areaseven

Well, SaiKano still has yet to be released here in the U.S., but according to AnimeSuki, Madman Entertainment has picked it up for distribution in Australia.

As long as it's better than that lame excuse for a game called Girlfriend of Steel, I'll buy it.

It looks like http://www.geneon-ent.com/ will be the official site, as Last Exile is on the screen.

General Galaxy's logo can be seen on the back of the YF-21 crew uniforms in Macross Plus.

Firefox is on DVD!?!

Yeah, I've had my copy for over a year. The picture quality is okay (just nothing compared to the laserdisc), but the 5.1 surround sound is much better than I expected. As for extras, the DVD is pretty light on them as it just contains the original behind-the-scenes documentary. Otherwise, it's a great add-on to your DVD collection.

From the Anime News Network:

On October 1st, Pioneer LDC and Pioneer Entertainment, the Pioneer subsidiaries recently acquired from Pioneer by Dentsu, will officially change their names. October 1st is the date when all shares of the companies are officially transferred to Dentsu.

Pioneer Entertainment (USA) Inc. will, will henceforth be known as Geneon Entertainment (USA) Inc. , while Pioneer LDC will have its name changed to Geneon Entertainment Inc.

The new name, Geneon, is derived from the words generate and eon (Eternity or a Billion years), and is meant to signify innovation and longevity. The name change signifies a transfer of company shares to Dentsu.

Geneon Entertainment (USA) Inc. new websites will be at geneonanimation.com and geneonmusic.com (replacing pioneeranimation.com and pioneermusic.com) , Geneon Entertainment Inc. will have a new domain name as well, geneon-ent.co.jp (replacing pldc.co.jp).

North American company president, Mr. Yosuke Kobayashi, is stated to be remaining with the company and will be the president of Geneon Entertainment (USA) Inc. In a statement, Mr Kobayashi said, "We have built a solid and respected reputation as a licensee among publishers, rights holders and anime producers in Japan." Adding "With Dentsu as our new parent, we anticipate tapping into its global resources as well as our own to expand our anime offerings to the growing North American audience."

The first ep might alienate ppl like my brother cuz he didn't read/look at the mangas and didn't know who Nenene was. I was ok, I'll keep watching it and hope that Yumiko manages to appear in it. I like how the sisters have their own abilities with paper. Anita is teh best!

My co-worker is a fan of the manga and he was completely alienated by the series, initially claiming that "this chick ain't Nenene." Well, he should've already known that both manga and anime are very, very different.

As for the series itself, I'm currently up to episode 3 (will watch ep. 4 tomorrow night). Nothing much happening, except for the obvious references to the OAV when Anita follows Nenene to the underground bookstore and Yomiko's building (I dare not say apartment because no one else lives there).

Game of Death

Game of Death had the potential to be a great Bruce Lee film, had he not died so suddenly before finishing it. The fights were awesome (especially Bruce vs. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and nobody could ever forget him in the yellow biker suit (Tekken or Shaolin Soccer, anyone?), but everything fell apart when the film introduced some unnamed jabroni that looks nothing like Bruce to fill in the unfinished scenes.

Action/Adventure

All James Bond films with Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan

Batman (1989)

Battle Royale

Big Trouble in Little China

Black Hawk Down

Braveheart

the Crow (screw the sequels!)

Escape From New York (screw Escape From L.A.!)

Excalibur

Falling Down

Fight Club

Firefox

Gladiator

Gone in 60 Seconds (screw the remake!)

Heat

Highlander (screw the sequels!)

Indiana Jones Trilogy

La Femme Nikita (screw the remake!)

Leon: The Professional

The Mask of Zorro

Pulp Fiction

Reservoir Dogs

RoboCop (screw the sequels!)

Rollerball (screw the remake!)

Ronin

Saving Private Ryan

Spider-Man (2002)

Superman I-II

Terminator 1-2

Top Gun

Total Recall

True Lies

Comedy

Airplane!

Amazon Women on the Moon

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery

Clerks

Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Monty Python's The Life of Brian

Wayne's World

Drama

The Godfather I-II

Scarface

Horror

Jaws

Martial Arts

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Drunken Master II

The Duel

Enter the Dragon

The Seven Samurai

Shaolin Soccer

Six-String Samurai

Who Am I?

Wong Fei-Hung (Once Upon a Time in China)

Yojimbo

Science Fiction/Fantasy

Alien/Aliens

Blade Runner (still pissed at WB for a crappy DVD release)

A Clockwork Orange

Flash Gordon (1980)

Godzilla (1954)

Independence Day

The Last Starfighter

Men in Black

Predator

Star Trek II, IV, VI, First Contact

Star Wars Eps. IV-VI

TRON

Western

A Fistful of Dollars

For a Few Dollars More

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Spaghetti Westerns kick ass!)

