Loathe as I may be to link ANN, it's necessary if you want to understand what the fuck I am talking about. So there we go. If you don't want to read anymore about the Kodomo no Jikan issues, then piss off and go wank while I discuss issues of great import. It's my site, fuckers. Anyway, DeAngelis is trying to justify his purpose in dropping Kodomo no Jikan now that he's pissed off so many people. I'll be commenting on… large chunks of his article. (Also, tl;dr incoming.) (Also, the other rant jigger is here.)

But this time I sat down and read the series carefully in Japanese, and what I found in volumes two and three were very disturbing.

And you say you lived in Japan for six years? What the fuck were you doing in Japan for six years that ANYTHING in Kodomo no Jikan is disturbing? Mission work? I mean, of course I'd except an Amerimanga creating shitcan to not really "get it." But, hey, God bless America. Land of the free… until you upset someone. Then Capitalism takes over and free expression goes out the window.

So, my primary reason for canceling Nymphet is due to my recent realization that later volumes in the series can not be considered appropriate for the US market by any reasonable standard.

I seriously can't be the only one that finds it ironic that this sort of thing is being said while there is a review for dubbed hentai sitting at the bottom of ANN's sidebar. Seriously, man. Pick up a copy of Yubisaki Milk Tea. I know I keep coming back to it, but check out the cajones on TOKYOPOP. Or how about Battle Club, Shiozaki Yuji's MAGNUM OPUS (to me). Those two books are one of the few reasons I buy TOKYOPOP despite their transgressions.

But let's be serious for a second about how this title got licensed. Some ACTUAL manga fan recommended it at some meeting you guys were having. Being the dick stroking togetherness club that I know you try to run, you said KEEN IDEA IT IS SO MOE OTAKU BAKA LOLOLOL and then you licensed it and went back to writing your hack stories with their shit art. Later on, you actually picked up the series while stroking the latest copy of Serenity, hoping to CAPTURE THAT RAINBOW, and the holy spirit came down and slapped you for touching naughty books. I mean, this is how I figure it went.

…as a fan, I understand your frustration.

Ok, ok, really quickly here. The last time I checked, fans didn't make cheap knock offs of products they loved… except Sader. Sader is a work of love and purity. Beyond that, fans don't END UP APOLOGIZING TO OTHER FANS FOR FUCKING THEM OVER, SINCE FANS DON'T LICENSE AND DISTRIBUTE MANGA. I mean, here's my overall point. Be a fucking man. Stop chasing the almighty dollar, do a smaller printing for any store that will carry it, and BE A FUCKING MAN. I can't really stress that enough. This is a new fucking century. People have a new outlook and it involves FREE SPEECH and FREE EXPRESSION. You lose some money on this title, so fucking what? I am sick of you double talking shitheads who are all for freedom until something upsets you.

Oh, and before you try to tell me it's not a free expression issue, yeah, there is no active censorship from a government, but the stifling of this release through means of threats, angry letters, and capitalistic urges amounts to the same fucking thing doesn't it? Using a majority rule or a scare tactic or financial posturing to keep something that isn't illegal from being heard is persecution. It doesn't have to be done by the government.

…at this point, I can only assume that you have not seen certain segments later in the series…

I have, I wasn't offended. I still want the books in English. If I was running the company, it'd be sitting on shelves right now. Also, as I understand it, people aren't bound by the mystical codes of Xanthar to BUY ANYTHING ON A MANGA SHELF. Especially wrapped things. Just consider the wrapping an Anti-Jesus barrier and your shopping experience will be all the easier.

Are we really doing people a service if so many of them find the material so utterly offensive?

