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I recieved my first mag last tuesday, but have yet to fully finish it. So far I'm not impressed, but it is the first issue. The main problem is they are straying away from anime and manga and trying to cover way too many bases. No offense, but Frisky Dingo and Terminator: Sara Conner Chronicles? Thats a bit more mainstream than 'for the rest of us'. I did like the Shin-Chan insert I will admit. Im gonna hold out until the end of this year, but if it doesnt improve by the time Im off to college, I will see if I can pick up the rest of the subscription as a refund (since I renewed in December and now have just under 2 years of PiQ. The lack of DVD (which I admit is my only reason to justify the high price along with size of Newtype) still leaves a bad taste for this magazine. They would be better off trying to give 1st eps of new released dvds from ADV, but that wont happen for at least a year or two.

*to Aromatic Grass*
I'll try to be more tactful in the choice of my words and attempt to fashion my posts as my personal opinion for you Aromatic Grass.
Understand though, it is the refund issue that is driving the fire behind my bottom and the false claim made by Gary Steinman.
Unfortunately PiQ did not offer refunds at any time. If you ask them about it at their website they'll delete your post.
They're dodging the issue entirely.

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which I guess makes me not a very good "otaku"]),

Now you're just trying to make me feel bad. Sad

You are a fine Otaku IMHO, and I mean that.
You're just not as picky as I am that's all. Very Happy

*for the Otaku who want they're money back*

Here is a scan of the "white sheet" that was sent with PIQ.

(Reason for edit): A private request from another user.

I can understand why Kabuto Tokugawa would be so angry. Newtype was a expensive subscirption. I was just about to jump on the bandwagon again myself, and i'm glad I didn't. This isn't anywhere near Newtype standards.

This PiQ. I saw the mag on stands and it was alright for my leafing through. I'll chalk that up to being the first issue fornow, but the second better have more footing. As for the site, it is odd. Its like they're trying to do too much at once.

FYI to all,
After speaking to individuals at PiQ about the refund issue it has come to my attention that apparently ADV is responsible for the refunds.

Please direct your inquiries for a refund to ADV.

Kabuto Tokugawa wrote:

FYI to all,
After speaking to individuals at PiQ about the refund issue it has come to my attention that apparently ADV is responsible for the refunds.

Please direct your inquiries for a refund to ADV.

The Newtype magizines subscription had a hefty price tag.All you get is double the PIQ mags,ouch.What's ADV going to do?They have enough problems as it is.
Damn,now I got to go get a copy.

Well, I got a free issue with one of my larger online orders, and I have read through quite a bit of PiQ. I really don't know if my opinion is valid though, I only read like two Newtypes in my whole life, and both of those were a really long time ago. The biggest thing I miss from that though is the big smelly pages. I will say this though, it does feel somewhat jumbled, so I agree with people along those lines.

But to focus on the positive. I liked the Shinchan in the back, which is also in the older style by the way. I really liked the full page review of Tweeny Witches, so I am probably going to check that anime out now. Another review(or blirb) towards the front was about Tezuka's Dororo. Titled "Period Horror from the God of Manga", and set next to a picture of some great art work, it really caught my eye. So I will probably check that out as well. I thought the segment with John Woo was interesting, but I didn't read any of the other Appleseed features(Ex Machina was the cover story) because I just bought and watched that movie just the other day. And during their "Is Anime Dead?" article they gave four different accounts, and all things considered I thought it was pretty balanced. I think the "industry" is far more "aware" than people give them credit for. But that is another disscussion, what I mean is they hit all the points on that one. Basically, I enjoyied the manga and anime parts, and the rest was just sort of there. But I guess that is more attributed to my tastes than anything else.

Oh and I liked the big picture of Watanuki and Yuko! But why did Yuko have to be on the spine??? It's supposed to be the other way around. Wink

I mean how am I supposed to cut out and make creepy wall collages out of that???___[/JK]

