Angel's Anime Rating Guide

This post concerns  Pink Lemonade , an animation project that had been in production for many years. Sadly, it appears that after years of inactivity, it may be time to acknowledge that the project is pretty much dead... sniff... sniff... ☹️ To be clear, I'm NOT in charge of this project or associated with the production in ANY way, but, I am a fan of the work of White Radish , and lately, I've been curious about the project. In case you were wondering, Pink Lemonade was described by White Radish as... Pink Lemonade [an] upcoming 6-episode OVA series involves four girls in a complex diamond of love/hate/desire set in a galaxy far, far away, where cyberpunk action and comic relief balance with character development and pathos, and at least one "H" scene in every episode! By the way,  White Radish  did release a music CD featuring Vanilla Almond Creme , which composed the music for some of White Radish 's productions. At one time, I had a link to the Vanill...

Brick and Mortar Retailers... This is a brief primer for those of us who still enjoy anime on archival media and who happen to be in the Philadelphia area. With the demise of the major retail outlets (i.e.: FYE, Suncoast and Tower Records) in Center City, Philadelphia, it's become much harder to find anime in Philadelphia and I felt it was time to mention the subject. The last vestiges of some of the major retail outlets (most notably FYE) still exist in the suburban malls such as Franklin Mills Mall -- which, for some reason that defies description, now wants to be called Philadelphia Mills Mall even though the mall itself sits on the border with Bucks County and is a whopping fifteen miles from Center City. Unfortunately, without the higher volume of foot traffic that would be available in Center City, anime isn't as much of a priority in the suburbs as it was in Center City. So, with this in mind, although there is still a decent selection of anime to choose from, on...

A few years ago, I picked up the broadcast (TV 14) version of  Sankarea , then sometime later, I picked up the uncut (TV MA) version of Sankarea . Recently, I was inspired to perform a side-by-side comparison of the two versions. Why? It seemed like a good idea at the time... Zombie-obsessed Furuya is making a potion to reanimate his dead cat when he meets Rea. She's about as miserable as a girl can get, thanks to her creepy, domineering father. When the pain becomes too much, she tries to commit suicide with a sip of Furuya's weird elixir. The potion doesn't kill her but it does turn her into a zombie after she falls from a cliff. Now that Rea's undead and ready to finally live, she hides out with Furuya, who's always dreamed of having a zombie girlfriend. Their one-of-a-kind relationship comes with some challenges, like the fact that Rea is decomposing. Even worse, her freak-show dad is dangerously determined to get her back under his control. As Furuya fights...

I stopped by AnimeNation  today and found the following note from Gene Field : After 20 years, we've decided to get out of the retail game. A heartfelt thanks to all our great customers over the years, and all of the terrific employees that made AnimeNation a fun & dynamic place to work. At times it's been a dream come true. We've been doing this a long time though, and it's just time to move on to new and different challenges. If you have an existing order with us, you will receive an email with details specific to your order. If not, you can still contact [us] with questions about cancellations, refunds, shipment tracking, etc... To all in the anime community who have supported us over the years, again, thank you. It's been quite a while (almost seven years) since I last ordered anything from AnimeNation , preferring instead to support another, much larger anime e-tailer. I suppose that might have been one of the issues that plagued the AnimeNation bus...

According to a post on the AnimeNation blog, a long-running dispute over unpaid royalties owed to Peter S. Beagle, author of The Last Unicorn , appears to have been resolved... In its latest e-mail newsletter, Conlan Press has formally announced that the 1982 animated film The Last Unicorn will be getting a theatrical re-release next year. "Starting early next year and running through the middle of 2013, there will be more than 80 special digital theater screenings of The Last Unicorn taking place in America, Canada, Great Britain, and Germany. [Last Unicorn author] Peter [S. Beagle] will be at every one of these events to do audience Q&A, meet people, and sign stuff." Furthermore, the film will also be getting a five-million dollar digital overhaul. "Not remastering, mind you, but renovating: going through The Last Unicorn from end to end and top to bottom, spending five million dollars to upgrade the special visual effects and soundtrack, smooth out and improve...

According to AnimeNation ... Iconic illustrator & painter Frank Frazetta passed away yesterday in Fort Myers, Florida, of complications following a stroke. He was 82. Frazetta’s work included comics, movie posters, and well-known cover illustrations for pulp fantasy novel franchises including Conan, Tarzan, and John Carter of Mars. Animation fans may be most familiar with Frazetta’s work through his 1983 film collaboration with animator/director Ralph Bakshi, Fire and Ice . I have Fire and Ice on DVD and Wizards , another Bakshi production, Frazetta's name is invoked as an incantation by the lead character. Recently, I also picked up Frazetta: Painting with Fire ... For the last half century, Frank Frazetta has dominated the world of Fantasy Art with his images of fierce warriors, helpless princesses, and fantastical creatures set in the most lavish landscapes. Journey to a place where up until now, only the privileged have been able to witness the man behind the le...

AnimEigo is one of the pioneers of the American anime industry and is responsible for bringing such gems as Urusei Yatsura and Bubblegum Crisis to the U.S. I stopped by the AnimEigo site recently and got such a tickle out of their latest sale announcement, that I thought I'd share with you... Would you believe it, 2009 marks our 20th year of operation. Ah, the good old days, when 45-minute OVAs on VHS tape sold for $40, and the fans were damn glad to be able to get them. Now you want them on DVD, you want liner notes, you want dubs as well as subtitles. Want, want, want... that's all we ever hear from you! What about our needs? What about the boats and sports cars all our employees deserve so very much? What about finally getting that corporate jet for Natsumi -- she'd settle for a small one, and they're cheap right now! But Nooooooo! You keep insisting that we provide better products for lower prices! You keep insisting we "celebrate" our 20th year by ...

Well, I read in the trade papers that Geneon US has decided to cease operations as of September 28, 2007. What does this mean for me? I just developed an interest in Black Lagoon and it looks like any releases beyond this coming Friday (the 28th) are in doubt. The trade papers suggest that there might still be new titles forthcoming into November, but, I have my doubts. I've looked up Geneon's releases (past and upcoming) and found a handful of entries that I might look into before they disappear into the void. Among the soon to be departed: Haibane Renmei , Ergo Proxy , Chobits ... The Haibane, who look like angels with halos and small wings, share a walled town with humans. Both groups are forbidden to leave. Rakka awakens from a portentious dream when she emerges from a huge cocoon as Haibane. She was apparently human once, but can only remember fragments of that existence. She quickly settles into Old Home, a former dormitory where the Haibane live when they're not...