in the How Much Macross Is There? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=489) "Ask John" article. Thanks to Henri Chen for the pointers.

[John]

I've added a mention of Tenchi Muyo GXP to the "Ask John" article about Tenchi Muyo continuity (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=109). The updated article still does not mention the third OAV series because there is still no confirmed release date for this series in Japan.

[John]

The Ask John article titled What is Steel Angel Kurumi? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=281) has been updated with additional information to reflect the series that have premiered in Japan since this article was first written.

The article titled Why Does Ryoko Have A Tail? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=115) has been updated with an additional piece of information taken from the official Pioneer American OAV series DVD boxed set.

[John]

The "Ask John" article titled What Was the Best Year for Anime? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=500) has been edited to place Sailormoon into its correct time-frame of 1990s rather than 1980s. The timespan between the premiers of Dragonball and Evangelion mentioned in the first paragraph was also revised and corrected from 6 years to 9 years. Dragonball premiered in 1986. Evangelion premiered in 1995.

Thanks to Dessa for pointing out my Sailormoon error.

[John]

The Are Hentai, Ecchi and Doujinshi Different? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=297) article has been edited to alter the words "no actual physical sex" to "relatively little actual physical sex" in the second paragraph sentence, "As examples, manga series like Goldenboy, Iketeru Futari, Otenki Oniisan (Weathergirl Report), G-Taste and Futari ni Omakase are "ecchi" because they contain heavy sexual humor, exploitive shots and scenes and a heavy emphasis on sexual innuendo but relatively little actual physical sex."

[alfred_mulligan]

man, I love the way you go through all the old stuff or get others to point it out and correct and post even the smallest mistake. Your the king man.

[John]

Not exactly a correction, I've updated the article titled "How Much Dragonball Is There? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=193)" to include more specific and detailed information on the Playdia games instead of just a single sentance reference to them.

[John]

The Ask John article on Japanese currency (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=386) has been edited to correct the statement "At the present time 100 yen is the equivalent of about 82 American cents. In other words, your American dollar bill will buy you a dollar's worth of anime in America, but only 82 cents worth of anime in Japan." The original statement is simply the result of me being an English major and very, very far from competent in math.

Thanks to rgsmoot for reminding me of the error.

[John]

The "Ask John" article titled "Why Does Almost All Anime Have Nudity? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=419)" has been edited to correct and remove reference to the Cowboy Bebop television series, which, I'd forgotten, does include one very brief scene of rather unusual nudity.

[sailormech]

While browsing randomly through some of the old questions this evening, I discovered a minor error in the following article: When Was The Sailor Moon Manga Released? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=34)

Ami's First Love isn't really a special episode per se. It is a short film that was shown in theaters with the Sailor Moon SuperS movie. (In Japan, of course.)

Ami's First Love is actually only one of two Sailor Moon short films. The other one, Make Up! Sailor Soldiers, was screened with the Sailor Moon R movie.

There is also one TV special consisting of 3 episodes, which are collectively known as "Sailor Moon SuperS Plus".
(That's how VKLL Fansubbsers translate it, anyway.)

The Save Our Sailors Campaign website actually has a fairly decent article on those lesser-known bits of anime:
http://www.iwaynet.net/~sos/specials1.html

[John]

Going on a homosexual rampage, I finally got around to combining the addendum from this AnimeNation News update (http://www.animenation.net/news/news.php3?id=891) with the "Ask John" article (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=161) about the sexual preferences of the Gundam W boys.

I also modified the "Ask John" article titled "Is Lee Shaoran Gay? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=271)" to include information I wasn't aware of at the time I composed this answer.

The article about Sailormoon that Sailormech pointed out above has also now been corrected.

[John]

The Ask John article (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=52) about Devilman animation has been extensively rewritten to provide more specific details.

[John]

The Ask John article (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=257) about the relationship between anime and manga has been corrected to identify Super GALS! Kotobuki Ran as an adaptation of pre-existing manga, not an original anime production.

[sailormech]

In yesterday's (August 2nd 2002) Ask John article, part of the first sentence of paragraph #4 reads: "released between February 17th, 1995 and August 19, 1994"

I'm not sure if one of those dates is incorrect, or if they are simply out of chronological order, but they definitely seem out of place.

[John]

In regard to the "Ask John" article titled How Much Ranma 1/2 is There? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=540), thanks to saymark2, the correct listing of "Ghost Sweeper Mikami: The Great Paradise Operation" and "Heisei Dog Stories: Bow" as playing with the third Ranma movie has been updated.

The other movies that played in that triple feature were "Ghost Sweeper Mikami: The Great Paradise Operation" and "Heisei Dog Stories: Bow". (It went in the order of GS Mikami, Ranma 1/2, then Bow). The preview for the 3 films at the Toei anime special are on the GS Mikami Movie Laserdisc, and there is an omake segment on that LD with the movie poster for all 3 movies on it.

I've also fixed the typo on the dates pointed out by Sailormech.

[GimpyBoy]

What is RahXephon?
May 2nd, 2002

"The story centers on teen boy Ayato Kamina and his discovery that the modern day Tokyo he's familiar with is actually controlled by an alien race called Mu, and encased in a dimensional dome known as "Tokyo Jupiter" that slows the passing of time and cuts off all correspondence with the rest of the world with alerting the residents of Tokyo."

Is not only a huge run-on sentence :P But should be "without alerting the residents of Tokyo."

Are All Anime Set in Japan?
August 8th, 2002

"The You're Under Arrest: No Mercy OAV is also set entirely in Las Angeles, California."

Should read, The You're Under Arrest: No Mercy OAV is also set entirely in Los Angeles, California.

Also in the How much Macross is there, Macross Zero has been announced.

[omen68x]

Originally posted by GimpyBoy
Are All Anime Set in Japan?
August 8th, 2002

"The You're Under Arrest: No Mercy OAV is also set entirely in Las Angeles, California."

Should read, The You're Under Arrest: No Mercy OAV is also set entirely in Los Angeles, California.

Also, you can add Noir to the list. It takes place mostly in France. It also takes place in other European countries and New York.

[John]

All three of GimpyBoy's critiques have been addressed and appropriately edited/fixed.

I added Noir to the list of "international" anime per omen68x's suggestion.

In the "Ask John" article titled "How Much Does Anime Mirror Real Life? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=524)" I removed the sentance "While anime characters will always say "itadakimasu" before eating, such is rarely done in daily Japanese life." from the third paragraph because I've now heard conflicting reports about the accuracy of this statement. So rather than try to support an example I can't verify, I'm going to remove it altogether. I'm leaving in the line "Japanese teens don't use Rock-Scissors-Paper to solve every decision." because although I've received some e-mail suggesting that Jan-ken is very commonly used in Japan, the line does allow for flexibility.

In this same article I also corrected the name "Jan Ken Pon" to just "Jan-Ken."

[John]

I mistakenly refered to Mike the tank in Those Who Hunt Elves as a dog in the Why is There so Much German Influence in Anime? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=551) "Ask John" article. That's been corrected to "cat." I also added the example of the country of Gartlant from Saber J.

Thanks to "escaflowne29" and "dchuhay" for writing in.

[John]

I updated the Ask John article (http://animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=71) about Adventures of Kotetsu, re-writing it to give it a bit more rhythm, and also to add more detailed information.

[Galaxia]

Originally posted by John

The article titled Why Does Ryoko Have A Tail? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=115) has been updated with an additional piece of information taken from the official Pioneer American OAV series DVD boxed set.

The Encyclopedia is wrong.
This is what the 101 Secrets of Tenchi says:


42. What is Ryoko's tail?
Answer:
It is a mere accessory.
More details ...
In ep.4 and ep.7, Ryoko seemed to have a tail, which moved like a cat's. On
the other hand, the naked Ryoko in the onsen in ep.4 (and at other times)
doesn't seem to have one. Her tail is an accessory attached to her clothes.
Although it moves in tune with her emotions, it is not a real tail.


And about the cat:

85. What has happeded to the cat that appeared in ep.1?
Answer:
It was used as a prototype of Ryo-oh-ki.
More details ...
A cat called Chibi appeared in ep.1 but was never seen again. It was used by
Ryo-oh-ki. More precisely it was assimilated into Ryo-oh-ki. Therefore.
Ryo-oh-ki is Chibi and Chibi is Ryo-oh-ki at the same time.
Tenchi found Chibi on the first day of his summer holiday (ie, before ep.1
starts), lying near the steps and nearly dead. He took care of it, which
recovered by the time ep.1 started. But it was Ryoko in her astral body who
really saved Chibi. She felt so sorry for Tenchi that she used her energy to
keep it alive. When Ryoko eventually revived completely, she had to withdraw
her energy from Chibi and allow it to die. She did her best by assimilating
it into the second generation Ryo-oh-ki.
Tenchi, having seen Ryoko holding Chibi's bell in her hand (ep.1), may think
Chibi was Ryoko herself.

So the tail does not belong to the cat, Ryoko never gained any traits from the cat.
Never trust the Encyclopedia on the DVD. It gets many things wrong and doesn't include important information.

[Brian Dunn]

I was just browsing through the Ask John section and read the one about the Osaka dialect. Although most of it was accurate, at the end I noticed this:

The Kansai region and its people are thought of as cheerful, humorous and energetic, so Osaka-ben is often associated with Japanese comedy troupes and cheerful, warm relations. Traditionally the Kansai region is also one associated with agriculture, thus characters with an "Osaka accent" are often viewed as rustic and tough relative to the more urban and urbane citizens of Tokyo.


Actually Osaka is thought of as a town of traders and business, hence the bartering "chotto makete kurehen?" / "sukoshi benkyou shite morawarehen?" People from Osaka and the Osaka area itself is thought of more as a hardcore business place, not as a rustic, country place.

And also, it is associated with comedy because the huge majority of comedians in Japan are from Osaka, or at least the Kinki area. Besides comedy, the other association is with the Yakuza. So, either intimidating or funny.


That's all.

[John]

The final paragraph of the Ask John article (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=404) about the significance of the Osaka accent has been modified in light of Brian Dunn's information.

[sailormech]

I picked up a copy of Pioneer's first X TV DVD the other day, and as I was reading though the nifty Character Guide booklet that came with it, I found something that immediately made me think of the Ask John article called What Does the Pentagram Mean in Japan? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=391)

The page dedicated to Subaru Sumeragi has a side note that reads as follows:

Onmyouji
More than 1,000 years ago, "Onmyouji" or Yin-Yang masters studied astronomy, astrology, geography and other sciences. They advised the emporers and politicians of the time. The five pointed star, or pentagram, symbolizes five basic elements - tree, fire, soil, gold and water - and was the mark of the Onmyouji.

I did a little poking around on the web, and discovered that Onmyoujis are apparently real people and not just a fictional characters invented by the CLAMP team.

CLAMPesque Board: Re: Re: Questions on onmyoujits (http://katana-space.net/Forum/Clampesque/Messages/1029842695.164827)

The message board thread at the above link even has a link to an article on the Mainichi's website that talks about the popularity of modern day Onmyoujis following the September 11 terrorist attacks in the USA.

