Simple obligatory question: what're you guys looking forward to for Spring 2010?

Other question: Dunno if you guys have talked about it yet, but FUNi's Soul Eater dub: yay or nay? I personally don't think it's half bad, but I'm interested in what you guys think.

Spill the beans, what are your guilty pleasures in anime and manga?

So I noticed a Saber lily... lol

On that note, Saber's Portrait Artbook has been out for a while and it had a lot of cool art. More importantly though, Rin's just came out a few days ago - any of you planning on buying a copy or do any of you collect artbooks?

Also, any F/SN fans among you guys that have feelings on the UBW movie?

Gah where can this Rin's Artbook be bought? I have the Saber one already and it rocks. (Goes off to look)

"...insert-other-noun-with-a-J-in-the-front"

Q:What is your favorite flavor of Jello? Or JAPAN Jello?


Do they have Japan Jello? I'm just thinking of words with a J in front of them :D

Should 'Zangeki no Reginleiv', the Viking inspired semi-sequel to EDF 2017 be titled 'Earth Defense Norse' when it's localised to the US? Yes or Yes?

@Rangoric: http://tinyurl.com/yfl85lz (--Japanese Amazon but in English is the only place left with it in stock, they ship outside Japan but it's not cheap. HLJ and Hobbysearch had it but are already sold out.)

I want to hear your GUT reactions to this so I hope I can keep the question simple. Do you want Japanese-produced media to diversify? Reach a larger audience? Square-Enix is acting fast (setting up SE Europe). And it's been proven that high school girls/moeblobs don't sell well overseas (except Asia)!

My question really is - Do you want Japanese media to stay Niche? Taro Aso (ex-Prime Minister) certainly didn't.

So far, what shows from this and the last season would you guys like to see licensed?

So we just had Man Day recently, and while we all got to see Brad's favorite GAR anime, I'm really interested in hearing the rest of you guys' thought were some of the better manly anime.

What do you guys think of filler episodes in long shonen shows? Do you think it would be better to just have a season finale or should they just milk it for all it’s worth if people keep watching? If you were calling the shots what would you do?

With such a variety of great shows this season like Durarara and... like Durarara, it's easy to forget about all the great movies coming around. Any thoughts/hype on UBW, Disappearance, Lupin III, or Lagann-hen (though you've already talked about it)?

QUESTION: Will u ever have guests on the show? and if so how do i sign up? Also, I would like to further our discussion on why Sora No Woto is so kick ass.

Lastly, does anyone have any news on the 3rd season of Black Lagoon?

yours truly,
Dorji

Question: That Saber is terrifying, not because of her threat of violence, but because one arm is clearly way shorter than the other, am i rite?

Okay, so it's a rhetorical question.

I'm with Darksorrow29 ... I'd understand if they need time while the manga develops so they can catch up, but I'd really like to know if there's a reason Bleach is sticking with the fillers, rather than going back to the main arc. I couldn't find any hints to what they said at the end of episode 255 online about the studio conflicts.. any insights here?

To throw a J-Drama question as well... what are your thoughts on other Anime turned into J-Drama/Live action shows, like Jigoku Shojou, Gokusen, GTO, etc. I think Hana Yori Dango translated quite well, but some of the others, not so much. What other J-Drama shows that have origins in Anime/Manga would you recommend?

1. Do you think anyone in the States could(or have) start a company making 'anime' or 'animation'. That its main target audience in not kids or what we see on the CN or Nickelodeon the majority of the time. The only one I could think of so far is Seven Seas Entertainment who make Afro Samurai.

2. The past few sessions we be stuck in some kind of moe hole. In the sessions coming up what styles of show would you like to see more of? More moe or would you like to see shonen or mech show, maybe something else. Can you think of any themes or styles of show you like to see that you haven't yet?
I think I haven't seen many old westerns style anime, that might be cool who knows.

I was gonna ask something analytical, but then I decided a personal question would probably be more flavorful. So...

What series first got you into anime? Not necessarily the first series you watched, but the first series that really grabbed you and made you take notice, and ultimately, made you a fan. What was it about that series that really appealed to you?

