Zero Day Warez Duex!

Leave a comment

This is such a great experiment and am glad to be apart of their first go at it!

I was surprisingly impressed with the titles they chose to be the test case for streaming video in America. It seems like they did not randomly select two titles out of a hat and hope they work in the U.S. They picked a fantasy comedy and a dark Tokusatsu style action show. Since they are both fairly popular genres here they just might have a chance at doing well. As I wrote this up on Monday April 7th Druaga had 44,139 views and Blassreiter had 7,625 views on You Tube. That is not even counting the number of views both shows had on BOST TV and Crunchyroll. Are these the numbers that they had hoped they would do? I can’t tell but I think it was a success in terms of getting people to watch the shows online. How much of this will translate into financial success is still to be seen.

I was surprised to see the streaming quality is very low. You can download it for free, since you can name your own price, so there is really no reason to keep the stream super crappy. Sometimes I don’t want to clutter up my hard drive with a show or some people don’t have the space, or various other reasons for not wanting it. I would like to see that change, if only just a little bit better.

I’m not surprised at all. They really want you go to that donation page and hope that your throw a few bucks their way. I guess the idea is if you like what you see in the low quality stream they hope you will pay for the high quality download but if you don’t like what you see there is almost no chance you would pay anyway.I did find it a little bit odd that while Crunchyroll and BOST TV had the streaming videos as front page news on their sites it seemed that You Tube devoted almost no effort into making people aware these shows were now available.

I was shocked to see some people shelling out $30 to $50 on Crunchyroll for the first episodes! I myself paid $1 for Druaga and I didn’t download Blassreiter. Crunchyroll also throws in cute little incentives for paying, like badges and additional extensions like a ipod version of the episode. Okay maybe I am a dork, but I thought they were fun. So now I have some cute badges! Not like I wouldn’t have paid anyway.

I paid a dollar for both episodes. I think I will continue to pay for Druaga but Blassreiter did not hold my attention enough for me to continue to pay for it. I am hoping that these people playing $30+ are not just crazy and that they are basically paying up front for the whole season. Now the fact that you can download the episode without an minimum download might be a practice they stop after a while but I assume they are trying to see what works before they demand payment for a decently quality download. I also vaguely remember there being talk that the first two episodes could be downloaded for free and that there would be a minimum price on all the episodes after that. I might also be crazy.I think we both agreed that they might want to but some sort of reasonable minimum offering like 25 cents an episode. The streaming video could still be free but the higher quality download would come with a minor price tag.

Subtitles were good! Quite good! I thought it was apparent when I was laughing so hard while watching Druaga, clearly they were doing a good job or the jokes wouldn’t have worked so well. I am the Crimson Knight: Black Knight!But I came away knowing what was going on and there was not a bit of Engrish or bad grammar. I heard the BOST TV downloads have notes, I would be curious to see that. Especially for a show full of parody like Druaga.

I think I remember you catching a grammatical error during Blassreiter but I don’t think it was anything too horrible. Heck you can sometimes catch grammatical errors in non simultaneously released shows. All in all they seemed to be professional done by someone who has an excellent grasp of both languages.I did find it slightly odd they did not translate the opening and endings song for Druaga while they translated the end song for Blassreiter. They did not need the crazy flashy fan-subber style karaoke lyrics. They just need a simple translation for the songs. I know I generally like to know what the opening and closing songs are about and I know a big J-music fan like Nartaku must be greatly saddened by the lack of opening song lyrics. It’s certainly not a deal breaker but I hope it is something the correct in the future.

I do like subtitles for the opening, but as you mentioned the karaoke ones. I’m not a fan. I hate having 40 different subs in the opening to the point I can’t see what is going on. On that end it was nice to see a clean opening for the show, well with credits. I love openings, everyone knows how much effort is usually expended on them, so I would a bit more translation to go into them. Or on the download maybe it can be optional.

I guess we should actually mention if we liked the shows or not. I think it was clear that we both really enjoyed Druaga while we both thought that Blassreiter was rather mediocre and poorly paced.

Well, as we talked we realized Blassreiter is just not our cup of tea. However, I will mention that the dude on the ads for Blassreiter appears for about 10 second in the first episode. If HE is actually the main character I think I could like it. I am curious if anyone is going to bother fan-subbing these shows. And if they do is AnimeSuki going to list them?