It all sounds very fascinating. I just thought I'd post in case you might want to do some more looking into it and perhaps add to your explanation of the pentagram.
^_^

[Mitsuo]

The "Ask John" article titled "Why Does Almost All Anime Have Nudity? " has been edited to correct and remove reference to the Cowboy Bebop television series, which, I'd forgotten, does include one very brief scene of rather unusual nudity.

Well apparently it didn?t work. cowboy bebop has other nudity although I?m not sure if it counts, in the episode "my funny valentine" I believe you see that half man half women guys breasts, this may only be in the Japanese version though(I went to Japan and bought it there). I?m not even sure about that its been along time sense saw that episode Ill go check sometime today I just don?t have time right at this time.

Side note I?ve been watching anime for about 6 years but I?ve never been able to got a really good definition OAV can you tell me what one is in a nut shell.

[John]

Thanks to Sailormech, the article about the pentagram has been revised and expanded.

For a simple definition of OAV (or OVA), check out this Ask John article (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=315).

[Mitsuo]

Other animes that dont take place in Japan:
Many Sci-fi/Mecha Seiriies,
most notably Gundam(excapt G-Gundam), CBB(they vist earth a grand total of two times). Outlaw Star, Trigun...

[Mitsuo]

I had another Idea of anime that takes place outside japan this one on earth! Metropolis kenichi(hope I didnt mangle that I have only seen Metropolis once) says I came from Japan with my uncle(I think... hope) hes a spy... I mean reporter and the scene gos on.

[John]

In a list of anime that are set somewhere other than Japan, if we include fictional or futuristic locations such as outer space or other planets or fictional cities we may as well just list virtually every science fiction story ever told. My list of anime set in a location other than Japan is primarily a list of contemporary or historical identified real-world locations: no speculations, no mythic locations, no unspecified locations, and no futuristic currently impossible settings.

[John]

I slightly revised the Is Bandai the New Streamline Pictures? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=567) article to replace the statement referring to the Excel Mench as emergency rations gag as "subtle and underplayed" to just "a simple running gag." After refreshing my memory on Excel Saga, I find that it's not really accurate to refer to the Mench joke as either "subtle" or "underplayed" but the joke is certainly not the series centerpiece that AD Vision seems to want it to be, either.

[John]

The Ask John article titled Where's the Rest of Sohryuden? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=568) has been edited to remove the lines, "Urban Vision's DVD release of Strange Dawn has not sold particularly well, so there's been no announcement of a release date for volume 3 (much to my personal dismay). Synch Point has not announced even a tentative release date for I'm Gonna Be An Angel DVD volume 2" because I've been informed that Strange Dawn is being delayed due to manufacturing difficulties, and Tenshi ni Narumon is on hiatus until Synch Point finishes releasing FLCL.

[Mike Toole]

Okay, here's a few for starters:

From the Who Started the Idea of Bringing Anime to the US? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=105) column:

"It was his Streamline Pictures, working for Harmony Gold, that first promoted anime in the US as actual animation from Japan."

Harmony Gold and Streamline Pictures are two completely separate companies. Macek didn't create Streamline pictures with business partner Jerry Beck until after his involvement with Harmony Gold was over. HG was indeed the first video label to sell anime unaltered, packaging shows like Dracula: Sovereign of the Undead as "contemporary adult animation".

"The first example of anime in America was Astro Boy, brought to the US by NBC in 1964."

This statement is incorrect. The first anime brought to America were three Toei feature films in 1961-- Panda and the Magic Serpent, distributed by Globe International, Magic Boy, distributed by MGM, and Alakazam the Great, distributed by American International Pictures. U.S. theatres would see three more anime films before Astroboy's debut on NBC in '64.

The three films cited above were all licensed and produced at about the same time (their release dates were mere weeks apart in the summer of '61, and theatre distribution at the time was different from how it is now), so it's probably most correct to say that all three were the first anime to hit the 'states-- though if you demand specifics, Magic Boy hit theatres first.

"Two years later, Streamline Pictures followed suit by combining Super Dimensional Fortress Macross, Super-Dimensional Cavalry Southern Cross and Genesis Climber Mospeada into a single series known as Robotech."

Again, this was Harmony Gold, not Streamline.

I'll have more at lunchtime.

[John]

The Who Started the Idea of Bringing Anime to the US? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=105) article has been corrected per Mike Toole's informative criticisms.

The article about Guyver (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=572) has been updated to state that apparently the Manga Entertainment version has been redubbed at least once, and it is only the first 6 episodes of the two OAV series, not all 12 episodes, that have been released on Dutch DVD.

[John]

Rorytate00 was kind enough to inform me via e-mail that there was a reference error in my Ask John article titled How Does Cowboy Bebop End? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=477). The second paragraph ended with the statement:

Spike's casual, happy-go-lucky personality serves to symbolize his lack of concern and connection to the present. Like a ghost, he exists only to conclude the business of his former life. Spike himself in the final episode tells Faye that he always has one eye on the past and one on the future, implying that he never sees the present.

In fact, in the actual dialogue Spike claims that he always has one eye on the past and one eye on the present. Since I still think this is one of the most significat and meaningful sequences in the entire series, I revised this section of my article to say:

Spike's casual, happy-go-lucky personality is an expression of his lack of concern with his future. He's concerned with his past, but not what may happen to him in the future or where his life will take him. Like a restless spirit, he exists only to conclude the business of his former life. Nothing after that matters. Spike himself in the final episode tells Faye that he always has one eye on the past and one on the present, implying that he never considers his future.

[Firen]

I don't remember in what articles this mistakes was present (somebody help me out), but Tsukasa kotobuki is NOT the character designer of the anime Saber Marionette J, that job (and the OVA SMJ Again) was done by Shuichi Shimamura (as it's shown the LD inserts). Kotobuki made the manga and J to X illustrations (I'm not sure about the novels though)

[John]

There are a couple "Ask John" articles in which I cite Tsukasa Kotobuki as the character designer for Saber J. I think that credit is accurate. The domestic Bandai DVDs reference Tsukasa Kotobuki as "original character designer" and Hidekazu Shimamura as "character designer." This is probably something akin to referring to the Ranma anime as "original character designer" Rumiko Takahashi and "character designer" Atsuko Nakajima.

And in the "Ask John" article titled Can You Explain the Ending of RahXephon? (http://animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=579), in response to a criticism sent to me via e-mail that argued that Reika Mishima is not literally Haruka Shitou but rather RahXephon taking the image of Haruka from Ayato's mind and projecting it as Reika, I slightly altered one sentence by adding the phrase within parentheses:

By revealing that Reika Mishima was actually Haruka all along (or at least RahXephon's "astral projection" of Harkua), the animation reveals to the viewer that Ayato has never been totally alone.

[John]

Thanks go out to Robert Hardy for informing me of the Canadian NightHood cartoon based on Arsene Lupin the First. Today's Ask John article (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=581) has been updated with this additional info.

[John]

Turns out I was mistaken in the "Is There Any Lupin I Anime? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=581)" article. I've updated the article to cite only the confirmed example, but August over at Henshin Online (http://www.henshinonline.com/) was kind enough to do some research and send me the following message:

The first Arsene Lupin anime telemovie was "Kaitou Rupan 813-no ei" (Mysterious Thief Lupin and the Mystery of 813), broadcast on 05/05/1979.

"Yosei-no Bijo Kogoro Akechi tai Kaijin Rupan" (The Beautiful Fairy: Akechi Kogoro vs. Mystery Man Lupin) was a Shochiku telemovie which aired December 30, 1978 -- I am not sure if this was anime or live action. "Kogoro Akechi" was a famous fictional detective.

The ZHIVAGO title I mentioned, actually turned out to be a September 12, 1983 telemovie by Akira Toriyama: "Dokutaa Manbou tai Majotsukai Zibago" (Doctor Mumbo vs. Magician Zhivago)... "Kaitou Rupan" was also mentioned in SAILOR MOON.

I am sure that there is at least one more anime telemovie -- perhaps ARSENE LUPIN VS. SHERLOCK HOLMES...

[John]

The "Ask John" article about Galaxy Fraulien Yuna (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=21) has been updated with additional detailed info provided by Cat Clan.

Cat Clan also provided some additional specific titles and dates of the earliest animated films in Japan for the article titled How Did Anime Start (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=54).

[jeremy]

What is Spriggan ?
September 30th, 1999

This may be a small thing but you've written "Katshiro Otomo". I was under the distinct impression that it was "Katsuhiro" .
(but I could be wrong...) ^_^

[John]

Oops. Small typo. It's been corrected.

[aaronstc]

In reference to
Where Did the Word "Anime" Come From? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=317)

The correct meaning of the French word "animé" and others I thought relevant:
animé(e) (adj.): animated, lively, motivated
dessin (n.): drawing
dessin animé (n.): cartoon, animated film
bande dessinée (n.): comic strip, comic book (manga)
animer (v.): to animate; note: animez is simply a conjugated form of animer (2nd person plural/formal to be exact)

[Brian Dunn]

I just skimmed through that article, Where Did the Word "Anime" Come From?, and noticed it says:

sekuha (sexual harassment)

This should be sekuhara (from [seku]shuaru [hara]sumento).

[John]

The "anime" etymology Ask John article has been appropriately edited.

[John]

The Ask John article (http://animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=600) about Getta Robo has been updated with additional information including the title of the third movie Getta Robo appeared in, and the 2 drama CDs. And Ken Ishikawa was acknowledged as a co-creator. Thanks go out to Satch_49 for e-mailing me and giving me some guidelines to research further for this additional info.

[John]

In response to a critical personal e-mail, I've edited the Ask John article titled Is Hentai Available to Children in Japan? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=585) to soften the accusation that Western society considers sex only a process of procreation. As was pointed out to me, this attitude is rooted in Orthodox Roman Catholocism and is not representative of all of Western Christianity.

[John]

I sometimes argue with myself over including references to things that did not exist at the time particular "Ask John" articles were written, but I do make updates to "Ask John" articles when readers write in about them.

Reader "John" sent in mention of several updates and corrections that I've now made.

The Multiple La Blue Girl Series? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=93) article has been updated to include the fourth series that did not exist when the article was first written.

The What is Fan Service? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=143) article has been updated to mention that the term did in fact exist prior to Evangelion.

Regarding the What Does Tenchi Muyo Mean? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=94), before we figured out how to make corrections to the "Ask John" page, there was an extensive correction published to the AnimeNation News Page. Unfortunately, the AnimeNation News isn't archived back that far. This particular article has now been update with a more precise translation of "tenchi" and mention of the alternate meaning of "tenchi muyo."

A link to the Anime No Editing Zone has been added to the article about Are DVDs Edited? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=84). I commonly refer to Jim Lazar's site, personally, but I don't remember if I was familiar with this database 2 years ago when this "Ask John" article was written.

For the What Anime Magazines Are There? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=55) article, a typo in the name "Mangajin" was corrected, and mention of the British AnimeUK/Anime FX magazine was included. I also updated the article to include mention of Newtype USA and Raijin Game & Anime.

