First time I’ve felt phone envy…the new Galaxy S III looks pretty sweet, and makes my HTC Evo look absolutely prehistoric. Even still, I think I’ll find it within me to hold off on purchasing any new phones before my two year contract with Sprint expires. Figure it’s better to wait another year and get a phone that’ll make the Galaxy S III look like a complete waste of time.
You can find the long awaited (I’m sure) Ozma review. It’s a long one! Sorry if parts of it ends suddenly. After sitting on it for a week, I didn’t feel like waiting much longer before publishing it. Also, I haven’t really proof read it too much, so sorry if there are some grammatical errors! It’s not like this is a nationally syndicated blog so I’ll feel free to post un-proofread reviews every now and then 
The review can be found after the break.
PS. If you would like me to take more effort in proofreading these reviews before they are posted, comment or email gomibako@tensai-desu.org. Not really expecting many responses though =P
ANN recently ran an interview with the founder of a small company called Nyu Age. Nyu Age brings Japanese doujin games to Western audiences. Pretty interesting article; the fact that small companies like this exist is really cool. I’ve tried a few doujin games that were localized by Nyu Age’s competitors Rockin Android and Carpe Fulgur.
As far as indie games go, these doujin don’t seem to be nearly as popular or receive nearly as much attention as their Western indie counterparts. Western indie games have received a lot of attention over the past few years. The indie game scene has really exploded thanks to services such as Steam, PSN and XBL. Digital distribution has made it very easy for small studios to have their products sold to the gaming masses.
It is a little surprising that companies such as Nyu Media haven’t received more attention. Hopefully Nyu Media, Rockin Android and Carpe Fulgur have a lot of success in the future, and bring more games to our shores.
I’ve been waiting for the news that Persona 4 The Golden would be released in America. I figured it would only be a matter of time before Atlus announced US localization plans for the game, especially considering the fact that they were already going to bring the Persona fighter over from Japan.
Well, one wait is over and another one has just begun. Persona 4 The Golden will be released in the U.S. sometime this fall. I’m pretty excited! I guess this means I should actually get around to beating Persona 3 Portable. That will be quite a challenge, as I’ve just started playing Ys Seven. Persona 3 Portable is a great game, I’m just terrible at finishing RPGs.
I’ve been pretty busy at work lately, but that won’t stop me from spending some quality time with Kids on the Slope. Hit the break below for a brief synopsis of the action.
Just a quick status update. I’m currently working on a review for Ozma. Long story short, I thought it was a pretty good series. Look forward to my actual review as I’m planning to go all out with it. Should be a good one.
I’m currently watching the following titles (no particular order):
When I saw “watching”, only some of those are on a week to week basis, so take that list with a grain of salt. Stand out titles so far are Fate/Zero (naturally), Tsuritama, and Kids on the Slope.
In terms of video games, I’ve been bouncing back and forth between MLB The Show 12 and BF3. Started Ys but not sure how far I’ll get with that one at the moment. Not really in the mood for a real RPG right now.
That’s about it really. Work has been pretty stressful so I’ve had to spend a lot of my free time during the work week sleeping. Doesn’t lend much time for fun and games unfortunately.
EDIT:
I gave MGX the good ol’ college try. Three episodes in and I just can’t get down with the whole drool thing. Perhaps it would be one thing if it only happened from time to time, but they keep on pulling that gag out nonstop. I wanted to like it because its off-beat and the characters are fun, but in the end I have to put it to rest.
Funimation has announced a partnership with social media company Milyoni which will allow users to rent and watch anime on facebook.
The prospect of having Facebook know even more about my tastes is not an idea I find very interesting. Also, while I’m not ashamed of anime, I don’t exactly want to broadcast my interest in it from the rooftops of the internet.
At the very least, the rental plans seem to be somewhat cost effective. Episodes apparently will be rented in four to six episode bundles which will provide unlimited viewing for 48 hours. The bundles will cost anywhere from $.99 to $3.99. If prices are kept to the lower end of that spectrum, this service could gain some traction. While not everyone may enjoy the notion of having to go through facebook, it will make accessing the content very convenient.
