Answerman

Prize Package

Hey Answerman,

I know that they finished the anime of Kenshin before the manga was completely thus leaving out the Revenge Arc. Are their any plans that have been announced for there to be another series or OAV to do the Revenge Arc ? I already know that they did part of the Revenge Arc in the OAV about Kenshin's past in the OAV, but do they intend to finish what they have started? By the way, any more work on Watsuki's new western manga?

-CAM

No plans have been announced for more Kenshin anime. It was a massive success in Japan but the end of the TV series left a bad taste in people's mouths, and although the OVA series brought back a lot of fans, for the most part, interest in Kenshin has waned. I could see it happening if the show really caught on here - which it hasn't, at least not the TV series - but beyond that, I wouldn't expect anything soon. I haven't seen much on Watsuki's new manga; I don't think publication has started in Weekly Jump yet, but I know it's about a gunslinger and it will be published in Jump this year. The Japanese website looked like it said March of this year - which means it just started. If anyone out there has any more info on Watsuki's new manga, let me know.

I was at my college's anime club and I saw only the opening to a very cute children's anime show about "a bunch of hamsters and their owners", as the guy who runs the club described it. He told us the title of the show and I totally forgot it. I think the second word of the title is "Hamster" or something close to that. I think it's a pretty recent show. Do you have any clue what this show is?

-Vinnie

This question was answered by reader Sydra who'd heard of the show he's talking about:

"There are actually at least two "cute little hamster shows" that are for kids. Both of them started last year. The first is simply titled "Hamster Club", and was one of those 5 minute anime. I believe it ended just last month. The other is "Tottoko Hamutarou", which began in July of last year, and while I'm not certain, I think it may still be airing. The official page is here if you want to check it out: http://www.hamutaro.com"
sydra

Thanks, Sydra! I thought he was talking about Ebichu, which is definetely NOT a children's show, but it does feature a hamster.

Answerman I read from various sources on the web that Senkaiden Houshin Engi was acquired by ADV but there is virtually no info on that at ADV's site. And animeondvd didn't have it on the Licensed List. Plus I also heard that ADV have plans of changing the name to the extent of "Soul Hunter" or something.... So is it licensed? And is ADV planning on chopping it up?

Also how likely is it to expect Yami No Matsuei and Gensoumaden Saiyuki to get liscensed in the US?

Igraine

ADV has indeed licensed Houshin Engi and there was a rumor going around that they were renaming it Soul Hunters. Most everyone thought that was a bad idea since Bandai has a major release coming up called Soul Taker. I fully expect Saiyuuki to get licensed since it's like a cross between Dragonball and WeiB Kreuz. The great thing about Saiyuuki is that it doesn't have any of the problems that plague Dragonball and WeiB Kreuz, and manages to appeal to the audiences of both shows. Yami no Matsuei is a bit of a long shot - there's a lot of homoeroticism in that show. I'm not saying it won't get licensed, but it might not due to the content.

Got a couple of questions for ya

1. I know that Ayashi no Ceres is currently slated for release here in the U.S. I was wondering if any of the American voice actors from Fushigi Yuugi, were going to do some of the voices in Ayashi no Ceres??

2. I was also wondering if you have heard anything about any of the following series being released in the U.S they are: Flame of Recca, Houshin Engi, Card Captor Movie 1 and 2, Akazukin Cha Cha, Hime Chan's Ribbon, and The Vision of Escaflowne Movie.

Hope to get an anwser from ya soon

No word yet on the voice cast for Ayashi no Ceres. Check the cast list when the DVD is released later this year. As for the series you asked about, here's a breakdown. Flame of Recca has not been licensed yet. Card Captor Sakura Movie 1 has been licensed by Nelvana and WB, and although the second movie hasn't been licensed yet, it's a shoe-in given the popularity of CardCaptors. Akazukin ChaCha and Hime Chan's Ribbon haven't been licensed yet. The Escaflowne Movie is licensed by Bandai and will be released sometime in the next few years - they haven't given us any kind of release date yet.

I have a question that has had me (and probably many other fellow Otaku) stumped that I hope you can help out with. Whatever happened with the plans to release the Jo Jo's Bizarre Adventure OAV's? I heard Studio A.P.P.P. has the rights to do the U.S. release for both shows and that the plan was to release the second OAV this spring and perhaps the first OAV if the second one did well. Have you heard anything new about it lately? In my experience, it seems like any news about this show is hard to find and unreliable at best so maybe you can help us Jo Jo's fans out with some solid answers.

-James Connaster

The OVA series was licensed by SuperTechnoArts, a company that hasn't said anything since they announced that they'd licensed the series. You've heard more than I have - I couldn't find anything beyond the initial announcement by STA that they'd licensed the first OVA.

Hey answerman--
Just a couple of questions that absolutely no one but me cares to know the answer to:
1) I dig "Here is Greenwood", but as far as I can tell, no one has the rights to the Manga here. Any news so far on this?