I am really hoping that the fan-sub community sees that they are still plenty of shows out there that are not being subbed and pick up some old school classics instead. I know that is dream up there with cold fusion but I dream it anyway. Any fan sub group with any type of ethics or good sense will just leave these shows alone. I assume that we might see the normal groups of French, Spanish, and Italian fan-subbers still working on these shows since they did not get a legitimate release. I can’t be mad at these groups. Animesuki is usually a stickler for ethical releases so I can’t see them even thinking of putting up links to any groups that would dare sub these shows.

My only other question is why did they not include Special A in this download experiment. There are four major reasons or combinations of the following reasons that this show was not put up as part of the streaming project. The first is the might have might want to still release Special A in America with a conventional DVD release. The second is they might have figured it would be a wasted effort to try and sell a shojo anime in the U.S. considering most shojo anime tanks despite how popular the manga might be. The third reason is that Maki Minami or Hana to Yume might not have allowed them to release the shown in America through online distribution. Of the three titles coming out this season I assume that Gonzo has the least amount of control over Special A because it’s based on a preexisting work. Adding the forth reason is that it seems that Gonzo co-produced this show with AIC. Gonzo might be down with streaming shows here but that does not mean AIC wants anything to do with it.

I was just disappointed about Special A because it is actually a show that has had some real buzz behind it. The manga has recently hit shelves here and is gaining a fan following, but yes shojo does notoriously poorly. Maybe they will see how Host Club fares to decide about licensing S.A. But all in all I think Gonzo has a good mind behind what they are up to. I think it was a success but we will see what Gonzo says in the next few weeks I suspect.

Narutaki Currently!
Watching Hataraki Man
Reading Kekkaishi
Listening to Ayumi Hamasaki

Hisui (Brainwasher Detective) Currently:
Watching Macross 7
Reading Emma
Listening to Higurashi no Naku Koro ni by Eiko Shimamiya

Top 5 shows I plan to watch this season
1. Macross Frontier
2. Blade of the Immortal
3. Tower of Druaga
4. Vampire Knight
5. xxxHOLiC Kai

Zero Day Warez!

Leave a comment

If you haven’t seen this news…where have you been? This is very big deal and could have many interesting results. This is all speculation at the moment.

Apparently Gonzo has decided to use YouTube, Crunchyroll, and BOST to show their two latest series here in America. We will be able to see subtitled episodes of The Tower of Druaga: the Aegis of Uruk and Blassreiter through streaming video. The reason this such a big deal is because you will be able watch these episodes at the same time you would be able to watch them in Japan, for free or for a minimal price. The dream has finally come true. We are getting legitimate simultaneous releases. You will also be able to buy higher quality versions of the episodes for download. This might be the thing that changes how anime is released in the U.S. forever.

Each service is charging a different price for their episodes. Apparently BOST has a point system where you pay for points and then use them to buy episodes to watch and download. You can watch the first two episodes of each show for free but have to pay for the rest afterwards. Crunchyroll has a system where you can pay as much as you feel is warranted for each episode. Radiohead and Nine Inches Nails have tried similar experiments with their latest albums. I don’t know what sort of payment system if any You Tube is trying.

We are looking at something that a fan-subber can’t beat; at least in terms of quick availability. It is free and it is easy to get. It is what people have been asking for all along. Although I do have my concerns about that issue. Maybe I am not that trusting, but what fans say they want and what they really want can sometimes be two different things.

This is all too true. People often say they want one thing but when it is presented to them they want nothing to do with it. Will people use a quicker legitimate service if they have to pay a minimal fee or have to watch advertisements? If there is a suggested donation price how many of them will pay? How many will pay even if they love it? If they hate it or even merely like it? How many will stick by a fan-subbers because they are “real” fans.

Yeah, I am in awe of the idea that we can “pay what you feel is enough.” That just seems to spell disaster. Maybe it is just me. Just makes me wonder with what sales are, is anyone willing to pay enough? But they do have the new-ness factor on their side. No one has seen these shows before.