Tombstone

They Call Me Trinity (must-see Spaghetti Western)

Trinity is Still My Name (another must-see Spaghetti Western)

You know, the YF-21 could have been created with the Firefox in mind. Think about it. The Firefox was the first fictional manned aircraft capable of being mind controlled...okay not in the same capacity as the YF-21, but close. What about the dogfights between the two "Mig-31's" ??? The Russian Firefox finally getting destroyed by a rear shot anti-missile flare. Kinda like Isamu firing off a couple of tail mounted laser blasts on Guld's YF-21.

So Macross Plus had a little Topgun and Firefox in it.

I actually pointed that out on my website a few years ago. The only reason why no one else mentioned it was because Firefox was a long-forgotten movie. I even told the guy behind the Mig-31 Firefox Online Resource to pick up Macross Plus just for the heck of it.

Uchuu no Stellvia ( 宇宙のステルヴィア )

XEBEC/Imagica/Media Works/TV Tokyo/King Records, 2003

Geneon Entertainment, 2004-2005

Directed by Tatsuo Sato (Martian Successor Nadesico, Cat Soup).

Rated 13-Up for violence and mature situations.

The year is 2356 A.D. - 189 years after a distant supernova caused a global catastrophe that wiped out 99% of the world population. To keep track on all space activities, mankind has built colossal space stations called "foundations" all over the Solar System. After passing the Space Academy entrance exams, Shima Katase embarks to the Earth-based foundation Stellvia to fulfill her dream of seeing the galaxy and to prevent another interstellar catastrophe from destroying Earth.

Story: A-

The first episode starts out really slow, but it picks up very quickly as the characters grow on you and the development flows smoothly. In a sense, Stellvia has the feel of great anime sci-fi classics like Gunbuster with a little bit of Battle Athletes Victory on the side.

Animation: A+

After receiving tons of negative feedback from their 2000 flop Candidate for Goddess, XEBEC (Martian Successor Nadesico, Dai-Guard) make an outstanding comeback with Stellvia. Makoto Uno's (Love Hina, Chojuushin Gravion) character designs are well-drawn and mix perfectly with the show's elaborate CG effects.

Soundtrack: A

Stellvia's soundtrack is a lighthearted orchestral score by Seikoh Nagaoka (Tenchi-Muyo!, El-Hazard), accompanied by an upbeat opening theme in the form of "Asu e no Brilliant Road" by Angela.

Sub vs. Dub

Stellvia features Ai Nonaka (Rika in Platonic Chain) as Shima, Yuki Matsuoka (Osaka-san in Azumanga Daioh, Mireille in .hack//DUSK) as Arisa, Megumi Toyoguchi (Mimiru in .hack//SIGN, Parfet in Vandread) as Ayaka, Fumiko Orikasa (Chise in Saishuu Heiki Kanojo, Pacifica in Scrapped Princess) as Yayoi, Rie Tanaka (Chii in Chobits, Saki in Steel Angel Kurumi) as Akira, Naomi Shindo (Aries in Macross Zero, Cagalli in Mobile Suit Gundam SEED) as Leila, Mitsuki Saiga (King of Bandit Jing, Tsukasa in .hack//SIGN) as Masaru, Akio Suyama (Hige in Wolf's Rain, Ogami in Sakura Wars) as Joy, Daisuke Kishio (Chitose in Happy Lesson) as Kent, Yusaku Yara as Michio, Masahiko Tanaka (Gaulin in Full Metal Panic!, Vampire Priest in Hellsing) as Carl, Keiji Fujiwara (Eledore in Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team, Edmundo in Heat Guy J) as Jinrai, Jurota Kosugi (Dryden in Escaflowne) as Umihito, Rumi Kasahara (Misao in Magical Project S) as Chiaki, Romi Paku (Maki in Air Master, Loran in Turn-A Gundam) as Masato, and Katsunosuke Hori (Schwartzwald in The Big O) as Richard James. Additional voices by Michiko Neya (Nancy in Read Or Die, Melissa in Full Metal Panic!).

Bang Zoom! Entertainment (Heat Guy J, Witch Hunter Robin) is handling the English dub. Let's see how well they handle Stellvia.

DVD Extras

Under construction.

The Bottom Line

Stellvia is Candidate for Goddess done the right way. Highly recommended for any anime or sci-fi fan.

