Episode 4 of the podcast is up.
You can download it directly from the following address (13.7 MB):
Josh’s Anime Blog Podcast Episode #4
You can download the rss file for the podcast here:
http://www.joshsanimeblog.com/podcast/podcast.rss
Also, I have re-reviewed the anime Fruits Basket, changing it’s overall score from a 81.5% to 91%
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!
On August 6, 2005, I popped Volume 1 of DNA2 into my DVD player. That disk was the first one I watched after starting renting from Blockbuster online, and is the first time that I voluntarily chose to watch an anime series while realizing that it was an anime series. It was, by most accounts, the start of my anime viewing.
So, how far have I gotten in 1 year? I’ve rated 17 anime series or movies (of course, this site has only been up for the last 6 of those 12 months). I’ve completed 14 others, and I’m currently watching 9 more.
If my counting is correct, in the past year I have watched 503 anime episodes or movies for a total of something around 200 to 215 hours of shows (or between 8 and 9 days).
I own 9 anime series and part of another as well as 2 movies:
- Ah! My Goddess: The Movie
- Ai Yori Aoshi / Ai Yori Aoshi Enishi
- Angelic Layer
- Cardcaptor Sakura - Clow Book (Season 1)
- Chobits
- DNA2
- Fruits Basket
- Koi Kaze
- The Place Promised in our Early Days
- Please! Twins
- Last Exile
- The World of Narue
There are also several shows on my to-get list:
Not finished, but I know I’ll buy it
Cardcaptor Sakura - Sakura Book
I”s Pure
It’s either still too expensive or I just haven’t gotten around to buying it
Howl’s Moving Castle
Princess Mononoke
Spirited Away
Licenced but not released
Rumbling Hearts (Kimi Ga Nozomu Eien)
Not licenced yet
I”s Pure
Kashimashi ~Girl Meets Girl~
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
I went back and looked at when the anime that I have purchased, or in the process of buying, were first released in the US to see if they were relatively spread out or bunched together.
Well, it appears they are bunched together. The anime I purchased, at least in their original releases, totaled 45 DVDs, here is the list:
Ai Yori Aoshi (8)
Angelic Layer (7) [I bought the 5-disc re-release]
Chobits (6) [I bought the 8-disc thinpack release]
DNA2 (5)
Fruits Basket (4)
Koi Kaze (3)
Last Exile (7)
Please Twins (4)
World of Narue (1 - they dont sell the 4 DVDs individually)
= 45 discs
So, how many of those were released, by year?
2002 - 1
2003 - 21
2004 - 17
2005 - 6
Also, as many as 4 series were being released at the same time, with Fruits Basket, DNA2, Ai Yori Aoshi, and Chobits all being released at the same time between March 2003 and May 2003; as well as on October 14, 2003, when 2 series ended and one series began, thus having DNA2, Ai Yori Aoshi, Chobits, and Angelic Layer briefly being released at the same time.
The biggest individual day? October 14, 2003, which saw the release of DNA2 #5 (and the box set), Ai Yori Aoshi #5 (also ending the release of the first season), and Angelic Layer #1.
The only other month which saw 3 releases was November 2003, with Chobits #5 (11th), Last Exile #1 (18th), and Angelic Layer #2 (25th).
I suppose the most “modern” anime I’ve been watching are Kimi ga Nozomu Eien, which is scheduled to begin it’s US release in October 2006, and I”s Pure, which isn’t even licensed yet.
