Anime World Order Show # 60b – Osamu Tezuka, God of Manga and Morality Plays

Digg Podcasts is apparently too dumb to create new items for feed entries that don’t have unique URLs associated with them, and since there’s over 75 comments in the previous post, we may as well start a new one for what’s technically the same show only not. This is Part 2 of our 60th show and Osamu Tezuka spotlight, containing Gerald’s news segment as well as his review of Vertical Inc’s release of the manga Apollo’s Song.

Let’s News! (0:00 – 36:09)
People in Singapore aren’t exactly happy about all this Odex stuff and are willing to break the law by exercising their non-right to assemble in public to convey their sentiment. As far as being particularly old news even by our standards, DMP is now including the Japanese publisher logos on the front covers of their books, and Genshiken Season 2 has begun in Japan. Pity that Japanese otaku care more about Kujibiki Unbalance, but that’s no doubt due to the fact that Genshiken lost its edge once everyone started having sex with each other. I guess that’s what happens when you follow the path of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure author and Purple Rain enthusiast Hirohiko Araki, who drew the cover to a American scientific journal.

None of that is related to Osamu Tezuka, which is what we should be talking about. However, Tezuka Productions is working on color adaptations of Osamu Tezuka’s manga. This is an undertaking on the level of digitally remastering and restoring the entire Shaw Brothers film library. For further proof of how far behind the times we are, Daryl reminds everyone of the true definition of moe (bottom of page), since that is what otaku opt to experience instead of love lest they run the risk of their lives ending up like Apollo’s Song. The rest of the news centers on the Geneon situation, and by that we mean “it’s us saying ‘we don’t know!’ for 20 minutes. That everybody got on Daryl’s case for mispronouncing Barefoot Gen but nobody cares about how Geneon is pronounced is no doubt indicative of the real cause behind all this mayhem.

Promo: R5 Central (36:09 – 37:10)
Mike Dent, a man so ashamed of his Xbox Live Gamertag that he doesn’t want anyone to know what it is until he can cough up the $10 or however much it costs to get it changed, has realized that the genius of nominating one’s own self for an award is that you can go around and state that you’re award-nominated! Man. Why didn’t we think of that?

Review: Apollo’s Song (manga) (37:10 – 54:38)
We put that Amazon link in here three times in a feeble attempt to stave off getting emails asking where one can purchase this. In any case, Gerald reviews this publication from Vertical Inc since we figure that with all the stuff they send us, the least we could do is actually read the entire things and discuss them at length. Though given what we discussed in the news segment, perhaps companies prefer to get buzz about releases within a week of the thing actually coming out. Too bad! Daryl should probably get a review of Andromeda Stories Volume 1 up, and now that the new Toward the Terra TV series is over, he can probably talk Volumes 2 and 3 of To Terra as well. Here’s the link to the blog post on Apollo’s Song Daryl mentioned. Curse Jog for getting his in-depth reviews out so shortly after release!

Part 3 of this will be edited and posted…eventually?

86 Replies to “Anime World Order Show # 60b – Osamu Tezuka, God of Manga and Morality Plays”

  1. Of all the Geneon series that hasn’t finished yet, Im most concerned about Rozen Maiden. They did the first season and the first vol. of season 2 will be out shortly but I don’t think it’s hopeful for the last 2 volumes (or the Overture special).

    I wonder if Clarissa would want to review that series since you did When They Cry.

    If you either seen the series or browse 4chan, you’ve must have come across:

    DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU

  2. Know who is gonna release Kotetsu Shin Jeeg? 🙁
    Anyhow, I am glad to see another episode out.
    So besides me who else got the recent DVD release of Phoenix 😛

  3. Considering your episodes are so large now, why not do two podcasts; one for anime reviews and one for anime news? You could put each on it’s own feed but release them at the same time.

  4. I’m not really sure what moe has to do with Apollo’s Song. The lead of that one suffers more from serial killer issues than lonely otaku issues. I don’t think the two were really combined until Perfect Blue….

    erwin: I didn’t know it was out yet.

  5. Daryl, you should add BioShock to your list of video games to be played/purchased. So far it gets my vote for Game of the Year, but I’ll reserve final judgement until I’ve played Mass Effect, which is also a big contender for GotY.

    Halo 3 = overrated. One of the lamest endings/final levels in all time.

