Answerman
Scream!
Answerman: Scream!
I received a lot of good questions this week, some of them real head-scratchers. I don't think I've ever spent this much time researching the answers to questions - keep 'em coming, folks.
I am back again I got another question for you. I saw Michael Jackson on the news the other day and that prompted me to remember a music video he did for one of his songs called "Scream". As I recall it had his sister Janet in it as well. There are a few clips in the video where they show an anime running in the background and at the end of the video they have an anime character screaming. What I want to know is what series is are these anime clips from? Is it from a series or was it just specially made for MJs video? Anyway thanks again!
Dib
Well, it took me forever to find this video, but I did, and I can safely tell you that I have no clue what the anime is.. nor does anyone else, it seems. Looking through the Dejanews archives of rec.arts.anime.misc, most people seem to agree that "Scream" contains at least one clip of Akira and Babel II. There appears to be dissent as to a third unidentified series. Zillions is mentioned on a regular basis, but there doesn't appear to be much support for it. If anyone has proof confirming (or denying) the use of these series, please e-mail me (answerman at animenewsnetwork.com).
Hello, the reason for this mail, is because I'm trying to confirm a rumor, the rumor is about a Saber Marionette's new series, the name of that is "Saber Marionette J Returns"
I don't know if this is true and will appreciate if you can tell me is true or not.
Thank you very much.
As of this writing, I haven't heard of any plans for a new SMJ series. The last few issues of Newtype and Animage haven't mentioned anything about this, and I haven't heard any rumors. Bandai is poised to release Saber Marionette J to X in the US, which should happen sometime this year. Other than that, no, I haven't heard or seen anything.
I just finished watching all 13 episodes of Big O on CN. Did CN do alot of editing because the story was less than clear. Areas like what exactly caused al the memory losses 40 years ago, and where did the second Dorothy come from?
Big O- of - confusion
I won't publish any major spoilers in this column, so to answer your question, watch the series again. Cartoon Network is running it a few times in a row before they yank it - I've heard repeat viewings of the series clear up a lot of the mysteries. As far as I know, CN didn't have to edit much of anything out of The Big O - it was a pretty benign series to start with. So, my advice to you is to watch the show over again, keeping what you know from having seen the end of the series in mind.
Hey Answerman,
Is it my imagination or does Dave Lucas (voice of Spike in Cowboy Bebop) voice Roger Smith from The Big O and voice Tom from Toonami as well? Thanks in advance
Gio
David Lucas was indeed the voice of Roger Smith and Spike, as well as the voice of Kou in The Bouncer for PlayStation 2 and Toma Sakaki in the Rurouni Kenshin TV series dub.
Hi, Answerman. I'm writing a book that teaches people to play an original dice game that I created that is somewhat based on the anime Flame of Recca. I've been wandering all over the Internet trying to find out how I can contact the creators of Flame of Recca to ask them for permission to write and sell the book. Please help me contact them!
Well, I can tell you that Flame of Recca was produced by Pony Canyon. Let me tell you that you'd have to license the rights to the series, which would be an amazingly expensive ordeal. Sounds like you've made an interesting dice game, but you may want to rework it so it doesn't use licensed characters - unless you have a substantial amount of money and contacts, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for Pony Canyon to license you the show (Or give you permission to use their very marketable characters for free while you make a profit). But don't allow me to stop you; you can contact Pony Canyon at:
Pony Canyon
105-8487 Tokyo-to Minato-ku
Toranomon 2-5-10
Japan
If you speak Japanese, you can call them at 0120-737-533. Good luck!
Shōji Yamashiro composed the soundtrack to Akira. Most people agree that Akira had one of the best soundtracks ever, but they don't know who made it. What happened to Yamashiro. www.imdb.com does not list any other movies by him, but they are missing a lot of information about anime. Did Yamashiro compose anything else? What's his story?
From what I could find, Yamashiro is famous for his work on Akira and not much else. He composed and conducted “Best Selection of Geinoh Yamashirogumi”, Yamashirogumi being the man he collaborated with on the Akira soundtrack. His name is also on a World Music compilation released in Japan by JVC. Other than that, I couldn't find his name on anything else.