It will be interesting to see how well this service performs. I personally like having a dedicated site with a flat-rate pricing scheme like Crunchyroll or Netflix. Paying a la carte works well when it comes to renting a movie every now and then, but heavy consumers of anime would be best served by going elsewhere. A popular 12-episode series priced at $3.99 for four episodes would already be more expensive than one month of Crunchyroll.
I was surprised to learn that Sentai Filmworks has a policy of creating an English language dub for any anime that is put on a BluRay disc. This policy seems to explain why not every anime licensed by Sentai Filmworks gets treated to a high definition BluRay release.
Personally, I’d rather see each release get a high quality HD BluRay release, even if it does not feature an English language dub. If I can extrapolate the video quality of And Yet the Town Moves, released by Sentai Filmworks earlier this year, to all of Sentai’s DVD releases, I can safely say that I will not buy another Sentai Filmworks DVD. The picture quality of that release was not good. The original broadcast of the series featured both HD and SD versions. The HD version looked decent- the animation was crisp and smooth. The DVD released by Sentai Filmworks on the other hand looked faded and low budget. After watching a few episodes of the DVD release, I got the impression that Sentai Filmworks really didn’t care about And Yet the Town Moves.
I’m not sure what the costs of production are for DVD media vs BluRay media. Perhaps the licensing costs associated with BluRay discs adds enough overhead to the process that only a select few titles are released using that media. Sentai Filmworks has been licensing pretty much anything they can get their hands on lately so it seems reasonable to assume they would be unable to produce a BluRay release for each and every title in their catalog.
Although I could be wrong, I believe it makes more business sense to ensure that each release gets the HD BluRay treatment, even if it comes at the expense of licensing fewer titles each season. Western consumers are used to having HD everything: HD televions, HD gaming, HD movies, HD fansubs, &/c. By releasing poor quality DVDs, Sentai Filmworks risks alienating their consumer base. If I were the head of a company like Funimation or Sentai Filmworks, I would focus on licensing the titles that are most likely to sell (the Haruhi’s and Madoka’s of the world) and release them on both HD BluRay discs and on DVD. I would ensure that the picture quality on both mediums are excellent so that the reputation of my company would be enhanced with each release.
This approach of quality over quantity is the exact M.O. of NIS America. NIS may license only one or two titles a season, but they put a lot of effort in to each release. The retail release is usually BluRay only, and features extras such as artbooks or high quality “postcards”. While NIS releases are generally more expensive (approximately $70), the consumer knows that they are buying a high quality product.
I would be very interested to see the sales figures for each of the major Western anime licensing companies. The Western anime industry is a cut throat industry, and I can’t imagine that any of the companies involved are making a huge profit. Online streaming may very well save the Western anime industry, as it allows the licencor to compete directly with fansubbers and save money on distribution costs. The best way to fight piracy is to produce a legal product that has the same convenience and speed of the pirated copy. Perhaps the best course of action is to first release a show digitally and track is popularity. The titles which attract the most viewers can than be identified and released on home video.
At the end of the day, the good news is that when Sentai Filmworks brings Kids on the Slope to market, a BluRay version will be available. After watching the first two episodes, Kids on the Slope has really piqued my interest. So far it’s been great, and I’m hoping it only gets better. It would be a shame to have an original title such as Kids on the Slope be released in a haphazard fashion on a low budget DVD.
I would really like to see Sentai Filmworks succeed. It is encouraging to see a company get out there and compete directly with Funimation. Competition is not only good for the consumer, it is also the sign of a healthy ecosystem. Given that the Western anime market seemed to be on the verge of collapse a few years ago (see the demise of Geneon, the sale of Funimation), I am excited to see that Western companies are now picking up new titles on a daily basis. If all goes well, we may be entering in to a new era where the West can actually support the East, instead of acting as a financial parasite.