    I’ll send you a friend invite on Xbox Live if you want to play some co-op sometime.

  6. >Know who is gonna release Kotetsu Shin Jeeg?

    Maybe ADV but I doubt the series will get a U.S. release AT ALL.

    I wonder if when Lucky Star gets licensed, it’d be Kadokawa that will do it since they also did Haruhi Suzamiya (LS is practically built on Haruhi’s popularity).

    I’ve been watching Hidamari Sketch and while it’s very cute, its another series that probably wouldn’t get licensed now that Geneon is dead. Same goes for Sky Girls.

    Hey, I’ve been wondering. Has there ever been a movie in Japan about Tezuka’s life? Do they even do that sort of thing? Biographical films are made all the time in the U.S. I know such a film would never be made here since Tezuka’s barely known but since he’s practically worshipped in Japan Im surprised no biographical film of him was done.

    Last week I went to sell some printouts of my art at MangaNext in NJ. Total failure, barely made any money. It had nothing to do with the price but with the demographics. Most of the people there were half my age and mostly girls. I REALLY hope that I can go that 21+ con in Rhode Island because
    that’s probably where I’d meet people who like the the type of artwork I do.

  7. Anonymous: Well the thing is that for some weird reason I got it on the 13, it is suppose to be out on the 30th. I guess the ones that pre-ordered go it first. And I suppose that the Daryl, Clarissa, and Gerald also pre-ordered, but I could be wrong.
    Then I also hope that a bunch of people pre-ordered this one so, shipping all of them in one day would be crazy so they are doing it little by little. I can put a review of the release (that I already e-mail to the AWO).

  8. Considering your episodes are so large now, why not do two podcasts; one for anime reviews and one for anime news?

    I suggested having separate feeds a few weeks ago, but this idea was met with intense and vehement opposition.

    Daryl, you should add BioShock to your list of video games to be played/purchased.

    I do indeed also have Bioshock. I absolutely cannot play first person shooters using a console interface, but the PC requirements for that one are just too outlandishly high. I was able to buy an Xbox 360 and the game for less than what it’d cost to get a Geforce 8800 GTX or what have you.

    I don’t actually like any of the Halo games. They seem rather average and generic to me (mind you, I consider Half-Life 1 and 2 average and forgettable as well), and on top of that I can’t ever get used to not using a mouse and keyboard for controls. I just got that one solely for cooperative play. I reluctantly got Gears of War for the same reason, since even though the PC one will be better, I don’t think it’ll be compatible with the Xbox 360 after all.

    Mass Effect is something I’ve really been looking forward to (I never did start Knights of the Old Republic or Jade Empire, probably because everyone gave away the twist of KOTOR), though I can’t say I feel good about the fact that EA bought out Bioware. I’m still mad with what happened with Origin, that we never got more Wing Commander sequels. Or patches to fix bugs. I’m also still mad about what happened to Westwood. And Bullfrog, etc.

    THE ANGRY OTAKU HATES YOU!!!!!

    Take a number!

    I’m putting you up on the sidebar so everyone can see you flaunting the latest in Cuban drug dealer fashion. Now update daily.

  9. vz: Sky girls is a disgusting moe show. The only good thing was plamoo’s spoof of the OP using gunpla.

    Daryl: Wait…I just read your post…you mean that…no, it can’t be…KEY IS A MOE SHOW?

    but I liked ‘Key’.

    No. No…NO…NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO (** HYPER MODE: GO! **)OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO (*** BURST THRUSTERS ENGAGE! ***) OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO (*** SUPER SAIYAN TRANFORM!! ***) OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO (**** POWER LEVEL 22000!! ****) OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO (flies into the Sun and explodes the entire Solar System)

  10. there is TOO some hope in Apollo’s Song! What about in the ending when *spoiler so I’ll try to make it vague but it’s not as if it comes out of nowhere* he asks the goddess if he’ll at least get to see his love one more time. He is happier because even though he can’t have sex with her, he can BE with her (until one of them dies a horrendous death) and that it’s better to have loved and lost!!!!

  11. STOP COMPLAINING ABOUT SHOW LENGTHS!!!!!!!!! Maybe it’s because this was the first podcast that I listened to more than 2 episodes of, but now I’m totally used to the lengths and get mad when other podcasts are only 10 minutes. With your show, I can listen in the morning, in art class when your rants help me get through stippling THE MOST ANNOYING AND TIME-CONSUMING THING EVER even though it DOES look pretty (though now we can’t listen to our iPods in school and I don’t have art this semester) and on the way home! That’s A LOT of time that I can use to not do homework!


