Agnes Chan, a Chinese pop star with controversial affiliations with a religious organisation many consider a cult, closed the assembly saying: “The problem of the sexual exploitation of children is becoming more and more acute and extensive. We have to bring together the people and the government, and take the necessary action for the protection of the children.
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Soft Power Hard Truths / Anime industry seeks to connect with fans
Roland Kelts / Special to The Daily Yomiuri
Three years ago, when Japanese novelist and perennial Nobel candidate Haruki Murakami spoke at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston, the audience swelled so fast that half had to be turned away at the door. Maybe we should have booked Fenway Park [home of the Boston Red Sox], Murakami joked before the 500 who made it in.
Tomorrow evening, when I read and converse with Murakami at the University of California in Berkeley in the campus largest venue (capacity 2,000-plus), the hall will be sold out.
Leaving aside for the moment Murakamis extraordinary talents, he has earned his rock star reputation by embracing the U.S. market, making himself available to American readers and addressing them in mellifluous, flawless English. (Sarah Palin, take note.)
Meanwhile, Japans producers of the nations biggest cultural export, anime, have seen their DVD sales drop by an estimated 400 million dollars in just five yearseven as U.S. anime audiences continue to expand. What gives?
Two weeks ago I spoke at the New York Anime Festival (NYAF), which saw its attendance figures spike by 24 percent over last years. The energy in the massive Javits Convention Center was as palpable as the enthusiasm, especially at the news that the anime industry is finally paying attention.
the name of a two-year-old Web site (www.crunchyroll.com), used to be a bad word at anime conventions, inducing shudders in industry producers and distributors. Its ability to deliver streaming and downloadable content to fans free of charge was seen as yet another dagger in the heart of the DVD market. But site co-founder Vu Nguyen tells me that change is now underway, and happening fast.
ve created a community and aggregated an audience of 4.5 million unique users per month, all outside of Japan, Nguyen tells me from his Los Angeles office. ve brought this huge worldwide audience to Japan, and now were trying to convince the producers that they can reach this audience without hurting their domestic market.
Previously, Nguyens has been a quixotic battle. Earlier this year, he and his partners went to Japan to learn about the producers digital strategies. Surprise: They didnt have any.
So we started educating them, he explains. We decided to give them a strategy, because theyre frustrated, too. They just havent seen the right vehicle.
Until now.
Weeks before the NYAF, anime industry giant Toei announced a tie-up with International Game Networks Direct2Drive portal to provide low-cost downloads to fans of its most popular international series, including Slam Dunk, Fist of the North Star, Digimon Adventure 02 and Pretty Cure.
At the anime festival, I was privileged to serve as moderator of a panel on the state of the anime industry, which included Ken Iyadomi, president and chief executive officer of Bandai Entertainment; Christopher Macdonald, owner and editor in chief of Anime News Network; Kevin McKeever, marketing coordinator for Harmony Gold; and Adam Sheehan, senior events manager for FUNimation Entertainment.
The topics under discussion quickly turned to digital media. At-the-port streaming media is important, because the demographic is very young, Nguyen notes. Ninety percent are 13-34. And its 54 percent male, 46 percent female. They frankly cant pay for anime, because theyre too young.s Macdonald noted that his site is launching a streaming and downloadable portal for anime fans. So were going to see Pizza Hut adverts with our anime? asked one fan.
s called contextual advertising, Macdonald replied. s helpful for selling content, but its far better to really think about and focus on your fans. What do they really want and need?The tech-savvy younger audience is Nguyen adds. They have a lot of time, but not a lot of money. But once they get older and have some money, they dont have as much time. So I think they will be willing to be pay for convenience. They will move from download to own.
Years ago, Murakami told me that he sometimes responds to individual readers via e-mail. re very lonely, he explained. And I try to help them.
Focus on your fans indeed.
Kelts is a Tokyo University lecturer who divides his time between Tokyo and New York. He is the author of Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the U.S. (www.japanamericabook.com), now available in an updated paperback edition. His column appears twice a month.
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Roland Kelts / Special to The Daily Yomiuri
Three years ago, when Japanese novelist and perennial Nobel candidate Haruki Murakami spoke at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston, the audience swelled so fast that half had to be turned away at the door. Maybe we should have booked Fenway Park [home of the Boston Red Sox], Murakami joked before the 500 who made it in.
Tomorrow evening, when I read and converse with Murakami at the University of California in Berkeley in the campus largest venue (capacity 2,000-plus), the hall will be sold out.
Leaving aside for the moment Murakamis extraordinary talents, he has earned his rock star reputation by embracing the U.S. market, making himself available to American readers and addressing them in mellifluous, flawless English. (Sarah Palin, take note.)
