Answerman
Prelude
Answerman - Prelude
OK, here's a quick Answerman installment to tide you over until next time, when some major changes will take place. Let's get busy.
I just watched the full Ah! My Goddess five parter OVA and I am a little confused. Is there something that I'm missing in the long running manga series? I was wondering this because the Oh My Goddess! movie didn't have any mention of Belldandy's father (at least that I can recall) while the OVA had hardly no mention of the central heavenly computer besides the few mentions of programs and bugs which would confuse anybody who has not seen the movie.
Well, here's the thing. While they intend for a lot of the anime series out there to be self-contained, most of the time they throw in a lot of characters and plotlines without explaining them because they assume anyone who watches this will have read the manga (What with manga being substantially more popular than anything else in Japan, including eating and breathing). Sometimes they run in to problems keeping the stories completely self-contained and you wind up with what appears to be a bunch of unexplained events and characters. Read the manga; it'll all make sense.
What's the deal with all of the X series? I am really confused. There's the movie that was based on the long Manga, what the hell is X2, the TV and OAV? I don't know, could you please set this straight? Also, I know you get this all the time but has ADV given a date on Excel Saga or have they even finished dubbing it yet?
JordanOkay. There's the X movie which tried to take the manga and condense it down to an hour and a half. Then there's X2, which is just a series of music videos. Then there's the OVA, which is a single episode that's intended to be a prequel/advertisement for the TV series. The TV series is 24 episodes long and follows the manga closely. As for Excel, it was just announced for May. Keep your pants on.
I have been watching fansubs of Hellsing and now I'm on episode 9 and I want to know how long is this series is it 13 or 26 episodes. I hope it's 26, although I can't find any more fansubs right now. I'm asking cause one of the main characters has just killed herself.
Hellsing only ran 13 episodes, which is a shame, because towards the end they break away from the manga storyline completely (which is vastly superior, IMHO) and go off on this tangent that has nothing to do with the original storyline. Sorry to disappoint you.
Nother question for ya, let's see if you guys even know what i'm talking about-
Movie- BLACK MAGIC M-66
Question- any sequels/series in US or plans for any?
SZ
I've seen Black Magic M-66 and as far as I know, there aren't any plans for sequels or series or anything, but there is a Manga that you can get from Dark Horse. It's a pretty old property, dude.. I'm surprised you expect new product to come out based on it.
Re: Megami Kouhousei
How many episodes are in this series? Many different sites and other
sources seem to be confused saying 13 or 26, so how many episodes are
there?
Megami Kouhousei (Pilot Candidate) ran a total of 12 episodes, starting with episode number zero and ending with eleven. There were rumors of a second season, but it never happened. I have no clue as to why exactly they numbered the episodes that way.
Answerman,
Ever since seeing Yū Yū Hakusho on Cartoon Network I've had this feeling
that I've seen these characters in a movie I saw awhile ago. Am I going
crazy or have I seen these characters before? Please help me!!!
You probably saw CPM's release of "Yuu Yuu Hakusho: Poltergeist Report". It's the second Yuu Yuu movie and it's been out for a while. For a short while it was lumped in with classics like Ghost in the Shell and Akira as titles everyone had seen, but it faded eventually. Yuu Yuu has been around for a long time and both the first and second movies were released here a while back; it's entirely possible that you saw one or both of them.
Answerman,
I have a few questions about English songs in Anime. In Serial
Experiments Lain, the opening song is in English, even when the language
is set to Japanese. Was the original opening really in English, or was
that just a mistake? Is it common in Japan to use non-Japanese songs in
Anime? If so, what other languages do they use?
Jonathan Allen
The opening song to Lain is sung by BOA, a European band that was popular with anime fans for about five minutes when the Lain craze was at its peak back in 2000. It's in English. The Japanese do this a lot, actually. The reigning king of foreign languages in Japan is, of course, English, so the bulk of anime songs you'll find in a language other than Japanese will be in English. I've seen songs sung in Portuguese, Spanish, and French, though (usually done by Yoko Kanno or someone imitating Yoko Kanno).
Hello I saw part of an anime with a girl name "the paper" using cards as a weapon. Do you know the name of that anime? Thank you
Yeah, that's the recently completed Read or Die, an expensive and very entertaining OVA series. Manga bought the US license for it and plans to release it sometime before the end of the world.
I really enjoy your column, it's one of the main reasons I visit ann!
1. I know you're not a psychic but maybe you could help me out with this. Inu
Yasha is one of my current favorite animes and I was wondering if there is
any end in sight. Is Inu Yasha still popular as ever in Japan? I've read some
conflicting things about this, that it's popularity is starting to dwindle
ect. If it is still popular do you think there would be a fourth season?
2. Is Hellsing licensed?
3. Just a comment, but you should bring back trivia!
Thanks,
Shawna
Thanks for your kind words. I've heard conflicting reports on Inu-Yasha's status in Japan. One source tells me that manga sales have tapered off and the TV show's popularity is dying a quick death. Another source tells me it's dropped but stable, and the series is basically hitting the slump most long-running series hit once they go in to their fourth or fifth seasons. If the show is still making money, I can guarantee you that they'll do a fourth season. If there isn't any manga left to animate, they'll probably start writing new stories, which means the show will really turn to crap. Hellsing was licensed by Pioneer. As for trivia, I'm thinking of bringing it back, but I have another gimmicky thing in the pipeline for all of you come Tuesday, so just be patient.
Haha! Loved that anime debate thing you two had going. But here's my question on a very... unusual subject which I don't think you have EVER answered a question on. Anime musicals. Preferable the Utena musical. Now I own the first one, and shuddered through it. However, on an interview with the Utena director, he said that they where redoing the musical to make it more enjoyable. I was wondering if this was ever done. Is there a revision of the Utena musical that was done? And heck, what are your views on anime musicals? Sorry to say, but I sort of am addicted to Sera Myu.
I heard about a revised version of the Utena musical going on tour in Japan a few years ago. I'm not sure it's what he was talking about, but basically it was a revival tour of the original musical and they were advertising what was essentially a new production of the show. Personally, I'm not a big fan of any live-action production based on anime; they never turn out well. They always look really cheesy. There's a reason this stuff is animated. Real people don't look so good wearing those costumes and they sound a little silly saying a lot of that dialogue.
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, and read his new columns every Tuesday and Friday! Maybe your question will be answered!
