Today the spotlight falls on CoMix Wave’s recent Japanese Blu-ray release of the 2007 animated film 5 Centimeters Per Second.

Although the film was first issued on Blu-ray back in 2008, this new so-called “Global Edition” – while still manufactured and sold in Japan by a Japanese label – features both English subtitles and an English dub (in addition to the original Japanese soundtrack), as well as subtitles in nine other languages, making it a version worth considering for overseas anime enthusiasts.

It’s been more than four years since the film was first released, and in that time scores of reviews have been written about it. With this in mind, I’ve decided against expending pixels on adding yet another opinion piece to their number. The main objective of this post will be to lay out bare information and some of my own thoughts about the physical product itself, in order to help those already familiar with the film decide whether this particular release is worth investing in. For those seeking information about the film itself, I’ve provided links to selected reviews and related references at the end of the post (note that these will almost certainly contain spoilers).

RELEASE DATE, AVAILABILITY AND COST

The Global Edition was officially released on 18 November 2011. It’s readily available through Amazon.co.jp and other online import retailers, as well as on the ground in Japan itself (I grabbed my own copy during a trip to Tokyo earlier this week). Discounts vary by retailer, but barring deep cuts the sticker should come up to around the list price of 6,825 yen.

PACKAGING AND PHYSICAL EXTRAS

The Global Edition comes in a standard plastic Blu-ray disc case, although the colour is hardly standard: a rich, deep pink (instead of the normal blue) that nicely complements the hue of the cherry blossoms featured on the cover illustration. The jacket is a regular single-sided affair with a (partially) bilingual descriptive back cover.

Inserted behind the front of the case is a small booklet, 8 pages in length (including both covers). The text is entirely in English except for director Shinkai Makoto’s introductory message, which is set out in the original Japanese followed by an English translation. The booklet’s other contents include partial synopses of all three chapters of the film, brief notes about the cast and music, and short biographies of key members of the production staff.

CONTENTS

In addition to the 63-minute main feature, the Global Edition’s single Blu-ray disc contains an interview with Shinkai Makoto and two of the director’s early films: Hoshi no Koe (2002, 25 minutes) and Kanojo to Kanojo no Neko (1999, 5 minutes).The main feature is presented in HD widescreen video (1920:1080p). Audio setup options consist of Japanese 4.0ch Surround and English 2.0ch Stereo. Subtitle options include Japanese, English, Korean, Chinese, Thai, Indonesian, Italian, Spanish, German, Portuguese, and Arabic.

All three extra features are in SD and feature Japanese 2.0 Stereo audio with optional Japanese and English subtitles, plus an additional English soundtrack for Hoshi no Koe.

A brief word regarding one of the extras. With its somewhat dated picture quality and 4:3 aspect ratio – not to mention the brevity of the work – Hoshi no Koe probably wouldn’t merit a stand-alone Blu-ray release. Nonetheless, I consider it a watershed in Shinkai’s career and I’m very pleased to find it paired together with Byōsoku 5 Centimeter in a single disc. Less than half an hour long, this short piece left a lasting impact on me when I first saw it some years ago, thanks to its engaging story and absolutely gorgeous visuals. From that time on I was convinced that Shinkai was a chap to watch – and true enough, here I am, still eagerly following his work and snapping up his creations as they come along.

REMARKS

5 Centimeters Per Second has seen several international releases, but until now none – to my knowledge – has featured a full HD version. (Japanese fans have had access to a domestic Blu-ray version for years.) Although still technically a Japanese release, priced in yen and normally available only through Japanese channels, the Global Edition’s inclusion of English subs for both main and special features (plus an English dub for the main feature) and subtitles in nine other foreign languages all mark this one out as a release geared towards satisfying overseas demand. With the earlier domestic Blu-ray release retailing for somewhat less (and, if one irate Amazon.co.jp commenter is correct, featuring better HD audio), there isn’t much of an incentive for a fluent Japanese speaker to snap up this version, except perhaps for the extra features.

Significantly, even the in-video menus are rendered in English – noteworthy given that other Japanese Blu-rays with English subs that I’ve seen still have their options laid out only or mostly in Japanese (not particularly helpful for those who can’t read in that language). All things considered, this release does appear to be genuinely user-friendly as far as Anglophone consumers are concerned, and the (rather steep) list price notwithstanding, I’d consider it a serious and sensible import option for those chasing after an HD release of this acclaimed Shinkai production.

