I received the Cowboy Bebop Remix set in the mail last week and soon noticed that “Animated Interactive Menus” was mentioned under DVD Features. I remembered seeing that interactive menus touted on the Kannagi and Lucky Star volumes and mentioned that on Twitter, complaining that such a basic feature of the format shouldn’t really be mentioned. To me, it’s like saying CDs have Dynamic Track Navigation. Later that night, I realized that ‘features’ can be also used as a verb so the listing on the box is about what the DVD features, not what the DVD features are (those are called “DVD Extras” on these releases) so I felt a little stupid. However, I still felt my main complaint may been worth writing about.

This week, I received the Lucky Star OVA and the first Hayate the Combat Butler volume and as I expected, those two also had menus listed under what the DVD features, effectively giving me the green light to continue working on this post.

from New Line’s 1997 DVD release of “Rumble in the Bronx”

It was common in the early days of retail DVDs (late 1990s) for boxes to make mention of that feature in order to highlight one of its advantages over VHS. Some were more creative than others.

from Trimark’s 2000 DVD release of “Natural Born Killers”

Another term used to describe selectability was “Scene Access”, which isn’t used very much anymore since that is a widely understood feature of DVDs. As you can see above, that can be considered different from interactive menus because a DVD could be made without chapter selection, forcing the viewer to watch it from the beginning. Such a disc would presumably not have chapter markers.

Texhnolyze vol. 1 (2004) had an “Interactive Motion Menu” – elements rotating in the foreground and others moving in the background – along with “Scene Access”.

from Please Teacher Vol. 1 (2003)

A “motion menu” seems to be different from a more generic “animated” interactive menu, which in the case of Please Teacher amounts to the main menu choices being written on the chalkboard and the scene selection screen having samples from each part playing.

Tokyopop considered dual languages, subtitles, and “Motion Menus” as bonus features on GTO vol. 1 (2002) when they really shouldn’t have lumped them in with the actual bonuses.

Returning to the present: Bandai, you seem to be the only anime distributor that continues to mention on your releases’ boxes that the discs have menus. I probably wouldn’t have noticed this as readily if there were more special features on those releases. However, in the cases of Kannagi and Hayate, BEI put seven episodes on a single disc – 6.78 GB (7,111,416 KB) worth on Kannagi 1 and 6.42 GB (6,735,522 KB) on Hayate 1 – but surely you could have tried to put some interviews with voice actors and/or producers or even TV commercials as extras, ANYTHING other than the not-very-impressive-anymore textless openings and endings, something that might have softened the bad feelings some people feel about the bare-bones sub-only releases coming from you guys later.

One more thing I need to get off my chest: the initial solicitation sent out for the Lucky Star OVA included “Special Live Recording of Lucky Star Channel Radio Show” and “Special Lucky Star Event at Washinomiya Shrine” as extras, just as they were on the Japanese release, but both were somehow missing on the actual release. The 45-minute feature takes up just 2.19 GB on the disc so why the hell aren’t those two extras on there – there’s plenty of room! If the excuse is that you couldn’t get those materials from the studio, then what happened to that relationship in the months since the release of Lucky Star vol. 6 (March 2008)? All your single volume releases of LS had “The Adventures of Minoru Shiraishi” segments on them.

I think that’s all for now. There is more I could say but I’ll save those for after I do some research into the death of extras due to the rise of box sets.

Granted, Bandai has not officially announced anything nor have they sent solicitations to specialty retailers like TRSI or yet but the date looks right since it would be two months after the sixth and final DVD volume comes out on March 17th. I would expect them to announce this date along some more details at NYCC next month during either their general panel (Saturday Feb. 7th 12:30 PM-1:30 PM) or their Lucky Star panel (Sat. 1:45PM-2:45PM).