Links

Stellvia.com (Japanese)

TV Tokyo's Official Stellvia Homepage (Japanese)

Geneon Entertainment's Official Stellvia Homepage

Reference

Anime News Network

WWE Unforgiven Results

WWE RAW Tag Team Championship - Table Match

The Dudley Boyz (without Spike) destroyed La Resistance to regain the Tag titles. If you watched RAW a couple of weeks ago, you'll remember La Resistance throwing Spike outside the ring. Problem was that Spike missed the table and hit it head-first. Well, on this match, the Dudleyz threw Rob Conway out of the ring through two tables. While his body broke the first one, his head landed on the second one without even denting it.

Winner Gets Stacy Keibler

Test kicked Scott Steiner after Stacy accidentally hit Big Poppa Pump with a steel chair.

Legend vs. Legend-Killer

Randy Orton def. Shawn Michaels with a set of brass knuckles.

Trish Stratus & Lita def. Molly Holly & Gail Kim after Lita did a moonsault on Molly. In the middle of the match, Lita was bleeding in the mouth. Don't know if she bit her lip or suffered any internal bleeding.

Last Man Standing

Kane def. Shane McMahon after Shane-O Mac missed a senton bomb off the TitanTron and fell through the floor. By Mick Foley standards, this match was extremely painful, especially when Shane-O Mac slammed a camera crane on Kane's head.

WWE Intercontinental Championship - Triple-Threat

Christian def. Rob Van Dam and Chris Jericho after blocking the Five-Star Frog Spash with the belt. Major highlight of the match was when RVD attempted to do an Electric Chair Drop on Y2J off the top rope and Christian slammed them both with a power bomb.

Commentary Jobs on the Line

Jonathan Coachman & Al Snow def. Jim Ross & Jerry "The King" Lawler after Jericho ran in and dropkicked JR.

The World Championship

Goldberg speared and jackhammered Triple-H to become the new Champion. Finally, HHH drops the belt.

Anyone else remembers the last time ADV tried doing mangas?

I remember the time ADV released a local manga adaptation of Burn Up! (at least a year before Burn Up W was released), and it flopped big-time.

From reading your review, treatment, I'm already having second thoughts about buying ADV's version. I mean, come on! Osaka-san speaking in a Brooklyn accent? That's not close to describing a Kansai dialect. As a matter of fact, Osaka-san doesn't even have an accent. And Yukari-chan being a Spanish teacher? What a load of crap. They should've just made her a Japanese teacher instead (yeah, I know that most US high schools don't teach Japanese, but it would make more sense with this manga).

Well, at least it isn't TOKYOPOP releasing this manga.

BTW, is there an age rating given by ADV?

What the heck?!?!?! Did anyone else watch the Ironman Match on tonight's Smackdown? I can't believe they made Kurt Angle lose the Championship Belt on Smackdown. Couldn't they have waited for the PPV Special on Sunday?

Not really. Remember that both brands can only share the four major PPVs (Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Survivor Series). This month's PPV is a RAW brand only. SmackDown's PPV comes next month.

How can there be an Alien Quadrilogy box set when there have only ever been two (2), I repeat TWO Alien movies ever made?

Oh, and just for the record, there is only one Highlander movie as well.

Graham

Don't forget to mention that only one Predator movie was ever made.

Good luck, Noriko & Mechamaniac. Hopefully, nothing happens when Isabel hits your hometowns.

Well, looks like we won't have any NASCAR race in Dover this weekend.

Rocky and Bullwinkle

Tomb Raider

The Phantom

Hulk

He-man

Double Dragon

Mortal Kombat (has a kick @ss soundtrack though)

Street Fighter

George of the Jungle

You left out these titles:

Captain America

Fantastic Four

The Flintstones

Inspector Gadget

Josie and the Pussycats

Mr. Magoo

Scooby-Doo

Steel

I thought that Cover Girl was a redhead too.  The way that Tera Patrick looks I think that she should play the Barroness.

Perhaps, but Aria has the perfect body to play Baronness. Tera with the glasses looks pretty close, but she's kind of skinny for the role.

So Cover Girl is a brunette. Perhaps I'll cast Stephanie Swift to play the role. (Sorry, I don't have a pic of her. Noriko Takaya should have one in handy.)

I remember it but didn't watch. Too bad. It sounds like a pretty good show.

I think Defenders of the Earth(?) left a bad taste in my mouth. I think it had the Phantom and Mandrake and some other people. Given the crappiness of that show I just assumed that it would suck too.

Phantom 2040 didn't suck at all. Comparing it to Defenders of the Earth is like comparing Justice League to Superfriends.

BTW, I don't quite remember, but didn't Peter Chung (Aeon Flux, The Animatrix) do the character designs?

Once again I think I'll wait for A7's choices before I make mine. B)

Well, since you asked...

Aria Giovanni as the Baronness

Tera Patrick as Lady Jae

Jasmin St. Claire as Scarlett

Miko Lee as Jinx

BTW, what was Cover Girl's hair color again?