Regarding the English subtitles: they are very well done, and for the most part hew closely to the original Japanese script, but there are nonetheless a few awkward constructions and errors scattered throughout. Tighter editorial control – or perhaps a beta screening with native English speakers involved, with corrections to follow – might have helped weed out these infelicities. Still, the end product is perfectly watchable and one needn’t fear being saddled with a Backstroke of the West fiasco.

Regrettably, I cannot comment on the accuracy of the nine other foreign subtitle sets as I am fluent in none of those languages. (On this point I gladly defer to those who are, and invite them to post a comment on what they think of the other language options.) My hope is that these were professionally translated and edited out of a genuine desire to meet the needs of those who require them, and not merely regurgitated out of an automatic translator for the sake of superficially enhancing the “international” theme of this release.

TO CAP THINGS OFF…
THE GOOD: English subtitles AND menus (very helpful for Anglophone viewers). Inclusion of earlier films – particularly Hoshi no Koe – a real plus, even if only in SD quality. Good HD picture quality. Region free.
THE BAD: Rather expensive. Purchasers may need to import from Japan, which will jack up costs even more (shipping and customs duties for a start). No physical extras to help justify the cost, apart from the standard info booklet. English subtitles could be better. Audio quality decent but doesn’t seem quite up to HD standards.
THE UGLY: None. Nothing that I’d call a dealbreaker, at any rate.
OVERALL: Not perfect, but a decent release for overseas (more specifically Anglophone) viewers looking to add an HD copy of this film to their collection.

LINKS
NB: The reviews listed below were based on earlier DVD releases of this film, so the technical aspects are generally not relevant to the Blu-ray release reviewed here. They were selected mainly for the opinions expressed by their authors about the film itself, rather than about the physical product available to them at the time. Beware of spoilers.
- Basic information on Wikipedia
- Product listing on Amazon Japan
- Review by Chris Beveridge on Mania.com
- Review by Theron Martin on Anime News Network
- Review by Bamboo Dong on Anime News Network
- Review by Ronnie Scheib on Variety

Today the spotlight falls on Funimation’s recent U.S. Blu-ray release of the 2009 anime film Summer Wars.

RELEASE DATE, AVAILABILITY AND COST

The U.S. Blu-ray release of Summer Wars hit store shelves on 15 February 2011. It’s now available via most of the major online anime retailers (Anime News Network has a handy list here), with prices starting from US$19.99.

PACKAGING

My copy of Summer Wars arrived in an ordinary plastic Blu-ray case, with no outer sleeve/slipcase. (All discs were meant to ship with a decorative sleeve, but production delays meant that some customers – myself included – received their copies without one; more details on Anime News Network here.) It’s a pretty bare-bones release consisting of just one Blu-ray disc; there are no physical extras to speak of. The cover art – featuring Natsuki and her family – is the same as that used in the standard Japanese Blu-ray release.

Images of the disc case and jacket (front and back).

The inside of the case, showing the Blu-ray disc and the art printed on the inner side of the jacket.

CONTENTS

The 115-minute main feature is accompanied by about 40 minutes of extra content, consisting of:
- Interviews with 5 members of the Japanese cast, in Japanese with English subtitles.
- An interview with director Hosoda Mamoru, in Japanese with English subtitles.
- Teaser trailers.
- Teaser TV spot.
- Original trailer.
- TV spots.
- Trailers for upcoming Funimation releases.

Audio setup options consist of Dolby TrueHD English 5.1 and Dolby TrueHD Japanese 5.1 soundtracks. There is one set of subtitles (English) that can be turned on or off.

INTRODUCTORY SUMMARY

Summer Wars begins by taking you through a quick walk-through of OZ, the online virtual universe around which much of the film’s plot revolves. To call it Facebook on steroids would be a gross understatement: it’s more like what Second Life would be if it had the power of Microsoft, the ambitions of Google, and the inescapable reach of McDonald’s (and even that sounds like a decidedly inadequate description). In this world, the tentacles of OZ have acquired a pervasive grip on nearly every sphere of life, from social networking and shopping to finance and government services. Whether you’re looking to chat with people from across the globe (made possible by a built-in universal translator) or file your income tax returns, OZ provides the infrastructure you need to get things done.