Meanwhile, Japans producers of the nations biggest cultural export, anime, have seen their DVD sales drop by an estimated 400 million dollars in just five yearseven as U.S. anime audiences continue to expand. What gives?
Two weeks ago I spoke at the New York Anime Festival (NYAF), which saw its attendance figures spike by 24 percent over last years. The energy in the massive Javits Convention Center was as palpable as the enthusiasm, especially at the news that the anime industry is finally paying attention.
the name of a two-year-old Web site (www.crunchyroll.com), used to be a bad word at anime conventions, inducing shudders in industry producers and distributors. Its ability to deliver streaming and downloadable content to fans free of charge was seen as yet another dagger in the heart of the DVD market. But site co-founder Vu Nguyen tells me that change is now underway, and happening fast.
ve created a community and aggregated an audience of 4.5 million unique users per month, all outside of Japan, Nguyen tells me from his Los Angeles office. ve brought this huge worldwide audience to Japan, and now were trying to convince the producers that they can reach this audience without hurting their domestic market.
Previously, Nguyens has been a quixotic battle. Earlier this year, he and his partners went to Japan to learn about the producers digital strategies. Surprise: They didnt have any.
So we started educating them, he explains. We decided to give them a strategy, because theyre frustrated, too. They just havent seen the right vehicle.
Until now.
Weeks before the NYAF, anime industry giant Toei announced a tie-up with International Game Networks Direct2Drive portal to provide low-cost downloads to fans of its most popular international series, including Slam Dunk, Fist of the North Star, Digimon Adventure 02 and Pretty Cure.
At the anime festival, I was privileged to serve as moderator of a panel on the state of the anime industry, which included Ken Iyadomi, president and chief executive officer of Bandai Entertainment; Christopher Macdonald, owner and editor in chief of Anime News Network; Kevin McKeever, marketing coordinator for Harmony Gold; and Adam Sheehan, senior events manager for FUNimation Entertainment.
The topics under discussion quickly turned to digital media. At-the-port streaming media is important, because the demographic is very young, Nguyen notes. Ninety percent are 13-34. And its 54 percent male, 46 percent female. They frankly cant pay for anime, because theyre too young.s Macdonald noted that his site is launching a streaming and downloadable portal for anime fans. So were going to see Pizza Hut adverts with our anime? asked one fan.
s called contextual advertising, Macdonald replied. s helpful for selling content, but its far better to really think about and focus on your fans. What do they really want and need?The tech-savvy younger audience is Nguyen adds. They have a lot of time, but not a lot of money. But once they get older and have some money, they dont have as much time. So I think they will be willing to be pay for convenience. They will move from download to own.
Years ago, Murakami told me that he sometimes responds to individual readers via e-mail. re very lonely, he explained. And I try to help them.
Focus on your fans indeed.
Kelts is a Tokyo University lecturer who divides his time between Tokyo and New York. He is the author of Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the U.S. (www.japanamericabook.com), now available in an updated paperback edition. His column appears twice a month.
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Mobile Suit Gundam
This series deserves a post by itself, but since Im not in the mood for it this mini-review will have to do. Over-all: Boring. It took a lot of effort going through it. Id say that Voltes V would have been more entertaining. But then again, you have to give the series some credit. It has a more complex story than Voltes V after all. But now Im solidly sticking with Macross as my favorite mecha franchise.
Heroic Age
I have to give this series the credit of having awakened me out of my anime-viewing (and blogging) slump. The grand scale on which the series does thingsthe universe as the stage, a princess for the heroine, large scale destruction of planets. thousands of extras dying (lol the poor fellas), and most of all, the big Nodoss fights, all these got me wanting more at the end of the show. I was itching to write about (but never got to hah!). But it made me go through my pile of backlog once again to look for something that might come close. And that led to
Last Exile
I finally got to watch Last Exile. Though this one happens on just one planet, not the kind of universe-wide destruction I was looking for. But I was treated to old-style warfare on flying big boats, and it was enough to satisfy my cravings. But Im still confused about the Guild though, and didnt feel that much affection for the lead character, Claus. But I liked Sophia and Alvis. Alvis looked so cute when I watched the series. Now I think maybe because I felt a Hagu resemblance.
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Weather Fairies control the weather by playing musical instruments. Sugar is a Weather Fairy child who attaches herself to a human girl, Saga, as part of her training. Saga is a budding pianist herself, living with her grandmother. She starts out the most perfect little girl ever -- but Sugar thoroughly disrupts her life. The problem here is that it's aimed at a somewhat younger audience, and is almost unbearably sweet, particularly in the first half -- but if the diabetes doesn't get you, the story turns out to have real teeth.
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Loba has absolutely everything you need to know about the new season of Gundam, including his views of the first episode. As for myself, Ive only decided to start the first season now, so I guess Ill have to wait and see if I get swept up in all this Gundam Mania.