[John]

The Why do Different American Companies Own the Same Anime Series? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=149) article has been slightly updated to clarify that the first Silent Mobius movie was released in America but was no longer licensed for US distribution when the article was written.

The What is the Deal with American Portrayals in Anime? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=170) article has been corrected to note that Kanuka Clancy is half Japanese, not Chinese.

The What is Vampire Princess Miyu About? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=173) article has been updated to note that Narumi Kakinouchi and Toshihiro Hirano are married to each other.

Thanks again go out to "John" for pointing out these necessary revisions.

[John]

Thanks to several comments and criticisms from "John" several more "Ask John" articles have been updated.

In the article titled Why Doesn't Anyone Translate Weekly Jump or Shonen Sunday? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=248) the word "contemporary" was added to the sentence, "No American comic book can claim that sort of popular success," to reflect the fact that 60 years ago there were American comics that sold over a million copies.

The article titled Can You Tell Us More About Captain Harlock? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=247) has been updated with an addendum referring to the upcoming new Yamato TV series and Harlock OAV series that did not exist when the article was originally written.

In the article How Did "Bastard!" Get Its Name? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=204) the writer's name "Akahori Satoru" was corrected from "Akihori Satoru" and mention of Viz's explanation of the origin of the name "Dark Schneider" was added.

The article titled Why Don`t Anime Characters Have Body Hair? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=187) has been extensively rewritten to include a link to a detailed, brief article on the subject written by John C. Watson and include the explanation that not drawing body hair makes artist's work faster and easier.

In the article Why Are Some Anime Series So Long? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=199) the series name "Sazae-san" was corrected from the typo "Sazae-chan."

And thanks to David, in the article Why Do Manga Artists Work on One Title at a Time? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=608) the title of the magazine running the cross-over anime TV commercials was corrected from Shonen Jump to Shonen Sunday.

[DocWatson]

In re: "How Do I Get Entire, Pure Japanese Anime Series?"
April 25th, 2001

For example, the entire 200+ episode Ranma TV series was released in a single 40 disc DVD boxed set in Japan last year for a retail price of roughly $3,000.

The two _Ranma 1/2_ television series total 161 episodes (18 for the original and 143 for _Nettouhen, respectively). There are also three movies and 11 OAVS:

<http://www.animeprime.com/reports/ranma.shtml>

(See also <http://www.furinkan.com>, but it was offline while I was writing this.)

The number of discs sounds about right for Ranma TV, but the episode count is incorrect--possibly you were thinking of _Urursei Yatsura_, which has 196 episodes (sometimes stated as 229 (IIRC) because the early eps contained two stories each).

====

In re: "Why Are Giant Robots so Popular in Anime?"
April 26th, 2001

I believe John's hypothesis is correct; I just thought I'd point out the following book, which deals exclusively with the topic of Japan and robots:

_Inside the Robot Kingdom: Japan, Mechatronics and the Coming Robotopia_. Frederik L Schodt. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1988. ISBN 0870119184.

[John]

The Ranma episode count has been corrected.

[DocWatson]

From: "Can You Explain DVD Region Coding?" May 30th, 2001

PAL stands for Phase Alternation by Line and is a 50hz, 625 horizontal lines of resolution signal used by countries including Australia, France and the UK. SECAM stands for Systeme Electronique Couleur Avec Memoireand is a variant version of PAL used in countries including Egypt, Poland, and the Russian countries.

Err--France invented SECAM to avoid using PAL, thus protecting their domestic manufacturers. See the following for further explaination:

Video Broadcast Standards - NTSC - PAL - SECAM (in brief)

<http://www.alkenmrs.com/video/standards.html>

Worldwide TV Standards - A Web Guide
(more than you probably ever wanted to know)

<http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Contrib/WorldTV/>

Also, IMHO, "Russian countries" would be better rendered "most of the former Soviet Bloc".

[DocWatson]

In re: "What's the History of Hentai Anime?"
June 11th, 2001

The Lolita series were actually the first hentai OAVs, not Cream Lemon. (I'm afraid I don't have my copy of _The Anime Encyclopedia_, so I can't give the page referrence.) Cream Lemon, of course, had a much greater impact.

Ciao,
John

[John]

I thought I'd already corrected the article about the history of hentai anime, but I guess I didn't. It's done now, with a link to an article (http://www.awn.com/mag/issue3.4/3.4pages/3.4patten.html) by Fred Patten on the subject.

Regarding worldwide DVD formats, I've changed the reference to France to a more generic "most of Europe."

[Tama Chan]

Originally posted by John C. Watson
In re: "What's the History of Hentai Anime?"
June 11th, 2001

The Lolita series were actually the first hentai OAVs, not Cream Lemon. (I'm afraid I don't have my copy of _The Anime Encyclopedia_, so I can't give the page referrence.) Cream Lemon, of course, had a much greater impact.

Ciao,
John

The page number for the Lolita anime is on pg. 227

[tango_mango]

hey john. i heard u were really good with this stuff so i thought u could help me out. I am new to anime but i have a couple of friends that are all over it. I want to get into anime like them. Is there any website i can go to or things to get that would help improve my knowledge of anime? if u can help i thank you alot.

[John]

In response to an e-mail suggestion, I've updated the Are There Any Other Shows Like Excel Saga? (http://animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=618) "Ask John" article to include mention of Puni Puni Poemi, the Excel Saga OAV series.

[John]

The "Ask John" article titled How Much GTO is There? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=619) has been updated to include mention of creator Tohru Fujisawa's GTO related manga titles Bad Company and Shounan Junai Gumi.

[John]

Thanks to a criticism by exZERO, in the Ask John article titled Why Are Older Anime Only Released in America Dubbed? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=625), the final paragraph has been changed from:

In the case of Mobile Suit Gundam, in order to appeal to the contemporary American anime fandom market weaned on flashier and more recent anime styles, Sunrise Animation of Japan removed one "unnecessary" episode and gave the original 1979 Gundam TV series a "special edition" make-over with digitally enhanced animation. In effect, what America got was the 21st century version of a 20th century anime, making it impossible to release a subtitled version because the original dialogue no longer matched the updated animation.

to the more appropriate and accurate:
The Mobile Suit Gundam television series was released in America in a dubbed only format at the instence of Japan's Sunrise Studios. Since the original Gundam television series has not been released on DVD in Japan, Sunrise feared that an American DVD version with a Japanese audio track would be imported into Japan, reducing potential sales of any possible future Japanese DVD release of the show.

[aaronstc]

In reference to "What is Ragnarock?"
There is no "c" in Ragnarok.

[John]

The spelling in today's "Ask John" article, as pointed out by aaronstc, has been fixed.

I've also massively updated the What Is Evangelion: Girlfriend of Steel? (http://animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=26) article.

[zangulus]

One thing I noticed in today's article, you said that Umi was an archer. That is incorrect. Fuu is the archer of the Magic knights.

[John]

The Ragnarok article has been extensively revised.

The Rayearth character name typo was part of the question e-mailed to me, not my reply. I try not to heavily alter reader submitted questions, but I did go ahead and correct this one.

Oops. Looks like I did mention Umi after all. It's now been corrected.

[John]

Today's "Ask John" article about banned anime (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=642) has been updated with some new info provided by Jonathan Clements.

[Yowvapa]

Originally posted by John
Today's "Ask John" article about banned anime (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=642) has been updated with some new info provided by Jonathan Clements.

The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 did not take place entirely in New York City. The tragedy also affects the Pentagon and Pennslyvania, which most people seem to forget. It is best to remove the reference to "New York City terrorist attacks" as it seems "New York-centric."

[John]

I added the word "centered" to make it "New York City centered..."

[Sailor_Kagome]

The deranged teddy bear might use you as tooth floss.


I don't get how towards the end of G Gundam, that Kyojji separated himself into an andriod. When did he actually replace the real Schwarz Burder? And did he die when the (Devil?) Gundam exploded?

[CEKun]

The title to Movie 1 has mostly been translated as the "Love that Transends Time." And the remark about it not ending soon is totally true. With the release of episodes 96 (or was it 97) the new opening showed many new enemies that could push Inuyasha to over 150-200 episodes. Hopefully the quality of story won't degrade the farther along it goes...

[Mike_44]

John, if this helps on the same article where you corrected the Cowboy Bebop mistake let me point out there IS nudity in inu yasha, many bath scenes (nothing shown) and that one part in the first episode where Kagome is fighting the centipeid lady...

[John]

I've removed Inuyasha from this (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=419) "Ask John" response. Perhaps because I'm so used to anime, I suspect my classification of "nudity" in anime may be different from that of others. I guess scenes such as those in Inuyasha do count as nudity, but I personally didn't even think of the non-graphic bathing scenes and topless centipede woman as "nudity." I guess I'm so used to anime that I only notice "gratituitous" nudity.

[John]

I've edited today's article titled Is There an Alternative to Shonen Jump? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=656) to remove the assertion that Super Manga Blast is uncensored. Super Manga Blast is less censored than Shonen Jump (which changes sound effects and occasionally background art) and Raijin Comics (which painted on clothes in originally nude women in City Hunter & Bomber Girl). Super Manga Blast does leave nudity intact in Seraphic Feather, but according to reader "ncnc123" has censored NaruTaru (Shadow Star).

[Yowvapa]

John, on your April 1st, 2002 article (What is DNA2), you wrote:

Unfortunately, according to rumor, the video masters of this series have been lost in Japan so the series is only available on old Japanese VHS and laserdisc but not DVD. Because there are no existing production video masters any longer, the odds of the show ever coming the US are very slim.

If you had been keeping up with current releases, you will know that DNA2 has already been released in North America. The publisher is Central Park Media. The ad from the back of the March issue of Newtype USA is from DNA2. Please update that article.

Not to be politically correct, but it would be best to refer to Region 1 releases as North American, not "American" as the latter term has a U.S. bias. People who do not live in North America may think that Region 1 DVD are sold only in the United States, even though they are both sold in the United States and Canada.

[John]

At the time the Ask John article (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=471) was written, it was correct, so I usually don't like going back and altering published articles because it feels to me like a betrayal of journalistic credibility. As a compromise, I've updated this article with an addendum confirming that the series has actually been released in America. (This article was originally written 4 months before CPM announced their acquisition of the title.)

Regarding Region 1 DVDs being "American" or "North American," there's a specifc reason why I say "American" and not "North American." There are Region 1 DVDs, for example the Canadian 3 disc special edition of Brotherhood of the Wolf, that are not officially available in America. There are also examples like Viz and Manga Entertainment R1 DVDs that are contractually only allowed to be sold in America, not Canada, even though they're Region 1 DVDs. Technically "Region One" and "North American" are not the same thing when it comes to DVD release distribution.

[Yowvapa]

Thank you John on the Region 1 clarification.

[John]

The "Ask John" article titled What Does the Pentagram Mean in Japan? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=391) has been altered again, this time to simply remove the term "pentacle" altogether in response to an e-mail complaint of an incorrect definition and association of the term in the article. I appologize for unintentional offense this may have caused, and if I ever have to alter this particular article again I'm simply going to start using generic terms like "star shape."

