Monthly Archives: March 2007

Wordpressing

Monday, March 19, 2007 – 1:17 pm

Hopefully tonight, but definitely some time this week, I’ll be switching by blogging software from sphpblog to Wordpress.

I have been very happy with sphpblog and it met my needs when I wanted to start a blog without having to pay for a database with my host, but it can be clunky at times.

Well, now that I do have a database with my host, and having used wordpress in a couple other blogs, the only thing holding me back from switching this blog to wordpress was the choice between doing the labor to move all my content over to wordpress (there is no way that I know of to transfer posts from sphpblog to wordpress) or starting from scratch.

Well, I’ve now created a test instance of wordpress and I’ve copied all of my content into it’s database now. Now the only thing left is to try to move it into it’s test directory into the root and replacing this blog. This will include backing up everything, then conducting the actual move, and then testing to make sure everything works, that links work, etc.

If all goes well, my blog will hopefully be back online in an a couple of hours. If all doesn’t go well, well…I guess it depends how much it doesn’t go well on what I decide to do then. Luckily with the sphpblog, since it’s all flat files, I can pretty much re-upload it and everything should work fine.

By Josh | Posted in General Blather | Comments (0)

Cardcaptor Sakura vs. Cardcaptors

Sunday, March 18, 2007 – 9:25 pm

Someone on YouTube apparently decided to put together a series of two videos contrasting the (what I would consider to be minor) differences between the Cardcaptor Sakura anime as aired in Japan and as released unedited by Pioneer vs. the Nelvanda….retelling (to put it nicely) of the series called Cardcaptor.

These videos focus mainly on the on dub of Cardcaptors, but what was done to Cardcaptors goes beyond just the dub (which isn’t horrible, but I think some of the character’s voice, especially Sakura and Tomoyo, are way off) but also the fact that they essentially cut up and reassembled the series.

Besides just listening to the dubs, also note things such as music changes and small edits (I noticed at least one and there may be others I didn’t catch).

The author had disabled embedding, so here are the links to the videos:

Video 1
Video 2

By Josh | Posted in General Blather | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Haruhi Suzumiya English trailer online

Sunday, March 18, 2007 – 12:02 pm

The English The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya trailer has been released by asosbrigade (thoughts below the trailer):

I had my concerns about Wendee Lee playing Haruhi Suzumiya for a couple of reasons. First off, she tends to play characters with Osaka accents, which is typically expressed in English dubs by that character having some flavor of southern accent (and I KNOW she can play a character without a drawl - see Mrs. Shimizu from Chobits for example). I almost had nightmares about Haruhi going around sounding like Tina Foster or something.

The second is that, Haruhi appears to be a very assertive character, and I don’t necessarily recall Wendee Lee playing any exceptionally assertive characters (at least in the anime I’ve seen).

Well, after watching the trailer - and it’s obviously impossible to judge the entire body of work from a few clips in a 90 second trailer - but it seems that it could have been a lot worse, but it’s not necessarily great.

I’m trying to think of the character which she sounds most like. Kero-chan from the dub of the 2nd Cardcaptor Sakura movie is the first character that comes to mind, but it still isn’t exactly the same I don’t think. Umi from Magic Knight Rayearth also comes to mind, but the drawl doesn’t seem as strong for Haruhi.

We basically hear one line from Kyon and one line from Mikuru so it’s basically impossible to judge their voices from the trailer.

I’ll ultimately have to wait until I get the DVD to fully judge the dub (which is to be expected). I’m glad this is out so we can get a taste of Haruhi’s voice, but I’m still highly skeptical of Lee doing her voice and the trailer didn’t help calm that skepticism very much.

By Josh | Posted in 2006 Anime | Tagged | Comments (2)

Josh’s Anime Blog Podcast Episode #16

Saturday, March 17, 2007 – 11:38 am

Josh’s Anime Blog Podcast Episode #16 is now online!

You can download it directly from the following address (13.2 MB):
Josh’s Anime Blog Podcast Episode #16

You can download the rss file for the podcast here:
http://www.joshsanimeblog.com/podcast/podcast.rss

Remember to update your RSS feed address if it wasn’t updated automatically!