Am I confused, again, about how this works? Are you going into homes and spraying stencils of Rin, spread eagle, on the walls of would-be buyers? (Sign me up!) No. You're OFFERING a PRODUCT of which PURCHASE IS OPTIONAL. I'm a bit bothered by this part as well: "If only a few unreasonable people happened to be offended, I would take what they say with a grain of salt." And then he says reasonable-minded people were growing in numbers asking it not be released. So, this, yeah, it bothers me. It's REASONABLE to ask that product not be released because they might be offended SHOULD THEY CHOOSE TO PURCHASE AND READ IT? Why does the wildly spinning moral compass of you or some forum goers determine what myself, and those reasonable folk who agree with me, get to read? Do you think TOKYOPOP's upper management are all out morally agreeing with Yubisaki Milk Tea or even all the bath scenes in Ai Yori Aoshi? Doubtful. Why should you have to justify your choices? To use another analogy before moving on… you know those porn shops in your city? Every city has one. Are those people on your forum ok with them? NO?! Should they be shut down? And don't give me the "that's their decision as a business" bullshit. THEIR WHOLE BUSINESS IS OFFENSIVE TO LARGE GROUPS OF PEOPLE.

One more point before moving on, the protestors are good at organizing. They're good at telling the sheepies to make calm "reasoned" arguments for calling for the, in a retail sense, banning of a book/work of art. Can we organize like that? No. Contrary to popular belief, most of us have lives and jobs and better shit to do that spend 22 hours a day posting about things that offend us. I will point you to this years season finale of The Simpsons for a fair example.

How will this affect the manga market as a whole? My conclusion: I don't know.

Of course, you don't. You're a shitty business man and a coward. I will explain the two possibilities and give an idea of how it might work out. Firstly, and less possible of the two, is that people take a cue from this of the coming shit storm and finish up any titles with questionable content and stick to A-Grade kid loving bullshit. Secondly, and more likely, no one will give a shit. The Super Jesus Warriors (or whatever they call themselves. And don't try to weasel out of it because you're Christian. No on else goes around forcing innocence on other people.) will go to a bigger company, or a company with a boss with more self-esteem than a teenage girl, and they will get the brick wall. They'll "amass" a protest consisting of their members and whoever else they can get to hop over from SuperChristianAnimeDefendersForChrist.com, read 50 people. It will fizzle out after a week, since that is the upper attention span of the internet, and life will go on unchanged.

Seriously… have these kids seen the Yaoi manga out there? DMP isn't running for the hills because of a few whiny blowhards. Here's some business sense for you to pass on to the whiners: "Not every piece of work we release will be for every one of our readers. We feel it is our utmost duty to respect all viewpoints, even if some of our readers do not agree with one another. We further suggest that if you do not enjoy one of our titles, to please let us know so that we can help find other properties in our line-up that you will enjoy. Also, how are high school lesbians cool with you people (KashiMashi)? Are you all stupid?"

Since we plan to release a variety of popular, mainstream titles that are geared not only towards young adults, teens, tweens, and children, the risk that this one title could sabotage the rest of our library did not seem like a sound business decision to me.

I'm noticing adults doesn't appear in that list. And yet you licensed KnJ? I mean really trying to give you at least a LITTLE credit here. You're making it hard for me, man. That first volume doesn't make sort of allusion to the fact that the further series will get "better." In fact, it basically promises that the stakes will be raised as time goes on and Rin gets more… you know… cocky. Haha. Cocky.

What do the vendors think?

Pussy.

Doesn't this suggest that you will cancel other risque' or borderline titles that some people may find offensive?

No, as long as they do not cross that line that Nymphet clearly does, we will not cancel titles at the drop of a hat.

No, it suggests that they'll let the hat float on down until they hit some predetermined number of complaints. Man, I swear, it's people like you who make me want just start my own company. This shit is embarrassing for everyone. Nymphet doesn't cross any line that hasn't be crossed a million times in LARGE CIRCULATION MANGA WEEKLIES IN JAPAN. We're not talking about a book that's being put out in like Moe Paizuri Weekly here. It's in fucking Comic High! That's Seinen stuff people. LATE TEENS AND OLDER MALE COMICS. COME ON! They publish Hitohira in that book! COME ON!

…sorry to disappoint all you sincere manga fans…

I just found this bit funny. Apparently the people who want it and find its cancellation to be a step too far are sincere manga fans. As much as you will call it spin, I'd say that's the most accurate statement in the letter.

But hey, that's it for it. I say you should drop the damn thing now. Drop the license, let someone else pick it up if they want, and just never talk about it again. Stuff like this is a steep slope. I guess, more than maddening, it's depressing. I really wish American companies would get it together. Either learn about what you're bringing over FIRST or bring it over and do it as best you can.