One of the main problems I see with this plan is that neither program they are experimenting with seems to be a blockbuster hit. Tower of Druaga is based on an old Namco game with at most what can be considered nostalgia factor in the U.S. Blassreiter seems like the type of show that American audiences would like but I had never heard of the show before it was being announced as one of the two titles to be streamed in this plan. As far as I know, that has been little to no buzz about these shows in the states.

I agree to a point but I think in many recent season some of the shows that become best loved are new and no one is really aware of them. I think most fans that are into fan-subs give new shows a chance and can easily glom on to them. And Blassreiter seems to be right up that alley, atleast from what little I’ve read and seen.

Now if this plan had been based around the Devil May Cry anime or the Death Note anime I think the results would have been a guaranteed success. Either show would have been a killer app. I am worried that if these shows don’t do well enough, Japan will assume that nothing will sell this way and scrap the idea entirely. I don’t think either of the shows are guaranteed to do poorly but I don’t think either program is guaranteed to be a success either. I think it’s a good way of distributing shows but they have to give it a chance to grow and get a hit show that will make people sit up and take notice of this distribution method. I hope Japan does not expect this to be an instant success or have unreasonable expectations of how much profit it is going to make them.

My big question is, what does Japan expect to get from this? How much are do they think they will gain? Clearly, that will be a big factor in how long this will continue. I just wonder what the numbers they are projecting are. We aren’t talking about DVD sales here. We are talking about a country that has only recently considered us a viable market. I am really intrigued by the Japanese essentially cutting out the middle man in this. However, that is a must since the shows haven’t proved themselves a success yet and why would anyone license them without it? But at the same time, that brings up a number of concerns.

I found that most of the U.S. anime companies are made up of friendly people. A majority of whom at least pretend to have an active interest in anime. I would be upset if this led to the downfall of the majority of the American anime companies. I hope that either U.S. anime companies will be able to do their business along side this distribution method or will be able to partner with the Japanese to help distribute shows in the states. Then again if this works out well enough then we just might see the end of the U.S. middle man.

Well, we have seen what happened to Japanese companies trying to sell anime on DVD here in the U.S. That alone may keep a few choice businesses around to do the majority of DVD distribution. But then again, if the plan to move ahead with just downloading everything goes, where does that leave DVDs? My biggest worry is for the quality of the translation into English. I am not saying it has to be perfect, but it should be pretty damned good. They at least have the advantage of translating far in advance, as opposed to on the fly as the show comes out. But without a good translation, I fear people will use it as an excuse to continue to look to fan-subs.

The subtitles don’t have to be the best in the world but they have to be intelligible. If Gonzo rushes out a subtitle job that makes you long for the Hong Kong bootleg with a translator who seems not to be fluent in Japanese or English then this experiment might not work either. Toei Animation is famous for creating some of the least U.S. fan friendly subtitles when they tried to release their own DVDs here.

I also have a feeling that people might take issue with the quality. The streaming quality will certainly be lower than a downloadable, DVD version. Because as one of my friend’s said regarding Crunchyroll, “What they think is high-quality is not even close to high-quality to me.” But we really won’t know the quality of the stream till it is seen.

I have never really understood this obsession with video quality but that is just me. I watched most of One Piece off of You Tube so I obviously don’t care. I assume that if anyone is so darn picky about their video quality then they wont mind paying the money for a DVD or high quality digital download. But as we discussed before what people say they want and what they actually want can often be too different things.

I assume there will be advertising attached to the releases, maybe commercials before the show starts? And what does this mean for a DVD release? Will we see one here in the United States?

It’s odd. Some people like to be able to have a physical version of anything they buy. I know people will often get online comics for free like Sluggy Freelance and Penny Arcade and then go right out and buy the book version of the same comic they read for free. The flash animated story Broken Saints is also available to watch free online but seems to do good business in selling the DVDs of the series. Some people do it to support the author and others just want to own something tangible. So even if people get the product for free, it does not mean there would be no demand for the DVD. In fact, sometimes in also increases the demand. I admit you give some things away for free and people won’t even take it then so nothing here is guaranteed. No one is going to pay for a DVD for a show they hated (well most people anyway).

