ANIME TODAY Previews SWORD OF THE STRANGER With Bandai Entertainment’s Robert Napton & Taku Otsuka
Posted on: Friday, January 30, 2009
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Episode run down:
We're looking forward to joining a few thousand fellow anime fans in theatres across the country to see the anime feature Sword of the Stranger. This one-night-only event is coming up on February 5th and to hear more about it, we got on the phone with Bandai Entertainment's Robert Napton and Taku Otsuka. Stay tuned for this informative conversation and to find out how you can order your tickets today!
Thanks to JapanFiles.com, you'll be sampling tracks from the CD METROPOLIS by noodles throughout this episode. A full list with the times each song was played will be posted at the bottom of this episode’s show notes at AnimeToday.com. And if you haven't checked out JapanFiles.com lately, they've been adding more albums and artists almost daily!
Chad's up first with and all new What’s Hot in the World of Anime and Manga. Then Shawne reminds you to “Join the Battle for Bargains” on DVDs from ADV Films and then Rich and Nick will bring you the latest contest updates.
Next week, the critically acclaimed Sword of the Stranger will be appearing in select theaters across the country, and we’re going to talk with Bandai Entertainment’s Director of Marketing Robert Napton and the American adaptation’s producer, Taku Otsuka. After that, Kris and Judy will cover the Japanese T-34 robot - it may look like a vacuum, but its able to fire a net and capture intruders. They’ll also talk about a new service that’s available on a limited basis in Japan, the "Wii Fit Body Channel." Nick and Rich will then return with a rundown of upcoming conventions across the US. Lisa Maria then points her spotlight at the Kiba DVD Collection. And finally, we’ll close the episode with some of the latest customer reviews from RightStuf.com.
What's Hot?
Tomoya Okazaki leads anything but a charmed life, and because of a series of tragic events, he’s grown more and more difficult and sullen. Now even labeled a delinquent by his school, Tomoya sees each day as one more dull experience after the other. That is until the morning he meets the odd, yet intriguing Nagisa Furukawa. Their chance meeting shifts into a friendship, which leads Tomoya’s life in a whole new direction.
Based on the Key visual novel, and adapted by the team behind the Air and Kanon anime series, discover something unexpected when Clannad DVD Collection 1 lands on March 3rd.
Nanami Takahashi’s greatest ambition is to make as many friends as possible. But when she ends up falling for Motoharu Yano -- the most popular, carefree boy in class -- she wonders if it all might be more than she bargained for. For Nanami, it's first love, but Motoharu is still grieving the death of his girlfriend who died the year before.
Continue following their less than textbook perfect romance when We Were There Graphic Novel 3 hits shelves on March 3rd.
Yui is the perfect android maid – designed to cook, clean and perform any number of other household activities. Unfortunately, Yui’s new owner Takaya has his own ideas about what her domestic duties should be. One of those rare, self-aware androids, Yui is humiliated to find herself forced to parade about in an ever-changing variety of anime and maid costumes, while Takaya indulges all his deranged fantasies.
Get ready for nosebleeds, tentacles and panty-shots galore when the Indian Summer DVD Complete Collection breezes in on March 10th.
Fujiki Gennosuke and Irako Seigen are bitter rivals in constant competition for the secrets of their master’s sword and the right to his daughter. The final chapter of their saga unfolds within a brutal samurai tournament -- a gruesome contest arranged to satisfy the bloodlust of a cruel tyrant overlord.
The legendary swordsmen must summon the strength for one last battle -- a final lesson in the artistry of violence where nothing is more beautiful than the kill. Follow the saga of intertwining fates, conflict, and strange destinies when Shigurui: Death Frenzy arrives in standard and Blu-ray collections on March 10th.
Kenichi’s no one’s idea of a “tough guy.” He's perpetually getting picked on and doesn't have a lot of friends to stick up for him. What he really needs is motivation – motivation to end his days of being a wimp, which just might allow him to graduate in one piece.