Kenji is an ordinary high-school student, etc. etc. – a stock character in many ways, but I digress. In brief, he’s a mathematically gifted but socially inept lad who works for OZ as a low-low-low-level administrator. Plying his part-time trade in a cramped computer room at school with friend and fellow OZ underling Sakuma, the day seems just like any other when . . .

. . . fanfare please . . .

. . . their uber-popular high-school senpai Natsuki bursts into the room and offers them a part-time job. One of them anyway. In the end, Kenji is picked and rushes off to Ueda (in Nagano Prefecture) together with Natsuki for her great-grandmother’s upcoming 90th birthday bash. The nature of the job disclosed right in the most awkward of moments – I shall leave you to discover that for yourself – young Kenji is introduced to Natsuki’s legion of rambunctious relatives, a huge family descended of Sengoku-era warlords who struck it rich during the Meiji Restoration but have since descended into genteel poverty (whilst retaining their sprawling, castle-like estate). In firm command of the Jinnouchi clan’s affairs is their formidable matriarch, Great-Grandmum Sakae, a woman with the poise of an empress and the mind of a warrior.

That night, Kenji is roused from bed by an email containing a long string of numbers and the subject heading “Solve Me”. Never mind that it comes from an unknown sender – Kenji’s mathematical curiosity overpowers any misgivings and he rises to the challenge. Working out a solution in the course of the night, he emails the cracked code back to the source and retires to bed.

The next day, all heck breaks loose.

The morning news reports are ablaze with the story that someone has broken through OZ’s supposedly impervious security system. Using Kenji’s avatar, the unknown party starts by taking over other user accounts and wreaking havoc on the virtual plane. Soon it triggers catastrophic real-world problems by tampering with everything from traffic lights and GPS navigation to train schedules and emergency help lines. The hapless Kenji becomes the prime suspect, but with the help of Sakuma and Natsuki’s OZ-savvy cousin Kazuma, he fires the first return shots in what eventually becomes a war to take back the Internet – and save the world.

REVIEW

It’s been a while – a very long while – since I enjoyed a film as much as I did this one. Thinking of my anime favourites from the last five years or so, I don’t remember according any of them the honour of being rewatched in their entirety so soon after seeing them the first time. (Replaying pivotal scenes, yes; viewing them end-to-end a second time, no.) I’ve seen Summer Wars twice now, omitting nothing save for a few seconds of end credits, and even then I’m still thinking of giving it another go tomorrow.

On the one hand, perfection is not something it can lay claim to. The story isn’t overly complex but may be convoluted enough to bar children from enjoying the experience (not that the film was meant for them though). It generally fits the mould of a family-friendly film but I wouldn’t promote it as such: mostly squeaky-clean, there are nonetheless a few brief suggestive moments that prevent me from recommending it for a younger audience. There are times when it descends into needless melodrama – parts of the climactic hanafuda battle, for one. And the film does seem rather slow in places, mainly in the first half.

On the other hand, it gets so many things right that any flaws seem almost imperceptible. (I had to think long and hard to complete the brief, obligatory con-side paragraph above.)

Let’s start with the visuals. Animation studio Madhouse are known for top-rate work – director Hosoda Mamoru’s previous film Toki o Kakeru Shoujo comes to mind – and their well-established prowess explodes on screen for Summer Wars. The virtual world of OZ, rich in colour and sharp-edged complexity, is built mostly out of flashy computer-aided animation, with the softer and cleaner tones of the real world rendered in a more traditional hand-drawn style. The characters’ movements are very fluid, from the main fight/chase scenes to simple hand gestures; full attention is lavished on even something as peripheral as a child tipping over when a bus rounds a corner. And then there are the innumerable, seemingly inconsequential details that contribute little to the story but add so much to the atmosphere – the station signs, the architectural details of the Jinnouchi mansion, the aged tile-work in the family bath.