I have high hopes and an very excited about this. I can’t wait to watch and I would love to see these become the norm. Clearly not every show will end up doing this, I just don’t think it would be cost effective but I would to see most major shows get a release like this. So while I think this could replace fan-subs for some things, I think they will still have their place for niche series and possibly long running things like Bleach and One Piece.

Now that you mention it, I think that shows like Bleach and One Piece could theoretically be prefect for this. Long running shows make most of their profits off of merchandise. You hook the audience on the free or low priced episodes of the show and break even on the distribution through advertising or subscription fees. Then make your mad money off the toys, games, shirts and various of merchandise. It sounds just crazy enough to work.

Narutaki Currently!
Watching Hayate no Gotoku
Reading Penguin Revolution
Listening to X Japan

Hisui (Brainwasher Detective) Currently:
Watching Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni
Reading Fujoshi Rumi
Listening to Sakura Kiss in English

Top 5 unlicensed shows I would want to see downloadable
1. Hayate The Combat Butler
2. Gundam 00 Season 2 aka Gundam 00 Z Destiny++ Final
3. Kekkaishi
4. Saiunkoku Monogatari
5. Blade of the Immortal

Ouran High School Host Club, Water can’t hurt handsome men.

Leave a comment

It can’t. Just bounces right of them. I have seen it happen. Host Club is best summed up as the shojo comedy styling of female Kyon and her all male harem.

A complete parody of everything that is a staple in shojo manga all crammed together in one ridiculous show.

Haruhi Fujioka is the poorest student at Ouran High School, a school which is made up of Japan’s wealthiest and most prestigious students. Haruhi looks like a nerdy little dormouse of a man with messy hair and an unstylish nonstandard uniform. Therefore Haruhi looks totally out of place at this prestigious school. When trying to find somewhere to study Haruhi wanders into the seemingly empty third music room. Haruhi finds that a handsome sextet of students have turned the music room into a host club for the wealthy girls of the school. While trying to get away from the bizarre members of the club she accidentally smashes an eight million dollar vase. The host club forces her to become their lackey to pay them back for the vase. Two things get Haruhi out of having to do menial chores for the club. The first is that Haruhi has natural charm and grace that makes her a natural host. The second is that she is a rather pretty girl. Certain members of the club are more surprised than others when they learn that Haruhi is actually a girl but no matter what it greatly changes the dynamic of the clubs interactions with her.

Haruhi’s situation with the vase is brief and really only exists to get her into the club. It’s brought up randomly when a joke calls for it. The host club was founded to make girls feel happy and to do good things when they feel like it. This series really doesn’t have an overall plot so it does perfectly well with its bizarre one off scenarios and events. It also makes it great to turn on whenever and laugh it up.

The cast is rather delightful bunch of assorted miscreants and fetish characters but this is by design. While each character obviously fits into a stereotypical archetype of shojo manga they still retain likable qualities that keeps them from feeling like merely microwaved leftovers. Lots of comedies try to use stock characters for comedic effect but they often feel like cardboard cutouts merely propped up for jokes. I feel as the series adds depth and nuance to all the major characters while still keeping them comically amusing.

Well, the thing about archetype characters is they exist because people like the archetype. And believe it or not, some writers can use them well and make you love them as you have loved all other characters like them before and some writers fall flat and create boring, seen-it-all-before feelings. You can’t use an archetype without bringing something to the table and Host Club brings it all. And while you have shojo eye candy flying all over the place, you know it is just one colossal joke. The guys of host club are schemers and they know exactly what is going to bring in the customers, so that is what you get.

Haruhi is the master straight man of the group. With a wide variety of deadpan expressions she takes everything the host club throws at her as best as anyone in the same position would be able to. She is smart, independent, and sassy when she wants to be. The only thing that seems odd is Haruhi’s odd variable skills of observation. When it’s plot convenient Haruhi is an eagle-eyed and empathetic girl who notices even the slightest changes in mood of other characters. Other times she is an oblivious to everything and anything that is going on around her. Side note: Narutaki loves Haruhi with long hair.

Haruhi is interesting although I wasn’t really a fan of her till they started giving her something to do other than have no reaction to our host club cronies. But that starts to dissipate as we learn about her family, she ambitions, and her friendships that develop. She definitely stands out as a strong female but I felt her better moments were when she realized she could, and sometimes needed to, rely on others.

