Month: September 2013

REPOST – The Speakeasy #009: The Bloody Caesar, Anime Licensing and the Future

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Drink #009: The Bloody Caesar,
Anime Licensing and the Future

The U.S. anime market of 2000 was clearly not the same market of 2010 no matter how much some people would like that to be the case. A lot about how anime is brought over to the U.S. has changed in the last few years. We talk about how we got to this point and then at the myriad of ways the remaining companies are innovating to respond to these trends. Which of these new methods of distribution will be able to coexist and which will die out? Whose licensing methods will pick profitable shows and who is still picking Rozen Maiden and Heat Guy J style bombs? And most importantly who thought that picking up Blessing of the Campanella was a good idea?

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And now your helpful bartenders at The Speakeasy present your drink:

The Bloody Caesar

6 oz. Clamato Juice
1½ oz. Vodka
2 Dashes Hot Sauce
2 Dashes Worcestershire Sauce
Celery salt
Freshly Ground Pepper
Lime/Lemon wedge
1 Crisp Celery Stalk

Served on the rocks in a highball class. Rim the glass first with a lime wedge and then with celery salt.

Manga of the Month: Ranma ½

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Ranma ½ (らんま½)
by Rumiko Takahashi

hisui_icon_4040 Ranma ½ is a lot like Akira.

Wait, wait, wait. Put down those torches and pitchforks. Let me explain for a second. It will all make sense if you just give me a chance.

They not the same when it comes to content. I meant that in the sense that at one point in time it was almost inconceivable to think that anyone who was any sort of casual anime fan had not seen at least a little of either. People tended to either love or hate either title and of course that led to lots of “overrated” and “overexposed” being thrown around about both. But even if you your opinion was in the middle of the road about it you were expected to have an opinion about both. They were an integral part of the framework of fandom conversations.

And then time passed and luster fell off both titles. Neither of them are forgotten. They still randomly appear on top 10 lists. They still influence people. They still get brought up in conversation. They are just no longer the essentials they once were. You can bring them up at a convention and if half the audience has not seen either of them you’re not too surprised.  And so at some point both of them went out of print.

Viz announced at Anime Expo that the Ranma 1/2 manga was going back into print in a new format. Then at Otakon they announced the same for the anime. With this classic coming back into the consciousness (and store shelves) soon I decided this was a good a time as any to talk about this series.

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Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya #008: Winners Never Quit and Quitters Never Win

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hisui_icon_4040 And Illya has decided that she would rather be a loser.

OK. That is a little harsh. It is more like she has decided to leave the dangerous work to the professionals. Or at least that is what she keeps telling herself. But more on that in the article itself.

The most interesting thing about this episode is so far up until now the anime has pretty much mirrored the manga. There have been some minor tweaks there and there but that is the nature of adaptation from one medium to another. It is not the almost panel for panel reproduction of something like Naoki Urasawa’s Monster but it is hardly the fast and loose takes of something like Hayate The Combat Butler or Excel Saga as well. So this episode really stands out as it is the first instance that a good deal of completely original material has been added.

In the manga this episode basically speeds by in one chapter called “Become a Normal Girl Again”. It sort of starts in the same place and definitely ends in the same place but the middle has much more meat in it. The real question is if that was the best idea. It was certainly different.
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