I'm seriously considering just taking out a huge fucking loan and some credit cards and starting a manga publishing house. This stuff is driving me insane and I can't deal with it anymore. I JUST CAN'T PEOPLE! I MEAN HAVE YOU READ THE ENGLISH IKKITOUSEN?! HE HAS RYOFU MAKE PEE STAIN JOKES DURING HER FUCKING DEATH SCENE! WHAT THE HELL!??!? It was so fucking beautiful in the original version. Shiozaki-sama is a god. A GOD! Ah well. Thoughts?

Oh, and as a quick aside for people who bothered reading this far, I will be working on the SUPER SECRET PROJECT again starting soon. Got distracted there for a while. Oh, and I put what I am sure is the offending image up after the jump. Mildly NSFW.

(more…)

Well, I certainly don't want to take attention away from the problems we're currently facing. So, if you would, read that, comment if you want. I've heard about the bannings at LJ. Hey, I offer hosting. Just saying.

Moving on, some good info for Zero no Tsukaima ~Soutsuki no Kishi~ has hit. Yes, that's the name of the second season. Famitsu has some shots of the new characters and info that the new series will begin in July, so keep an eye out. Yeah!

Also, the School Days anime finally has a website over at AVEX, so be sure to check that out (WOO THIGH HIGHS!). Out in July. And the latest Aria OVA, Aria the OVA ~Arietta~, has a website now. Please to enjoy it. First disc hits on September 21st.

Well, it looks like Seven Seas isn't half the company I had thought they were. I am about to get mean about this. Here goes. DeAngelis, you're a pussy. You're a punk bitch pussy who can't stand up for any sort of freedom. Oh yeah, Tom's of Finland is fine for print, TOKYOPOP has the balls print Yubisaki Milk Tea and NHK ni Youkoso unedited, but a man who spends his days mocking real manga with fan fiction and bitching about artists being censored by American companies won't stand up and put out something mildly controversial. Man, what a fucking joke. Kodomo no Jikan is hilarious and fun. But no, the Christian Anime Forum crew came rolling in, and you dropped it. (Also, the other rant jigger is here.)

So, as it is, ikimashou does NOT support Seven Seas and will go to great lengths to point out alternative sources for material they've licensed. Anyone else who wants to join in boycotting this kowtowing group of bloody vaginas would be much appreciated. Jason, man, you need to learn to filter internet bitching. Twenty people on your sagging forums doesn't equate to the tons of people who have no idea your site exists or don't want to sign up.

So, as I see it, you've got two real options. Either man up and release the fucking thing, or give up the license so someone with a set of testicles can put it out proper. Well, that is if they even would. You just basically made the property unlicensable. Asshole.

Here's a link to the scanslations that have been done so far. Read and enjoy it. Hit the jump for a prime example of why this is one of the best manga ever.

(more…)

Well, well, well. Quite a weekend. We've got everything from trailers to anime announcements to aging pop stars falling off stairwells and dying. That's my kind of pop. Good ol' memorial day have me a much needed extended weekend. So the rollup comes now. BWAHAHAHA! Prepare yourselves. Also, I have no officially watched 124 episodes of One Piece. I'm considering a switch to the manga. Basically, Bad Dad and the Desert Dudes (if you've watched the Alabasta Arc you know what I mean) Anime-Only arc drove me nearly insane. Look, Scorpion, I don't care about family togetherness and your acid gun, ever how cool that is, won't change my mind. On with the rolls.