Enter Miu - the perfect motivation. She's attractive, she accepts him, and she just happens to live at a dojo with six martial arts masters. Following fate (and Miu) to the dojo’s door, Kenichi is about to get whipped into serious shape.
If he can survive some hard-core training, he just might survive another day at school. Root for the underdog when Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple Season 1 DVD Part 1 is released on March 10th.
Shawne's Specials and the Battle for Bargains Sale!
See all of Shawne's Weekly Specials!
Check out the Bargain Bin!
Right Stuf Contests and Updates
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Congratulations to the winners of our The King and I contest! Our runners-up Becky B of Lebanon, Tennessee; Michelle B of Bronx, New York; and Philip H of Jackson, Missouri will each soon receive gift packages containing the first three episodes of The King and I, plus the series poster! And our grand prize winner Jim C of Royersford, Pennsylvania will be receiving a K-drama goodie bag featuring the first three episodes of The King and I and The Grand Chef, along with posters of each, PLUS a bonus preview disc!
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Next up, we’re excited to announce the following 10 fans have won a pair of tickets to see Bandai Entertainment’s Sword of the Stranger, in theaters next week! Joshua B of Iva, South Carolina; Harold G of Powder Springs, Georgia; Joseph M of Washburn, Wisconsin; Grant P of Nampa, Idaho; Jerry D of Springfield, Ohio; Maurice F of Syracuse, New York; Ann D of Grand Rapids, Michigan; Monica W of San Lorenzo, California; Tina B of Belleville, Illinois; Kana B of Roaring River, North Carolina. Remember even if you didn’t win, you can still see this new film from Bandai Entertainment and the creative team behind Cowboy Bebop on the big screen for one night only – February 5th! Seats are limited, though, so be sure to follow the links in the show notes and purchase your tickets today!
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And finally, we’re teaming up to offer fans of the FUNimation series Gunslinger Girl some cool merch… This time around you have the chance to win one of five Gunslinger Girl cloth banners featuring the series’ cast! To enter and check out the artwork – go to the Contest page in the “What’s Hot” bar at RightStuf.com before February 12th. We’ll announce the winners during the next episode of Anime Today!
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Robert Napton and Taku Otsuka from Bandai Entertainment
Feb. 5, 7:30 p.m. One Night Only! GET TICKETS NOW!
Bandai's Sword of the Stranger Website: http://stranger.bandai-ent.com
Japanese Robocop Nets Crooks By Phone: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/88904-Japanese-Robocop-Nets-Crooks-By-Phone
Japanese security robots can now catch intruders: http://www.geek.com/articles/gadgets/japanese-security-robots-can-now-catch-intruders-20090123/
Nintendo Introduces Wii Fit Body Check Channel: http://kotaku.com/5139902/
Marie's Spotlight: Kiba
I’ve mentioned before my weakness for long-running shonen adventure series, especially those of the variety most likely to get shown on Toonami. Unfortunately, Toonami's gone off the air, but its spinoff site, Toonami Jetstream, is still serving up episodes everyday of Naruto, Hikaru no Go, and more. Last year, that “and more” included the action-adventure series Kiba, and while it's a shame it never made it to TV I'm more than pleased to see it now out on DVD.
In a dystopian future in a city called Calm, the wind has stopped blowing and the polluted air is so thick nearly all of its inhabitants wear face masks as a daily matter of course. Zed, an unruly teenager, runs wild in the streets after dark, constantly breaking down doors and gates on the instinct that somehow, somewhere, there must be a way to escape. Instead, he's stuck with his crazy mother locked up in a city hospital, weird dreams he can't understand, and some sort of strange green and gold circle mark on his arm. Fed up with paying off the police to keep his constant destruction out of the papers, Zed's school is ready to expel him, but Zed refuses to, or can't stop. His best friend and student council president, Noah, tries to understand, but friendship can only do so much. It’s not until Zed has a run-in with a crazed assassin out of the blue and an inter-dimensional portal remarkably like those in his his dreams, that he finally manages to escape from his nightmarish life.