Character designs for the real-world side are flat and simple, without sacrificing naturalness – very similar to the overall style Hosoda employed in TokiKake. The virtual world of OZ required another set of designs, in this case for the characters’ online avatars. Just as one would expect in reality, each avatar is a reflection of its owner, whether in terms of their personality or occupation or interests and so on. Some are impressively slick and original, evidently put together with great care; others look as if their owners couldn’t be bothered to go much further than the website’s default options.

The story is wonderfully engaging, striking a good balance between light humour and solid action (with a few key moments of nearly-tear-jerking drama thrown in for good measure). Much of the humour rides on the family dynamics within the Jinnouchi clan, which has a profusion of ages, career paths and personalities as varied as any real-life extended household (together with interactions and clashes to match). Overprotective second cousins? Grandfathers who proudly recount tales of past military glories? Kids who leave destruction in their wake? You name it, they’ve probably got it. The House of Jinnouchi is more of a tossed salad than a melting pot, and the film benefits greatly from this fact.

One character in particular stands out, and all the more because she isn’t a central figure. (Come to think of it, in a manner of speaking she is a central figure, indeed the central figure.) Great-Grandmum Sakae is more than the Jinnouchi family’s ramrod-straight matron: she is a leader through and through, one who in a different day and age might have given the Tokugawas a sound thwacking. She is the first to call the film’s central conflict a “war”, and like any good commander doesn’t give in to panic and speculation. Her family’s wealth depleted long ago, Great-Grandmum Sakae nonetheless has something more powerful at her beck and call: a social network of her own. Politicians, government officials, business leaders, ordinary men on the ground – a vast web of contacts in all rungs of society built up over the course of her long lifetime. As the first effects of the OZ break-in spread out to sow chaos in the real world, she rallies the troops all over Japan using nothing more than an old rotary-dial phone and her contact book (a scene that ranks among the highest points in the entire film). She admits that she doesn’t completely understand what’s going on – the Internet doesn’t figure much in her world after all – but she calmly appreciates the scale of the danger, puts a name to it (“It’s like a war”) and gets the job done. All throughout the film, all the way to the end, it is Great-Grandmum Sakae’s banner that the family unites under to defend all they know and love from the threat that faces them.

It’s certainly possible to force out the usual commentary on modern man’s technological dependence and whatnot, though a closer inspection doesn’t support this as the central theme. I’d lean more towards identifying family and one’s social network (not in Facebook terms but in a broader sociological context) as lying nearer to the heart of the film. We’ve already spoken of Great-Grandmum Sakae’s taking command of homeland defence in the war’s early stages, using her vast network of relatives and acquaintances. Later on, we have various members of the family pitching in to set the stage for the final battle, contributing everything from a fishing boat to a university-grade supercomputer. And then there’s the central figure of Kenji, a stranger, to some even an interloper, an outsider who gets roped into the Jinnouchi network (along with Sakuma) and does his part to see them through to victory. The tag line emblazoned on the back of the Blu-ray case – “ALWAYS PROTECT YOUR NETWORK!” – may not have made much sense at the start, but after watching the film I am now struck by how appropriate it is.

In one of the interviews included on the disc, Hosoda-sensei himself traces the genesis of the film to his own post-TokiKake marriage. After his wedding, his wife’s family – up to that point little more than strangers to him – were suddenly his family as well. The theme is chosen, the seed is planted, and a few years later we are reaping the exceptionally sweet fruit.

Diego adds to the festive cheer by opening the covers of a splendid stocking stuffer: ARIA the Illustration – Avvenire, a compilation of artwork related to the ARIA anime series.

As with my previous artbook posts, only low-quality shots of selected pages are provided here. If these samples succeed in piquing your interest, please support the publishers by purchasing the artbook. (Don’t ask us to provide high-quality images or scans; we won’t do it.)

CONTENTS

Avvenire contains full-colour reproductions of cover and promotional art prepared for the ARIA anime series. All three seasons (and the OVA) are represented in various types of illustrations: DVD jackets, CD covers, magazine spreads, telephone cards and so forth. Although part of the broader ARIA franchise, Avvenire is not directly related to the 3-volume hardbound artbook series released in 2004-2006 (which featured art from Amano Kozue‘s original manga series) as it is concerned specifically with the anime adaptation and consists almost entirely of anime-style illustrations prepared by other hands (rather than by Amano-sensei herself).

Here’s a small sample of the book’s contents.