Shadowrun20XX,

I'm am very sorry if I mislead you into thinking that PiQ is a part of ADV.
PiQ is an entirely separate magazine that is not owned by ADV (as far as I have been told by PiQ).
Therefore money spent on PiQ will not go to ADV.
If you want to help support the anime industry by buying an anime magazine that is directly supported by an anime distribution house then I think that only OtakuUSA is left.
I may be wrong but I think that's Funimation's magazine. So money spent on OtakuUSA will most likely go to Funimation and thus support the anime industry.
In my humble opinion, PiQ is a waste of an Otaku's money for the simple fact that they are trying to lead Otaku into other genres than anime.
I cannot speak for the rest of the Otaku out there, but for me, that was a turn off.
The anime industry is in enough trouble as it is without a third party trying to get Otaku to spend their cash on non-anime goods.
Buying American comics and American Sci-Fi products is all well and nice but it will do nothing to save the anime industry in North America.
Protoculture Addicts, Anime-Insider, Shonen Jump, and OtakuUSA (which comes with a free DVD BTW) all support the anime industry in one way or another. In my opinion, PiQ does not.
But don't take my word for it, judge for yourself.

KT

Kabuto Tokugawa wrote:

I may be wrong but I think that's Funimation's magazine. So money spent on OtakuUSA will most likely go to Funimation and thus support the anime industry.

Otakusa is actually owned by Sovereign Media, which is not an anime-related company as far as I know, not FUNi. Even so I don't think paying for an anime magazine gives more money to the industry to distribute more titles, but rather for the publication itself. (It's a lot of money to print mags like [former] NTUSA and Otakusa.)

PiQ is an abomination. nothing newsworthy when it comes down to it. i'll stick to Newtype Japan and protoculture addicts...

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Why? They didn't give their former NTUSA subscribers a chance to get a refund before peddling this garbage on us. So why should we give them a chance to "make the magazine better."

It's because people like you are negative in you outlook on everything that you have to put stuff down like this. You don't give anything a chance. Just accept that it's good for what it is (and what it's trying to accomplish) and you don't have to buy it. Geez. Quite honestly, I don't want people like you buying the mag.

So what you are saying is he must accept PIQ as something great even though he doesn't? Championing the opposite end of the spectrum, blind loyalty, isn't any better. If anything you are doing little more than hurting the magazine by blindly accepting any and all aspects of it. Someone posted that PIQ wanted input and by saying we should like it for what it is you are doing the exact opposite of that. Even if you don't have any issues with it others might and are entitled to express such, especially if it could help.

Being skeptical of a magazine doesn’t mean you shouldn’t buy it, and that’s a rather negative attitude to have. I am incredibly skeptical, but willing to give it a chance regardless.

Personally, I think it would be great to arouse the non-fans interest with Anime’s diverse lineup of genres and themes to show the many dimensions to the fandom. A sample DVD also seems like it could reach out to non-fans better than text could IMO.

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They should have just given us our money back and then offered us the new magazine if we wanted it.
I know I would not have wanted even this first issue. It's not even good for toilet paper.
I see that it burns well though. Very Happy

But I'm not into that kind of thing and I don't condone it either.

I wouldn't consider that a very smart business tactic, but whatever you say. Really, though, I find your last statement funny with what you've said so far. "GRR! This magazine is trash! ...But don't treat it that way." I'm surprised people can be so negative when they don't like something. Get over it. If it bothers you th

is much, then GTFO (as they say on this great hateful Internet).[/quote]

He wanted his money back and while I think Kabuto should have exercised more patience, you are simply being rude and condescending. If anything you are attacking him through ridicule and venom.

Dramatis Personae wrote:

So what you are saying is he must accept PIQ as something great even though he doesn't? Championing the opposite end of the spectrum, blind loyalty, isn't any better. If anything you are doing little more than hurting the magazine by blindly accepting any and all aspects of it. Someone posted that PIQ wanted input and by saying we should like it for what it is you are doing the exact opposite of that. Even if you don't have any issues with it others might and are entitled to express such, especially if it could help.

No, I don't expect anyone to like/dislike anything because I say so. What I was trying to say is that he seems to be blindly attacking the magazine for no other reason than because the staff "stole" his money and they apparently don't support the industry for some reason (because they're not owned by an anime company?). That's NOT constructive criticism, just badgering. Not focusing on 100% anime doesn't make it a bad magazine ("POS rag"). If you don't like it, that's OK, but seriously, it's just a magazine.

It's good for it's first issue, imo, but I'm not blindly supporting it. I CAN recognize its flaws (what first issue doesn't have them?), but I feel the need to take a stance when there is no constructive criticism being made and I as a supporter feel somewhat attacked by those statements.

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He wanted his money back and while I think Kabuto should have exercised more patience, you are simply being rude and condescending. If anything you are attacking him through ridicule and venom.