Hurled into a land called Tempura, Zed at first thinks he’s finally discovered freedom and - even better - a power he wasn't expecting. In Tempura, many people have small, colorful markings on their bodies just like Zed's. Known as “shard casters,” they can produce small, round magic “shards” which can dole out damage, paralyze limbs, create smoke screens, and more depending on the user's skills. The most powerful shard casters can even control a wide variety of giant spirits. After inadvertantly calling up one of these spirits himself, Zed’s determined to master his sudden new ability, but he has no idea how. His usual tactic of rushing around inadvertently breaking things isn’t helping – nor is the fact that Tempura’s on the brink of war. Meanwhile, Noah’s also found himself sucked through a portal, and he's landed in a neighboring country with its own troubles. On the bright side, they’ve both found themselves a few new friends to help. On the downside, they're gonna need it if they want to survive.
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I started the first episode of Kiba and discovered that, standard anime warning about bright-lit rooms or no, I was going to have to turn off the lights if I wanted to see Zed’s frustration with his literally dark world. Not only that, but things got both violent and creepy remarkably fast. But just like Dorothy landing Oz, bright colors make their sudden entrance in the land of Tempura. Spirits, shards, the mention of a tournament-style joust – I’m back in familiar territory. Until, of course, night falls and Tempura proves it’s no utopia, but a dangerous and exciting place. Noetopia, where Noah landed, is no slouch either.
Fans will notice a wide and eclectic spectrum of anime tropes and conventions in Kiba. The most obvious parrallel is YuGiOh, thanks to the broad assortment of spirits and the related trading card game, but there's also shades of Fushigi Yugi in the friends separated in another dimension, Wolf’s Rain in the dystopian city Calm with Zed's instincts leading him away, and Jyu-Oh-Sei in Zed's abandonment in a strange world he's uncannily suited for. It's not a list I would normally put together, but Kiba makes it work, and work well. Think of it as a modern genre-melding Escaflowne.
While the action sequences are good, and there's plenty of them, it’s the characters that really pull Kiba together and move the plot along in unexpected directions. In both worlds there’s a pervading sense of foreboding in the air and there are villains aplenty – some obvious, and some much less so. Despite that, there are any number of characters still trying to do the right thing, though they’re not always sure what that is and successful attempts can result in horrible consequences. Zed himself is an interesting lead, because rather than simply wanting to be the best or playing the smooth action hero, he’s a genuine teenager: uncertain, frustrated, desperate to establish himself in the pecking order, and yet, despite it all, still idealistic.
Kiba was animated by Madhouse, and it shows in the animation. As they did in Cardcaptor Sakura, they employ their mastery of knowing when to use a simple pan and when to really spend the cash on an exciting chase scene. The character designs are, depending on the world, subtly sinister or brightly energetic and colorful. The spirits especially are a brilliantly imaginative cross-section of monsters. They're just the sort their target audience might dream up given a blank canvas and a giant box of pencils and paints, smoothed over and brought to vivid life.
Kiba is perfect for older kids and teenagers looking for something more grown-up than YuGiOh but who aren't quite ready yet for, say, Basilisk. ADV’s packed 26 episodes into this first collection, making it an easy introduction into the wider world of anime beyond Kid’s WB and Fox Block, and the characterization and plot make it an enjoyable ride for us older hands as well.
What our customers are saying
Music this episode featured from:
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METROPOLIS by noodles
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00:00 --- 08. Bunny hole
02:42 --- 09. I'm just playing the guitar
06:24 --- 05. superstar
08:05 --- 11. Ingrid said
10:12 --- 10. LOVE MY LIFE (METROPOLIS EDIT)
25:47 --- 07. kimitobokunoainouta
30:53 --- 06. bitter friend
32:59 --- 02. Grease
39:38 --- 04. glasgow girl
42:45 --- 01. METROPOLIS
43:33 --- 03. I recall
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