Name: Fruits Basket, Furuba
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Episodes: 26
Released: July 5, 2001 - December 27, 2001
Based On: Fruits Basket manga by Natsuki Takaya
Director: Akitaro Daichi
Produced By: Studio DEEN, TV Tokyo
US Distribution By: FUNimation
Tohru Honda: Yui Horie
Yuki Sohma: Aya Hisakawa
Kyo Sohma: Tomokazu Seki
Shigure Sohma: Ryotaro Okiayu
Saki Hanajima: Reiko Yasuhara
Arisa Uotani: Yuka Imai
Momiji Sohma: Ayaka Saito
Hatori Sohma: Kazuhiko Inoue
Hatsuharu Soma: Akio Suyama
Kagura Sohma: Kotono Mitsuishi
Akito Sohma: Wakaba Murasaki
Tohru Honda: Laura Bailey
Yuki Sohma: Eric Vale
Kyo Sohma: Jerry Jewell
Shigure Sohma: John Burgmeier
Saki Hanajima: Daphne Gere
Arisa Uotani: Parisa Fakhri
Momiji Sohma: Kimberly Grant
Hatori Sohma: Kent Williams
Hatsuharu Soma: Justin Cook
Kagura Sohma: Meredith McCoy
Akito Sohma: Chad Cline
Animation: 9/10 (x 4 = 36 pts)
Story: 9/10 (x 4 = 36 pts)
Music: 9/10 (x 4 = 36 pts)
Coherence/Story Arc: 7/10 (x 2 = 14 pts)
English Dubs: 9/10 (x 1 = 9 pts)
Gut Score: 8/10 (x 5 = 40 pts)
Total: 171/200 (85.5%)
Fruits Basket is a cute little story about a girl named Tohru Honda and her living with three members of the Sohma family. Unfortunately for the three people she’s living with (they’re all guys), they turn into one of the animals of the zodiac whenever someone of the opposite sex hugs them. What results is a lot of comedy, but also some tension as well as one of the characters - Kyo, who is the cat in the zodiak story - has a secret he wants hidden as well as the fact that the head of the family appears to have his own plans for Tohru.
My only real beef may be that the ending doesn’t really seem to solve anything substantial, at least as far as the zodiak curse is concerned, and in fact the. Also, while the story does have the central theme of the Sohmas and their curse, there isn’t necessarily a goal or issue which is being built towards over the course of every episode except perhaps the relationship between the main three characters.
The animation is crisp, though there are really two styles at play during the series. The first is the normal animation, and the second is the more “humerous” or rounded animation, but even this fits in rather smoothly and looks good. The music is also good as well. Even though the score is rather soft, it is still appropriate given the atmosphere of the series.
Even though there doesn’t seem to be any indication that a second season is being considered, I’d be very interested in watching it if it were produced.
First Watched: January 2005
Do I Own: Yes
Do I Recommend: Yes
Since I really don’t have very much to talk about dealing with anime today, I’d just like to say that, after my initial experience buying anime from ebay, which was excellent, recently it seems to have gotten worse. I don’t know if the mail is slow or what, but I’ve purchased 3 anime things off of ebay, all shipping either Monday or Tuesday. I (finally) got the first one today (via media mail, which I guess the other ones may be being sent too).
This one is the Fruits Basket set, being the 5th complete anime series I have in hand (DNA2, Chobits, Angelic Layer, Onegai Twins - in that order). The next shipment includes the Murata boxset of Last Exile, which are in thinpack packages, and the World of Narue collection. The final shipment has volumes 2 and 3 of Ai Yori Aoshi Enishi.
I blew my chance to buy the Ai Yori Aoshi first season set. There were two items on ebay, one with a starting bid of $15 and one with a starting bid of $30. The two other times I’ve seen them on ebay, they went for something like $70, so I put an opening bid on the $15 one for $50 thinking “no way either will go for less than that.”
Well, at first I thought I was going to get a break. Going into the last day, the one I was bidding on was at $26 and the $30 had one bid. The $30 (which ended first) ended up going for that, so I was like “yeah!” Nope. Bidding on mine started going up dramatically. I was sitting there like “why didn’t you bid on the other one like that?”
Mine ended up going for like, $64, which was a little more than I was in the mood to pay, considering the same thing sold for less than half that just a couple hours earlier. So i learned my lesson: even if I think something will go for a lot, unless its the only thing there, don’t bid a lot on the first bid (and even if it is alone, there is a chance a new one may pop up). Unfortunately I haven’t seen the set (other thank cheap HK knockoffs) on there since.
One item I just bought yesterday was Koi Kaze volume 1. Again, it is rare to see the whole set on there, but one will occasionally see someone selling a particular volume for cheap, and I got this one for $7.99 including shipping, which, considering my thought was about $10 to $12 per DVD in that set, isn’t a bad deal.
