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What OtakuAnthony bought this week December 30th
The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya DVD/BD
Plot Synopsis: “Ten days before Christmas, it seemed like just another ordinary day for the SOS Brigade; Haruhi came up with another one of her crazy ideas to hold a Christmas party in the club room. But things got weirder from there…
The next day Kyon woke up to a world in which Haruhi didn’t exist and no one besides him had any memory of her. How can someone like Haruhi Suzumiya, who’s supposed to be center of the universe, just vanish?”
I enjoy the Haruhi TV series. Hell I do not even have a problem with Endless Eight but that is a story for another time. I wanted to see the movie for some time now, but with Right Stuf having the movie on sale I found it a great time to go ahead and purchase it.
The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumia is available from RightStuf
The DVD only version is also available
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Wolf’s Rain: Anime Legends – Perfect Collection
Plot Synopsis: “In some distant future, it’s common knowledge that all wolves have been extinct for 200 years. However, it seems this is false as wolves have not disappeared but rather have taken human form. Kiba, a lone wolf, wanders into a city, trying to sniff out the Lunar Flowers that are supposed to lead whoever follows the scent to paradise. The source of the smell is Cheza, a girl who sleeps in what appears to be suspended animation in a lab. She and the wolves are drawn to each other, and Kiba hopes to find paradise once he finds the source of the scent of Lunar Flowers. However, once Kiba finds Cheza, she is kidnapped by a mysterious person called Darcia, and his search begins anew. Before he leaves the city, he meets 3 other wolves, Tsume, Hige and Toboe. All four wolves have very different personalities and ideas, and their friendliness towards each other is a little rough around the edges. However, they soon band together to continue to search for paradise”
I have never watched Wolf’s Rain before in my life. I have though heard a lot of good things about the series over the past year and after listening to the most recent ANNCast which this series was talked about I decided to go ahead and grab the series since it is going OOP.
Wolf’s Rain is available from Amazon.com
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My Girlfriend is the President
Plot Synopsis: “My Girlfriend is the President is a multi-scenario love simulation game full of cute girls, hilarious parody, and touching romance. Players step into the shoes of Junichiro Honda, who wakes up one day to find that the world has been transformed by aliens into a bishoujo paradise where cuteness is the ultimate authority. His childhood friend Yukino Ohama has become President of the United States of Nippon, and whatever she says goes! Junichiro has to find a way to set the world right before the madness goes too far.
Joining US President Ohama are Russian President Irina Putina, Chief of Staff Ran Miyoshi, and a mysterious girl called Ell who just happens to be an alien starship in human form. Through their choices, players will be able to decide which of these cute and quirky heroines Junichiro ends up with.”
I have a bit of a secret; I enjoy eroge games. I also enjoy eroge and VN anime adaptions even if they are average or mediocre show . I never played this game before but I decided to pre-order it some time ago and give it play when I get it.
The ConBlog: New York Anime Festival 2010
In September 2009, Reed Exhibitions, the company that brings us New York Comic Con (NYCC) and New York Anime Festival (NYAF), announced that in 2010 they would be combining both conventions into one super-huge mega-con. This news was met with mixed reactions. Some were delighted to hear that they would be able to get into both cons with only one admission – two cons for the price of one. Others were fearful that this was basically an excuse to “eliminate” NYAF, and that Reed would end up focusing mostly on the NYCC portion, while NYAF got “shoved into the basement.” Unfortunately, our worst fears came true, and as a result this year’s NYAF was far less enjoyable and far more frustrating.
But before getting into all that, let’s talk about the panels that took place…
ANNCast – Viewers Like You
In the latest ANNCast, Zac Bertschy (@ANNZac) and Justin Sevakis of Anime News Network tried something new: a “call out show.” They had several different guests come on, one at a time, to discuss various topics. Zac and Justin were kind enough to let me be a guest on the show. On the show, I discuss anime viewing habits and a few “moe shows” that might be worth checking out for those who aren’t really into the moe thing.
ANNCast – Viewers Like You
In the latest ANNCast, Zac Bertschy (@ANNZac) and Justin Sevakis of Anime News Network tried something new: a “call out show.” They had several different guests come on, one at a time, to discuss various topics. Zac and Justin were kind enough to let me be a guest on the show. On the show, I discuss anime viewing habits and a few “moe shows” that might be worth checking out for those who aren’t really into the moe thing.
JanaiBlog Editorial: Illegal Anime Distribution
Please note: This is an editorial. While facts may be stated, opinions will be given. My intention of this article is not to state a moral stance; it is to promote supporting the anime industry.
For a while, I’ve had mixed feelings on the topic of fansubs and the illegal distribution of anime. While I’m not completely anti-fansub, I do believe they pose a certain threat to the anime industry, and can discourage fans from properly supporting the industry that they love. A person watching Fullmetal Alchemist for free illegally on a streaming site is not supporting the show’s licensors, and therein lies the problem.
If an anime series is legally available in the country you’re in, it should be obtained through legal means.
Those are my thoughts in a nutshell. Thanks to Crunchyroll, Funimation, and many others, we live in the age of streaming and simulcasting. There are plenty of legal ways to watch anime, and for free too. I’ve compiled a list of legal anime streaming sites that you should check out:
| Website | Price | Simulcasts |
| The Anime Network | Free ($6.95/month for full access) | No |
| Anime News Network | Free | No |
| Crunchyroll | Free ($6.95/month for premium) | Yes (many) |
| Funimation Video Portal | Free | Yes (some) |
| Hulu | Free | Yes (some) |
| Joost | Free | No |
| YouTube (certain channels: The Anime Network, Bandai Entertainment, Funimation) | Free | Yes (some) |
Did you notice a trend in that list above? They’re all FREE. Granted there are some situations, like with Crunchyroll, where non-paying members have to wait a week to get the anime they want. However, I still feel that’s no reason to resort to illegal anime streaming of the shows they have, especially considering the price that Crunchyroll is asking for is so small. $6.95 per month is not going to put you in a financial crisis.
These sites have a wide selection of great anime, many of which are available both dubbed and subbed. Despite this, there are still many sites that illegally provide fansubbed (and sometimes even dubbed) episodes of anime for free. I do realize that for some, these sites are the only option due to region locking. However, for those of us that can access the legal sites, I feel we really should be using those.
This means that I am not okay with streaming (or downloading) One Piece, for example, illegally, because (1) it’s legally available and simulcasted for free on Funimation’s video portal, and (2) it’s also available on DVD and sold in stores. There is no reason to resort to illegal means of obtaining it. If you can’t stand the low quality of anime streams, then go buy the anime on DVD. If you don’t want to buy it, you can rent the DVDs from Netflix for as little as $4.99 per month! An industry cannot thrive without financial support from its fans, and now is the time where the industry needs us most.
Now, you may be asking “Janai, this is all good to say, but do you practice what you preach?” and my answer to that is “Absolutely.” The only anime I will download fansubs of are those that are not licensed. If an anime is simulcasting legally on a site, I will use that instead of the fansubs. When an anime becomes licensed, I delete the fansubs from my hard drive and buy it on DVD or Blu-ray. That’s how I support the industry, and while I can’t expect everyone to follow suit, I personally feel it’s a reasonable compromise.
So, if you really want to watch a particular show, I implore that you first check to see if it is available legally. And if it is, please make use of those legal means. In doing so, you tell anime companies that you want more free streaming of anime, and more new shows to get licensed.