[John]

Thanks to "Starofnyt," the title "Ai no Awa Awa Hour" mentioned in three "Ask John" articles has been corrected to the proper "Anime Ai no Awa Awa Hour."

[John]

Now that the Chrono Trigger OAV has actually surfaced and been verified to exist, I've updated Are Anime Segments from Video Games Part of Longer Episodes? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=532) "Ask John" article to acknowedge the existance of this animation.

[John]

For the sake of fairness, and to help clarify that my article was purely a speculative, theoretical discussion and not a researched, analytical summary, in the article titled "Why Does Hentai Exist? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=667)" I've added the word "reported" to the line "Japan has one of the developed world's lowest [reported] per capita rates of sexual crime" and I've added the phrase "Grossly exaggerated" the the line "[Grossly exaggerated] armchair science would seem to suggest that at least in Japan, hentai actually reduces sexual violence in society rather than contributing to it."

[DocWatson]

John--

In the column entitled "What are the Best Shoujo Anime?" (#343) you mentioned _Maison Ikkoku_ and _Kimagure Orange Road_ as being shoujo. Unfortunately, while they are romantic comedies (which are often conflated with shoujo), they are actually seinen (young men's manga/anime) and shounen, respectively.

Shounen, shoujo, seinen and josei (young women's manga/anime) are not genres, but publication target demographics. Which of them a manga series belongs to is defined by what magazine it is published in, and what that periodical's target demographic is. _Maison Ikkoku_ was originally published in _Big Comic Spirits_ (aimed at salary men 20-24), while _Kimagure Orange Road_ was published in _Shounen Jump_ (which should need no introduction).

[DocWatson]

John--

A very small nit... _Sakura Tsuushin_'s translated name is misspelled "Sakura DAIries", rather than "DIAries" in the following four columns:

Do Mainstream Creators Also Create Hentai? (#536)
Is Anime Edited in Japan? (#376)
Why do Some TV Series Not Air All of Their Episodes? (#221)
Are Dubs Really Different Than Subs? (#196)

Normally I wouldn't mention it, but the mistake makes searching for that title a bit difficult... ^_^;;

[Yowvapa]

Since you are in Japan right now, would you update the following articles when you return:

What is Neoranga?
Posted: November 28th, 2001
Comment: mention that the series is now available in the Region 1 market. Also mention that the Region 1 title is simply, "Neoranga."

What is Arjuna?
Posted: August 16th, 2001
Comment: mention that the series is now available in the Region 1 market. Also mention that the Region 1 title is simply, "Arjuna."

How Profitable Would an "Anime Channel" Be?
Posted: August 7th, 2001
Comment: mention the existence of the Anime Network.

Is Kodomo no Omocha Coming to America?
Posted: June 29th, 2001
Comment: mention that the manga version is available in English.

[DocWatson]

John--

Regarding the article entitled "A Couple Questions About Guyver" (#572), the two six episode OAVs series were originally released by U.S. Renditions on six dubbed tapes prior to Manga Entertainment picking up the rights. This may be seen on Alan D. Peters' AnimeMania:

<http://animemania01.tripod.com/>

I can also loan you a couple of them if you like. ^_^

[John]

I've personally always had a broader definition of "shoujo" than the traditional strict definition based on publication origin. I think it's appropriate to consider shoujo a genre and not just a target market because if we limit shoujo to only the manga magazine the title originally appeared in, it becomes impossible to classify titles like Tenshi ni Narumon that did not begin as manga. However, I went ahead and deleted the mention of Orange Road and Maison Ikkoku from the shoujo article.

The Sakura Diaries typo has been corrected.

The Guyver article has been updated.

I usually don't like to make "Ask John" articles anachronistic by including information in them that didn't exist when the article was written, so in the cases pointed out I've added addendums to the bottoms of the articles.

[DocWatson]

Originally posted by John
I've personally always had a broader definition of "shoujo" than the traditional strict definition based on publication origin. I think it's appropriate to consider shoujo a genre and not just a target market because if we limit shoujo to only the manga magazine the title originally appeared in, it becomes impossible to classify titles like Tenshi ni Narumon that did not begin as manga.

Another example is _Vision of Escaflowne_--it began as an animated television series, and had two manga based on it, one shounen (by _Futari H_ author Katsu Aki) and one shoujo (by Yashiro Yuzuru).

<http://www.ex.org/1.x/16-esca_manga.html>

It is unfortunate, but some anime *is* impossible to classify by traditional gender/age groups--manga rules just don't always apply.

[John]

The definition of "shoujo" as "young girl," not "beautiful young girl" has been corrected.

[DocWatson]

John--

Regading the "What is Shoujo?" column, I think I need to clarify what the "World Otakunization Project" is. ^_^;;;

"Our" statement of purpose:

"The World Otakunization Project's Purpose is to turn the entire world's population into True Fans of anime and manga. Membership is ad hoc--desire to join and promotion of the Project's goal is all that is necessary."

The Project is largely tongue-in-cheek. It was originally the name of my housemate Lawrence and I's fansub group (c. 1993-95), which consisted solely of us. We never finished or distributed anything, though we did have a fairly complete copy of _Nausicaa_. (He had convinced me to go halves on an Amiga 500 and a genlock.) When he moved out, I appropriated the name and have used it since, mostly as a .sig, though I occassionally "welcome" people to the "club". Still, I'm serious about the purpose. To paraphrase an earlier "Ask John" article, promotion of the hobby is the basic ethic of North American anime fandom, and I regard myself as an anime and manga "evangelist" (without trying to take the title too seriously).

Thus I'm really posting as a singlar person, not as the head of an organization.

[Yowvapa]

While The University of Tokyo originated as Tokyo University in 1877, you should had mentioned that it had gone by two other names in its history: Imperial University in 1886 and Tokyo Imperial University in 1897.

[John]

Please don't take offense. Is it really necessary to mention the history of Todai's name changes? As I re-read the article, I don't really think that mention of the changes in the name of the school through the years are really that essential. After all, the article isn't intended to be a thorough history of Tokyo University. If Todai's various historical names seem like necessary trivia essential to explaining the school's significance, I'll update the "Ask John" article.

[John]

I've updated the article titled Is There a Sequel to Nadesico? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=368) to include mention of the Nadesico lite novels set between the TV series and movie.

[DocWatson]

Regarding "Will Macross 7 Come to America?" (#688), I just wanted to add the following tidbit.

From the Anime News Network article "Anime Central - 2003, Friday Industry Panels" (Manga Entertainment section)

<http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/convention.php?id=62>

"On the other hand, if they re-do Dangaioh they would like to produce a new dub and a new subtitle track. Same goes for Macross Plus, they would like to re-master and re-dub them, but Burgess stated that doing so might spark a whole 'Harmony Gold thing,' referring to the continued threat from Harmony Gold that they will sue anyone who releases or imports anything related to Macross. Nonetheless, Manga would love to license Maross 7, but it, like Memories, remains significantly too expensive for any North American Anime studio to license."

This is just FYI--you don't need to update the column.

[Yowvapa]

John, you made a historical error regarding Acadia. Acadia (now the Canadian province of New Brunswick) was not seized by the British during the 1850s, it was seized in the 1750s during the French and Indian War.

[Node-UE]

Also about the "are all anime set in Japan" article:

A large portion of Lupin III is set outside of Japan in places like New York, Rio de Janeiro, Scotland, Italy, Monaco, Switzerland, etc.

Also, Jigen has some connection to Chicago (I don't remember whether or not we find out what it actually is)

[John]

The date in the Arcadia article (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=69) has been corrected.

"mathieu_miron" wrote in to confirm that the Hello Kitty douche is actually a Hello Kitty shaped dispenser for perfumed shower gel. Such has been added to today's article (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=697).

And I've updated the Grappler Baki article (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=691) to include the current, second manga series and a bit of new information passed on by Tony.

[John]

The Why Don't Some Dubs Provide Detailed Credits? (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=699) article has been updated with an addendum provided by forum member Dessa.

[jalana]

You forgot to list 'Battle Angel Alita' in your list of live action anime movies (http://animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=703). James Cameron has included directing this movie as one of his future projects.

[John]

I actually did forget the Battle Angel movie; however, I'm going to add it only tentatively. Twentieth Century Fox owns the US production rights to the film but hasn't announced any plans to do anything with those rights. Jim Cameron has stated that he'd like to make a Battle Angel movie, but he also said for years that he wanted to make a Spiderman movie, and we all know that it ended up being Sam Raimi that directed the film.

I also forgot the French Captain Harlock film. That's now been added to the list also.

[John]

Today's article about alternate versions of Outlaw Star (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=705) has been updated with a bit of specific detail provided by Saymark2.

[John]

I've updated the list of upcoming live-action anime movies (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=703) because I just remembered the live action Kite movie.

[John]

The list of upcoming anime movies (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=703) has been updated again to include the just announced Cutey Honey and the Sailormoon TV series, which isn't a movie, but is close enough.

Thanks go out to Gaia for reminding me of the Sailormoon show.

[John]

Apparently in the "Ask John" article about Henohenomoheji (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=707), I mistakenly included my own interpretation of the doodle, "While it's usually associated with happiness or good fortune, it's undeniable that the henohenomoheji looks a bit stern and sometimes even evil," as a statement of fact. Thanks go out to Michiko Ito for pointing out this flaw. I've removed the line in order to keep it limited to facts, and not personal speculation.

[Yowvapa]

John, you made a mistake regarding the Arcadia article:

"Around the same time, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow composed the epic poem "Evangeline," a verse about a woman who sets off on a journey across North America in search of her lost lover."

Sorry I have to correct you, but Longfellow (1807-1882) wrote his poem in the 19th century, not during the 1750s as Acadia was subjected to British rule.

[John]

Thanks for the info. Turns out the poem was first published in 1847. The Ask John article (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=696) in question has been corrected.

[John]

In response to a number of e-mail messages, I've updated the article (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=715) about the "D" in Initial D to reflect the belief among fans that it stands for "drift."

[DocWatson]

I have not a correction, but additional information. For estimates on the costs of manga "localization", see the Anime Tourist article on the subject via Studio Proteus' Manga News Watch of Sun, 15 Sep, 2002 (which includes Toren Smith's take):

http://www.studioproteus.com/mn1202titlepg.html

[John]

I know I've read this Anime Tourist editorial before, but I just couldn't remember where I'd seen it when I composed my "Ask John" article. I've now included a link to the editorial in yesterday's "Ask John" article.

[John]

Emlyn Gray & Otaku-chan wrote in to point out that Evangelion begins with 'e' - as in end, not 'i', as I wrote in yesterday's Ask John article (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=727). Obviously I wasn't paying attention. I've corrected the typo and fixed the explanation.

[DocWatson]

It's a small one, but I have a nit to pick. In the most recent column John wrote:

To discuss the present and future existence of dubbed anime, I think it's necessary to explore its origin and evolution. English dubbing originated in the 1960s, with heavily altered English language versions of shows including Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion, Speed Racer and Battle of the Planets.

While I understand what you're trying to say, the above implies that Battle of the Planets is from the 1960s, rather than the 1970s.

[John]

Agreed. I've slightly revised the line to make a clearer distinction.