Rating: The general noises Im hearing include lines like this is the way to start a new season and so on.
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Rating: The general noises Im hearing include lines like this is the way to start a new season and so on.
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Step 8:
Puting the Text. I would recommend you to use a funky font, which would go with an anime theme, or you can just use the font I have provided.
When it comes to text, it must be placed in a position where the reader’s eyes will fall at the first glance. I have placed it on the right side. The text layer should be just above the background layer, that is below our levels, and render layers. Make your first text with white color which is #ffffff.
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Anime movies and tv shows such as bleach and naruto are gaining more and more popularity these days. Many people are looking for online anime videos and ways to download online anime movies.
There are many sites online that allows you to watch online anime videos. Simply do a search on google for online anime videos and there are hundreds of web sites that provides free streaming anime movies and video.
However, these sites don’t allow you to download anime movies. There are however a few sites that allows you to download unlimited anime videos. These anime download membership sites allow you to download unlimited anime videos and movies for a one time fee.
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There are many sites online that allows you to watch online anime videos. Simply do a search on google for online anime videos and there are hundreds of web sites that provides free streaming anime movies and video.
However, these sites don’t allow you to download anime movies. There are however a few sites that allows you to download unlimited anime videos. These anime download membership sites allow you to download unlimited anime videos and movies for a one time fee.
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I have added two new types of information on each anime page. The first is that if the anime has a sequel, prequel, movie, spinoff, or OVA, I will inform you at the top of the animes page. The second is Number Of Episodes. Some people may not want to scroll all the way down to Episode Listing to view the number of episodes that the anime has, so I thought I just put it right before the description part. Hope this will increase some convenience.
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I have finished Gankutuou, and am still working on the final write-up. Just wanted to let yall know that I have also started Last Exile as well. And I love it, too. Im actually over half-way done with it, now. I thought it started kind of slow, and it took me a while to actually force myself to watch past the first episode or so, but, after that, it was smooth sailing. As in, I really should be working on my school work right now, but, instead, I am watching anime. Sigh. Why couldnt I find less time-consuming hobbies.
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As a new feature, each Wednesday or so for a while Im going to start doing some Top 5 lists, starting with the top 5 anime opening themes.
Well over a thousand anime series have been released over the years, each one with a different theme song, and some with more than one over the years. However, most are mediocre at best, so I took it upon myself to compose a list of what I consider the best 5 anime opening themes of all time. This list was hard to do; I ended up having to cut a few songs I loved that just werent as good as some of the others, including The Cruel Angels Thesis, Cutey Honey, and a few others. So, without further ado, heres my list of the top 5 anime opening themes.
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Genres: action, adventure, comedy, drama, romance, science fiction
Themes: Mecha
Age rating: Mature (May contain sex, drugs, and extreme graphic violence)
Plot Summary: Photon Earth is a young and gentle boy with superhuman strength and ( meaning in Japanese) scribbled on his forehead (apparently by his troublemaking friend Aun Freya). One day, he finds himself engaged to the beautiful fugitive pilot Keyne Acqua after writing on her forehead. And that's the least of his worries as he must protect both Aun and Keyne from the evil Papacharino, who seeks to steal the secrets of energy from Keyne's grandfather's ship.
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NEW FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST ANIME!
NEW FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST ANIME!
NEW FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST ANIME!
NEW FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST ANIME!
NEW FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST ANIME!
NEW FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST ANIME!
NEW FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST ANIME!
no details have been released yet but im guessing this one will actually follow the manga
i kinda hope it isnt a continuation of the other story
but HOLY CRAP i'm excited.
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Its easy to give very little thought to what goes into translating dialogue from another language into English. Im sure that for some languages the translation process is relatively smooth, however the more anime and foreign films that I watch, its becoming more obvious that Japanese isnt one of those languages. In some cases what could have been an extremely entertaining show, is rendered confusing nonsense by poor attention to the meaning behind the dialogue. So far, for me, xxxHolic is the first anime title that Ive watched which left me thinking that the English Dub has done it a disservice.
To call this series strange, would be an insult to that old guy I see running around the area near where I live. Hes constantly jogging even on the spot at traffic lights and crossings while listening to music via a massive set of head-phones, and waves and smiles at anyone he catches looking his way. That guy is strange xxxHolic is something else altogether.
Also unlike that old jogging guy, xxxHolic seems pretty slow, almost as though its uncertain of what its suppose to be. Its an odd mixture of styles, both from a visual perspective and in the way it tells the story: Imagine Tim Burton got together with some Looney Tunes fans come anime artists and they watched too much South Park before starting work on this series and youd be getting close to seeing something like xxxHolic.
