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Hey, Answerman! - Book 'Em, Lou


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Kicksville



Joined: 20 Nov 2010
Posts: 1175
PostPosted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 2:46 pm Reply with quote
Nice column this week. I'd wish Justin was the Answerman all the time, but I'm sure he's got more important things to do.

Come to think of it though, AdultSwim.com is still streaming episodes of Cowboy Bebop right now - or is that considered different somehow?
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st_owly



Joined: 20 May 2008
Posts: 5234
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
PostPosted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 3:16 pm Reply with quote
I'd also love to see more artbooks published in English. I have a couple of import ones and they're absolutely beautiful <3 I'm trying to buy as many as I can in English to try and support them.
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walw6pK4Alo



Joined: 12 Mar 2008
Posts: 9322
PostPosted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 3:25 pm Reply with quote
End of Evangelion is the top pick for needing a new transfer, mostly because any DVD available right now is just crap, especially Manga's. But there's hundreds of other options I could defend just as well. Most of the other items I'd want have already gotten BluRays or are in the process of it. And if not that far along, they've received decent DVD releases with new transfers and good bitrates, like Windaria. It'd be fun to see how many people list low budget or digital anime.

Would it be cheating to say DYRL needs another BD? What they recently released, while "better" than the previous releases on DVD, is so appallingly below my current BluRay standards for 80s anime film. Even the heavily DNRed and older Galaxy Express 999 films would have looked beyond pristine before they softened it up make it appear modern. What on Earth did DYRL do to deserve that.
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Maidenoftheredhand



Joined: 21 Jun 2007
Posts: 2633
PostPosted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 3:37 pm Reply with quote
While it would be nice to have more art books published in English, mainly for little snippets that are added by the manga-ka/character designers that I can't read in Japanese.

However I actually find ordering art books directly from Japan fairly easy and not too expensive (as long as they are not already out of print that is).

What I would really like to see more of in the US is releases of fan and other information books. Unless you understand Japanese you are out of luck with these. And there tends to be a lot of "extra information" in these that you can't necessarily get from the series themselves.
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penguintruth



Joined: 08 Dec 2004
Posts: 8461
Location: Penguinopolis
PostPosted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 3:39 pm Reply with quote
I'd probably double-dip for a Cowboy Bebop Blu-Ray set, but only if it was decently priced. I'm not paying 300+ dollars for 26 episodes of a show I already have on DVDs that are holding up rather well. Even if it is my favorite anime TV series.

What really needs a good Blu-Ray release over here is Macross Plus, both the OVA and movie edition. Especially given that the ancient DVDs for it were notoriously horrible.

Speaking of Bebop, I have the Illustrations~ the wind artbook. Mmm-mmm, it is so good.
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qollocust



Joined: 31 Jul 2003
Posts: 182
Location: Philadelphia
PostPosted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 3:48 pm Reply with quote
Man I miss art books. I have a few printed in english from back in the day by Viz, but they're not very high quality. I have both the english and original japanese versions of a Yuu Watase art book and the japanese one is so much prettier (nicer paper, colors, etc.). I remember import art books used to be plentiful at convention dealer rooms 10 years ago, but now I have trouble finding them (and at a good price). When I visit Japan this fall my number one thing I'll be looking for is nice art books by some of my favorite artists.
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varmintx



Joined: 31 Jul 2006
Posts: 1200
Location: Covington, KY
PostPosted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 5:00 pm Reply with quote
I want all of Satoshi Kon's films on blu-ray with some nice, new transfers; it'd be great if the ones that don't have dubs already would get those as well, but I'd be happy enough to own a subtitled-only disc of each to sit along side my copy of Paprika.
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superdry



Joined: 07 Jan 2012
Posts: 1309
PostPosted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 5:07 pm Reply with quote
st_owly wrote:
I'd also love to see more artbooks published in English. I have a couple of import ones and they're absolutely beautiful <3 I'm trying to buy as many as I can in English to try and support them.


Well, Udon is bringing more artbooks over. It's good stuff and I'm glad they're getting it to the NA market. I know it's cost related, but I wished they did hardcover like in Japan.
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Stark700



Joined: 30 Jan 2012
Posts: 11762
Location: Earth
PostPosted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 5:22 pm Reply with quote
A good and short read this week from the latest Answerman. Funny thing is that I've also been browsing through random anime Opening/Endings from past and a few current series I've been watching. Some of the soundtracks, OST, and songs from anime are even more addictive than the series occasionally
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Ojamajo LimePie



Joined: 09 Nov 2007
Posts: 766
PostPosted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 5:32 pm Reply with quote
Hmm, what series would I most want to see an HD remaster and Blu-Ray of? It's gotta be Rose of Versailles. Dezaki's signature watercolor-style still frames would look gorgeous in high definition.