[John]

I've updated the article about Kuroneko-sama (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=740) to include Yasuhiro Nightow's own explanation.

"Kuroneko-sama is a small black cat."

[DocWatson]

From the fourth paragraph:

Beside the fact that dubbing and editing anime for American television is a corruption of its original artistic integrity, dubbed and especially edited anime on American television may so as much to propagate itself as promote interest in anime.

Unfortunately, a word or two was dropped from the last phrase, making it nonsensical. ^_^;

[John]

Oops. Just a small typo that the spell-check didn't catch. The "so" in "...may so as much to propagate itself..." was supposed to be "do," as in "...may do as much to propagate itself..."

[DocWatson]

While this an issue with the site and not your writing, this forum seems to be the most on topic place to post. My apologies if I should have used the general Ask John forum.

I've been using the search function to look for articles in the archive, and have encountered the same problem--the URL is incorrect. My steps in order; I:

1) Enter a search term--in this case "Christian"
2) Click on a result--"Ask John - Why is there Christian Symbolism in Anime?"
3) Click the link on the subsequent page (something I find irksome--why not a direct link?):

http://animenation.net/news/aj-index.php3?id=98

4) Receive a 404 error because the correct link is:

http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=98

^_^; This seems to happen only with the older articles--e.g., #462 (March 19th, 2002), but not #512 (June 12th, 2002). Would you kindly have this fixed? Thank you!

[John]

I have really no control over the technical aspects of the Ask John archive. The problem you've encountered has to do with some articles dating back to one of our prior website formats. I have copied this post and passed it along to our web development office two doors down the hall.

[John]

Thanks to Michiko Ito, the "Ask John" article about drinking in Japan (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=742) has been updated with additional historical detail.

[Yowvapa]

John, it is quite redundant to refer of the RIAA as the "American RIAA." The last "a" in the RIAA means "America."

[John]

I thought of that, but I chose to phrase it as I did intentionally to clearly emphasize the domestic origin and priorities of the RIAA and MPAA. I know it's redundant, but in this case, that's the way I want it to be.

[John]

What? No. Terrorists crashed planes in New York City, Washington DC, and Pennsylvania. There was massive loss of life and most countries throughout the world sympathized for our loss. Out of respect for the dead, anything related to terrorism became temporarily taboo. The Twin Towers got edited out of movies like Zoolander and Spiderman, episodes of Cowboy Bebop related to terrorism got pulled off the Cartoon Network. And in Japan, in order to express concern and respect, Gonzo Studios chose not to air an anime TV series about terrorism only a month after the worst terrorist attack in history.

The American government has nothing whatsoever to do with a Japanese anime studio and Japanese television network's decision to not air an anime TV series about terrorism only weeks after a massive terrorist attack. It's a simple matter of politeness and courtesy. The American government's involvement with the terrorist actions themselves is an entirely different discussion that has nothing to do with anime.

[Yowvapa]

John, the "by" makes it seem that the government caused the terrorist attacks which is entirely false. I think you made a typo by typing "by" instead of "in."

[Sharp-kun]

Originally posted by Yowvapa
John, the "by" makes it seem that the government caused the terrorist attacks which is entirely false. I think you made a typo by typing "by" instead of "in."
It doesn't.

Someone might say "the tragedy suffered by Andrew Sharp". It's correct English.

[DocWatson]

John--

I think you did an excellent job in summarizing the main points to look for in determining the legitimacy--or lack--in anime DVDs. I just wanted to point out The Pirate Anime FAQ (http://www.digital.anime.org.uk/piratefaq.html) for inclusion in the article.

[John]

Not sure why it didn't occur to me to add that link to the article, but it's there now.

[DocWatson]

Just a tidbit to add. The Television Anime Chronological List (http://espanol.geocities.com/gapc/animetv-jp/index_e.html) puts the end of the anime series on 25 March 2001. (Warning: the page is a rather large HTML file.)

[John]

My initial instinct was to not include the TV series end date because I didn't include an end date for the live action TV series either. But seeing as the article was overtly about the anime...

[DocWatson]

I wanted to point out that in addition to the time that has past since _Kare Kano_ was put out, there was reportedly also a dispute between Gainax and the manga's creator as to the focus of the anime series--romance and comedy versus comedy. See Anime Tourist - Gainax: Past, Present and Future (http://anime-tourist.com/article.php?sid=298).

[John]

An exerpt from the Gainax interview with Hiroyuki Yamaga has been added to yesterday's Ask John article (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=766).

[W-General]

In response to Oct.1 article on legal Asian DVD's (I copied from the thread I posted. I saw this thread only after I posted my thread)

Recently I saw John's article on October 1 about Asian DVD's. And I would like to point out an error on part of John when he said there's no legal Asian DVD with Chinese subs. Even though I download English online fansubs, as an ardent supporter of legal R3 anime DVD, I just had to make the truth known.

While I know most HK DVD to be bootleg, several Taiwanese companies have licensed legally from the Japanese companies and have released them legally.

Subbing: They have Chinese subs, or no subs.
Track: Chinese dub track, or Japanese track. No English
Region: They have region - region 3. Some companies ignore region stuff and go all region, but they're still legal. Identify by companies.

Anything with English is definitely HK DVD and we all know that HK DVD are more risky.

I happen to have a list of legal Taiwanese anime companies.
Proware Media: www.prowaremedia.com.tw
E-muse: www.e-muse.com.tw
Power International Multimedia : www.pimgroup.com.tw
Pro-Insight: http://www.my-cartoon.com.tw (not working for me?)
Mighty Media: www.e-kids.com.tw
Win International Multimedia : www.win-dvd.com.tw

These are the main ones.

Some smaller companies:
DELTAMAC - has Metropolis only.
Sep International - Fruits Basket and Louie the Rune Soldier only.
EARCHEER RECORDS - Housin Engi/Soul Hunter only.
King's International Multimedia - Akira, Ys, GITS only.
Animation International - EVA only

The bigger companies have too many series too long to list out.

If you can find someone that understands Chinese (Big5 Traditional) this site would be perfect - it lists all the licensed series in Taiwan:
http://98.to/mycai/

[John]

I've added the list of known Taiwanese official Anime distributors to my "Ask John" article, and revised it slightly to clarify that I never said there weren't any official Chinese subtitled anime DVDs. I said there were no Japanese version anime DVDs with Chinese subtitles. That's not to say that there aren't legitimate Chinese and Thai and Korean and Taiwanese anime DVDs with Chinese subs.

[palls15]

I would think the Lupin III franchise belongs on that list of anime that has established a foothold in Japanese culture in the "How Long Will the Pokemon Fad Last?" article as well.

[DocWatson]

A couple of slight corrections.

Anime series including Chibi Maruko-chan and Doraemon have been steadily airing new episodes every week for 30 years.

Begging your pardon, but only Sazae-san has been running for that long. Here are the dates and lengths of the shows:

Chibi Maruko-chan. Run dates: January 8, 1995-present. Number of episodes: 425+.

Doraemon (first series). Run dates: 1 April 1973-30 September 1973. Number of episodes: 27

Doraemon (second series). Run dates: 2 April 1979-present. Number of episodes: 850+.

Sazae-san. Run dates: 5 October 1969-present. Number of episodes: 1700+.

Sources:

Television Anime Chronological List (http://espanol.geocities.com/gapc/animetv-jp/index_e.html)
List of Anime Television Series (http://www.public.iastate.edu/~rllew/anitv.html)

Still, I agree that both Doraemon and Chibi Maruko-chan are deeply embedded in Japanese popular culture--especially Doraemon, as in addition to the second television series, one movie and anywhere from two to five television specials have been produced every year since 1979. (See the Anime Check-list (http://www.animechecklist.net/).)

[John]

Oops. I always get Sazae-san and Chibi Maruko-chan mixed up because they both look vaguely similar and both deal with similar domestic family life stories. I've edited this article (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=771) to correct the mistake. Although Doraemon has had 2 series, I still consider it close enough to having been running since the early 70s.

I actually did debate with myself over mentioning Lupin the 3rd when I composed this article. But I decided then not to include Lupin, and I still think that was the right decision. Lupin is unquestionably one of the most famous anime ever created, but I don't really think Lupin has been adopted into Japanese culture the way the other titles mentioned have. Astro Boy has public sculptures. There are Astro Boy and Pokemon and Totoro/Ghibli and Hello Kitty/Sanrio stores in Japan. Sazae-san and Chibi Maruko-chan are both widely watched shows. Lupin hasn't had a regularly airing anime series in nearly 20 years. You really see examples of Lupin anime in routine daily Japanese life the way you can and do see examples of Totoro and Pokemon and Hello Kitty and Astro Boy just by touring Japan.

[John]

For the Girls with Guns article (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=772), thanks to a reminder from Don Piece, I've added Najica (which definitely belongs on the list). I've also updated the article to mention Miami Guns, which I've never really thought of as a true "girls with guns" show because it's not really an action series (it's a comedy), but it does perpetuate the visual image of sexy girls carrying guns.

[John]

Regarding the Ask John article about domstic CDs (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=775), Marc Hairston wrote in the following, which has been updated in the article:

Just to follow up on the question of missing music on US CD releases. For the Haibane release, your guess was right. The closing theme "Blue Flow" was done by the group "Heart of Air" and Pioneer did not have the rights to release that outside of Japan. This was what I was told by the Pioneer USA folks when I was researching my article on Haibane-Renmei for "Animerica". They wanted to include it, but couldn't.

[John]

"smhardy" e-mailed in the following interesting info:

Not a question, but renowned Japanese cult film director Seijun Suzuki (Tokyo Drifter) directed the Lupin III movie, "Legend of the Gold of Babylon". So, yes, there have been live-action directors that have dabbled in anime. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0840671/

Oddly, I've always believed that it was Mamoru Oshii who directed Golden Legend of Babylon. After looking it up, Oshii has never worked on any Lupin animation, so I was just plainly mistaken.

This Ask John article (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=776) has been updated.

[Dessa]

I was reading the June 19, 2002 (or was it 2001?) article about Gensomaden Saiyuki, and I noticed that you wrote that Sanzo drove Hakuryuu (the jeep). That's incorrect. Hakkai usually drives it, although Gojyo did at one point (at least at one point of what's released over here). Hakkai's dragon, Hakkai drives.

[Ballistic]

Small little update. January 28th, 2003 article. GiTS: SAC is now scheduled to run for 52 episodes, not 26 anymore.

[John]

Both of the aforementioned points have been addressed.

[Shiroi Hane]

Are There Any Banned Anime? (February 18th, 2003)
]And in 1997 Ninetndo voluntarily temporarily shelved Pocket Monsters episode 38 after the evening broadcast of the episode sent over a hundred viewers into epileptic-like convulsions.
Should be Nintendo

Are All Anime Set in Japan? (August 8th, 2002)
Tiny Snow Fairy Sugar is set in a town called Muhlenburg in Germany (not sure what the spelling should be, but that is what pioneer use on their site)

[John]

Thanks for the typo correction. And I added the Sugar example. Not sure if "Muhlenburg" actually exists, but there is a German town called "Muhlenberg."