Here’s the product description that may show up on the back cover:

From the studio that brought you The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya! When eating a chocolate cornet which end do you begin with, the top or the bottom? Which side is the top and which is the bottom? For that matter, what is a chocolate cornet? The proper way to eat pastries is only one of the many every day occurrences explored by the girls of Ms. Kuroi’s class. Meet Konata, an athletic and intelligent girl too dedicated to her favorite primetime animes to excel in anything but otaku culture; Miyuki, the cute, bespectacled living example of Moe with an encyclopedic knowledge of all subjects; Kagami, the bitter-sweet, tough but shy sister; Tsukasa, a kind but air-headed klutz. Witness this study in the human condition as our heroines explore the unexplored in questioning the ordinary!

Well, not literally at the same time but close enough. And not on a basic cable American channel nor a widely-available digital cable American channel but ImaginAsian TV (iaTV), which is only available in select markets – namely, New York, NY; Los Angeles, CA; Princeton, NJ; Houston, TX; Dallas, TX; Fairfax County, VA; and Hawaii. Sorry, Midwest and Northwest…and the majority of America – you’re left out for now.

Here’s the rundown of regional airtimes for the collective “world historic first” broadcast premiere, culled from Bandai’s landing page* :

Japan (TV asahi): Fri Jan. 9th at 2:40am [Thurs. Jan 8th 1740 UTC]
Korea (AniBOX): Fri. Jan 9th at 10pm [Fri. Jan 9th 1300 UTC]
US-Eastern (iaTV): Thurs. Jan 8th at 8pm [Fri. Jan 9th 0100 UTC]
US-Pacific (iaTV): Thurs. Jan 8th at 8pm [Fri. Jan 9th 0400 UTC]

* The press release Bandai put out (one such copy) has what may or may not be a typo, stating the series’ Japanese debut will happen a day earlier on the 8th at 2:40am. cal.syoboi.jp says it debuts “2009-01-08(Thu) 26:40-27:10″, which agrees with the date given on the landing page, while both Sunrise’s site and the anime’s official website seem to agree with the press release. One thing is certain: it will premiere during the first full week of January 2009, barring a large broadcast interruption.

The two main beefs that Region 1 residents have expressed about this announcement are “Why the hell did Bandai Entertainment license this unknown series instead of already well-received series like Macross Frontier or Spice and Wolf?” and “Why the hell did they decide to put the dubbed version on a limited-reach cable channel and not include an online component?”

My response to the first question is because they wanted to appear progressive by using an untested show, similar to FUNimation with Shikabane Hime in October, except FUNi put it on four different online sites including their own. To the second one: I don’t know why since they could, and still may, make a subtitled version to be streamed online and should be able to functionally do so. I’m guessing its current absence has something to do with the arrangement among the partners involved and perhaps one or more of them is/are as willing to risks as Gonzo GDH (Tower of Druaga, Blassreiter) is and are still resistant to engage in legal streaming of their content over the Internet.

This announcement still remains a small step forward in terms of accelerating domestic DVD releases. Assuming the series is indeed 11 episodes as I’ve read in various places, the dubbing is guaranteed to be done by March because of weekly US airdates and an accompanying set of matching subtitles should be done if the translators doing their work at the same time, meaning the first volume (or even better, a box set) could be out on shelves by late summer or fall 2009. It is also a case of international cooperation in quickly adapting a new anime – dubbing off pencil test footage, for example – rather than working together on the actual production of a series, e.g. Afro Samurai, IGPX. I don’t believe it’s the first time but it is surely one of the first.

P.S. According to AnimeNews.biz, the anime has “its own story direction with major differences from the manga verison [sic] for the sake of adaptability”. Hmm. Guess I am more inclined to read the manga now in order to determine how far the anime strays from it.

Some of you may recall the reissuing of Clamp School Detectives on DVD was kind of a surprise announcement during Bandai’s Fanime 2007 panel. Oddly enough, this is not the first delay for Ghost Slayers Ayashi since being announced at Otakon 2007: September 9th was the date given for these releases during the company’s panel at this year’s Fanime.