  12. I’m putting you up on the sidebar so everyone can see you flaunting the latest in Cuban drug dealer fashion. Now update daily.

    Um, thanks for that. That wasn’t me doing the copy pasta though.

  13. Hey, angry otaku

    DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU

    Actually, I didn’t think that be a problem. I’ll stop now.

    >Sky girls is a disgusting moe show. The only good thing was plamoo’s spoof of the OP using gunpla.

    Then you must have hated Lucky Star and Strawberry Marshmallow as well.

  14. Dear Gerald,

    Was the Singapore protest just with the action figures (which was great from an absurdist standpoint–but they probably didn’t know it was absurdist), or were there some actual otaku involved? I personally would have hoped for something resembling the first 15 minutes of AKIRA.

    I remember the first time my sister went to Singapore–she gave me a call from the Changi Airport while waiting to depart:

    “This place is like…it’s like…Did you ever see that film, LOGAN’S RUN?”
    “Yeah.”
    “It’s like that.”

  15. This is a small idea but have you guys think in making a Anime World Order facebook group. It is kind of scary seeing how much of a response do you all get through the comments. I can just imaging how much e-mail do you all get.
    Also what about a small poll in which you ask for an approximate show length. I like it to be as long as possible but then many would like it to be short.
    I would e-mail this but today I am feeling kind of lazy 😛

  16. As Jason Thompson points out, “moe” itself is an old concept in anime and manga, long before it was called that. I know Wikipedia is the font of all wisdom, but I would strongly question the idea of moe beginning with Clarisse from CAGLIOSTRO (or even whether she was a moe character by modern standards), and I would double-secret strongly question the idea she was “the first female character to be parodied in doujinshi.” Doujinshi have existed since at least the 1960s; does anyone find it remotely plausible that no one had ever done a doujinshi about Jun, Yuki, Cutey Honey, Sayaka–or Fujiko for that matter?

    (If Clarisse really *was* the first female chara an otaku ever fapped to, I’m picturing it happening like that scene in THE JERK where Navin R. Johnson wakes up his adopted parents in the middle of the night with his amazing discovery of rhythm).

    As for devoting a whole series to moe, I don’t know. It’s one thing to be charmed, but it’s another thing to be pandered to. I like Azumanga Daioh, perhaps in part because instead of having a oniichan daisuki character and telling you that’s your mirror, at least it has the honesty to hold up Kimura as your looking glass.

  17. Would Konata’s father (from Lucky Star) be considered the same type of character as Kimura-san?

    Again on the whole Geneon issue. If they knew that they were going to shut down then shouldn’t they have released their ongoing stuff just as complete series boxsets?

    Speaking of out of print stuff, I tried to find Angel Flop…er I mean Angel Cop on DVD but can’t find it anywhere except for someone on Amazon selling it for $50 (same for ebay).

    On ANOTHER tagent, do you think Lensman will ever be released on DVD? Is the whole issue with the author of the book disapproving the film be the reaseon it hasn’t been put on DVD?

  18. I absolutely cannot play first person shooters using a console interface, but the PC requirements for that one are just too outlandishly high.

    I grew up with consoles and I’ve never been much of a PC Gamer myself. I find I can use a mouse and keyboard for FPS games if need be, but I prefer a controller. I hope you enjoy BioShock as much as I did. It was a big surprise for me. Before it was released I had absolutely no interest in it, but after the demo came out on Xbox Live I wanted to buy the game immediately. The last game to surprise me like that was KOTOR. I’m not a big Star Wars fan, but I love that game. Part of it is because of the huge twist but the characters were so great, the story was well written and the gameplay itself was so innovative at the time.

    I don’t actually like any of the Halo games. They seem rather average and generic to me (mind you, I consider Half-Life 1 and 2 average and forgettable as well)

    I’m not a big fan of Halo either. The first one is good, the second one was only memorable for the multiplayer (which I’m not a fan of) and the third was a big disappointment in terms of the story. Just more of the same. I’m surprised you don’t like Half-Life. I don’t think I’ve ever known someone that doesn’t like those games. I’ve only played part of the first game, and the demos of the second game. I just purchased the Orange Box on 360 and I can’t wait to play Half Life 2. I’m not too big on Gears of War either. The campaign is alright but it’s nothing too special. I’ve had bad experiences with multiplayer in that one. Bunch of assholes play that game. I’d be up for some co-op on Halo 3 or Gears if you ever wanted to play through them sometime.