You're wrong -- he was the one who was being inconsiderate, whether he meant to or not. You did read through my other posts, correct? I was in no way "venomous" in my responses, just stating why I felt he wasn't thinking through the situation very well through reason. And I did feel personally insulted because of the way he was wording his posts so harshly.

(He just now realizes that you have to go through ADV? That's what we've been trying to say all along!)

Dramatis Personae, thank you for understanding. Very Happy

Aromatic Grass,
I hate to say this to a fellow Otaku, but you are in the wrong and in the minority on this issue IMHO.

*Clarification for everybody in general*
First off, let me say that I have been emailing both PiQ and ADV for now over a week and have only received a response from PiQ.
PiQ says they are not responsible for refunding, they claim to be separate from ADV. They are the PiQ.LLC corporation, supposedly a separate entity.
Whether that is true or not is irrelevant to the issue. Somebody from either company needs to stand up to the plate and say "This is where you go to get your refund for your remaining issues of NTUSA."
I now know for a fact that it IS ILLEGAL for a company of any kind within the USA to force a product on a consumer or exchange a product for one that the consumer did not order/want without the consumer's written consent.
That is what is happening here. PiQ is being issued to former NTUSA subscribers without their consent, and no refunds are being offered for those of us that do not want we consider to be a substandard product (as of yet, let's hope they [whichever one of them] correct this problem ASAP).

*Aromatic Grass*

I am far from the only Otaku who is labelling PiQ as a POS or rag. That opinion is being perpetuated throughout the anime loving community and not by me alone.

As you may or may not know Aromatic Grass, Gary Steinman is no longer a part of PiQ. He left (as reported here at ANN and discussed over a 4 page thread) PiQ for personal reasons.
I'll take him on his word, but I know if I were him I'd be pretty happy I jumped ship when I did (not saying he's happy about it, I'm saying I would be in his place).
After having read through the thread I think it's safe to say that most Otaku that posted were not very optimistic about the PiQ magazine even before it was released.
Now that it has been released I think it's safe to say that many of the posters in that original thread were right; PiQ is not what many Otaku want out of an anime magazine. It is as simple as that.

Aromatic Grass;

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What I was trying to say is that he seems to be blindly attacking the magazine for no other reason than because the staff "stole" his money and they apparently don't support the industry for some reason (because they're not owned by an anime company?).

Not being able to get a refund back for a magazine subscription that costs $90.00/year (or at least whatever portion is left that is owed to the subscriber) is theft IMHO. Criticizing a magazine that has attempted to replace NTUSA with a magazine that has only a minimal amount of anime in it and thus support for the industry is not blindly attacking or badgering PiQ.
Stop trying to make them out as the victim here. They certainly are not! By any stretch of the imagination.
They are the perpetrators, plain and simple. The only question that remains is whether or not they are telling the truth about ADV being responsible for the refunds and/or whether or not PiQ is actually a separate entity. It seems that the address of PiQ is identicle to that of ADV. So read into that if you choose.

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If you don't like it, that's OK, but seriously, it's just a magazine.

If it's just a magazine than what's the deal with you? Why are you so hip to defend them?

I fail to see why you're offended Aromatic Grass. If it's just a magazine as you say then I think you're taking my criticism of it too personal.
I'm not attacking you, I'm pointing out what many other Otaku have said to me directly.

I backed up what my complaints were about the magazine, you have yet to back up what the positive aspects of the magazine are.
So if this magazine is so great, prove it!
Prove to us who dispise it that it is as great as Protoculture Addicts, OtakuUSA, Anime-Insider, or Shonen Jump. Prove to us that it can live up to the legacy of NewTypeUSA.
I've already demonstrated how it cannot, on this and other websites, and the consensus I've seen has all been similar. That being that PiQ does not live up to the standards for an anime magazine that were set forth many years ago by Protoculture Addicts and its contemporaries.
Oh but that's right, it's not an anime magazine. Even though it was billed as being as good and better than NTUSA. Pah-lease! Rolling Eyes