Kimihiro Watanuki is an independent high school student, who is constantly plagued by a type of spirit monster, known as Yokai. These Yokai, which are unseen by the people around Watanuki, cause him no end of frustration and trouble, until one day when he finds himself compelled to enter a strange . The proprietor of the shop is the alluring and mysterious Yuko Ichihara who tells Watanuki that she is in the business of granting wishes (no, not THOSE kinds of wishes, get your mind out of the gutter!) and says that she can, for a price, grant Watanuki desire to have the spirits leave him alone. Reluctantly Watanuki accepts the deal and soon finds that the spirits are indeed gone, but now, to repay his debt to Ichihara, he must work for her. Watanuki chores initially involve everything from cooking and running errands, however he soon finds that he, along with his love interest, Himawari Kunogi and his nemesis, fellow student Shizuka Domeki, are drawn into a strange, spiritual world.
The xxxHolic 1 DVD has the first four episodes of the 2006 television series, based on the manga series of the same name. These episodes initially feel a little wonky and, like the visual design, seems unsure of itself. But during these introductory episodes it either manages to find its feet, or it slowly reveals the shows intended plot without you realising it. Im not sure if its by design or not, but had I written this review midway through the third episode I dont think that Id have had a whole lot say about this show, and I certainly wouldnt have been wanting to see more of it. However something happens before the end of the DVD though, and its the fourth episode (duh!).
The episode, titled Fortune telling takes a longer look at the main characters, and is comprised almost entirely of dialogue between them. Ichihara teaches Watanuki a little something about mystics and fortune-tellers and while the episode isnt really that eventful or action packed, it manages to build on the very small, and mostly superficial, character development from earlier episodes. By the end of Fortune telling Id actually become engaged in the characters and a little intrigued by where this series is headed.
Unless youre completely adverse to reading subtitles, Id strongly suggest watching this series with the original, Japanese dialogue. The differences in the translation are subtle, but significant. More importantly, the English voice acting is, I hate to say it, grating and distracting. To really get anything out of this series though youve got to be open to watching something a little bit strange - if not, you can always just grab some massive headphones and go for a jog.
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To call this series strange, would be an insult to that old guy I see running around the area near where I live. Hes constantly jogging even on the spot at traffic lights and crossings while listening to music via a massive set of head-phones, and waves and smiles at anyone he catches looking his way. That guy is strange xxxHolic is something else altogether.
Also unlike that old jogging guy, xxxHolic seems pretty slow, almost as though its uncertain of what its suppose to be. Its an odd mixture of styles, both from a visual perspective and in the way it tells the story: Imagine Tim Burton got together with some Looney Tunes fans come anime artists and they watched too much South Park before starting work on this series and youd be getting close to seeing something like xxxHolic.
Kimihiro Watanuki is an independent high school student, who is constantly plagued by a type of spirit monster, known as Yokai. These Yokai, which are unseen by the people around Watanuki, cause him no end of frustration and trouble, until one day when he finds himself compelled to enter a strange . The proprietor of the shop is the alluring and mysterious Yuko Ichihara who tells Watanuki that she is in the business of granting wishes (no, not THOSE kinds of wishes, get your mind out of the gutter!) and says that she can, for a price, grant Watanuki desire to have the spirits leave him alone. Reluctantly Watanuki accepts the deal and soon finds that the spirits are indeed gone, but now, to repay his debt to Ichihara, he must work for her. Watanuki chores initially involve everything from cooking and running errands, however he soon finds that he, along with his love interest, Himawari Kunogi and his nemesis, fellow student Shizuka Domeki, are drawn into a strange, spiritual world.
The xxxHolic 1 DVD has the first four episodes of the 2006 television series, based on the manga series of the same name. These episodes initially feel a little wonky and, like the visual design, seems unsure of itself. But during these introductory episodes it either manages to find its feet, or it slowly reveals the shows intended plot without you realising it. Im not sure if its by design or not, but had I written this review midway through the third episode I dont think that Id have had a whole lot say about this show, and I certainly wouldnt have been wanting to see more of it. However something happens before the end of the DVD though, and its the fourth episode (duh!).
The episode, titled Fortune telling takes a longer look at the main characters, and is comprised almost entirely of dialogue between them. Ichihara teaches Watanuki a little something about mystics and fortune-tellers and while the episode isnt really that eventful or action packed, it manages to build on the very small, and mostly superficial, character development from earlier episodes. By the end of Fortune telling Id actually become engaged in the characters and a little intrigued by where this series is headed.
Unless youre completely adverse to reading subtitles, Id strongly suggest watching this series with the original, Japanese dialogue. The differences in the translation are subtle, but significant. More importantly, the English voice acting is, I hate to say it, grating and distracting. To really get anything out of this series though youve got to be open to watching something a little bit strange - if not, you can always just grab some massive headphones and go for a jog.
More info about anime
- Mood: good
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