    I can’t say I feel good about the fact that EA bought out Bioware.

    As long as BioWare continues to put out the same high quality games, that’s good enough for me. Maybe the buyout will be a good thing in that they will finally make KOTOR III and we can find out what the hell happened to _______ after the first game, since the second game didn’t answer that question at all, even though your whole purpose in KOTOR II was to find out what happened to _______ yet the ending didn’t tell you a damned thing about ________ that you didn’t already know from the end of the first game. Sorry I don’t want to spoil it for anyone else that may read this that has not played KOTOR. I was so pissed at the end of KOTOR II that I traded the game in for Resident Evil 4.

    By the way, I sent you an XBL friend request. My gamertag is GigastormZ.

  19. Was the Singapore protest just with the action figures (which was great from an absurdist standpoint–but they probably didn’t know it was absurdist), or were there some actual otaku involved?

    From what I understand it was an actual protest with people in costume and banners and all, although I understand it didn’t get very far and the dangerous otaku crowds were dispersed readily by the Singapore riot squads.

    This is a small idea but have you guys think in making a Anime World Order facebook group.

    I think all three of us have sworn off the “social networking” side of the internet as it has proven that nothing good has ever come out of it.

    derek in general

    I just finished Bioshock the other day so I guess I’m only two months behind everyone else, but I thought it was a very impressive game if not a bit too easy. I mean I never ran out of money or ammo really. And yeah, Mass Effect, I think I’ve learned that the more I look at these previews, the more disappointing the final product could potentially be ala Assassin’s Creed which people mysteriously stopped talking about right after that E3 video. And I guess I’m not worth adding as a Friend eh Derek, I see how it is! 😛

    Again on the whole Geneon issue. If they knew that they were going to shut down then shouldn’t they have released their ongoing stuff just as complete series boxsets?

    I don’t think they knew more than, say, a few weeks, at most, ahead of time that they were shutting down, and since the lead time for releasing stuff is months, they couldn’t do that, nor would they really have wanted to, since I think that may have just cost them more money that the company didn’t want to spend/didn’t have.

    As for Lensman, I doubt that’ll ever get released (having said that I’m sure there’ll be an announcement for it next week). I mean the movie didn’t exactly set the world on fire when it was released over here, and it even got a theatrical release. But then again Casshern didn’t either and that got a DVD release so who knows. I think the reason it’s not out here may have more to do with either the rights being tied up or, perhaps the Doc Smith estate trying to bury that movie forever. I’m saying that having watched it and liked it and have read and liked the books.

  20. vz: “I wonder if when Lucky Star gets licensed, it’d be Kadokawa that will do it since they also did Haruhi Suzamiya (LS is practically built on Haruhi’s popularity).”

    I doubt we’re gonna get schoolgirl shows like “Lucky Star” in the future, because they are more appealing to otaku than the casual viewer, and American companies have to pay an arm and a leg for them.
    The fact that companies like MB and RS are resorting to releasing titles like Girl’s High and Supergals Season 2 sub-only seems to prove it. Haruhi might have been picked up, but that has some cross-appeal like Genshiken.

    gerald: “As for Lensman, I doubt that’ll ever get released (having said that I’m sure there’ll be an announcement for it next week). I mean the movie didn’t exactly set the world on fire when it was released over here, and it even got a theatrical release. But then again Casshern didn’t either and that got a DVD release so who knows.”

    There was a theatrical release planned for Casshern, but Michael Bay killed Dreamworks, and the rest is history. I was actually surprised that Paramount didn’t sell it off, but I’m hoping it’ll lead to a double-dip of Millennium Actress with the Kon R2 commentary and the Madman dub. (It’d be nice if they release the Madman version of Innocence with a dub, too.) I could imagine Lensman happening, if the upcoming Megazone thin-pack does well enough for ADV to continue their brief foray into old school anime, in spite of dropping Neo Tokyo like a brick. (;-;) Of course, releasing it might also depend on how much they have to pay Brown’s estate…

    Anyway, if Paramount does have those anime titles, Blu Ray users will undoubtedly be pissed, ‘cus they have to sell some body parts to afford what they can get from Bandai Visual.

