Licensed to Animate

Scrapped Princess, Nanaka 6/17, Popotan, and Jungle Guu (finally!) have all now been licensed for distribution in the U.S. That's good news for the makers of these series (money!) and good news for me (I can now get high quality DVDs of these shows), but it means that when someone asks me why I like anime, I can no longer point to AnimeSuki and say "download this!"

The only fansubbed series I'm following closely right now is Aishiteru ze Baby, which I've mentioned here before. It's a charming series, but it's not terribly dramatic or exciting. Kimi Ga Nozomu Eien is well-crafted but ultimately deeply unsatisfying. Kyou Kara Maou has some good moments, but seems to be a basically silly adventure story. Pretty Cure has a great opening theme, but the magical companions of the two girls are possibly the most irritating things I have ever seen in anime.

Full Moon wo Sagashite hasn't been licensed yet, but it's a 52-episode series, and good as it is, it's not fun all the way. (We know from the start that the heroine only has a short time to live.) Pita Ten and Da Capo both put me to sleep. Hmm. Ultra Maniac is kind of fun, but there's a reason I haven't bothered watching the whole thing yet.

Still, AnimeSuki lists 265 unlicensed series available for download, so there's gotta be some good stuff in there. Anyone have any recommendations for recommendations? (By comparison, 88 shows have been licensed so far this year. If that sounds like a lot, that's becaus it is.)

Oh, good grief, ADV have licensed Yumeria. Either they got a two-for-one deal (apparently not uncommon), or there really isn't anything good left unlicensed.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 05:33 PM

Comments

1 Hrm, it seems like you like Shoujo shows, and most of the good ones of those have been licensed. Maria-sama ga Miteru isn't licensed, and the second season is just starting. It has some shoujo-ai in parts if thats a problem. Good non-shoujo shows would be Fullmetal Alchemist (sadly, its been licensed), Naruto (if you like ninjas and fighting with the character development), and Monster.

Posted by: J Harrell at July 07, 2004 09:14 PM (TqfBl)

2 Thanks!

Someone on the AnimeSuki forums mentioned Maria-sama too - actually, they called it MariMite, which confused me a little Shoujo-ai should not be a problem.

Fullmetal Alchemist is good, and I was quite enjoying it until they shut off the tap. When it comes out in Oz, I'll be buying it. Naruto I don't think much of. Monster I haven't tried.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at July 08, 2004 07:58 AM (+S1Ft)

3 I lose track of what's been licensed and what hasn't. Have you tried Midori no Hibi?

Posted by: Mitch H. at July 09, 2004 04:56 AM (iTVQj)

4 Midori no Hibi was licensed by Media Blasters just this week.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at July 09, 2004 05:44 AM (+S1Ft)

5 Forgive me for not knowing, but did you ever get around to watching Planetes? I'd consider it one of the best new shows of the past year.

I believe it's been licensed (during a panel at AX, a dubbing studio let slip they were working on it), but there hasn't been any official announcement as of yet.

And I'll recommend Maria-sama ga Miteru as well. I'm quite happy they decided to air a second season (I still need to watch the first episode of said second season, however...tonight, I guess. No fansub yet, so I'll watch it raw.)

Posted by: Jeff Lawson at July 09, 2004 10:16 AM (37XyJ)

6 I have several episodes of Planetes that I downloaded before it was licensed, but I haven't watched any yet.

I only just discovered that there's a BitTorrent community for raw files as well as fansubs! Pity my Japanese isn't up to the task...

Posted by: Pixy Misa at July 09, 2004 11:42 AM (+S1Ft)

7 I highly recommand Monster. It's not a supernatural show, and the most terrifying thing about it is that it's all possible.

Posted by: BigFire at July 30, 2004 05:20 AM (cZIis)






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