Huzzah! Today, you can save up to 50% off anime movies and series on Amazon.

There are several excellent series and movies at reasonable prices (high praise from this frugal anime fan), including:

• Baccano! The Complete Series Box Set ($27.49)
• Cowboy Bebop – The Movie ($11.99)
• Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid Box Set [Blu-ray] ($34.99)
• Mushi-Shi: The Complete Box Set ($28.49)
• Paprika ($10.99)
• R.O.D. – Read Or Die ($9.49)
• Samurai 7: Box Set ($26.99)
• Samurai Champloo: The Complete Collection ($37.99)
• Shana: Box Set ($36.49)
• Spice and Wolf: Season One ($31.99)
• Tekkon Kinkreet ($10.99)
• Tokyo Godfathers ($11.99)
• Welcome to the NHK: Complete Series Box Set ($36.99)

I don’t know if I’ll last the day without spending some of my gift money on the Shana: Box Set or Samurai Champloo: The Complete Collection. Both are series I’ve wanted to own for a long while now. And, of course, Tokyo Godfathers remains one of my favorite anime films ever.

If you decide to drop some coin on anime deals today, feel free to post a comment and tell me what you picked up!

Regardless of what you think of Kanye West, his character, or his music, it’s clear that his music videos reflect an appreciation of animation:

• Good Life: Live action music video featuring animation by So-Me
• Good Morning: Animated music video directed by Takashi Murakami and animated by Oriental Light & Magic
• Heard ‘Em Say: Music video featuring segments animated by Bill Plympton
• Heartless: Animated music video featuring rotoscoped animation and references to Ralph Bakshi‘s American Pop
• Stronger: Live action music video directly inspired by anime film Akira

As stated in previous posts, I like to watch anime series currently airing in Japan as soon as fansub groups subtitle and release episodes. On rare occasions, I let an awesome series slip through the cracks and return to it later by chance or recommendation. (Dennou Coil is the best example of this type of temporary oversight.)

The purpose of my preamble is to explain why it’s taken me this long to watch the second episode of Natsume Yuujinchou, which I did today. Here’s a short summary of the series as provided by Anime News Network:

Natsume Takashi has the ability to see spirits, which he has long kept secret. However, once he inherits a strange book that belonged to his deceased grandmother, Reiko, he discovers the reason why spirits surround him. Containing the names of these spirits, a binding contract was formed between the spirits and the owner of the book. Now, Natsume is determined to free the spirits and dissolve the contracts. With the help of a spirit cat, his days are filled trying to return the names to these spirits.

There are few subjects that hold my attention as powerfully as mythology and folklore, so chances were already good that I would watch and enjoy this series. Natsume Yuujinchou does not disappoint, basing its plot on themes found throughout Asian folklore. For example: Knowing a being’s true name gives a person power over that being. (On a side note, the same is true in Egyptian mythology, as explained in a myth where Isis tricks Re into revealing his secret name.)

Continue reading →

I’m fascinated by animation. Ever since I saw Fantasia as a child, I understood that talented animators could create a new and fantastic world using their art. I developed a love for animated shorts when I watched The Animatrix, a collection of amazing animated short films based in the Matrix universe.

So when I heard that 15 of Japan’s top animators created 1-minute shorts for NHK, I had to see what they came up with.

HUZZAH!

My wife and I have been saying for years that we would gladly shell out a reasonable amount of cash for a box set of Mai-HiME. I’ve kept an eye out for a box set since I first watched the series in 2004 only to find, time and again, that the series was only available on separate DVDs. But I bring good news: A recent search on Amazon not only turned up a box set, but a box set at a reasonable price.

Anime industry, take note: People will glady pay $30-$60 for a box set of a solid 24- or 26-episode series; however, those same sane and reasonable people–people who have bills to pay, groceries to buy, and like to buy a game now and then–will NOT pay $130-$180 for a box set, even if it’s a box set of one of their favorite series.

I’m looking at you, Geneon/Pioneer. Not only did you price the box set of Read or Die TV over $120, you also discontinued the product!

Whenever my wife and I visit a major retail chain that sells anime, we make a point to visit the anime section and laugh at how absurdly expensive anime is. Why would any reasonable person wait 2-3 years for a series to be licensed and sold in the US and then pay $20 for a DVD containing 3-4 episodes when fansub groups sub episodes days (not years) after they air in Japan and offer more accurate translations than the official DVDs that follow a few years later? Judging by the quality of English dubs, I think it’s safe to say the money’s not going toward competitive wages for English voice casts.

There are several other series I would gladly by if they were sold as a boxed set and at a reasonable price. Unfortunately, it looks like I’ll still be waiting a long, long while until the next anime purchase.

On an unrelated note, how much would it cost to license Dennou Coil for US distribution? Seriously, why has this series not been picked up yet? It’s amazing.