Hey there, Answerman.
Just one quick question, do you know if any American company has expressed interest in The One Piece anime?
Thanks for your time,
Don
Much to my dismay, no. The adventures of Monkey D. Luffy aren't coming to the US anytime soon. At least, no US distribution companies have picked up the rights to this show yet. This is a big point of contention with me, since it's one of my favorite shows, and I'd really like to see it get a US release.
Hey Answerman--
I've been searching left and right, but can't find the answers. I had somehow thought Escaflowne: The Movie was still in production, but lo and behold there was a fansub available at my local Anime shop. What I'm really anxious to know, then, is: when is it coming to the U.S. on DVD, if ever?
---Anthony
Escaflowne: The Movie: A Girl in Gaea was premiered at Anime Expo last year, and it was released on DVD in Japan last week. The fansub you saw was most likely a VHS copy of a digital fansub made from a bootleg that floated around the internet for a few months. I imagine better fansubs, made from the DVD, will come out before the end of the year, since Bandai has said that they won't be releasing the film in the US until next year.
Will the other Slayers movies ever be released in the US and will The Slayers: Excellent OAVs be coming over to the US in the future?
-Purge
Yep. ADV licensed all The Slayers OVAs and movies. They should be out over the course of the next few years. I believe Slayers Return is next on the release schedule, but no dates have been given for Great, Gorgeous or the Excellent OVAs.
I have only read your column for a few weeks and I think it's really helpful. Well anyway, I have a question about the 2nd Cardcaptor Sakura movie. Whenever I check out e-Bay, a lot of people have the 2nd CCS movie (on DVD) up for bids and in the descriptions, the sellers say that it has 'english and chinese' subtitles which you can turn on/off. My question is if the company who released both CCS movies have released the movies with optional english/chinese subtitles? I'm thinking the DVDs sold on e-bay are either fan-subbed or it's a scam.
Please help Answerman!!!
Thanks~
It's a scam, those are bootleg DVDs from Hong Kong. I've seen the subs on one of those bootleg DVDs, and they're completely awful. The translation is spotty at best and half of the dialogue isn't subbed at all. To put it bluntly, if you ever see any anime DVDs on Ebay that have English and Chinese subs or just Chinese subs and are from China, they're bootlegs and probably aren't worth buying. Usually the quality on those DVDs is terrible - don't waste your money.
I recently saw 2 episodes of Wild Arms and came up with a few questions: How many episodes did they make? Will they do anymore? And will it ever be released here in America at all? Thanx in advance.
Stephen
Wild Arms - Twilight Venom ran 22 episodes in Japan and was recently licensed by ADV Films, which means it'll come out here eventually. No plans for a second season at the time of this writing, but things could change.
A quick question. Exactly how many episodes are there gonna be of Inuyasha?
-John
This is still a mystery across the 'net. I couldn't find an episode count. I know the show is still running in Japan, and the fansubs have been released through episode 22. I read on EX that the show was expected to have a short run, but at this point it's already longer than the average anime series these days. I guess we'll have to wait and see - the show is immensely popular in Japan and could very well run a second season.
Are there many differences in the OAV and Movie version of Endless Waltz? Are there just a few added and extended scenes or is there a significant change in story?
-bizkit7667
The movie version was a slightly condensed version of the OVA series. There are no major differences between the two. The story is the same, and as far as I can tell, only a few scenes have been shortened or extended.
Answerman,
Are there any significant script differences between the fansub and commercial sub versions of the Kenshin TV series such as less/more swearing, and accurate translations? I'm not asking for a complete rundown of the differences though, just a general idea.
Yep. The fansubs, which were done by Hecto/Shinsen Gumi, were translated by native Chinese speakers from Korean into English. Sometimes they just took manga panels and translated those, then found the corresponding Anime episode and laid down the dialogue. The Media Blasters translations are far more accurate, regardless of what people tell you.