[John]

Thanks to "kamykami" I've updated yesterday's Ask John article (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=795) to include the marriage of Hideaki Anno and Moyoco Anno.

[John]

Hokage Izlude pointed out:

I noticed in the newest article concerning a domestic release for One Piece and Naruto, John stated Toei produced both shows. I know Toei definitly did One Piece, but I believe it was Studio Perriot (Yu Yu Hakusho, GTO, Hikaru No Go) whom did Naruto.

I simply wasn't paying attention. Today's article has been corrected.

[John]

A little late, but finally done- I've removed the reference to Nobuhiro Watsuki not approving of the second RuroKen OAV series in this article (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=802) as there's some debate over the accuracy of that contention.

And in response to an e-mail message from "M@" I've updated the Ask John article about Peter Chung (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=805) to cite AWN for his filmography instead of Acme Filmworks.

[John]

Apparently I screwed up today's article (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=823) all over the place. The total number of tankouban volumes of Dragonball manga has been corrected. I listed 28 based on the total number of re-release tankouban that are currently available in Japan. The correct original total number is 42. I also took for granted the question's statement that Shaman King was a 52 episode TV series. ZeroKun pointed out that it was actually a 64 episode series.

[Flopsy]

In today's Ask John:

The favorite Japanese game of blindfolded smashing the pumpkin appears in anime as diverse as SD Gundam, Full Metal Panic! Fumoffu!, and Tenchi Muyo.
Don't you mean smashing the watermelon?
Someone's been listening to a certain alternative rock band a little too much... :smash:

[John]

Oops. It's fixed now.

[DocWatson]

A couple additions:

Peaches also represent the buttocks collectively, and eggplants are a phallic symbol. (For the latter, see page 135 of Frederik Schodt's _Manga! Manga!_.)

[John]

Fixed.

[John]

The article titled "Are There Any Anime About Samurai History (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=828)" has been updated with information about Shonen Tokugawa Ieyasu, a historical samurai anime from 1975 that I wasn't familiar with. Thanks to Migiwa for e-mailing in the info.

[DocWatson]

I'm afraid you made a small omission from the article:

After the dragon became drunk and uncoordinated, Susanoo fought and eventually it.

(Emphasis mine.) Also, IMHO it would be better to name Susanoo in the phrase Amaterasu no Omikami sealed herself into a cave after being offended by her brother's mischievous pranks, and to make the last three sentences in the article into one compound sentence--but those are mere stylistic preferences.

[John]

I fixed the typo and added Susanoo's name in the earlier sentence to clarify. But I'm leaving the final paragraph as is because I like it better as individual sentences.

[Flopsy]

Regarding today's Ask John about the meaning of the term "moe":

I'm a little surprised that you didn't include Moe from Risky Safety as an example of "moe" anime characters... being a somewhat self-proclaimed Risky Safety savant, did you have any particular reason why she was omitted from the article, especially given her name?

[Mythril Ayanami]

Or Moe from Love Hina. She was the life sized small child doll that only the ronin could hear =P
*Sigh* that was such a good episode..

[John]

To be completely honest, I intentionally didn't mention Moe from Risky Safety because I was trying to avoid pointing out the fact that none of us here at AN Entertainment thought to make mention of Moe as a "moe" character in the Risky Safety translation notes until it was too late to actually include them on the finished disc or printed translation notes.

Again, to be honest, I forgot about Moe in Love Hina because it's been so long since I watched the show. However, I did mention that none of the "primary characters" in Love Hina are "moe."

[Flopsy]

Thanks for replying!

[Sharp-kun]

In the "Which Anime Have Had the Most Influence on Current Anime?" artcicle, I'm surpised you didn't mention Mazinger Z, given as it was the first Super Robot Series, and pretty much set the stage for the others (like Getter and Voltes) you mentioned. Gekiganger also owes as much to it as it does to Getter, with the mecha styles, and many attacks being based off Mazinger.

Any reason it didn't get a mention?

[John]

I actually did think about Mazinger Z, but chose to mention Getta Robo instead because Getta Robo had transforming and combining robots while Mazinger did not.

[sfried]

Big fat correction about the "German fetish of Japanese", but...

Langley is NOT a German name. It is American.

[John]

Asuka may have an "American" name (it may be argued that there's no such thing as a surname of true American origin) but she's half German.

[John]

Michiko Ito wrote in regarding my article about influential anime to point out that Mazinger-Z was the first anime to intorduce the concept of a pilot that sits inside the robot to pilot it instead of controlling the robot by remote control. I've revised the third paragraph of this article (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=833) accordingly.

[Guardian Ninja]

Soryu is Japanese... so Asuka's father was Japanese then? If she's half something else... :spin:

[DocWatson]

Greetings and felicitations. I have some information to add on the subject--especially on media other than video formats; make of it what you will.

First, I would refer you to The Japan FAQ's Why are Prices in Japan So Damn High?? (http://www.thejapanfaq.com/FAQ-Prices.html) page, particularly section 3 "The Bulky, Rigged Distribution System (Or: Do you really need 3 people to wrap your hamburger?)".

Second, another reason that newspaper, book, magazine and CD prices are high is the "saihan-kakaku-iji" or "saihan seido" (price regulation system).

From A Partial Guide to Newspapers in Japan (http://www.geocities.com/Athens/4824/jp-misc.htm):The system of Saihan-kakaku-iji, or legal guarantee of the retail price maintenance (the exception from anti-trust law), is another privilege of newspaper companies and always argued as the cause of spoiled media giants.
From "Internalising 'Street': Transnational Megastore Chains and Tokyoite hip hop scene." (http://www.ijull.org/vol3/1/000020.htm):Conventionally, record retailers are protected in Japan by saihan-seido; a retail price maintenance system derived from the post-war necessity for the recording industry to secure their distribution networks destroyed by the war.

More information about saihan seido and the price wars may also found here:

J@pan Inc.: Short Cuts: B2B in Japan Gets Net-Worked (http://www.japaninc.net/mag/comp/2000/03/mar00_b2b2.html)

Time Asia: "War of Words" (http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/article/0,13673,501030217-421071,00.html) (on the Book Off store chain)

Importation Right against Music CDs—Japan’s Cultural Autism (Working Paper 04-1-1) (http://tadhomma.infoseek.livedoor.net/CDImpRight01.htm)

I would conclude that since the publishers can charge what they want, they have become accustomed to doing so.

Unfortunately, I did not find anything on video prices--which is what the original question is about. ^_^;

[John]

I've added an addendum to yesterday's "Ask John" article with a link to the Japan FAQ article; however, in the interest of staying on topic, I didn't add the links to articles about Japan's publishing industry or music industry, which are really articles and discussions on their own.

[John]

Added an addendum to the article about "cosmic battles (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=848)."

[DocWatson]

Greetings and felicitations. A small correction and an opinion:

First, all but the last OAV of the Mamono Hunter Yohko series was released before Blue Seed:

Mamono Hunter Yohko (http://www.animechecklist.net/details.php?ID=5272)

Mamono Hunter Yohko OAVs 2-5 (http://www.animechecklist.net/details.php?ID=1469)

Mamono Hunter Yohko 2 OAV (http://www.animechecklist.net/details.php?ID=1363)

Blue Seed (http://www.public.iastate.edu/~rllew/blue-seed.html)

Second, IMHO and IIRC Sakura Dairies has "plenty of bare skin and sexual innuendo", but also lacks the panty shots necessary to place it on the list. Limeiro Senkitan I have yet to see.

[John]

My intention was to mention anime dating from around the early 1990s but not necessarily to suggest that everything listed came after Blue Seed. That's why I stated "Since the days of Blue Seed..." instead of saying "Since Blue Seed..." But I can see how my phrasing may be easily misinterpreted, parimarily because of my flawed structuring. To simplify, I've removed Mamono Hunter Yohko from my list of examples.

While I was at it, someone reminded my of Ikkitousen, so I cheated a bit and slipped it into my list too.

[John]

I've slightly revised my estimate of how much manga is publised in Japan from this article (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=852) to more accurately reflect the present state of the publishing industry in Japan, which is undergoing a recession. This revision is based on the following statement e-mailed in by Yuji Mori:

You wrote: "it's commonly estimated that nearly one out of every two books published in Japan is a manga."

John, however heavily Japan is eroded by manga, the figure of nearly one-second is too much.

I have a book called Dentsu Joho Media Hakusyo (a.k.a. A Research for Information and Media Society) 2002. It says manga occupies 37 percent of all publishing. 1.54484 billion copies / 4.17906 billion. There sold 0.50154 billion copies of Tankobon and 1.0433 billion copies of manga magazine. The sales of manga amount to 21.8 percent of all publishing sales, 239.66 billion yen. In addition, Manga artists amount to 4,003. (as of 2000)

Generally manga sales are decreasing in 5 years, although publishing industry itself is rather in depression in Japan. (Last year one of my projects was cancelled by a Tokyo firm. Shinu-hodo kuyashii...)

[otaku_san]

This is a bit far back and a tad old, but if you watch Ikkitousen: Strength of A Thousand, you can immediately place that up with Najica Blitz Tactic and Agent Aika as the ultimate panty girl.

[John]

I've updated the Ask John article about Cutey Honey (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=861) with mention of the Cutey Honey F manga and the Cutey Honey: Tennyo Densetsu manga series. Thanks go out to Tama83 for making me aware of these two manga series.

[John]

Yuji Mori wrote in to mention that Ken Ishikawa also produced Cutey Honey manga, so my Ask John article (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=861) has been updated again. Those who are interested may want to check out the link (http://fu-ta88.hp.infoseek.co.jp/q/comics.htm) that Mr. Mori sent me for reference.

Mr. Mori also corrected my response about Discipline (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=862). I wrote that Takashi Kondou directed the series. Actually Kondou was assistant director to Shigenori Kumai.

[KT Kore]

Just a bit of information regarding the TechTV/G4 merger news item, which mentioned "Of particular interest to anime fans, presently there's no telling how this merger will affect TechTV's Anime Unleashed program or whether G4 will retain and continue the Anime Unleashed programing or not."

From G4TV.com: (http://www.g4tv.com/techtvmerger/)

Q: What will a typical programming day look like?
A: The merged network will be the nation's premier 24/7 television network all about video games, technology and the gamer lifestyle. The G4 programming day will showcase many existing G4 and TechTV series such as G4's ICONS; PULSE; JUDGMENT DAY; PLAYERS, and CHEAT! as well as TechTV's ANIME UNLEASHED; X-PLAY; SCREEN SAVERS; FRESH GEAR; and ROBOT WARS. G4 will also premiere new original programming which will be announced at a later date.

[John]

Thanks to Richard Llewellyn for letting me know, I've updated my "Ask John" article about CG "anime" (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=869) to specify that Cubix and Aqua Kids are Korean produced series broadcast in Japan; not native Japanese productions.

[John]

Legendary?

[John]

To clarify, I didn't say that Inuyasha or Gundam Seed nor Prince of Tennis themselves have ever hit a 20% rating. I suspect that only Sazae-san hits ratings quite that high. I used those titles as examples of mainstream titles (which include Sazae-san) which do achieve that sort of broadcast exposure in Japan. Inuyasha, Gundam Seed & Prince of Tennis are mainstream titles that do fall into the 5% up to 20% range the article mentioned.

