Ms. Answerman
THIS SPACE FOR RENT
by Rebecca Bundy,
Are you eyeing the long list of promising movies that'll be coming
out this weekend? Why spend your money on a potentially good movie when you
can waste it on a crappy one?
Last weekend Zac and I went to see The Order. Correction: I dragged Zac to the
movie when we both knew it'd be bad. I've always been a fan(girl)
of Heath Ledger and Zac knew that if a movie had him in it we'd be seeing
it, but after this latest disaster I've changed this rule (much to Zac's
relief).
For starters, the best line in the movie was “Women... can't
live with them... .can't live with them”. Everything about this
movie was horrible, from the dialogue to the poor excuse for a plot. The story
itself was interesting, about a soul-eater who forgave the sins of people who
the church would not forgive and the man who would replace this immortal soul-eater.
The way they went about telling this story, however, made you wonder if the
movie was written and directed by a two year old. Random scenes meant to scare
the audience instead left them scratching their head in confusion, and metaphors
are tossed into the mix to give this movie ‘depth’ (Sunflowers are
called “ugly flowers” and are “god's beautiful mistake”.
Wow, that's deep). The boring part comes along when we meet the soul-eater
and he spends the next 20-30 minutes reminiscing about his past, his entire
life, and the actual soul-eating process. (Who Cares Spoiler Alert) In the end
we find out that *gasp* the villain is actually one of the ‘good guys’
within the church, and our hero becomes the soul-eater. (/Spoiler)
If you like to watch bad movies, then you definitely need to suffer through
this one. Otherwise, go see one of the movies coming out this weekend. And if
next Wednesday rolls around and you've already seen the movies coming
out this weekend, then watch Pirates of the Caribbean again. Anything other
than The Order.
I have a question about Juvenile Orion, you know, the card game. Well, I know
that there is a manga out, but I was wondering when it was coming out. I read
that a company licensed it, but I have no earthly idea when it will be release,
do you?
Thank you! :o)
Broccoli Books has the rights to Juvenile Orion, while they haven't announced a release date yet, we are told to look for the books early next year, around January.
Hi,
Has Nightow completed the Trigun/Maximum manga in Japan or is he still working on it?
Thanks,
Sarah
Trigun Maximum is still being published monthly in Young King Ours, so Trigun fans still have more manga to feed their addictions.
What is the background behind the legend of the four "Saint Beasts," Genbu, Byakko, Seiryuu, & Suzaku? The legend is a vital plot point to Fushigi Yuugi, is used in one story arc of Yuu Yuu Hakusho, and has been reference in one or two other anime I've seen whose titles escape me at the moment.
Let's hear it for anime using the same legend over and over and
over...
Where was I? There's a lot of confusion behind the ‘truth’
of this legend since numerous anime series use it in different (yet similar)
ways. This legend originated in China, where the four celestial guardians (beasts,
etc) had a part in the creation of the heavens and the earth. In honor/memory
of this, the sky was divided into 28 constellations, then divided again into
four regions so each guardian had seven constellations. If you look at old Chinese
star charts, you'll find that the guardian's constellation is made
up of one star from every minor constellation within its region.
Now who exactly are these four guardians? Traditionally they were the Phoenix,
Dragon, Tortoise, and the Tiger, but I've found some accounts that replace
the Tiger with the Kirin (a unicorn-like creature). I've also seen the
Kirin as the center guardian, or a perfect being that incorporates the best
qualities of all four guardians. For now we'll stick with the Tiger. Each
of the guardians represent a direction, an element, a season, and a slew of
other things that I won't go into detail with. The Phoenix represents
the south, fire, and summer. The Dragon represents the east, wood, and autumn.
The Tortoise represents the north, water, and winter. Finally the Tiger represents
the west, metal, and spring. A lot of people associate the Dragon with water,
but this is unlikely since the Chinese associate wood with the eastern region.
Lastly, the Dragon and the Phoenix normally represent a man (Dragon) and a woman (Phoenix). These two are associated with marital bliss (as well as chaos), the emperor and empress, as well as China (Dragon) and Japan (Phoenix).
Hi Ms. Answerman,
I want to buy the Gundam Wing series on dvd in a box set, but I found that there are a few different releases, one by Bandai, and a couple others. The price difference between them is huge, and I was woundering if the Bandai release is worth the extra cash? Do the have the same eng. dub voice actors, are they edited, whats the deal?