And that's it for this week! As a side note, I'd like to take a moment to let my readers know that I will be at Anime Expo this year. So if you'd like to meet me, punch me in the face, tell me I'm wrong, or just get a friendly handshake, seek me out. “Answerman” will be on my badge.
Onward, to Trivia!
This week's winner is Ben McClamma, who will be the proud recipient of an Answerman prize package. Here are Ben's answers:
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In Fushigi Yuugi, what attack does Miaka perform that shares its name with a famous Disneyland ride?
Miaka's attack is called "Splash Mountain" at 60 Degrees. It looks like a suplex when performed.
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In Trigun, What's the name of the insurance company Milly and Meryl work for, and why are they following Vash around?
The insurance company that both Milly and Meryl work at is called "Bernardelli Insurance Company/Society." They were sent out to find Vash and investigate/fine him for all the damage that he has caused. This was all prompted when they received over 300 Insurance Claims from towns that Vash "destroyed."
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In Evangelion, Gendo and Fuyutsuki develop the Spear of Longinus as a weapon for the Evangelion units. What was the original purpose Gendo had intended for the spear, what was it actually used for, and how did the technology come back to bite them in the rear?
The Spear or lance of Longinus is a giant spiral-shaped lance which is capable of piercing even an A.T.Field. The tip of the Lance is split into two branches, but when thrown these two branches converge into one and penetrate the object. The Lance was first used in the battle against the 15th Angel. It destroyed the Angel in a satellite orbit, but the Lance then continued on to reach the Moon and became irretrievable. However, it appears that the original use of the Lance is not as a weapon, but that it is a necessary item for Instrumentality (Complementation) using Lilith. Then, in the film End of Eva, it is a Striking/piercing weapons used by the Eva series ass-production models. These modeles are based on the Lance of Longinus and their shapes and lengths can change. When penetrating an A.T.Field, the tip splits into two branches and twists through the field. In episode 25', one of these Lances penetrates the A.T.Field of Eva-02 and puts an end to the valiantly fighting Eva unit. Although these Lances cannot be used for Instrumentality (Complementation) involving Lilith, as a weapon they have almost the same ability as the original Lance. Incidentally, Longinus was the name of the soldier who used his lance to pierce Jesus as He was crucified on the cross. This Lance is stored as a relic in the Cathedral of St. Augustine in Rome.
Nice, Ben, very nice.
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For the old timers: In FLCL episode 5, Haruka rides around on a guitar wearing a bunny suit. Why is this significant, given that FLCL is a Gainax production?
In FLCL eps 5, Haruka is in a bunny suit, modeling it after the Marchen Doll Maki and Super Idol Misty May (with sidekicks), which is the star figure and symbol for GX, a company this is Gianax's Counterpart in Gianax's sort-of self Documentary about how the founders started and how they all got into animation. Its seen in the Gianax Movie, Otaku no Video, second eps for Spuer Idol Misty may and first eps for Marchen Doll Maki.
Note: She also appears in the “Daicon IV” opening that Gainax made back when they were animating from their apartment.
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Finally, in Rurouni Kenshin, what does Soujirou do to Kenshin that cripples him in battle for several episodes, before he fights Cho?
In Rurouni Kenshin, Soujirou, when he fights Kenshin the first time, ends up breaking Kenshin's Sakaba sword off. Kenshin swords then becomes useless. Kenshin then, before he can take care of Shishio goes to the person who created his sword to see if he can get another one. But, kenshin find that the person that he is looking for has died. His son, after some reluctance and after witnessing kenshin fight Katana-Giri Cho, offers his father's last sword to Kenshin, which ends up being the twin of Kenshin's original sakaba sword.
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In Gunbuster: Aim for the Top, what's in the center of the Gunbuster 3?
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In Nadia - The Secret of Blue Water, how many different versions of the Nautilus are there?
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In Evangelion, what caused Second Impact?
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In FuriKuri, what does Haruko drive around?
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In Otaku no Video, what show is the Otaku with the massive tape collection waiting to record?
Got a burning question that you can't seem to answer? Maybe the Answerman can help you! Contact the Answerman at [email protected] (answerman at animenewsnetwork.com) with your questions!