Based on data from this Japanese site (http://home-aki.cool.ne.jp/anime-list/risky.htm), Risky Safety did air in prime time after all. I know that Neoranga and Kurogane Communication were also aired in the first season or two of Anime Complex. So I've removed these from the article. Steel Angel Kurumi first season, I'm guessing, did air before midnight, but Steel Angel Kurumi 2 was broadcast on Anime Complex Night, which did air after midnight. So I'm not totally wrong there. I've revised the article. Sorry for the confusion, and thanks for the notice.

[Dr. Ezra]

Do u know when the third .Hack//Legend of The Twilight Manga is coming out? I hear July...or something...

[John]

.hack//Legend of Twilight Bracelet manga volume 3 (http://product.esbooks.yahoo.co.jp/product/keyword/keyword?accd=31358211) is already available in Japan.

I spent the weekend suspecting that my Friday article may cause some uproar. I'm a bit surprised, but not unhappy, that it didn't seem to arouse any criticism or anger.

I'll search back through my "viewing journal" thread and fix the typos.

[KT Kore]

For the Ask John article for 4/28 (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=879), I believe the correct term for those types of shows is "tokusatsu" which basically means "special effects shows" rather than "sentai." Even though sentai can technically be used, it may cause some confusion based on the fact that there is a show in Japan called Super Sentai (the show Power Rangers is based on).

Just a little something...

[John]

If I'm not mistaken, sentai is a sub-genre of tokusatsu. Tokusatsu includes sentai shows and also includes shows and movies like Kamen Rider and Ultraman and Atragon and Mirai Ninja. Sentai refers specifically to hero team shows. Tokusatsu refers to any special effects heavy fantasy shows including, but not limited to hero team programs.

[John]

Thanks for the assistance. I've updated the article about sentai (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=879).

[Starchild]

Err, John, the protagonist from _Rainbow Sentai Robin_ is male.

With your Mari-Mite column's translation, a fan wrote: "At least it proves that John loves Mari-Mite."

[John]

Oops. Revised the sentai article again.

I guess I don't really like most girls' anime, but occasionally there are ones like Utena and Fushigi Yuugi and HanaDan and MariMite that I just fall in love with.

[G Gundam rocks!]

how do i change my name?

[John]

Wesley Brown e-mailed in a correction to this morning's Ask John article (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=885). I'd originally mentioned 15 Vampire Hunter D novels. That's now been corrected to state that there are presently 25 novels covering 15 story arcs.

[Starchild]

>Maki Toshi Shinjuku (Demon City Shinjuku,

Makai Toshi, John.

[John]

Oops. I'll fix that too.

[Shoy]

http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=242

Hi, John.
I don't know this could help you but...

The word 'Baka' to mean stupid is not really Japanese origin. It came from the historical events in China. Age of Qin, there was a eunuch '趙高' (Choukou in Japanese pronounce) who had absolute power. One day He gather all the official people of Qin. He bring a deer to them and said 'This is a horse'. He asked to each of them what the animal look like. And those who answered it as the deer honestly have been executed. He wanted to drove the enemy away from him. After all, everyone in that place feer Choukou very much. Although the word of "fool (horse & deer)" was produced by this act, the meaning at this time differs from the meaning of the language used now.

[John]

Thanks for this interesting info. I've rewritten the article.

[John]

In regard to the article about transformation (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=893), I've found at least two websites that associate the Maneki Neko with the Buddhist goddess of mercy Kannon, but apparently the standard assumption is that the two are not related. So I've removed the reference to the lucky beckoning cat from this article, and also revised the article about the Maneki Neko (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=215).

I've seen some criticism of my citation of Perry's visit to Japan and the Hiroshima bombings as influences on the Japanese interest in transformation. I'm tentatively leaving these references intact for the reason why I included them in the first place. They are examples of my statement, "Transformation is at the core of both Japanese philosophical and physical history." I'm certainly not trying to suggest that Perry and Hiroshima are the reasons why Usagi Tsukino transforms into Sailor Moon, but I do think that these events establish a factual history of significant social change and transformation in Japanese culture that's unique to Japan.

I've also seen suggestions that Japanese stage drama (Noh, Bunraku & Kabuki) may be significant influences, and the frequently cited Japanese children's fascination with insects and insect collecting may form some of the foundation of the Japanese interest in transformation. I'm going to take the cowards route and refer to the first line of my article: To be quite honest, I probably don't know enough about Japanese culture and literary heritage to be able to adequately address the Japanese fascination with transformation.

Update: After some additional discussion, I've put the maneki neko example back in the article.

[CrossboneGundam]

About the June 23rd article, I wanted to point out that the women in the openings of at least two of the various shows are characters in them. In Evangelion, it's Misato and Rei, and I haven't seen all of Gundam SEED's openings, but in the first one it's Murrue Ramius.

[Dessa]

A note for the 100+ episode article (8/20/04):

You mentioned Gensomaden Saiyuki. There were two OAV episodes made as a "preview" for the series. Then the series itself went for 50 episodes. A OAV "interactive DVD" was released. Saiyuki RELOAD went for 25 episodes. Saiyuki RELOAD GUNLOCK is scheduled to end at 25 episodes (I see no reason for it to stop short). With just TV episodes, that puts it EXACTLY at 100 episodes (more if it is continued), and with the OAVs, it's 103.


And you didn't mention Ojamajo Doremi's 201+ episodes (how long is Naisho supposed to go? I gotta start watching that).

[John]

The Ask John article (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=937) has been slightly revised. In a way, I guess I'm still half right because Saiyuki hasn't hit 100 episodes yet, but likekly will in the immediate future. And honestly, since it's been so long since the "normal" TV broadcast of Ojamajo Doremi Dokkan, I just plain forgot about Doremi.

According to Natsume Maya's site from back in March, Ojamajo Doremi Naisho is supposed to run 13 episodes.

[John]

This Ask John article (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=933) has been updated with a reader contributed addendum.

[DocWatson]

It's a small thing, but I believe you forgot to include "One Piece" in the following sentence:
And the October/November issue of Anime Insider magazine confirms that the American television broadcast will digitally transform Sanji's omnipresent cigarette into a lollipop.
^_^;

[John]

Oops. Fixed.

[DocWatson]

From the last paragraph:

that just passively enjoy the humorous exploits of the One Piece crew.
I believe you mean "than just". ^_^;

[John]

The typo John C. Watson pointed out has been corrected.

"Prince Mercury" pointed out that in this "Ask John" article (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=942) I referred to Anne of Green Gables as "European/American" when the book is actually Canadian in origin. My apologies. I've revised the article to replace "European/American" with "Western."

And since I don't think I've yet mentioned it, I've added an extensive addendum to this "Ask John" article (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=933) following an e-mail critique from Cailean.

[DocWatson]

And since I don't think I've yet mentioned it, I've added an extensive addendum to this "Ask John" article (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=933) following an e-mail critique from Cailean.

Actually, you did--post #194 at 10:11 AM on 08.23.2004. ^_^; It's one page back.

[Dessa]

Just a point RE: Naruto vs. One Piece cosplay...

One Piece characters have nothing in common in their costumes. However, if you buy and wear a Naruto forehead protector, you've automatically become a "random Naruto ninja," since they wear anything, plus the forehead protectors.

[Starchild]

http://www4.ocn.ne.jp/~tmf00a/09012004.html

Wow, it's cool, everyone.

[DocWatson]

For similarly-themed series, you might consider Baoh Rayousa ("Baoh the Visitor", AKA "BAOH" (http://www.animeigo.com/Products/BAOH.t)) and the manga Juuki Kouhei Xenon ("Xenon: Heavy Metal Warrior" (http://www.milehighcomics.com/cgi-bin/backissue.cgi?title=99144370088)). In BAOH, the male protagonist becomes the "armor", while in Xenon, the armor is electro-, rather than bio-mechanical. Obviously, neither quite fits the Guyver mold, but there are congruencies--especially since all three manga were (at least in part) published by Viz.

[Starchild]

John, I think you should have mentioned that _Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid_ ('69) had inspired _Lupin the 3rd_ ('71) as well as Lucas was inspired with Matsumoto's proposal of _Captain Harlock_.

[Starchild]

About _Can You Explain the Concept of Becoming Evil to Fight Evil?_

>the determined and focused samurai should meet the Buddha and slay the Buddha.

It is not correct, strictly speaking. "When you meet Buddha, you slay buddha. When you enter the higher stage, slay the higher stage. When you meet the far higher stage, slay the far higher stage. When you meet your parents, you slay the parents. When you achieve the highest stage, slay the highest stage. That's how you acquire the realization." It comes from a greatest priest in the 9th century China. The school arrived at Japan in the 12th century and the Japan's first samurai government (Kamamura Bakufu) admired it. At least I hear.

It was a wise saw for priests. However, samurai people contorted from its original meaning.

I think Tarintino was inspired by Fukasaku's _Jingi-naki Tatakai_ series as well as The Lone Wolf. In the series, a gangstar said the phrase when he killed the enemies.

[John]

Revised the second paragraph of the article (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=972).

[John]

Fixed the typos in Elfen Lied. Apparently it's "Elfen" but half of the time I spelled it "Elfin."

[John]

In the Ask John article about 2005 anime (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=978) I corrected the wrong translation of "Kore ga Boku no Goushujinsama" to the correct reading, "Kore ga Watashi no Goushujinsama."

Thanks go out to Yuji for alerting me of the small translation error.

[Starchild]

I'm not sure if it is on topic on this thread.

>Howl's Moving Castle, now playing in Japanese theatrical wide release

Howl does not open in Japan. On 20.

[John]

Oops. Thanks for the correction. The news article has been revised.

[John]

Chieko Cranley e-mailed in to let me know that even though I mentioned Sentimental Journey in yesterday's Ask John article (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=980), and knew that it was based on the Sentimental Graffiti games, I forgot and mentioned that To Heart was the only life-sim based anime licensed for America. I've corrected that error now to say that there are two, not one, life-sim based anime in America.

[Twinbee]

Is Seraphim Call based on a dating sim game?

Also, I don't think it was relevant to mention Kimagure Orange Road since it is based on an original Shounen Jump manga, not based on a dating sim game. There are romance shows licensed for R1 distribution that are not based solely on dating sims.

[John]

Seraphim Call is not based on a video game. I mentioned it as an example of an anime that falls, "into the romantic life-sim genre." I also mentioned Orange Road as a similar example. It's true that there are plenty of romance shows licensed for R1 release that are not solely based on dating sims, but Orange Road and Marmalade Boy are the only ones I can think of that are romance shows that fall into the broad "realistic, life simulation" genre (Sure, Orange Road has psychic ability, but it's played down most of the time.)

[Twinbee]

Just a heads up on the news for today: Angel Heart takes place in an alternate universe of City Hunter; it's not a direct sequel to City Hunter. Houjou took a lot of flak from CH fans when he killed off a major CH character at the start of Angel Heart, so he made the series an alternate universe story.