    BTW, speaking of Tezuka, for people too cheap to spring for Anime Insider, Vertical just uploaded a preview of MW.

  21. There was a theatrical release planned for Casshern, but Michael Bay killed Dreamworks, and the rest is history.

    I should have specified this but I meant the Casshern/Casshan OAVs done by Umetsu in the 90’s that Streamline released back in the day and ADV re-released.

  22. Well I want to say that Lucky Star on DVD sold out in Japan (despite the rediculousness of 2 eps a disc) and has a small fan base in the U.S. would be reason to for it come out here but then I remember what you guys said with When Then Cry in that even though its popular as fansubs go, no ones probably buying the show.

    Tonight I watched two really old hentai. Legend of Lyon: Flare and Dragon Knight.

  23. Going back to Tezuka, I just saw Vertical’s Dororo covers at Amazon, and it looks like you can use them to get high. They didn’t even bother taking my suggestion to print, “the manga which inspired the PS2 game, Blood Will Tell” on the cover. See what I mean about crap marketing being behind the failure of old-school manga to find a niche here?

  24. Gerald,

    I know what you mean about playing BioShock much later then everyone else. I bought the game the day it came out but my 360 was down in Texas being repaired thanks to the Red Ring of Death I received a week earlier. It took a month for them to “fix” it. Meaning, they didn’t fix it but sent me a replacement unit. Worked fine for a couple weeks but now it overheats every once in awhile. I’m dreading the second call to Microsoft. I didn’t think BioShock was too easy, but just right. I’ll admit the final boss was a bit easy and the ending was a little short, however the narrative makes up for those minor gripes.

    Personally, I was never excited about Assassin’s Creed from the day it was announced, but yeah the hype has certainly died down on that one. As for Mass Effect, I haven’t been following all of the previews, but I’ve seen enough to get me excited. I guess I’m too busy with other games right now, The Orange Box, The Darkness and Dynasty Warriors Gundam (getting it this week) among others.

    Sorry, I wasn’t sure what your Gamertag is. Is it SeveranceD? If so, I’ll send a friend request your way. Or you could just send me one:p

  25. So is there a possibility you guys will review Viz’s re-release of the Tekkonkinkreet manga, and perhaps review the movie as while you’re at it?

  26. Tonight I watched two really old hentai. Legend of Lyon: Flare and Dragon Knight.

    And he lived to tell the tale folks :). Actually I do remember Lyon: Flare had the dubious honor of being the first thing released under the Softcel label (I was told it was Guy: Double Target, but I think that’s wrong). Definitely not a show that Yo Inoue would have been proud of.

  27. I love how you guys proclaim this to be the shortest news segment ever, and then go on a twenty-minute rant about Geneon. 8D

    And I guess it’s time for my own baseless speculation! It’s entirely possible that Geneon was axed because, while it was making money, it wasn’t making enough money. Just to invent numbers as an example–if you put ten million into Geneon and get twelve million back, versus putting ten million into Generico and get fifteen million back, well, putting money into Geneon means you’re losing three million dollars potential profit. For your typical B-school grad, the decision is obvious.

    I guess there’s no reason why other companies couldn’t pick up the back half of Black Lagoon et al…but therein lies my nightmare scenario. That is: ADV buys the rights for Black Lagoon. ADV spends eight months re-dubbing the series. ADV starts releasing it…in individual discs…starting from episode 1. AND they screw with the episode count per disc–so those of us who already own the Geneon release will either duplicate three episodes or miss one. (Again, this is baseless and cynical speculation…but it has a certain nasty appeal.)

    As for Bandai’s WoH release: I think that what we’re seeing here is the same strategy that Microsoft used with Vista, and that Sony is using with the PS2/PS3. That is, they’re forcing uptake of next-gen by eliminating the last-gen product. Obviously, everyone who buys WoH will be a next-gen DVD customer. Bandai can then turn around and say, “see? All these people are buying anime on next-gen DVD! All of you content producers ought to start doing content in the next-gen format because there is clearly a large customer base!”

    Same thing with Sony and the PS3. By eliminating backwards-compatibility to PS2/PS1, Sony can start trumpeting the idea that the PS3 is The Future Of Consoles, and everyone ought to start developing for it, because clearly the PS2 is DEAD DEAD DEAD DOES NOT EXIST!!!