I think on a certain level Haruhi has the “Silent Bob speaks” effect. They make her so blasé most of the time so they few times she does react it is of significant note.

All of the members of the host club have unique relationships with one another. The series is more about friendship than anything else and it does it very well. Personally I find the friendships to be the strongest thing about the show because within that there is room for so much hilarity and drama. In fact, some of the best moments are the episodes when you learn how the host club got together. Everyone has a special connection to their king. Speaking of Tamaki, he in particular really becomes a developed character in these episodes. You start to realize that he has more going on in his head that you previously imagined.

Tamaki is the charming blonde foreigner who is half Japanese archetype. Tamaki is basically Irresponsible Captain Tylor but in charge of a host club instead of a spaceship. At first glance Tamaki seems like the incapable playboy with absolutely nothing of significance going on inside his head. But as the series goes on we learn that Tamaki can and often does put his rather sharp mind and ability to read people to good use. On the other hand, it is also very clear that much of Tamaki facade of being naive and gullible is quite real as well. One of the main mysteries of Tamaki is how much of his supposed silliness and clueless nature is real and how much of it is an act. I don’t think we ever really learn what the answer is but we definitely get a better idea by the end of the series what the percentage of clue to clueless is. Also when Haruhi is not around (and sometimes when she is around) Tamaki is most often made the straight man of the group.

Most people that know me well could spot from a mile away that I would love Tamaki. Tamaki’s personality is essentially my most favorite type of character in any series. But Tamaki is this character ten-fold (as with everything in Host Club, it deals in extremes). He has a free-spirited and goofy nature punctuated by his bouts selfishness and narcissism. However, his moments of kindness are shining and sweet. I find these things very appealing because many times it hides a darker past, but the character has choosen a somewhat positive way of dealing with it. Tamaki is the kind of guy that after watching a while you will always be wondering how much he planned and how much things just fell into place. Did I mention that he is beautiful and blond?

Hikaru Hitachiin and Kaoru Hitachiin are devilish twins. There main shtick at the host club seems is always implying that they have a incestuous homosexual relationship. In reality the Hitachiin twins are consummate manipulators and practical jokers. Everyone and anyone seem to exists for their amusement although their favorite targets are without a doubt Haruhi and Tamaki. They seem to have an odd amount of respect and admiration for Tamaki despite how much they seem to ridicule and manipulate him.

The twins are a paradox, they are the same and they aren’t. Their relationship is really well explored in the series. I think they are probably have the most growing up to do but that is what makes watching them a treat. You have the feeling they are moving toward something and a change will follow. As with most of the guys in the club, they love themselves a lot. But not to the point of all the fujoshi squealing in the club. They are in the same class at Haruhi and might be the closet friends she has. They love to rub that in the face of the king.

Certain people we both know seem to think that Hikaru is the closest thing to a legitimate rival for Tamaki over Haruhi’s affections in the series. We both think she is a little bit crazy.

Honey and Mori are sort of a package deal. We rarely if ever seen them as separate people. Honey is the shota bait super hyper cute high schooler who has the body of a little boy. He loves cakes and candy and happens to be as sweet as sugar as well. Mori is the stoic kendo club captain that watches over Honey like a bishonen gargoyle. They are almost as close as the Hitachiin twins to the point where I almost don’t feel that weird seeing yaoi doujinshi about them.

I don’t think it is an mystery why Mori is always shown with Honey. Mori is tall, dark, and handsome and Honey is short, sweet, and cute. I hear the moe chants in the background. But seriously I wish both of these characters had more screen time and a lot more character development. Heck, for a while there Mori had the most intimate relationship with Haruhi out of everyone.

If Tamaki is the lively soul that keeps the Host Club together as a family than Kyoya is the the cold machinery that keeps the host club running. The Shadow King is the masterful, almost villainous, brains of the group. He is the man that organizes the club, keeps everyone in line and in check, and makes sure it turns a profit. These are abilities that no other man in the club could even hope to have. He has a definite competitive spirit which is not obvious but clearly fierce when exhibited. In the manga, he seems to have a subtle crush on Haruhi but is mostly just a supporter of Tamaki in the anime. For some reason he is my favorite member of the host club. I guess I like his ice cold demeanor and subtle style.