Anime/Manga/Games

• I plan to do a thing about this on Dasaku, but it looks like Seven Seas is holding off publishing Kodomo no Jikan (which, for some idiot reason, they renamed Nymphet.) because it doesn't give up-tight assholes the warm and fuzzies. Here's two tips for you invalids. First, drawn kids AREN'T REAL. The worlds in which they exist, similarly, DO NOT EXIST. Please note this in your religious book of choosing. Second, if you ever have a face-to-face conversation with me, it's in your best interests not to tell me you approve of the banning or editing of ANY BOOK, SHOW, MOVIE, OR GAME EVER. I'm just saying, I play violent video games. You never know what I might do.
• Looks like Sakuraba Koharu (Coharu? Get the fuck out of here with that, crazy jap.) is doing well for himself. The Kyou no Go no Ni creator has another SEXEH manga being turned into an anime. This time the fun comes in the form of Minami-ke. DelRey isn't really making good use of that Kodansha cross-publishing thing, leaving both of these untranslated. SCANSLATION FTW!
• Trailer: Appleseed Saga: Ex Machina has a site online… AND A FURASHU TOOREIRAAAAAAA. Hits theaters on October 20th.
• Looks like Pyu to Fuku! Jaguar is getting animed… oh, and it's getting a live action movie as well. The anime MIGHT be good, the movie will be woefully underfunded and boring.
• Moonlight Mile is getting second season. It gonna be cawld TOUCH DOWN! hehehe. futbawl. I'm taking lunch after I finish this. Just saying.
• The artist on Comic Party is starting up a new superhero parody manga called Ratman. It will not be good. Unless it has boobies. That might save it.
• Oh yes, and to all my good friends in Singapore… I will miss you all when you flood the prisons for copyright violations. And people who say this makes the Kodomo no Jikan thing look silly, I'd say no, in fact, it more makes Singapore look like desperate nation that mistreats its citizens in favor of protecting those fabled Intellectual Property Rights.
• And in honor of my Singaporean pirate friends, I've posted a TOTALLY COPYRIGHTED AND NOT FREE ACCESS trailer for Piano no Mori. You can grab the "official" streams here in Quicktime and Windows Media formats.

Figures

• Danny Choo is an ASSHOLE. Yes, I say that entirely out of jealousy.
• Not enough 1/4 Haruhi ladies in your life? Well, FREEing has heard the cries of the populace and is bringing a 1/4 Tsuruya to the market! TELL YOUR FRIENDS! She's out in August for 11,800 yen.
• Got a couple of things that will offend those with strict morals regarding fictional characters. From the Purei*Stationary (Play, if you like) line, we have some eroero (but work safe) lolis performing much needed desktops tasks. Firstly, Kurara-chan will be handling all pen holding duties. I imagine a Wacom stylus would fit nicely there also. She's out in August for 1,980 yen.
• And secondly, Harara-chan will make measuring things… you know… complicated. Very, very complicated. But, hey! You can forgive her, right? Right! Same price this August.
• I skipped this 1/7 scale crap-suck Gosurori Kan-U recoloring. It's getting a bit tired, now. Let's put her to bed.

And that's it! We're done. I have a chunk of manga to buy tonight… and a need to firm up my resolve to learn Japanese so I can rail against manga censoring without actually being affected by it. And without having to read it on my PC. Damn it all. We need disc based brains so I can just install the language.

Does anyone here do anything with the Bemani series other than that DDR bullshit? I mean, Guitar Freaks and Drum Mania are the two best music games on the market. Also, I sick of Harmonix blatantly ripping Konami off there. Anyway, play those games. And Beat Mania. And I suggest you take a gander at how Konami fails to deliver on the prototype sculpt for Iroha from beatmaniaIIDX. If you compare it to the original art, which will also appear after the jump, it's really just depressing. Is the figure sexy from the neck down? Sure, just don't look at the hands (and I'm not the only one to notice this), but really, it falls short of the mark. Still, they need 2,500 preorders by June 17th or the whole thing gets scrapped. Otherwise, it's out on October 27th for 4,935 yen. Oh, and she's 1/8 scale and stands 200mm tall.

A single shot after the jump, with the production art to compare. Also, god damn Shingo for living in Japan. The time difference makes me look like an ass when I post stuff like this. DAMN YOUUU, SHINGO!!!!!

(more…)

Word from Afternoon magazine is that a new Taiho Shichauzo anime is in the works. Not a lot of info out yet, except what staff names. Here's a few of them if they mean anything to you. Nakajima Atsuko will be returning for character designs, Bakretsu Tenshi's Ouhata Kouichi will be directing and Gakuen Heaven's Takahashi Natsuko will be scripting. And, sadly for fans, that's all the information that's out right now.