I'd also like to see Heartcatch Precure come out on Blu-Ray, but it doesn't need a remaster since it was made in HD. Why couldn't Toei have started releasing Precure BDs with Heartcatch instead of Suite? Sad

More licensed artbooks and soundtracks would be nice, although I don't mind importing them.
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Keichitsu0305





PostPosted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 6:21 pm Reply with quote
I love collecting artbooks and TV series fanbooks! Very Happy (Sorry, but this might be long.)

Even though I mainly import them (they're mainly in Japanese) or buy older ones from Amazon, these books include so much information on what goes into designing characters, backgrounds, character biographies, and sometimes interviews with either members of the staff or the original creator. Some might even include line-work of cells (if it's an older show) or clips from the TV series/film! Artbooks from manga artists are also interesting since they may include rare interviews with the creator or even a small comic he/she made specially for the artbook. It also serves as a "timeline" of sorts that displays the artist's artwork from their earlier printings to their more current illustrations! I don't mind paying $30-$70 for an artbook (hardback or paperback) since I know owning a physical copy somehow beats owning a digital copy.

I would be tickled pink if more artbooks were licensed (thanks Udon Entertainment!) in America or at least translated into English. That's why whenever I hear NIS America licensed an anime I highly enjoy, I know I'm spending money on both the TV series but also a Japanese to English translation of their artbook/fan book! :3
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jsevakis
Former ANN Editor in Chief


Joined: 28 Jul 2003
Posts: 1684
Location: Los Angeles, CA
PostPosted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 8:56 pm Reply with quote
Kicksville wrote:
Come to think of it though, AdultSwim.com is still streaming episodes of Cowboy Bebop right now - or is that considered different somehow?

Oops, completely forgot about that... ^^' Thanks!
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Asterisk-CGY



Joined: 09 Mar 2007
Posts: 398
PostPosted: Sat Aug 18, 2012 1:44 am Reply with quote
I think art books are the one thing I'd buy as merch for a series. I have a FFX-2, Pita Ten, Kiki's Delivery Service, one from the Full Moon wo Sagashite mangaka, a quarterly Pixiv I got for a Miku nendroid, and a Monster Hunter book. Only one of them seem to be in english. They're just pretty enough to look at.
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N.R.



Joined: 22 Oct 2010
Posts: 232
PostPosted: Sat Aug 18, 2012 3:02 am Reply with quote
varmintx wrote:
I want all of Satoshi Kon's films on blu-ray with some nice, new transfers; it'd be great if the ones that don't have dubs already would get those as well, but I'd be happy enough to own a subtitled-only disc of each to sit along side my copy of Paprika.


Paprika is already available on Blu-ray in the U.S. but I'd love to see Millennium Actress on BD (with Japanese subtitles please!)
I'm sure there will be some kind of Satoshi Kon Blu-ray Box someday Wink
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reanimator





PostPosted: Sat Aug 18, 2012 4:22 am Reply with quote
As a serious anime art book collector, I do a lot of comparison between Japanese version and its licensed counterparts. Color, print quality, and binding are the factors that I always evaluate. I'm reluctant to buy Udon art books because they publish mostly art book of super popular Capcom franchise, which I'm not fan of. Also I'm not fan of their book binding and cover choice. Viz does better job for their art books.

Recently I became a fan of self published studio art books without ISBN (they're not Dojinshi). I've noticed that art books from regular Japanese publishers are somewhat lackluster because they try to please all readers by cramming in both text guides and art works into limited amount of pages. End result is boring page layout where thumbnail size art works peppered here and there.

superdry wrote:
I know it's cost related, but I wished they did hardcover like in Japan.


Japanese rarely release their art books in hardcover. Only few anime art books came out in hard cover. Most recent one is out-of-print Evangelion 1.0 and 2.0 Tomes which are pending reprint in October 2012 (Yay)


walw6pK4Alo wrote:
What on Earth did DYRL do to deserve that.


I'm guessing, but Bandai is not known for releasing quality remaster of their BD. It looks like they're going to cheapest way to release their films to BD. As you know, Japanese fans are disappointed Bandai's film clean-up. Just to list few of their titles that they have rights to, Ghost in the Shell and Escaflowne movie have similar problems.

I wonder what Geneon Universal BD releases of 90's anime look like...

penguintruth wrote:
What really needs a good Blu-Ray release over here is Macross Plus, both the OVA and movie edition. Especially given that the ancient DVDs for it were notoriously horrible.


I'm guessing you bought Manga Video release of Macross Plus?
I'm glad that I have the HD remaster of Macross Plus box.
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