It seems that illegal anime downloads are starting to cause serious financial troubles for the publishers involved. While the gaming industry has managed to (sort of) find different ways of temporarily avoiding piracy, be it through services such as Steam, be it through several protection methods such as the much trashed Securom, Japanese animation can’t seem to get a hold of it, distribution-wise.

We’ve seen signs of this even in Japan, where manga and anime are virtually worshiped as gods (and for a good reason), we’ve also seen it happen in the States. Major publishers would either cancel or put on hold several series, many of them with high expectancy rates, due to the fact that, well, although they were licensed, some retards decided to leak the fansubbs all over the Internet. I won’t question their moral integrity, because that would require me to question my own (and God forbid), but on the long term, such actions may end up screwing the anime business in a very wrong way. Because, at one point, it won’t be worth it anymore.

Following the oh-so-vigorously trend of the other countries involved, Tokyopop Germany decided to put on hold all their future anime DVD releases. All of them. The action took course after the company managed to finish launching all other series previously announced, but still, ze Germans are now left with nothing but patience and hope for yet another distribution method. When Tokyopop will figure out just how to do it, of course. It is worth mentioning that, among the planned titles, lies Rozen Maiden: Traumaend, which, as we all know, has caused lots of madness throughout the virtual communities existing webwide. Tokyopop is hoping to solve this issue soon.

In other news, ADV Germany has also put its DVD releases on hold, probably due to the same piracy problems, including titles like Utawarerumono (go go Aruru in a bag), Venus Versus Virus, Moonlight Mile or Perfect Girl. It’s a shame, really, because many people are actually looking forward to buying such products. Me included.

ANN scoop.

While fans who download pirated animes are still hiding safely behind the protection of Japan's Copyright Law (which only prohibits unauthorized uploaders), the reckless benefactors who make it all possible don't have that same luxury. And every once in a while - much like loli Jesus every few thousand years - a few of them get busted for our sins.

Two such anime uploaders were arrested last Thursday, ANN reports following an announcement made by Japan's Association of Copyright for Computer Software (ACCS). The two "pirates" are charged with uploading episode 23 of Idol Master Xenoglossia, and episode 2 of Mobile Suit Gundam 00, on the Winny file-sharing network. Yep, they blew it for two lousy episodes, and the funny thing is that both animes are produced by Sunrise - so I can't help wondering if the pissed-off company didn't have something to do with this crackdown...

A third guy was also caught in the crossfire and arrested, after he created a computer virus and released it on the same Winny network, hidden in a program (screensaver, I guess) that was using images from the Clannad anime. The irony of it all is that the guy who developed Winny in the first place (Isamu Kaneko) was also arrested a few years ago, only to later co-develop the SkeedCast program, which is now used by Gonzo and other companies for authorized file-sharing. God owns in mysterious ways.

ADV Films is changing... For the better or worse - that still remains to be seen on the long run. But right now, the most important thing is that the company is trying to liquidate its remaining stock from the UK, so they're selling over 40 animes at insanely cheap prices: just £1 or £2 per DVD! But only this week, and... *sigh*... only for UK customers (life is such a filthy Indonesian bitch sometimes).

"From [21st January] up until the end of Monday 28th January, titles throughout our extensive catalogue will be on sale from £1 up, but only while stocks last! Once titles are sold out, we will not be restocking them, so get your orders in early on to avoid disappointment and take full advantage of these outrageous rock-bottom prices", ADV announced in a press release.

With such imba titles as Azumanga Daioh or Elfen Lied among those included in the sale, you can imagine how pissed off we are for not being able to order anything from this Eastern European pit-hole we hide in.

Anyway, there are also some less positive aspects to this whole change that ADV seems to be going through, as they reach for a "new digital future" (and a new British distribution partner). For one thing, they are halting the sale and distribution of (...)

 Continue reading 'ADV Animes Super-Cheap, But... [Update]'...

And it goes to show that, after all, Jack Thompson was right all along. Media Entertainment is seemingly teaching our kids how to be violent, be it movies, anime, or video games. Mostly video games. After all that fuss about some kid going rampage with a shotgun or something, murdering tons of students and teachers in his own school (after probably playing 12 hour straight of that useless crap we call Gay Grand Theft Auto), now it’s time for anime murders to come on stage. And I’m not pointing out towards the whole School Days/Higurashi incidents, when little girls decided it would be a nice thing to chop their fathers to pieces with Viking battleaxes.