Also, I have re-reviewed the anime series DearS, dropping it’s score from 72% to 69.5%

Also, my podcast is up on itunes. If you search for anime under podcasts, you should find it as Josh’s Anime Blog Podcast.

Enjoy!

By Josh | Posted in Podcasts | Tagged | Comments (0)

Anime Credits: Gunslinger Girl Opening

Friday, March 16, 2007 – 5:58 pm

By Josh | Posted in Anime Credits, Gunslinger Girl | Comments (0)

Anime Review: Princess Mononoke - 89.4%

Wednesday, March 14, 2007 – 12:00 pm

The Essentials

Princess MononokeName: Princess Mononoke, Mononoke-Hime
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy
Episodes: N/A
Released: July 12, 1997
Based On: N/A
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Produced By: Studio Ghibli
US Distribution By: Miramax

Major Japanese Cast

Ashitaka: Yoji Matsuda
San: Yuriko Ishida
Lady Eboshi: Yuko Tanaka
Moro: Akihiro Miwa
Jiko: Kaoru Kobayashi
Toki: Sumi Shimamoto
Okkotonushi: Hisaya Morishige

Major English Cast

Ashitaka: Billy Crudup
San: Claire Danes
Lady Eboshi: Minnie Driver
Moro: Gillian Anderson
Jiko: Billy Bob Thornton
Toko: Jada Pinkett-Smith
Okkotonushi: Keith David

Scores

Animation: 10/10 (x 4 = 40 pts)
Story: 8/10 (x 4 = 32 pts)
Music: 10/10 (x 4 = 40 pts)
Coherence/Story Arc: N/A
English Dubs: 9/10 (x 1 = 9 pts)
Gut Score: 8/10 (x 5 = 40 pts)

Total: 161/180 (89.4%)

Review

Princess Mononoke is a story about Ashitaka, one of the few remaining warriors in a clan that was almost wiped out by the Samurai in historical Japan. One day an evil demon attacks Ashitaka’s village and, during the battle, the demon attacks Ashitaka, touching and “infecting” him with some sort of disease that can think for itself (usually with the mind and memory of the demon) and which can take control and give tremendous added strength to Ashitaka’s arm at will. Once the demon is slain, an odd iron ball is found in it’s body. The village elder tells Ashitaka that he must go and solve the mystery of what happened to the demon, not only for the villages sake, but his own as if he is unable to find a cure, the infection on his arm will ultimately kill him.

During his travels, Ashitaka runs into San, the Princess Mononoke, and the wolves that she lives with, but San wants nothing to do with him, being angry at all other humans for trying to destroy the forest. Ashitaka eventually reaches Irontown and discovers the secret of why the demon that attacked his village become a demon in the first place. He also learns that the leader of Irontown, Lady Eboshi, wants to kill the spirit of the nearby forest in an attempt to stop the spirits of the forest from stopping her Iron producing factory, and has enlisted a monk, who has also befriended Ashitaka, to do the job.

I think the story in Princess Mononoke is, overall, pretty good, though I think it may lack a little bit of depth, at least in the sense that character motivations seem rather simplistic and single-minded to a large degree. However, the core plot line is still well established, showing that one cannot live without nature, and that being greedy may ultimately come back to haunt you. This is also probably Miyazaki’s most obviously pro-environment movie.

In usual Miyazaki style, the animation and music is superb in this movie, and with most Disney adaptations of Miyazaki’s movies, the dub is also very good. This is an overall very good, if not a little odd, movie which I think many anime fans would enjoy.

First Watched: January 2006
Do I Own: No
Do I Recommend: Yes

By Josh | Posted in Anime Reviews | Tagged | Comments (0)

Anime DVD and Manga releases for March 13 - March 19

Tuesday, March 13, 2007 – 12:00 pm

Anime DVDs

Trinity Blood DVD Volume 5March 13, 2007
Full Moon - Volume 4
Kyo Kara Maoh! - Season 2 Volume 3
Trinity Blood - Volume 5

Manga

Please Save My Earth Manga Volume 21March 13, 2007
Beck - Volume 7
Black Cat - Volume 7
My-Hime - Volume 2
Please Save My Earth - Volume 21
Rave Master - Volume 23
Strawberry Marshmallow - Volume 3
Yakitate!! Japan - Volume 4

March 14, 2007
Crying Freeman - Volume 5

March 15, 2007
Genshiken - Volume 8
Love Mode - Volume 5
Pastel - Volume 6

By Josh | Posted in Anime & Manga Releases | Comments (0)

Josh’s Anime Blog Podcast Episode #15

Saturday, March 10, 2007 – 1:51 pm

Josh’s Anime Blog Podcast Episode #15 is now online!