There were some pictures in Afternoon, but I can't get a hold them, if anyone has the issue please send those pictures along to me. Pllleasseee

Well, well, well. Just when we thought he had heard the last of GSC and Max for a while, here comes another run of figure meats for the auction block. Mmmm, figure meats. Alrighty, let's tackle this shit, since I am still busy. First up, Max Factory is putting its best chest forward and dropping a loverly 1/7 (best) scale Aniesu (Agnes, if you like) Bell on us. If you haven't seen Oku-sama wa Mahou Shoujo… well, you're not missing much, but if you are a fellow appreciater of "gazongas" then I would recommend that you at least give Madame Asaba a chance. You will find she is not lacking in the assets which are your primary concern. I mean her boobs are big. She's 245mm tall and will run you 5,800 yen this September.

Secondly, and quite… you know… sexily, is THEiDOLM@STER's Amami Haruka. She's sporting a pink bikini and her cute little cell phone penguin thing to give you an excuse for buying it if you have a girlfriend. "No, I wasn't thinking about rubbing myself against this high school aged character. I thought this phone was cute." If she buys this, please have her ovaries removed, as we don't want that sort of idiocy replicating. Still, ladies, it's like that old saying, "If it's old enough to hold it's head up, put your dick in it." And we've gotten off topic. She's 190mm tall and will be out in September for 4,800 yen.

Lastly, and to breath some fun into an otherwise mundane figure offering, GSC is kicking out two sexually charged… nendoroid figures. From Death Note. As it is we have the borderline disgusting Amane Misa and the hilarious-in-that-chair L. Not a whole lot to say, they both come with swappable faces and arms and shit. They stands 100mm and 115mm tall respectively. Want them? VERY WELL THEN! You can have them! For 3,000 yen each this September.

Hit the jumps to see everyone in their HADE GLORY! Sorry, been watching a lot of One Piece lately.

(more…)

Well, are we looking into future? INTO THE NET FUTURE?! I am sort of out of it today. Yeah, sorry. So, somehow the July pair from Kaiyodo both bores me to death and rocks my nickel plated socks off. Who nickel plates socks anymore? I don't know. First up from Kaiyodo, the painfully boring Saber from the BOME collection. She marks number 23 in the on going series. I mean, not only is the pose plain and uninspired, the face looks of shit. I mean really. I feel like this same figure has been done to death a hundred times before, and done better. She'll run you an ridiculously high 4,725 yen. Suck should cost less than this.

Next, on the categorically awesome side of things, is this mysterious el. figure. I can't seem to find out much about her outside of the preorder page and the WF coverage from before. It seems she's from a world where bugs have invaded and caused lots of problems, as such, she need her goggles and bug spray kit to help keep safe. The carve on this on is well done, unique, and carries with it a certain flavor that you don't often see in the PVC world. The coloring is awesome and well thought out and just generally wow. She's 210mm tall and she will be out in July for a scant 3,990 yen. I might be putting her on as an add on for July.

Three of BOME Saber and a bunch of el. after the jump. Also, HLJ has most of this crap up for preorder, so be sure to act fast, ladies.

(more…)

Hey, remember when we were all bitching about wanting some supporting character figures from Haruhi? Well guess who we're going to see? No, it's not Tsuruya. It's Asakura Ryoko. You know, the psycho bitch with the knife and the eyebrows? Yeah, Max Factory is making Asakura Ryoko. Does she look good? Well, of course she does. It's a Max Factory sculpt! IDIOT! She's a bit fat in the face. And crazy. She's 200mm tall and she'll hit the stores in September for the low, low price of 4,800 yen.

Be sure to hit the jump for a good five pictures. THEY WILL MAKE YOU JIZZ ALL OVER! That's inappropriate.

(more…)

ARE YOU INTO MURDER MYSTERIES!? I know some of you sickos must be. It's statistically required… or something. Well the murder mystery manga Shion no Ou, which also include shogi somehow, is going to be made into a television anime. THAT'S RIGHT KIDDIES! Will it be good? I have no fucking clue. I'm not into this sort of stuff. Of course, that's not a judgment on you at all. I mean, I'm sure ALL sorts of people