  28. Just wanted to say that you guys got me to watch Mad Bull. I remember seeing the previews years ago, but never actually wanted to see the show until now. Truly if there is a heart of darkness, it resides within Kazuo Koike.

    BTW Daryl, are you getting the Orange Box for 360 or the PC. If you’re getting the PC version, would love to have a match in TF2.

  29. Geneon is pronounced is no doubt indicative of the real cause behind all this mayhem.

    I haven’t listened to the episode yet, and am bored at work, so take this for what it’s worth but…

    “Geneon” being a combination of “Generation” and “Eon” (as I recall) means that it would indeed be pronounced “jen” and not the more Japanese-expected “gen”

  30. >Cream Lemon FTW, BTW.

    I’ve seen bits and pieces of various episodes on Youtube (which means no sex). I want to see the ep titled “White Shadow” which was an early example of Satoshi Urushihara (hey you should review Plastic Little).

    If anyone knows me well enough or seen my artwork, then you know I love the 80’s character design astetic. Shiny, slightly rounded features, wavy lines, high contrast shading, cute chipmunkesqe noses. I’ve been liking alot of the character designs in the stuff done now. Most anime fans I come across don’t seem to even notice the various design styles that anime/managa uses. I can look at a particlar anime/manga and tell you when it might have been out based on the artwork.

  31. However, I do like Pixel Maritan, which I discovered from an ad in YOUNG KING OURS. Even if she’s quoting R. Lee Ermey, she accurately addresses her fans as “the lowest form of life on Earth…not even human fucking beings…nothing but unorganized pieces of amphibian shit!” You’re not going to get *that* in LUCKY STAR.

  32. Hey Daryl, I just watched the Dagger of Kamui on DVD. While I wouldn’t place it on my top ten, I do agree that the visuals and music were something special. Had some very fluid animation shots and other things you don’t see anymore. It was a wee bit long and might require a second viewing to fully understand everything but the story was interesting. I know you said that people place this film on top ten lists as either best or worse anime. I’d like to know what the Japanese thought of this film? Also it’s hard to believe that there was one version released on VHS that made it take place on another planet. They must’ve cut alot out of it to make that even plausable.

  33. Carl Horn said: However, I do like Pixel Maritan, which I discovered from an ad in YOUNG KING OURS. Even if she’s quoting R. Lee Ermey, she accurately addresses her fans as “the lowest form of life on Earth…not even human fucking beings…nothing but unorganized pieces of amphibian shit!”

    Hey Carl, did she follow that quote with this: “I’m going to rip your balls off, so you cannot contaminate the rest of the world!”

  34. Gerald said…
    I should have specified this but I meant the Casshern/Casshan OAVs done by Umetsu in the 90’s that Streamline released back in the day and ADV re-released.

    Heh, I remember that one (I think Harmony Gold clinged onto that title for a long time).

    Having heard of the decision Tezuka Pro has in colorizing the manga, I do wonder if they have intentions to only publish them in Japan or for international purposes? It’s an interesting endeavor and one that might be interesting if done right. Of course, having thought about that a little more, I sorta wonder how different this could be if it was Tezuka Pro publishing the manga in multiple languages themselves, but having those publishers elsewhere in the world distribute them, much like the French publishers of comics like Tintin and Asterix had done in the past (since those books often were the same cosmetically besides the change in languages. Of course, for something like this to work, they would have to own at least the right to translations for the manga they want to publish in those countries as well as the cooperation with those publishers to sell the product as well.

  35. I am convinced, and nobody is going to change my mind, that the one true meaning of MOE is “I wanna bone my little sister because I know she wants it from me”. All that crap about ‘caring’ and ‘motherly feelings’ and shit are just delusional distractions meant to hide the fact you want to bone your little sister.

    I have to say, on the Apollo’s Song review (what, not a single Battlestar Galactica fanfic joke? come on, guys, use what you got in front of you!), a comment was made about Nagai’s Shameless School and the student riots of the early ’70s and all that and you know what?

    I think I now grok Leiji Matsumoto’s blowjob fetish mania.