Thanks for any help.
Kyle
Bandai's box set is legal, the ‘couple others’ are bootlegs. The huge price difference should've been your first clue that these are illegal. If you're strapped for cash and find yourself eyeing these bootlegs, I'd suggest you head over to ebay and buy a legal copy there. The bootlegs may not have an English dub, and they frequently have translation mistakes in the subtitles.
Hi Answerwoman! I just wanted to ask, what's the deal with Paradise Kiss? I bought and read through volume four, suffered from the cliffhanger, and read in the back of volume four, that volume five would be coming in 2003. I have hoped and searched for any word of it's release, and now, 3/4 into the year, still no word. This bothers me a bit, because on their official website they have manga release dates planned up to five months in advance, so why no mention of Para Kiss? Also, will volume five be the conclusion? Or does it continue on?
Thanks for your help.
Personally I've been waiting anxiously for the fifth volume of
this series. It has been released in Japan, but only very recently. They still
have a few months before the year is up, but I wouldn't be too surprised
if we don't see it until early next year. I can tell you that volume 5
is not the end of the series, so there'll be plenty of Paradise Kiss for
everyone!
What do u think about the Mirage of Blaze?
I haven't watched more then one episode of this series, but I've
been meaning to watch it. I'm a sucker for shonen-ai series (yes, I'll
even watch the bad ones, though I'll regret it later on), so I'd
suggest that the other suckers out there should at least give this series a
shot. The first episode was a little confusing, but I've read that it
does make sense after a few episodes.
Hi there Eh!
I was just wondering if you know if anyone is planing to pick up the 3 inuyasha
movies? If so could you please tell me by who and when thanks?
RetroRob
Right now Viz has cornered the Inu Yasha market, so there's a good chance that they'll license the movies. Since there hasn't been anything official though, you'll have to wait and see.
Dear
Answerwoman
Something that has has bugged me for a while that I can't figure out... Why
do some characters cut their hair in anime. I remember hearing that if you were
dishonored or something you must cut your hair but it seemed the Ashitaka from
Mononoke Hime wasn't dishonored or Kagero from Ninja Scroll was just trying
to make a point. What does it all mean!?!? Thanks.
~Rhiannon
Hair used to be (and is still today in some ways) a symbol of status and wealth. The working classes did not have the time to sit around all day and pamper their hair. Those with great wealth, however, could afford to keep their hair long and healthy. Cutting your hair would be the same as throwing off your clothes and walking around naked. Rarely did they do it, but men have had their hair cut if they've failed their superiors one too many times. The only reason a wealthy woman would cut her hair (that I've read about) was if she decided to become a nun/monk. It also represents a coming-of-age, when a woman stops being a girl and changes her way of life (Sakura does it in Naruto when she decides to knuckle up and put all her chips on the table, Dagger in Final Fantasy IX does it when she decides to toughen up and become a hero).
Dear Ms Answerman,
I've recently become a fan of Descendants of Darkness (aka Yami no Matsuei)
and absolutely love the anime series. Why was this series cut after only 13
episodes, when the popular manga is/was still ongoing in Japan? Also, what IS
up with the manga? Why haven't any new volumes come out in Japan, when they
have enough new material to publish at least two more tanks? And has the author
decided to quit on the manga, or is she just taking a break from drawing it?
I'm pretty sure that Yami wasn't ‘cut’ after the 13th, but was originally intended to only last 13 episodes. They could've gone for 26 episodes, but the money was put towards making 13 incredible episodes instead of 26 that don't look as nice. As for the manga, I don't know what's going on there. The last volume that's been released is 11, and that was at least two years ago. Nobody really seems to know what's going on with this series, so we're going to just have to wait and see. I suspect you'll see an English manga release at some point in the near future, but really, who knows at this point? Buy CPM's excellent DVD box set and be happy with that for the time being, I suppose.
I was wandering if the whole series (Maison Ikkoku) was dubbed. because on some online stores for example Amazon.com the second box is listed as sub only. Thankyou
I'm not sure where you've found this ‘sub only’
information, but Amazon.com doesn't mention anything about it being sub
only. The second box set is due out in November, and all of the DVDs will contain
both subtitled and dubbed versions. Unlike the VHS release, the DVDs will include
all 96 episodes.
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