I'm not sure about you Aromatic Grass, but I don't like being called a nerd, dork, geek, freak, maniac, or pervo. That's exactly what PiQ does on numerous pages in their first issue. I'm an Otaku (and yes I know what it means but most people outside of the anime culture do not).
I don't consider video games, anime, manga, comic books, TV, or any of what the editorial page claims as "Not normal" being outside the mainstream.
Then there's the PIG section on page 110 that basically says that people who buy lots of DVDS are pigs! What's up with that?
The quote that sticks out in my mind is; "Judging by his shelf...PIG must be a blind, epilieptic half-wit who minces into Best Buys and steam-shovels DVDs at random into his Faded Glories until escorted out by the fat slag working loss prevention at the door."
Is that supposed to make me laugh? Well it doesn't, it pisses me off!!! Not only are they callling DVD buyers pigs, but they're stereotyping and defaming the people who work to try and prevent shop-lifting and other theft. That is what loss prevention is.
And you don't think PiQ is a POS huh?

Well maybe this will hit a nerve with you;
There's the comment at the bottom righthand corner of page six; "Created in the great city of Houston , where I only shot two or three people on the way to work."
WTF is that supposed to be? Funny? After all the school shootings, the VA Tech massacre, Columbine, and everything else that's happened over the last decade, these incensitive A$$holes make a snarky comment about shooting people? Is that Bushian Texas humour?
And you have the audacity to wonder why I think this magazine is a POS rag?
That comment alone is enough to make my blood boil.
I'm pretty sure I wouldn't find that kind of comment from the editorial staff in Protoculture Addicts, OtakuUSA, Anime-Insider, Shonen-Jump, or hell any reputable magazine for that matter. Even the April issue of Soldier of Fortune doesn't have that kind of crap (I read through it at my local Newstand today!!!!).

You claim that I was being inconsiderate to you. I'm sorry if I offended you but I firmly believe I have good reason to be offended by this magazine on numerous, substantiated, concrete issues!
I'm not speculating about the magazine, I've got it in front of me to verbally pick apart and examine at my leisure.
In other words I'm speaking from a position of knowledge not speculation and I resent this magazine for the way it is written. It's like the writers have nothing but distain for Otaku and their sense of humor within the magazine is tasteless to say the least.

No, I feel justified Aromatic Grass in my harsh, hard-nosed, critique of PiQ.
If you take issue with that than I'm truly sorry to you, my fellow Otaku, but not to PiQ!

Kabuto Tokugawa wrote:

Then there's the PIG section on page 110 that basically says that people who buy lots of DVDS are pigs! What's up with that?
The quote that sticks out in my mind is; "Judging by his shelf...PIG must be a blind, epilieptic half-wit who minces into Best Buys and steam-shovels DVDs at random into his Faded Glories until escorted out by the fat slag working loss prevention at the door."
Is that supposed to make me laugh? Well it doesn't, it pisses me off!!! Not only are they callling DVD buyers pigs, but they're stereotyping and defaming the people who work to try and prevent shop-lifting and other theft. That is what loss prevention is.

This LP mailing list I know ain't gonna like this bit of info.... Twisted Evil

gokuthamonkeyking wrote:

PiQ is an abomination. nothing newsworthy when it comes down to it. i'll stick to Newtype Japan and protoculture addicts...

Well do you mind sharing with us why it's an abomination? It would be nice if you supported your claim it's not newsworthy with your opinion as too why it isn't.

Aromatic Grass wrote:

Kabuto Tokugawa wrote:

I may be wrong but I think that's Funimation's magazine. So money spent on OtakuUSA will most likely go to Funimation and thus support the anime industry.

Otakusa is actually owned by Sovereign Media, which is not an anime-related company as far as I know, not FUNi. Even so I don't think paying for an anime magazine gives more money to the industry to distribute more titles, but rather for the publication itself. (It's a lot of money to print mags like [former] NTUSA and Otakusa.)

As Zac/Tempest (forget which one said it exactly) have said about PA, you don't make an anime magazine to make money. Basically I'm pretty sure the main focus is simply to break even after expenses and salaries. I would assume the same could be said for AI, OTAKU USA, and Piq as well.

Kabuto Tokugawa wrote:

PiQ says they are not responsible for refunding, they claim to be separate from ADV. They are the PiQ.LLC corporation, supposedly a separate entity.

They aren't "claiming" to be separate or "supposedly" a separate entity. They simply are separate from ADV and not tied to them like Newtype was. That was made clear in previous news articles here at ANN regarding Piq when it was first announced.

Alright, some people need to simmer down a little bit. Keep your cool and discuss things rationally or take them to another venue please.

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