New Oh! My Goddess TV series

[Wayne]

I appreciate you good people telling me about this series, since I would've had no idea otherwise. *chuckles* Guess I'd better start looking for episodes (and better start hoping they label them differently so I don't confuse them with the OAVs, heh)! :]

[smkviper]

Episode 3 is fansubbed now. I like how they are following the manga for how Belldandy and Keiichi get the temple instead of them just finding an old abandoned one like in the OVA.

Oh, and if the mods let me, you can download the bittorrents from animesuki (They only list unlicensed anime and take down links to licensed anime as soon as it is licensed, so it should be alright to link to...)

[smkviper]

Well, the series got licensed by, of all people, Media Blasters. Which means that fan-subs will be much harder to find now (Damn the MPAA and their wrongful suing of Suprnova). Also, because neither Pioneer nor Animego (if Animego is even still around) didn't pick it up, we'll probably have to have yet a 3rd set of voice actors for the OMG cast... *sigh*

Oh well, one can only hope this means that they will be bringing it to the US this year...

[Spanner]

Well, the series got licensed by, of all people, Media Blasters. Which means that fan-subs will be much harder to find now (Damn the MPAA and their wrongful suing of Suprnova). Also, because neither Pioneer nor Animego (if Animego is even still around) didn't pick it up, we'll probably have to have yet a 3rd set of voice actors for the OMG cast... *sigh*

Oh well, one can only hope this means that they will be bringing it to the US this year...

Media Blasters uses the same voice crew as Pioneer does, so don't worry too much. (For just one example, Kaoru in Rurouni Kenshin has the same voice actress as Miz Mishtal.) Unless they ignore the voices chosen when the movie was made (definitely a possibility), or are unable to contract those actors and actresses (also another possibility), it is quite possible that we'll be staying with just the two casts.

I have to admit, I enjoyed the dub cast for the AMG movie. I was a little curmudgeony about it, since I wanted the ORIGINAL dub voices, dammit, but I have to admit that the new cast suited their roles nicely, for the most part.

[smkviper]

Well, I like the dub team for both the Movie and OVA, though having just one dub team for both would have been best.   I have heard a rumour though that they are trying to get the Animego dub team (OVA VAs) though I don't know how true that is, or whether they will be able to get them. Oh, and apparently a certain group is still fan-subbing the series, but I won't post who until I confirm it and get permission from a admin to post that info.

[smkviper]

Well, episode 8 is Urd's debut. And also includes a few quick cameos by Skuld, Ere, and Ex (I think Chrono was off camera because of the way the camera was angled)

And it looks like episode 9 is going to be Sayoko and Aoshima trying to find out Belldandy's "real" identity, including using the S&M club

[Wayne]

Anyone else feeling a little disappointed by this series? :/ I mean, with a few episodes exempted, it's been very slow and not really all that funny... like character development extended way too long (since we all know Keichi's a wimp who doesn't finally make a move until like halfway through the manga or something). There's been some good points-- I like this version of Sayoko a bit more than her two-dimensional manga portrayal (though conversely we have Aoshima, who's much worse... eh), but....

Episode 8 just about killed me. I mean, for the last two episodes it's all "Just a little bit longer until Urd shows up...", and then, once she does; she's like completely toned down from the manga. (Except for her outfit... wow. ) She goes from seducing Keichi and lying to/hypotizing him to... trying to mind control him to go after Belldandy? Um... yeah....

Since I know Peorth won't be showing up for like thirty episodes or something I might give this show a few more-- maybe see what they do with Skuld, and if it has some more humorous stuff-- and if it doesn't get better... well, there is the manga.  :|

(Well, OK, I'm lying. I'll probably keep downloading it until it gets a lot worse. But I'm no longer quite so uncertain about that possibility.   )

[mark_engels]

well, there is the manga.  :|

Speaking of that, I just picked up the latest GN, _Sora Unchained_, today at B&N.  It's numbered 19/20, and is the last edition that will be released in "Westernized" format.  From now on, OMG! will be released as a translated edition of the original Kodasha "tankoubons" beginning with Edition 21 (the same number currently available in Japan.)

Apparently the Kodansha editions are all the same page count, unlike the Westernized ones.  Ours so far have been released around one continuous story arc.  Sounds like future ones will have uniform page counts irrespective of whether or not they end on a cliffhanger.  That's one thing I will miss about the Westernized editions, which will eventually be taken out of print.

Non-Westernized editions will be released for the orignal nineteen eventually.   No word yet as to whether the new editions will keep their Kanji sound effects or not.

The statement also goes on to say the loose-copy editions of the monthly comic will no longer be published.  

While the new format will take getting used to, I was one of the original purchasers of the Neon Genesis Evangelion left-to-right reading manga Special Collector's Edition.  As we've mentioned here, in the years hence the "original" version has become the de facto standard.

Personally, I think this is a good move.  The popularity of manga and anime in the North American market has finally reached critical mass.  Why, even today I perused the manga aisle at B&N, knowing full well there was more manga there than I'll ever manage to read in my lifetime.  And more comes to these shores by the day.  Having something for everyone is truly a wonderful thing.

'Scuse me..gotta burn through this gem all in one go before wifey and I watch the final DVD of our Inu Yasha First Season TV box set.  