Bandai has not given an official explanation for the delays but I suspect ensuring the quality of the authoring process could be a factor given frequent reports of defective discs, like a AOD member who complained in August about receiving at least 12 defective discs from Bandai releases since late 2007, and of course that one week from last January where many of their releases had issues playing correctly. Better to delay the releases to fix any emerging problems than to risk worsening their reputation among heavy buyers. Another factor may have been increased attention in working on Gundam 00, which is debuting on Sci-Fi Channel’s Ani-Monday block on the 24th.

Yes, the anime and tokusatsu producer-slash-distributor is listed as one of many partners involved in this project (unclear if it is specifically Bandai Visual, Sunrise or both) so I have a little excuse to write about this. Frankly, there aren’t many juicy details except that Nico reportedly has 9.3 million Japanese (and secret foreign?) subscribers and commands either 2.3 or 2.9 million daily unique users, depending on whom from TNMG is trying to impress people. Simon Godden, President of e-learning service Teacher Tom Japan, thinks “this [deal] is a home run” so it must be great, right? Um, it guess it would be nice if you wanted to leave streams of comments on top of official music videos and foreign content as well as the swath of Touhou, IM@S, and Miku MADs that currently inhabit the site.

At any rate, you can read the entire release after the jump to get a few more optimistic quotes from executives focused on expanding the global reach of their managed brands.

Japan`s Leading Interactive Video Platform, Nico Nico Douga, collaborates with World On-Demand to Develop an Innovative New Media Offering

11/11/2008 — TOKYO, Japan: The New Media Group, K.K. (TNMG) parent of the World On-Demand IPTV platform, today announced the signing of a landmark deal that aligns its increasing portfolio of global content offering with Nico Nico Douga`s broad reach into the domestic Japanese market.

Nico Nico Douga, Japan’s leading online video community site, currently holds 9.3 million Japanese subscribers, drives 2.3 million unique users a day, and has already passed YouTube in Japan to become one of the most visited sites in the Japanese web space. World On-Demand is the leading IPTV provider of alternative global content in Japan, carries over 130 Television channels from around the world including E! Entertainment, the BBC, Star TV, GMA, and Zee TV, and is geared primarily to serve the TV needs of foreign populations in Japan.

“It seems an unlikely match, but both sides see tremendous potential here,” said Randy McGraw, President of TNMG. “Both of us are convinced that the Japanese domestic market is starving for more high brand and high production value content from around the world, much of it never having had any distribution here. This is just a first step to get it all in play. World On-Demand has been selected as one of only 20 “Official Providers” precisely because we are “a taste of everything else” for mass market consumers and because we are carving out this position in Japan and East Asia for the long run for ourselves. Japan is a tough place to gain a foothold if you`re a foreign provider, but our company is a gateway now for big brands like Eurosport, Sky News, Aag, B4U Music, GMA, Zee TV, Trace TV, the Australia Network, VIVA, Taj Sports, Moonscoop, and a growing list of quality brands to come here and find a home.”

The new service that the two partners will launch in December will allow Japanese consumers with a Nico Nico Douga account to be exposed to and enjoy selections of branded content geared to their hobbies and interests, as well as the invitation to subscribe to the full array of content through the World On-Demand service.

“This collaboration aims to provide a simple way for 2.9 million unique daily Japanese users to watch promotional material and share information – in Japanese language and from a Japanese cultural perspective – and to form community and discuss both big brand international channels and lesser known special interest content in a way not seen in Japan before,” said Kei Yamada, from the TNMG Marketing Department and manager of the Nico- Nico Douoga relationship. “It will be a good vehicle for brand building, market access, and “instant market research” plus enjoyable for us Japanese more interested than ever before in new global content.”

“I think this is a home run,” said Simon Godden, President of Teacher Tom Japan, an innovative e-learning platform that is also partnered with World On-Demand to deliver English language learning modules to Japanese subscribers. “Promoting great foreign brands and great e-learning content and reaching millions of Japanese users on a daily basis, is going to encourage Japanese users to come to the World On-demand platform, have a look around, and find things like Teacher Tom e-learning that interests them, and subscribe.”