You can download it directly from the following address (15.8 MB):
Josh’s Anime Blog Podcast Episode #15

You can download the rss file for the podcast here:
http://www.joshsanimeblog.com/podcast/podcast.rss

Remember to update your RSS feed address if it wasn’t updated automatically!

Also, I have re-reviewed the manga series Angelic Layer, dropping it’s score from 70% to 67%

Also, my podcast is up on itunes. If you search for anime under podcasts, you should find it as Josh’s Anime Blog Podcast.

Enjoy!

By Josh | Posted in Podcasts | Tagged | Comments (0)

Anime Credits: Azumanga Daioh Opening

Friday, March 9, 2007 – 9:35 pm

By Josh | Posted in Anime Credits | Tagged | Comments (0)

1 Year of Josh’s Anime Blog

Thursday, March 8, 2007 – 8:35 pm

The past couple of weeks have been so busy that I didn’t even notice that the 1 year anniversary of Josh’s Anime Blog has passed us by. That’s right. On February 28, 2007, Josh’s Anime Blog turned 1 year old. Sugoi!

My first ever entry was made at 3:15 pm on that date (I’ve obviously changed my banner since then) and my first review was posted soon after at 12:32 AM on March 1, 2006.

Between February 28, 2006 and February 27, 2007 I posted a total of 160 posts (so one every about 2.3 days).

I posted 37 anime reviews (about 1 every 9.9 days - I’d like to improve that average this year)

I posted 5 manga reviews, which is how many manga series I’ve actually finished so I can’t do much better than that.

I posted 37 anime and manga releases posts (one every 9.9 days, and considering that it’s supposed to be weekly, that average obviously needs to improve…)

I posted 17 Anime Credit posts (the first post was October 6, so I’ve posted that once every 8.5 days. Against, supposed to be weekly. Not quite there yet)

And finally I posted 13 podcasts, which actually have been weekly since I started posting them.

As far as web statistics go:

I had 10,749 visitors to my site with 25,205 page views and 147,480 “hits” (that comes to 29 visitors, 69 page views, and 404 hits a day).

I had a total of 1.67 gigabytes of data downloaded from the website.

I had visitors from 74 nations from all 6 inhabited continents. This includes hits from places such as Algeria and Gabon in Africa; Brunei, Iran, Mongolia, and Vietnam in Asia; Estonia, Iceland, Moldova, and Slovenia in Europe; Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, and Guatemala from Central/North America, Australia and New Zealand from Oceania; and Chile, Ecuador, and Peru from South America.

As far as far as visitor statistics:
For visitors for which it could be determined:
87.1% of visitors used windows while 4.3% of visitors used Mac

46.5% of visitors used Internet Explorer while 34.5% visitors used Firefox, 5.5% of visitors used Netscape, 3.5% of visitors used Mozilla, 2.1% of visitors used Opera, and 1.5% of visitors used Safari.

Finally, search keyword statistics, as least as far as my web stats program can track them, 5 search phrases tied for the most common phrased used to find my website, with 8 hits for each phrase (the complete exact phrase). These include:

“Is Pure blog”
“The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumia review”
“Angelic Layer blog”
“Rate Manga” and
“Haruhi Suzumiya Review”

Finally, the top 10 search words, besides articles and other meaningless words (like “or”, etc) used in searches to find my website:

volume
anime
manga
blog
torrent
review
episode
english
basket
angelic

Why torrent is on that list, considering I don’t have torrent downloads nor do I have links to torrents, I don’t know, but apparently a lot of people searching for torrents stumble upon my website.

In any case, there is a picture of what this website has done in the past year. I hope it continues to keep growing!

By Josh | Posted in General Blather | Comments (0)