In Indonesia, probably the second country in the world when it comes to the number of whores on square centimeter, a kid benevolently killed himself by strangling, imitating a character from Naruto. Good Job! More than that, seeing a good opportunity to gain some election points, a member of the Indonesian Parliament started to throw shit towards the national broadcasting system, accusing it to be too permissive. To summarize his words, it went something like: “Arrrrgh, ban the Naruto, kkplx!!111!”.

We here totally agree with that. Ban Naruto, it’s a load of infected bullcrap.

ANN scoop, thx.

Oh, by the way, did we mention that we launched a new website? Yeah, how about that. We lovingly called it Wipefest, and you can find it at wipefest.craftizan.com - which kind of spoils the surprise of what our next site will be...

Being a World of Warcraft addict is not a requirement in order to enjoy it. But it helps.

Back in September, I was ranting about the crazy (and yet, delightful and strangely arousing) ideas that mindlessly float in the heads of Japanese people, one of them being the opening of a Maid Taxi company. A superb concept, mostly designed for those injured people that need a lift, either to the nearest hospital, either to the nearest pub to drench themselves in alcohol.

Well... It was good and dandy while it lasted. It seems that, after only three months of genuine and hard work, the maids had to lock down their suits in the closet, the cab drivers had to throw away the key, while the company closed its gates due to... breaking the transportation laws. And this time, actually, it was not their fault.

The said service was registered, according to Dogs in ze Can, as a “social welfare taxi service”, as in licensed only to transport injured folks, or people that cannot, for the love of loli Jesus, find their way throughout the city. And so it happened, God knows why, that many, many MEN were faking either a broken leg, either headaches, or other mind incapacitating diseases just to find a soft and warm spot in a car, next to a very young and beautiful maid. And carrying them around town would have meant breaking the damn law, so the company decided to close down its services.

Too bad... One less pantsu service to enjoy. I would have faked amnesia.

Osaka, we have a problem! My boosters are overheating at the sight of this Rocket Girls figure exposed by Organic Hobby USA, through a press release that their lazy-ass PR leeches partially copy-pasted from Wikipedia (see if you can spot the difference between their communique, and the Wiki article for Rocket Girls - they even included the friggin reference numbering!). But anyway... getting back on topic, Organic Hobby will be releasing the 7" tall PVC figure of Yukari Morita pictured below in March 2008, for a suggested retail price of $100. Yeah, the price is pretty damn hot, too. But you can drool over these high-res photos free of charge.

The one anime we were most worried about last year was the Higurashi sequel - since the first season was made of pure win (best anime of 2006, if you ask us now), and we all know how sequels have that nasty habit of going awry wrong... Well, imagine our ecstatic relief during the new year's eve anime session, when we watched Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai from start to end and were totally blown away by it. Quite frankly, I can't think of any other show better suited to become the best anime of 2007. And since Rika appears so prominently throughout this second season, choosing her as loli of the month was a no-brainer. She rocks our lolicon world and fills our napkins with buckets of joy!


With the third Higurashi season already announced last month, I'm afraid it's going to be a nerve-wracking wait until we get to see how the kick-ass story continues. For now, all we can do is put up a new poll, asking: "What do you want from Higurashi 3?".

Not least of all, this month we also have a very important top for which we need your input, as we are trying to decide upon the Best Lolicon Anime of 2007. Let the most flat-chested show win! And if you wanted to see some other anime qualified for the top 10, do let us know - it may not be too late just yet.

With a bit of a delay (due to several circumstances that required our utmost professional attention - i.e. drinking without measure for 48 hours tops), we demand you to hear our call for a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Our holydays were just swell - we finally got to watch Higurashi 2 (you will see a review later, when we will be sober), EF, and a certain other series which, seriously, I don't remember. 2 liters of vodka down the drain - ya, I know, not that much, but I was pretty sick and my pedo comrade was tired - was enough for us to burst into Starfire crits of laughter when we saw the uncensored episodes of Kodomo no Jikan.

WE WERE DRUNK! HOW WERE YOU?

PS:

Fluffykin powah!

I keep getting these newsletters from Right Stuf about their 12 Days of Anime special Christmas offers, and some of them truly are tempting, so I won't shy away from sharing them with you. By now, they announced 8 such offers, with price cuts going from around 50% off, all the way to 77% off the normal price.

If you can be bothered to visit the page linked above, you'll find DVD bundles for shows like Eureka Seven, Chobits, Mai-HiME, Rumbling Hearts or the Inu Yasha movies, plus some (relatively-)low-priced DVDs with the first four episodes from Venus Versus Virus, Innocent Venus (yummy loli) and a few more. Nice stuff to have around during the long, frigid Xmas nights - normally accompanied by strong and abundant spirits.


If any other "ZOMFG" offer comes up this week, I'll make sure to update this entry.