[John]

Today's Ask John article (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=988) has been slightly revised to acknowledge English translations of Go Nagai manga that I'd either forgotten about or wasn't aware of.

I'll also correct the news about Angel Heart.

[John]

Yesterday's Ask John article (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=991) has been updated with an addendum answer sent in by Anthony Ruiz.

[Winged Demon]

um...........hi............where did the RPG forum go???????

I thought you could answer...........thanks

[John]

As was announced last week, the AnimeNation Forum has been revised to be a strictly anime only forum.

[Hunter Yumi]

hello john...............

[Miyamoto]

there´s a spanish rpg phorum ...

[Starchild]

>Why Are Anime Fans So Opinionated
>January 13th, 2004

2004...

[John]

Ah. Thanks for noticing the date discrepency. I was wondering why an article seemed to be missing in the current year list.

[John]

Numerous changes made to the latest Ask John article (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=1018).

Keiji Goto worked on Kiddy Grade and Uta-Kata, but he wasn't the original character designer. Mutsumi Inomata did not work on Hikari to Mizu no Daphne (and it's "Hikari to..." not ""Hikari no..."). She also did chara design for Tales of Destiny, not for the more recent Tales games.

[Twinbee]

Today's Ask John. "There are shonen ai anime series available..."

You mean "shoujo ai".

Also, I find quite a lot of hentai for straight Japanese males with lesbian sex in them.

[John]

I made several small alterations to this "Ask John" article (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=1019). Check out the article itself for details.

Also finally got around to revising the article about what anime Akira Toriyama has done (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=789) with some help from GreatSaiyaman777 to mention that Go! Go! Ackman originated as a manga. While I did say that Pink and Kennosuke-sama were Toriyama anime, I clarified that they're based on short manga stories. And I added mention of the Chrono Trigger anime short which I originally left off becasue Toriyama himself didn't personally have anything to do with it (as far as I know).

[John]

Corrected the Favorite Chara Designer article (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=1018). Keiji Goto worked on the Double Cast Yarudora game. I had written that Goto worked on the Kisetsu wo Dakishimete Yarudora game.

Thanks to Chieko Cranley for pointing out the error.

[Twinbee]

Considering that it is a direct sequel starting right where the TV series ends and has been following the manga faithfully, I don't think it's quite appropriate to list Saint Seiya Hades Arc as a revival and deny or downplay its nature as a sequel.

[Digimansion02]

Hi John about your sentai article.
You've hit the nail squarely on the head on most of your information but if you don`t mind, I`d like to clerify a few things.

When Inshirmori-san created his first two sentai shows Goranger (http://www.zincpanic.com/series/366.html) and JAKQ
They were so huge Toei instantly bought rights to the term "sentai". Even though it was a long retired military term for the Japanese army, just as DC has rights to the term "Superhero" "Sentai" is legally Toei's.
Now the costumed/helmeted hero term you might associate with other shows is called "Tokusatsu", "Toku" and my personal favorite "Henshin".
Toku deals with mostly live action hero series weather they use specail effects or heroes or no armored forms at all.

Henshin means to Transform and is a bit broader of a term. So shows like Grandsazer/Justrisers,Saint Seiya, Ronin Warriors and even Sailor Moon count as Henshin series. I guess you could say Henshin comes into play whenever anime is involved.

[Twinbee]

Tokusatsu is a show with live action special effects. Sentai refers specifically to a task force team show, such as Go Ranger.

[John]

I agree that the St. Seiya Hades saga is a direct sequel to the television series, but considering that the Hades Saga started 14 years after the end of the television series, I think it's also legitimate to classify the new animation as a revival of St. Seiya.

Okay. Also revised the sentai article.

[Starchild]

I have some to say about today's Ask John as a native Japanese. It looks to me that a man who claims discrimination is fault is unconsciously propagating the stereotypical images of the land of rising sun.

I have my own hypothesis on sexist-looking description in anime. But currently I have little time to speak my view here.

[Twinbee]

He didn't cite discrimination. He stated that Americans may intrepret Japanese animation through American values, which in turn may lead to a misunderstanding of the material. "Discrimination" would be that the American audiences dislike Japanese people and their art.

[Starchild]

Now I will have to critisize today's article on behalf of Japanese...


Frankly speaking, I felt echors from stereotypical views of Japan. I know John did not it intentionally, but I think he should have been more deliberate in claiming something like that a country A be so-and-so and the pop culture of it reflects that. I do not deny that Japan is somehow sexist country, but it is dangerous to discuss a pop-culture based on a premise because I know it frequently leads people to think and discuss some matters only in the realm of their own stereotypical, or rasist views, not seeing the real country.


For example, _The Chrysanthemum and the Sword_. It is a classic of Japanology, but westerns often forget that Benedict only came up with a key, or what she thought as a key, to understand Japan. I think we sometimes/unconsciously behave ourselves related to the concept of shame, but I'd like to emphasize that no Japanese acts *based* on it. It is frequently pointed out that the American government seems to behave itself effected with the Puritanism, but very few believe that it acts based on it, don't they?


I fear that John's admirers would begin discussion based on the plausible premise even without examining whether everything in anime simply reflects the real life of Japan. It is like putting the cart before the horse that conclude what the real Japan is like based on the imaginary Japan in anime. I'm certain that you'll go mad when I declare that the Americans are ingeniously violate and frustrated reffering to Hollywood action movies.


Please do not take me wrongly. I am not claiming that John's view of Japan be completely wrong. I'd like only to point out that the way of his explanation would propagate a farfetched way of argument on everything, not exclusively on anime.

[Starchild]

BTW let me tell my own hypothesis on romance in anime.

I think that anime is basically composed of two categories; for males and for females. So it is logical that in anime for males (or males in youth) girls behave thmselves as the girls whom young males expect/wish/fear to be consciously/unconsciousy, and the converse is also true.

Hollywood movies are basically intended for various people ranging from teens to old people. However, anime is still designed mainly for people in adolescene or youth. In fact, it is more important to make shows so as to meet their desire (unconscious one, frequently) than to value politically correction.

In anime universe, it is not necessarily a matter of the highest priority that creators should follow the hypocritical justice like directors in Hollywood because each title is typically made respectively for people in each class or age or gender.

It is foolish even in the land of the Goddess of Liberty to critisize a dirty magazine for young men as sexist, because it was principlly made to serve them.

[John]

In anime universe, it is not necessarily a matter of the highest priority that creators should follow the hypocritical justice like directors in Hollywood because each title is typically made respectively for people in each class or age or gender.

It is foolish even in the land of the Goddess of Liberty to critisize a dirty magazine for young men as sexist, because it was principlly made to serve them.

I hope that this is the concept that I conveyed in yesterday's "Ask John" article. Starchild points out that anime is created for its primary target viewers and therefore should be criticized relative to its function and intent. Relative to anime, I agree. However, while Starchild argues that it's foolish to criticize a "dirty magazine" as sexist because it's simply serving a male audience, American culture at large does criticize pornography as sexist. American culture typically cannot seperate cultural or wholistic influence from isolated instance. Put in another way, American culture commonly refuses to interpret things without comparing them to typical American attitudes and expectations and beliefs.

I think Starchild is saying that it shouldn't be mandatory for art to adhere to majority expectations or standards if it's not made for the majority. I was likewise trying to encourage American anime fans to look at anime outside of the narrowminded expectations and standards of the established majority.

[DocWatson]

John:

You might consider mentioning the Sakura Diaries anime series, though (IMHO) even the orginal OAV release was merely very etchi. (From the scans of single page that I have, the manga goes beyond that to (at least) instances of pure H.)

[Twinbee]

Sakura Diaries was an OVA series, but even the OVAs are not hentai. There was a TV broadcast of the OVA series, however in edited form.

[DocWatson]

Sakura Diaries was an OVA series, but even the OVAs are not hentai. There was a TV broadcast of the OVA series, however in edited form.

Umm--yeah. I knew that, and was assuming that Mr. Oppliger did as well. My post was written in the context of that knowledge and its assumption.

[Twinbee]

Um, then what's the point of suggesting him to mention a non-hentai OVA broadcast in an article about hentai TV series?

[John]

I can appreciate bringing up Sakura Tsushin, but I don't think it's really neccessary to bring up in relation to the particular "Ask John" article. It's a risque show. So are Iketeru Futari and Ippatsu Kikimusume (which includes bondage fetish, condom, nudity and fellatio jokes), but since it wasn't my point to list risque shows that had been aired on Japanese television, I decided to exclude mentioning these titles. Instead, I focused only on the precise and most applicable examples that I used.

[Yowvapa]

John, you may want to provide a disclaimer on future articles you publish. This way, readers will not get the wrong impression that you are "infallible," and will understand that your answers represent your own limited opinion of Japanese culture.

[John]

If it absolutely becomes necessary to go that far, eventually I will. But at least for now I'd prefer to presume that readers have enough intelligence to recognize when an opinion is an opinion. I only published today's response because I was specifically requested to address Japanese fans (plural) by a Japanese fan.

[Starchild]

John, I'd like to tell you that most Japanese found the article you had wrote a few days before incorrect, but also amusing. Anyway, you're highly (or jokingly) acclaimed in Japan as the very sincere Anime otaku we've ever seen in the world. I'm sure your reply would make your reputaion much higher. "John-sama wa ii-yatsu da!"

[Twinbee]

I don't think John needs to put a disclaimer on his articles that he not is an omniscient deity. I don't blame him for this because he constantly stresses that the articles are only his opinion and should not be used to formulate one's entire opinion and careful consideration, and yet people get so offended because they take his article to be the Word of God.

[Twinbee]

Little yet big mistake in today's article. The final word is "responsible" but I'm 100% sure you meant "irresponsible."

[John]

It's right. The final sentence is, in summation:

Hesitating to expose children to yaoi is logical and ethically responsible.

[heerogf]

Sorry, I know this is really nitpicking, but while I agree with your article, can you please put "Some yaoi fans blah blah blah"?

I just don't want people to get the wrong idea, that's all ^^;;

[Old Ape Face]

you might get this question alot or might not even be entiltled to it, but i just recently registered into this site. i'm a big Ghost in the Shell fan and was disapointed to find that the forum specific section for Ghost in the shell was removed.

i ask two questions: Why was it removed, and is there a chance that it will return baced on popular concent?

[John]

Sorry, I know this is really nitpicking, but while I agree with your article, can you please put "Some yaoi fans blah blah blah"?

I just don't want people to get the wrong idea, that's all ^^;;

Done........

[Kiyone]

I spotted one of those common typos in your most recent column (http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=1043) that is a personal bugbear for me.

[...]it looses some of the uniqueness and foreign-ness that made it interesting to me in the first place.

It's "loses"... "LOSES", I tell you! "Looses" isn't even a word as far as I know, as the 3rd person singular form of the verb "to loosen" is "loosens". ;)

[John]

Sorry about that. Since I used to teach grammar at my local community college, I'm familiar with the difference between "lose" and "loose." It's just a typo that I didn't notice. It's fixed now.

Easy way to remember, "loose" has two "Os" because it's "loose."