Joining 19 other official providers on the Nico Nico Douga platform such as MTV Japan, Avex, Bandai and Livedoor, World On-Demand is uniquely positioned as the alternative content provider to the Japanese mass-market, and will continue to expand its role linking providers to video based communities in Japan.

About The New Media Group, K.K. – TNMG is the leading digital media platform developer and operator in the Asia Pacific and Oceana regions. Partnered with the world’s leading media and technology companies, TNMG owns and operates World On-Demand (the region’s most comprehensive IPTV platform) and MY-World Communities (a leading portal for the advanced formation and management of online communities and their personal media). TNMG also owns Media PayÔ, an electronic payments gateway for East Asia and Australia that utilizes every electronic wallet and conventional payment method available in those markets from minor branded affinity cards to cash collection at over 45,000 distribution points. Founded by executives in the media, technology, and financial communities, TNMG is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, and maintains network operations facilities in Japan, Australia, and the U.S., branch offices in Sydney, Australia and Shanghai, China, and a development center in Chennai, India. The team at TNMG invites everyone to visit www.TheNewMediaGroup.net to learn more about what the company is doing. We accept communication in Japanese, English, Mandarin, French, Spanish, Hindi, Tamil, and Urdu.

My educated guess would be Toshiro Kawamoto since he has visited American cons before including Sakura-Con 2008 in March. But wait, then his appearance wouldn’t be a surprise, would it? Perhaps it will instead be the other animator, Komori, since he might have more to do with the items being signed than the producer would. I suppose we’ll just have to see who shows up that afternoon to put his John Hancock jisho on free posters and other stuff.

(UPDATE 7/2: It turned out to be president Masahiko Minami.)

Also: I found this press release from four years ago where Bandai gave anyone who cosplayed as a Bandai character (e.g. Duo from Gundam Wing, Spike from Cowboy Bebop, Lime from Saber Marionette J) a chance to spin “The Wheel” to win prizes. Four years later, they have members of American Cosplay Paradise putting on Lucky Star dances and TTGL heaven-piercing. How far they’ve advanced…

Original pic courtesy of Lelouch’s Myspace blog

Lucky Star’s first US volume got dated about three weeks ago and now we find out about the extras that limited edition purchasers expect to find inside the pretty art box come May 6th. The $35 “upgrade” will yield you pack-ins in the vein of the Haruhi LEs but tweaked a bit: the opening theme and Konata character single CDs, a T-shirt version of Ryou-ou Gakuen’s winter girl’s school uniform that frankly looks kinda lame, and a chocolate cornet screen wipe that actually might be useful. The regular edition will still feature liner notes so you can understand the more obscure references as well as “The Adventures of Minoru Shiraishi” which may or may involve footage from the fan events he hosted.

Considering the Haruhi CD singles are individually priced at $10 each and T-shirts sell for about, you’re getting a bit of a deal. One question: will all the tees be the same size, e.g. large? If so, that may cause trouble for some buyers. I remember the FLCL Ultimate Collection included a postcard to send in for your free shirt but it took over a year and a month to finally get it in the mail so there’s definitely a tradeoff between speed and getting the right size.

Anime on DVD spotted new listings on Right Stuf for Lucky Star Volume 1 (episodes 1-4) with the release date currently scheduled for May 6th. It looks like Kadokawa Pictures USA is going down the same release path that they did with Haruhi by releasing a $29.98 standard edition and a $64.98 limited edition plus box. The extras in the limited edition aren’t known right now – the pics on TRSI only show the outside of the box - but I’m guessing there will probably be some pack-in items. LE pics after the jump.

Volume 1 limited edition cover (Japanese Vol. 1 regular edition cover)

Box art for limited edition package

Japanese Volume 1 Limited Edition cover

Over the past week, there have been reports of problems with Bandai’s January 8th releases involving unreadable discs or specific episodes and extras not accessible. The affected titles (from ANN and the AOD forum thread) include Eureka Seven #11, Flag #2, My-Otome #4, and both the standard and limited editions of Gundam Seed Destiny #12. Not a good way to start 2008, for sure. If you have bought any of these and had problems, you can use Bandai’s customer service form to get in touch with them since they seem to be handling the problem directly, which RightStuf has advised its customers do in a recent news update on their site.