MY THOUGHTS

As an avid follower of both the ARIA manga series and its anime adaptation, I’m pleased to see yet another artbook featuring Neo-Venezia in all its aquatic splendour – and even more so by the fact that this latest publication allows me to see the world of Amano-sensei’s undines from a somewhat different perspective. Avvenire offers more of the same in the sense that it features the same characters as its predecessors, but it also presents something new because the art possesses very different characteristics: brighter colours, a reduced reliance on shading, more sharply defined boundaries; in short, distinctly anime-style. While I personally prefer the dreamlike quality of Amano-sensei’s manga illustrations, I find the works collected in Avvenire – which were prepared by other artists (with the notable exception of the jacket art) – still quite pleasing to look at, though they will probably draw stronger accolades from fans of the anime series than from those who lean more towards the original manga art.

For a useful comparison, check out my earlier reviews of the three older artbooks collecting the art of Amano Kozue – Alpha, Stella, and Cielo.

THE LAST WORD

Highly recommended. A great collection of eye candy for ARIA enthusiasts (and especially for fans of the animated series).

Diego briefly escapes from the drudgery of the white-collar salt mines to bring you another review. Today, the spotlight falls on Cielo – the last in a three-volume series of hardbound books featuring the manga art of ARIA author and illustrator Amano Kozue.

As with my previous artbook posts, only low-quality shots of selected pages are provided here. If these samples succeed in piquing your interest, please support Amano-sensei and the publishers by purchasing the artbook. (Don’t ask us to provide high-quality images or scans; we just won’t do it.)

CONTENTS

Strictly speaking, Cielo isn’t an ARIA artbook – it’s more of a general portfolio covering several manga titles and an assortment of shorter works. On the other hand, there’s no hiding the fact that Amano-sensei’s most popular series gets star billing in this volume (as it did in the last two), and with the related series AQUA rounding out the collection it’s easy to see why this artbook will be of interest primarily to fans of the ARIA franchise.

Cielo contains 36 pages of colour art from ARIA, 8 from Roman Club, 8 from Crescent Noise, 8 from an assortment of shorter works, and 20 from ARIA‘s sister series AQUA. 9 pages of monochrome art are also included.

Samples from the ARIA and AQUA sections are presented below.

MY THOUGHTS

There are few – if any – discernible stylistic differences between the art featured in Cielo and the works collected in its sister volumes, so I’ll start this section off with a lightly edited extract from my review of the first artbook:

Like the manga series and its anime adaptation, the art of ARIA and AQUA seems to have been designed specifically to induce a feeling of calm refreshment on the part of the viewer. Amano-sensei’s style favours a soft palette – including shades of blue and green, the colours of the sea – and employs a masterful use of shading to create vistas that are both strikingly beautiful and remarkably easy on the eyes. Human figures are usually drawn in poses that suggest not action, but relaxation: sitting serenely on the edge of a canal with the sea lapping at their feet; perched on a high spot gazing up at the azure sky, with the ocean’s gently rippled surface spreading out underneath; walking in an open arcade at sunset within sight of the sea-green harbour.

I can’t really pick a favourite out of the three volumes, even if pressed to do so. Amano-sensei’s art is consistently good from first to last, with each successor offering not so much a development in style but more of a broadening of scope, with the same artistic touch expressed in a wider variety of scenes. In other words, Cielo offers us more of the same – which in this case is an admirable thing.

Like its two predecessors, this hardbound volume comes in a transparent plastic slipcase – an inconspicuous protective feature that I’d like to see become standard-issue for artbooks. In the case of Cielo, the title of the artbook and the usual back cover details (price, barcode, etc.) are printed on the slipcase, leaving the actual covers of the book mostly unmarred by text.

At 3,130 yen (about US$34-35) a copy, Cielo isn’t exactly cheap, but for a dedicated admirer of Amano-sensei’s work in general – or of the ARIA series in particular – it’s an investment well worth making.

AVAILABILITY, COST, ETC.

Cielo was first released in 2006, but a reprint was issued in 2008 so availability shouldn’t be a major concern.