It's always fun to get another perspective on the subject, so: "What do you guys think about people saying the Japanese Game Industry is stagnating in comparison to the Western one?" Personally, I don't believe this is true since our industry suffers from the same pitfalls. Pandering to the masses whenever there is a popular media? Check. They do games about anime, we do games about disney/pixar movies, harry potter, twilight, lightning thief, movies about comics, BRATS, and just about everything else that can be whored. By the way, WTF was there a game about QUIDDITCH? A non-sensical, made up sport by an author writing about a magical boy? Seriously WTF? Sorry, I digressed a bit there. Okay, moving on. How about sticking to crutches? Check. They do mostly JRPGs, we do mostly shooters. In our defense, we do 2nd and 3rd person... shooters. The biggest selling games in the last 3 months include CoD MW2, Uncharted, MAG, Army of Two, Mass Effect 2, and Left for dead 2. It's not like either side has not tried to do something that was somewhat different and met success. We did assassin's creed and scribblenauts, they did demon's souls and ryu ga gotoku to name a few. Has anyone really done anything ground breaking and new? Hell no. Well, scribblenauts is probably the exception, but then again the concept was kind of similar to Rudra no Hihou, but in that game words you enter were created into spells of varying attributes. At any rate, the only real difference I see is that our market is sevreal times bigger which gives more margin for error which strangely enough should mean our side can take more risks, but don't. Which is why I tend side with the Japanese Game industry on such topics since despite their smaller base, risks are taken.

I'm moving to Japan in September for a school year (11 months). Jealous?

@ TheOneBlackMage basically it is like this, if they make fillers and people still watch them, why not make them (from a money making stand point). Lower quality plot and what not is easy to do and you still get paid for the commercials. Sadly it makes shows as a whole look worse with all the fluff in it, but there is a trade off for them.

What's Brad Nicholson's shoe size?

Sorry, but seriously, what are your thoughts on the Trinity Blood anime/book/manga? It was the series that got me into anime.

With the popularity of Dragonball Kai and the possible relaunch of Sailor Moon, is there any other animes you guys want to see remastered?

@Tim: Can't she be both?????

What are your opinions on the up and coming Bakuman anime? Fans of the manga? Or do you not think it lives up to Death Note?

I ask some questions on the last Jtor AM blog post but I shall change them.
Here is some questions

Did anyone watched the show Trapeze last season completely?

Does anyone think the band yellow magic orchestra is awesome?

Also, any tips of getting my friends into causally liking anime? One I know liked the beginning of Elfen Lied and other like Trinity Blood (which I haven't seen).

Also another one because I can.
What is your favorite japanese style sound effect?
I like jiiiiii (for staring)

Also another one because I can.
What is your favorite japanese style sound effect?
I like jiiiiii (for staring)

Which one of you is a virgin?

@skeletalknight

That seems a tad personal.

Good thing it's only a tad.

I'll give you a hint. His name starts with a J and ends with an n

What kind of anime do you expect for the next season?
Is there any live-action adaptation you are truly against?

err...
I've been watching Kuroshitsuji time and again, and i wonder if there are other decent butler related anime out there. Disregarding Ladies vs Butlers.

I don't think you've ever discussed music in anime, so I'd like to hear what you guys (Dale, Tim?) consider a good anime soundtrack. Of course I'm not talking about licensed OP/ED affairs, but rather the sort of stuff that busies Yoko Kanno, Taniuchi Hideki, Susumu Hirasawa and Yuki Kajiura. Name me some favourites, and tell me how anime composers back in the day (before you became a bunch of jaded assholes) were infinitely more capable and creative.

Also, I second the Bakuman question.

Eggplant.

@PBz0r we've already recorded the show but I'll go ahead and answer that for you right now. I'm not a fan of Joe Hisaishi, but I know a lot of people are, so I wouldn't say that he doesn't create good soundtracks simply because I don't like anything he's ever done. Kanno is very good, though I can probably point out several examples of her blatantly lifting from other composers--not that it matters very much, I'm sure nobody's butthurt over it. In general, I feel that soundtracks have actually gotten better over the years, so I can't really be that jaded about it.

Taku Iwasaki is definitely one of my favorite composers. The work he did on Now and Then, Here and There, Witch Hunter Robin, and both Kenshin OVAs were all pretty fantastic. He's actually doing [iKatanagatari this season, so maybe that's one reason to actually sit through the endless dialog.

I'm also a huge fan of Hitoshi Sakimoto, though I've arguably been a fan since he started scoring JRPGs back in the day. He did some lovely work on Romeo x Juliet and The Tower of Druaga. I was actually lucky enough to meet him at GDC last year. He's a really cool guy. I hope that sort of answers your question.

is the episode out yet?

@ Tim Sheehy
That answers the question just fine, yes. Kanno does lift from other composers a lot, but because of that it seems her range as a composer is just incredible. Just watching Bebop you can tell she can pull off virtually any style she wants, and as a listener I'm all for variety. As for Taku Iwasaki, I first heard about him after he did TTGL, but I had no idea what other shows he's worked on. Now I know, I can probably add him to my list of favourites too.

I had no idea Hitoshi Sakimoto composed anime by the way. Everything he does sounds a tad samey in my opinion though; if it's composed by Sakimoto, you can usually tell a minute into the game. Breath of Fire V seems like his only soundtrack with a bit of variety here and there.