RACS owner Robert wrote about the problem, reporting a 20% rate and ended his post with the following warning:

For the record, this will be the third GSD DVD of the twelve that has come from Bandai with some sort of encoding problem in the first batch. It really is time for Bandai to fire their replicator and hire a contractor that has some decent quality control. These types of problems are getting too common in their releases, and if they continue fans will become more reluctant to buy their DVD’s – and then we’ll have another ‘Geneon’ fiasco on our hands…

So if you’re thinking of picking any of the above at your local brick-and-mortar tomorrow, chances are they will play fine but don’t be surprised if they do not. The only new release from Bandai this week that seems not to have had problems so far is Di Gi Charat Nyo! #5 but I expect that a lot fewer people were anticipating that release compared to Eureka or Gundam.

Code Geass Dub Cast:
Lelouch – Johnny Yong Bosch
Also voiced: Ichigo (Bleach), Renton (Eureka 7), Koizumi (Haruhi), Kiba (Wolf’s Rain)

C2 (CC) – Kate Higgins
Also voiced: Sakura (Naruto), Talho (Eureka 7), Saber (Fate/stay night)

Kallen – Karen Strassman
Also voiced: Soifon (Bleach), Miyo Takano (Higurashi), Konoha (Please Teacher)

Suzaku Kururugi – Yuri Lowenthal
Also voiced: Sasuke (Naruto), Yuu (Noein), Alviss (MAR), Yuri (Kyo Kara Maoh)

Lloyd – Liam O’Brien
Also voiced: Ukitake (Bleach), Gaara (Naruto), Archer (Fate/stay night)

Tohdoh – Steve Blum
Also voiced: Spike Spiegel (Cowboy Bebop), Roger Smith (Big O)

Bartley – Peter Spellos
Also voiced: Hiroshi (Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure), Whamon (Digimon)

Clovis – Dave Wittenberg
Also voiced: Kakashi (Naruto), Kei Kusanagi (Please Teacher), Solomon (Blood+)

Emperor (Lelouch’s Dad) – Michael McConnohie
Also voiced: Babbo (MÄR), Berserker (Fate stay/night), Yuichi Tachibana (Initial D)

Shirley – Amy Kincaid
Also voiced: Chiharu (Boys Be), Kotone (To Heart)

Milly – Julie Ann Taylor
Also voiced: Souseiseki (Rozen Maiden), Yukari (Paradise Kiss), Sophia (Last Exile)

Nina & Sayoko – Kim Mai Guest
Also voiced: Subaru (hack//SIGN)

Lucky Star Dub Cast:
Konata Izumi – Wendee Lee
Also voiced: Haruhi (Haruhi), Angel (Big O), human form Yoruichi (Bleach)

Tsukasa Hiiragi – Michelle Ruff
Also voiced: Yuki Nagato (Haruhi), Rukia (Bleach), Tsukiko Sagi (Paranoia Agent)

Kagami Hiiragi – Kari Wahlgren
Also voiced: Kyon no Imouto/Tsuruya (Haruhi), Anemone (Eureka 7), Fuu (Samurai Champloo)

Miyuki Takara – Karen Strassman

Akira – Stephanie Sheh
Also voiced: Mikuru (Haruhi), Eureka (Eureka), Hinata (Naruto), Orihime (Bleach)

Minoru – Sam Regal
Also voiced: Taniguchi (Haruhi), Shino (Naruto), Little Slugger (Paranoia Agent)

Kuroi-sensei – Kate Higgins

As you can see above, many actors from the Haruhi dub cast was kept for Lucky Star. Like a number of the anime I have seen through on fansubs, I would like to see how the final mix of English voices will sound especially in the first episode with that long conversation about food. Yui wasn’t announced yet because she wouldn’t appear until the 5th episode, which would be the first one on volume 2.