The Shadow King is essential to the club. It just plain wouldn’t have gotten off the ground without him. He also completes the necessary glasses, smart guy of their shojo fantasy club. Tamaki and him are almost polar opposites and so they play off each other very well, creating one of the most dynamic friendships in the story.

The romance aspect of this series gives it some of its moments of drama. But once again, this series is so over the top that most of the time it is used for gags. There are some very sweet moments that will have you gushing but for the most part it sticks to what it does best, silly. And to add to its shojo parodying, of course a good portion of the club is in love with Haruhi, for some reason.

Everything in Host Club is played up with the volume turned to 11 for comedic effect while still remaining somewhat loosely based on a coherent storyline and reality unlike spastic comedies such as Excel Saga. They often throw ten jokes at you every ten minutes and parody every genre under the sun (especially shojo genres) but it never comes at anything more than a brisk pace. Too often such comedies seems to have little in the way of a strong plot. Host club manages to constantly be funny while still telling a individual story each episode. It also knows when to take it slow and just let us get to know the characters or to build a little drama and romance while still falling in the comedy category.

Host Club is character driven because it is a situational comedy. With the main characters, there is always something to love. The random side characters that pop-up, like the club “manager” and the president of the Dark Arts club, just to its cast of perfect weirdos. There is nothing much going on as far as over arcing story but who cares? Everyone needs a hilarious show that you don’t have to think too much about. Ouran fits that bill to a tee.

For shame Narutaki. For shame. You forgot to mention Beelzenef. Without him what is this show? I also really like the Yakuza so who tries to learn to be make friends with people from Mori. His story was hysterical. I think it’s also criminal to forget Renge, the resident fujoshi, and her running commentary and helpful suggestions from her limitless knowledge of anime, video games, and burning moe passion.

Alright, alright. I couldn’t go on without mentioning the hilarious president, and only member of the Black Magic Club, Nekozawa and his hand puppet Beelzenef! His appearances are brief but totally hilarious, as the door to his club randomly appears where ever he needs it to. Also any sort of light send him into a state of shock, haha.

Having read the manga I find that they hit almost all the highlights. This means that often certain episodes are the combined plots of two to three different stories from the manga. I feel that this let them get as much of the manga as they could into 26 episodes while still letting you get to see who everyone in the club really is. The only thing they really left out was Kyoya’s feelings for Haruhi. Any scene where Kyoya seems to show affection for Haruhi in the anime is either modified or played down from how it was in the manga. I assume they removed it because they just have less time than the manga but I felt his crush added some charm and depth to Kyoya.

It is always hard to completely develop a large cast in just 26 episodes, so that would be my initial reasoning for them removing Shadow King’s feelings. But they do hint at it a little. So instead of doing it only half way, I think they moved the story in a more direct fashion.

The anime also has an original 2 part episode to end the series. It ties together all the themes of the show pretty well. It is as clear an ending as you can get for an on-going romantic comedy.

While I know the anime’s ending wasn’t totally concrete, I felt it was pretty clear on certain levels about the feelings of certain characters. But it wasn’t so definite that you would be thrown off if in the manga it doesn’t end the same way. I really enjoyed the last two episodes even though a lot of the slap-stick and gags were missing from it.

All in all Ouran High School Host Club is a comedy for both sexes. It is shojo but I think it is funny enough and witty enough to win over any male who does not mind a little bit of flowers and bishonen. Plus, they are constantly mocking flowers and bishonen. Females don’t even need to be told why they will like Host Club. It is just a fact. I am just worried that Funimation will drop the ball when they market Host Club. They have a sure fire hit on their hand they just have to sell it correctly. I sort of wish we lived in a world where Host Club could get on TV but I’m not naive enough to ever think it would happen any time soon.

I brought up this concern when I found out about the license. I feel like they are going to market to girls period. This show has a much more broad appeal if they play their cards right. Show up the slap-stick, the gags, the parody. Instead I imagine trailers with flowers, pretty boys, and romance. Blah blah. It’s not that this isn’t the core, because it is, but the show has the potential to bring in a wider audience, bringing in bigger numbers, and actually do well as a shojo title. The DVDs are due out later this year, although there is still no date announced.