Saturday, March 22, 2008

The Business End of Fandom

I felt a certain resignation about the trouble at ADV and relief at their recovery. Their dubious Anime Network, ailing manga line, and trickle of new titles were harbingers to trouble. The releases of UFO Maiden Valkyrie was a come-down from Rahxephon, Kino's Journey, Kaleido Star, etc. I'm glad that ADV is getting back on its feet and I ordered Kanon 2 & NHK 1; 5 CM per second will be next.

One of my concerns is that the English voice versions will permanently suffer from this down turn. they've found and cultivated real gems in Lucy Christian, Chris Patten, and Hillary Haag. I've bought some anime just to hear Hillary Haag in them. The funny thing is that I bought "Princess Nine" to listen to Nagasawa Miki (Ibuki Maya in "Evangelion) as Hayakawa Ryo. I ended up listening to the English version and have listened for Hillary Haag ever since.

Fortunately they're back. Bandai has announced that they are reviewing their pricing scheme. While they're at it, they can meditate about the failure of the original "Gundam" (not Wing) to ignite America. Maybe the Gilligan style steering wheel in the Musai cruisers and the White Base might tip them off. Maybe, because "Macross" and "Robotech" also explored the themes of war, civilians at war, and idea of a ship as a home, but with considerable more polish.

Also, Right Stuf & Corneranime Store continue to contribute through Nozomi Entertainment with the slated release of "Maria-sama ga Miteru". Unfortunately, Geneon couldn't get it done, though Maria-sama was produced by the main branch of Geneon. It's been a rocky couple of months for anime, but it continues to go strong. Even if it doesn't, I'll still be here, and I'm pretty sure that other old skool fans will be, too.

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