Here are the acquisition details for my copy (mostly from the original sales receipt):

Place acquired: Animate, Akihabara (Tokyo) branch
Date and time acquired: 26 March 2009, 8:46 PM
Acquisition cost: 3,130 yen (including tax)

In addition to Animate, I remember seeing all three Amano Kozue artbooks in the Akihabara branch of Comic Toranoana (artbook section, ground floor of the doujin wing). AsoBitCity, Mandarake and other stores – including major bookshops – should also have copies on stock, but I can’t attest to that personally.

If you’re based outside Japan, consider ordering the book from an online retailer. Amazon Japan, for one, is selling Cielo at the prevailing Akiba street price and will ship internationally, although the shipping costs can be ruinous: from 2,200 yen (including the per-item handling charge) for Asia to 4,700 yen – which exceeds the price of the book itself! – for South America. As always, poke around for the best deal (list price and postage) before buying.

THE LAST WORD

Must buy. A real treat for ARIA enthusiasts.

Reviews of the first two volumes in this artbook series are available here and here.

Today, we’re throwing the spotlight on Stella – a hardbound artbook featuring the work of ARIA manga author and illustrator Amano Kozue.

CONTENTS

Note to readers: Click on the images to enlarge. Requests for larger, high-quality reproductions/scans will not be entertained. If these low-quality samples succeed in piquing your interest, please support Amano-sensei and the publishers by purchasing the artbook.

Stella‘s first course consists of scenes set in the world of Amano-sensei’s popular manga series ARIA. There are sixteen pages of art in this section, several of which are shown below.

The rest of the book features artwork prepared for Amano-sensei’s other manga series. We are served sixteen pages from Roman Club . . .

. . . followed by a whopping 34 pages of art from Crescent Noise . . .

. . . and eight pages from various other works.

Amano-sensei’s visual feast concludes with a rich dessert: fourteen pages from ARIA‘s prequel, AQUA.

MY THOUGHTS

Neo-Venezia is clearly meant to be the star of the show. The book opens with art from ARIA, ends with art from AQUA, features art from AQUA on its covers and bears a title that fits comfortably into the quasi-Italian world of these series. In terms of quantity, however, Neo-Venezia plays second fiddle to the less well-known series Crescent Noise, which claims 34 pages for itself in this book (versus just thirty for ARIA and AQUA combined). A little disappointing, but then again the book’s sub-title reads “KOZUE AMANO Illustration Works II” – not “KOZUE AMANO Aria Illustrations (plus a few extras)” – so I can’t really complain.

There are few – if any – discernible stylistic differences between the art featured in Alpha and the works collected in Stella, so I’ll simply quote what I said in my review of the first volume:

Like the manga series and its anime adaptation, the art of ARIA and AQUA seems to have been designed specifically to induce a sense of calm refreshment on the part of the viewer. Amano-sensei’s style favours a soft palette – mainly in shades of blue and green, the colours of the sea – and a masterful use of shading to create vistas that are both strikingly beautiful and remarkably easy on the eyes. Human figures are usually drawn in poses that suggest not action, but relaxation: sitting serenely on the edge of a canal with the sea lapping at their feet; perched on a high spot gazing up at the azure sky, with the ocean’s gently rippled surface spreading out underneath; walking in an open arcade at sunset within sight of the sea-green harbour. It’s enough to make one want to lie in bed and sleep peacefully through the afternoon, or even fly straight to Venice itself and experience the joy of leaning back in a gondola borne upon the calm waters of the Venetian lagoon. (I wouldn’t recommend dangling one’s feet in the waters of the real Venice, though. The crystal-clear seas of Amano-sensei’s Neo-Venezia are a pleasant fantasy that its real-life counterpart on Manhome can only wish for.)

The other manga series represented in Alpha call for similar character designs, but a markedly different style of art execution: less depth, a simpler scheme, a palette with fewer pastels and more primary hues. I was not as impressed with these earlier works as I was with the art prepared for ARIA and AQUA, though I imagine fans of Amano-sensei’s other series will find something to their liking in these sections.

Like its predecessor, Alpha, this hardbound artbook comes in a transparent plastic slipcase – a feature I’d like to see on more artbooks, mainly for the added protection it gives. In this case, the title of the artbook and the standard back cover details (price, barcode, etc.) are printed on the slipcase, which leaves the covers of the book itself mostly unmarred by text.

AVAILABILITY, COST, ETC.