    See, I had wondered what was going on, there was a period where Matsumoto was always inserting some uncomfortable oral sex (girl to guy, usually coerced in some way) in his stories during this time period (the pre-famous because of Nishizaki and Yamato years)..I mean it was almost Monty Python-ish, you can hear him saying “OK, and now for the oral sex!” as he inking pages…OK, as his assistants ink the pages…

    Not that anything was actually shown. Not even as much as the ‘mouth near a vaguely phallic outline’ that is considered safe in manga, it’s lots of ‘implied’ but you get the idea right enough.

    So now I get it. It was the times, EVERYONE was doing it, and I mean ‘doing IT’ *wink*.

  36. >I am convinced, and nobody is going to change my mind, that the one true meaning of MOE is “I wanna bone my little sister because I know she wants it from me”. All that crap about ‘caring’ and ‘motherly feelings’ and shit are just delusional distractions meant to hide the fact you want to bone your little sister.< Lol because I was watching the first episode of Cream Lemon “Be My Baby”. Eh, moe doesn’t bother me whatever definition it is given. I balance it out with mainly super robots punching shit. I ask the guys at Media Blasters/Kitty Media why Cream Lemon was never brought out here (barring those cheaply done ones from non anime porn companies). He gave the excuse of that the characters might be considered too young looking (which is total bullshit because there’s plenty of hentai released here with young looking girls). He also said that the masters weren’t good (again, bullshit because CL was released on DVD in Japan).

  37. “On ANOTHER tagent, do you think Lensman will ever be released on DVD? Is the whole issue with the author of the book disapproving the film be the reaseon it hasn’t been put on DVD?”

    Uh, E.E. “Doc” Smith has been dead since the 1960’s. I doubt he disapproves of an anime that came out in the 80’s.

    Regardless, Lensman is a cool movie.

  38. Uh, E.E. “Doc” Smith has been dead since the 1960’s. I doubt he disapproves of an anime that came out in the 80’s.

    Yeah, that’s why I said the “Doc Smith ESTATE”.

    But yeah, Cream Lemon is probably in some licensing hell or it’s probably very expensive since it’s very well known in Japan. Shame since Pop Chaser is a really excellent little show and frighteningly prophetic about the future of anime.

    As for the Matsumoto blowjob thing, OK, I’m sort of trying to wrap my head around someone looking like Captain Avatar getting head from a girl that looks like Maetel. I don’t know I just can’t picture it, but well, you know, not sure I’d really want to either…

  39. I imagine that the real reason Cream Lemon hasn’t gotten picked up is because of the 80s chara designs.I mean, at least with old school American porn, you have enough people who are familiar with it for them to sell it on the shelves next to the latest line of porn starlets. But Cream Lemon is fairly obscure here, and its old-school look would probably turn off people into the new stuff.

  40. I’ve been downloading various Cream Lemon episodes off of Wurmknight’s hentai homepage (and yes, I am one of those people that actually buys anime if it’s a show I like to show my support).

    One of the reason’s I like Cream Lemon IS because of character designs. I would just like a boxset of the whole thing as an example of anime history. Sadly, most hentai isn’t marketed becaus eof the history behind it but just considered another fetish along side regular porn.

  41. > However, I do like Pixel Maritan, which I discovered from an ad in YOUNG KING OURS. Even if she’s quoting R. Lee Ermey, she accurately addresses her fans as “the lowest form of life on Earth…not even human fucking beings…nothing but unorganized pieces of amphibian shit!”

    Unfortunately Moetan English Dictionary is the one that got animated instead. Audience criticism definitely isn’t in vogue these days.

    Lucky Star is active otaku reinforcement, with how they insert scenes based on real-life response to the show, but it’ll probably be forgotten soon. A lot of the anime-reference jokes are really just marketing for recent stuff by the studio.

  42. Finally had a chance to list to the episode. On the DMP/Publisher’s logo topic, I believe Dark Horse includes the Japanese publisher’s logo, or at least that of their imprint, on the back of Reiko the Zombie Shop.

    On the topic of Genshiken two, I just caught the opening credits, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1JFcG2ESXc and it’s a bit uncomfortable watch. Hasn’t Welcome to the NHK made the point that stuff like this just isn’t healthy.

  43. Listening to the APOLLO’S SONG review, and the chatting about animal sex, put me in mind of the fact Tezuka had certain, well, furry sympathies. Now at first that might seem shocking, but if you stop to think about, it provides an always-welcome PLANET OF THE APES ending for fans seeking to dig into the secrets of our world’s past, where otaku evolved from men.

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