2) On that note, any chance of CPM releasing an El Cheapo DVD version of the 6 episode OAV series at any point in time?

3) Lastly, who the hell owns the rights to the Bio-Booster Guyver OAV from Bandai? I saw an old Black Horse dub of it a looooooooooong time ago, but since their parent company (U.S. Renditions) went under, I haven't see hide nor hair of it since.

Thanks AM, you're a pal.

Well, Here is Greenwood is about as popular as the Black Plague and about as well-known as most local garage bands. No plans have been announced to release the manga here. The manga is about 9 volumes long and is over 10 years old, so I wouldn't expect to see it anytime soon. The OVA series is a CPM release, and since CPM is really bad about releasing old, unpopular catalog titles, I wouldn't hold my breath on that one either. It'll probably happen some day, but probably not in the near future. When it does come out, you can expect a very cheap complete series release. As for Bio-Booster Guyver, the anime series is owned by Manga Video, and they released all 12 episodes back in 1994 on 12 separate dubbed videos. You can still find these videos in a few places across the web. Thanks to BBK for the Here is Greenwood information.

What issue of the 'Oh My Goddess!' manga has a bmxer showing of in it? i remember seeing it in a comic shop, but i didn't have enough money to buy it at the time, and it was gone by the time i got back... being a bmxer myself i would really like to see this issue... please help!!

I enlisted the aid of Ah! Megami-Sama Otaku Extraordinare Tad Morgan for this question. Here's his answer:

“Skuld meets a young boy who rides one in the two part story "Childhood's End" (Part VIII, Number 1-2). He shows up again a few issues later for the race in the issue titled "Pretty in Scarlet" (Part IX, Number 1) which focuses on the hatching of Skuld's angel, Noble Scarlet.”

Hope it's what you were looking for. Thanks, Tad!

That's it for this week's questions. Trivia this week was something of a wash; someone finally answered all the questions from 2 weeks ago correctly, so we have a winner. Zack Williams is this week's Super Mega Ultimate Trivia Champion. Here are his answers:

1. In Neon Genesis Evangelion, when Shinji beats the fourth angel, Ritsuko and Nerv begin to examine it. When Ritsuko explains their findings to Shinji, what did they discover about the structure of the angels?

   Because Shamshel, the 4th angel was relatively intact after the battle (it's the one with the pink whip arm thingies in ep 3 of the anime, in which Kensuke and Touji get in Eva 1 with Shinji and he drives the progressive knife into the angels core when the battery runs out on his EVA), they can analyze it fully. What Ritsuko finds is that the angels genes are 99.98% the same as humanities, although the angels made of a different, wave like substance.

2. In Outlaw Star, an anime crossover happens. (Hint: It can be seen clearly in the episode "Law and Lawlessness") What character (or characters) make guest appearances in Outlaw Star, and what anime series do they crossover from?

   In episode 19 of Outlaw Star, Law and Lawlessness, Valeria and Doos from Angel Links appear. The Outlaw Star gang is apprehended by an Angel Links security force, and they're locked up, but eventually save the Angel Links crew from an attack after escaping and Jean saving Doos life. Doos is the dragonman with the strong sense of dignity, and Valeria is the human tactician. Angel Links is a different story set in the Outlaw Star universe, and has it's own 26 episode series that Bandai will release sooner or later.

3. In the series Starship Girl Yamamoto Yoko, what is Yoko's rival's name, what is her most outstanding physical trait, and who does her voice?

   Yamamoto Yohko's rival is named Midoh Madoka, whose shiny forehead blinds people with glare. She joins Yohko's team eventually, but keeps trying to show her up. Madoka's Seiyuu is the famous Megumi Hayashibara.

4. Osamu Tezuka is well known for his anime brainchild, Tetsuwan Atom (AstroBoy). However, he worked in animation before he did AstroBoy. Name the animation work he worked on first, and what did he do on it?

   From 1958 till its release in 1961, Osama Tezuka first contribution to animation was in the Toei film "Alakazam the Great", based loosely on the chinese Monkey King legend (which is also the inspiration for Dragonball). He did character designs, storyboards and the screenplay to this. Note that this was not Toei's first animated feature - that honor goes to the 1956 "The Tale of the White Serpent".

5. In Marmalade Boy, Miki and Yuu hold different jobs. Name the two places they work at.

   In the Marmalade Boy anime, Yuu works at Junk Jungle, a clothing boutique run by Kijima-san, and Miki works at Bobson's, an ice cream shop, and then at an import store run by Kijima-san's wife after Yuu goes to america. In the manga, things are a bit different - Yuu's workplace never appears, Kijima-san isn't even given a name, but the reader is told that he's Yuu's boss. He appears in 3 drawings total, to make Yuu look like more of a hunk, because he got off work to spend time with Miki (this happens in the 3rd volume of the manga). Miki does work at Bobson's though, to introduce the Kei-kun substory, but never at the import store Kijima wife runs, which doesn't exist in the manga.