--me

M. J. Engels
Signal Technician
Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen LU 14
CN Rail
Valparaiso, Indiana  USA

[smkviper]

For those of you trying to keep up-to-date on the anime, Mara has finally showed in episode 11.

Being as Mara is one of my fav OMG characters and she has never been animated before (mini-goddesses doesn't count), I was estatic

[js_morris]

Having watched all the eps to date, I have to say they've done a wonderful job of adapting the stories and, when a tweak is required, they make it logical and relatively painless.

I took my AMG manga collection back to Omaha with me last weekend, and let me tell you, it's pretty stunning to see the early stories in the original art style. He has come a long, long way and it's certainly for the better.

But dammit, I want SKULD! And PEORTH!

JSM

[mark_engels]

To add to the previous discussion about manga in this thead, I would like to present the following viewpoint:

http://www.tcj.com/sp2005/intro.html

For those who previously posited that the "un-Westernization" of OMG and other titles was cheapening the quality of the finished product, there are those in the industry whom would agree with you.  I found the commentary very interesting myself, to the point where I might re-consider my previous statements regarding "authentic" manga.

Enjoy.

MJE

BTW, finished watching the fifth disk of Martian Successor Nadesico last night.  One more to go.  There is little I DON'T like about this series!  If for no other reason, it permits us otaku to poke fun at ourselves.

[js_morris]

I have a great deal of difficulty taking anything the Comics Journal says seriously: their unofficial motto is "We Hate Anything That's Popular".

That being said, the writer does have some interesting points. I will say, however, that the American comics industry ought to sit down and really figure out why manga sales are head-over-heels higher than DC or Marvel's output.

JSM

[smkviper]

One thing I've recently seen (in the NGE manga published by Viz... second edition or something like that) is that they keep the original sound-effect artwork in Japanese, and then have a glossary at the back of the book with explanations as to what the sound effects are.

This annoys me to no end. With the NGE manga, I just now pretty much guess at a sound effect and read on instead of going to the work of looking it up in a large table in the back of the book (with small type also).

Couldn't they have at least put a note next to the panel as to what the sound effect is? It would only take a single word, or maybe a small sentance.

Just seems extremely lazy to me, and another reason I dislike so-called "authentic" manga. (Don't get me started on how Vis un-flipped Video Girl Ai mid-way through the series. The book quality now is worse then the originals.)

that the American comics industry ought to sit down and really figure out why manga sales are head-over-heels higher than DC or Marvel's output.

It's really a no-brainer. DC and Marvel only do one thing (at least in the casual person's eyes, like me): make superhero comics. There may be others, but I never see them.

I don't like superhero comics.

Manga gives me thousands of more choices. I can have "superhero" comics if I really wanted, but I can also have sci-fi, historical, some weird modern/historical hybrid, school romance, comedy, giant space battles, guys that inexplicably attract 10 females to live with him, and lots of other possibilities.

Is it any wonder I have a manga collection and not a single american comic? (I count Megatokyo as manga btw )

[belldandyfan]

Well, the series got licensed by, of all people, Media Blasters. Which means that fan-subs will be much harder to find now (Damn the MPAA and their wrongful suing of Suprnova). ...

Actually, that all may be coming to a crashing end for the MPAA in a few months. Take a good look at the supreme court hearings on the issue and you'll see what I mean. The justices... even the ones that are conservative and are generally the ones that are  pro-big business are all saying that the file sharing technologies like bit torrent and the like are damn nifty... and have serious good deeds that they can be used for... This tone is very very reminescent of the tone the supreme court had when they rules on the betamax issue back in the 80's

The upshot is... if the justices rule that file sharing technology companies cannot be sued... then the mpaa will have it's grip well and truely snapped off at the wrist,elbow and shoulder in one fell swoop.

Once that happens... they will be forced to adapt their business models to make file sharing un-needed ...which they are desperately trying to avoid doing because they like being able to charge rediculous rates for movies and music. (take a look at the MPAA's recent decision to sell dvds of movies in china for $3.00 to $4.00 us... the deal is... they will just take out the extras section... (big whoop) in those dvds.  They say they're doing it to help deter piracy... but the fact is... they could be providing movies at that rate in the us then (no overseas shipping and such)

The MPAA looks like it's going to have it's rear end handed to it in the courts... and they are doing some serious back pedaling in their arguements.. especially since a lot of artists and big high tech companies are saying that the MPAA is a buncha selfish controlling basta.. well you get the idea.. and that if they are allowed to keep suing... that it will stiffle high tech innovation.

Check in on the court proceedings.. it's one of the most important cases there is in the digital world right now.

[smkviper]

To get back on track, the first season of the OMG TV series has concluded (24 was the last episode)! They went out with a bang with the "Terrible Master Urd" story arc, with a few slight additions/changes. One change that I really liked was putting in Lind as Heaven's "backup plan" in case Belldandy could not take care of matters. So we got to see Lind in action, yay! I would say there is a pretty good chance of a second season and I look forward to it. Peorth did not show during this season (aside from a single pic in the image slideshow during the credits of the last episode), Hild showed twice (in sillouhette only), and the Ninjettes showed in the intro. I look forward to seeing them in future seasons. There may be two more OVA episodes created for the DVDs, but it isn't officially confirmed as far as I know.

Definately a series to pick up on DVD when it hits the states! (or whatever your locale is)