Stella was first released in 2005, but a reprint was issued in 2008 so availability shouldn’t be a major concern.

Here are the acquisition details for my copy (mostly from the original sales receipt):

Place acquired: Animate, Akihabara (Tokyo) branch
Date and time acquired: 26 March 2009, 8:46 PM
Acquisition cost: 3,130 yen (including tax)

In addition to Animate, I remember seeing all three Amano Kozue artbooks in the Akihabara branch of Comic Toranoana (artbook section, ground floor of the doujin wing). AsoBitCity, Mandarake and other stores – including major bookshops – should also have copies on stock, but I can’t attest to that personally.

If you’re based outside Japan, consider ordering the book from an online retailer. Amazon Japan, for one, is selling Stella at the prevailing Akiba street price and will ship internationally, although the shipping costs can be ruinous: from 2,200 yen (including the per-item handling charge) for Asia to 4,700 yen – which exceeds the price of the book itself! – for South America. As always, poke around for the best deal (list price and postage) before buying.

THE LAST WORD

Must buy. Even though there are less of them here than in the first volume, the beautiful illustrations in the ARIA and AQUA sections alone are worth the price of the book.

Today, we’re throwing the spotlight on Alpha – a hardbound artbook featuring the work of ARIA manga author and illustrator Amano Kozue.

CONTENTS

Note to readers: Click on the images to enlarge. Requests for larger, high-quality reproductions/scans will not be entertained. If these low-quality samples succeed in piquing your interest, please support Amano-sensei and the publishers by purchasing the artbook.

The first section of Alpha is a 34-page collection of artwork set in the world of Amano-sensei’s popular manga series ARIA. The illustrations show one or more of the series’ main characters – most frequently Akari – against a wide variety of backgrounds.

Some settings are clearly specific to Neo-Venezia, either because of the presence of spacecraft . . .

. . . or identifying signs.

Others are simply Manhome Venetian . . .

. . . or have a general Mediterranean feel (more Greek than Italian, in the case of the following).

In some illustrations – including the following – the backgrounds are clearly inspired by scenes from Amano-sensei’s native Japan.

The rest of the book features artwork prepared for Amano-sensei’s other manga series. We have eight pages from Roman Club . . .

. . . twelve pages from Crescent Noise . . .

. . . and six pages from various other works.

In the last part of the colour section, we are transported back to Neo-Venezia through twelve pages of art from Amano-sensei’s two-volume manga series AQUA, the prequel to ARIA (although strictly speaking they’re both part of the same series).

After the colour sections, we have eleven pages of monochrome art prepared for various series. One of these illustrations is an interesting prototype drawing for AQUA showing a terraformed Mars that looks quite different from the one actually used: more tropical than Venetian, with an almost unrecognisable Ukijima floating high in the background and a young woman (prototype Akari?) sitting on a wide beach in the foreground.

MY THOUGHTS

The ARIA and AQUA sections of Alpha are a true feast for the eyes of this longtime fan of Amano-sensei’s most popular manga series. Needless to say, the low-quality images above don’t do the artwork justice: there’s simply no substitute for purchasing the artbook and looking at these gorgeous illustrations in person.

Like the manga series and its anime adaptation, the art of ARIA and AQUA seems to have been designed specifically to induce a sense of calm refreshment on the part of the viewer. Amano-sensei’s style favours a soft palette – mainly in shades of blue and green, the colours of the sea – and a masterful use of shading to create vistas that are both strikingly beautiful and remarkably easy on the eyes. Human figures are usually drawn in poses that suggest not action, but relaxation: sitting serenely on the edge of a canal with the sea lapping at their feet; perched on a high spot gazing up at the azure sky, with the ocean’s gently rippled surface spreading out underneath; walking in an open arcade at sunset within sight of the sea-green harbour. It’s enough to make one want to lie in bed and sleep peacefully through the afternoon, or even fly straight to Venice itself and experience the joy of leaning back in a gondola borne upon the calm waters of the Venetian lagoon. (I wouldn’t recommend dangling one’s feet in the waters of the real Venice, though. The crystal-clear seas of Amano-sensei’s Neo-Venezia are a pleasant fantasy that its real-life counterpart on Manhome can only wish for.)

The other manga series represented in Alpha call for similar character designs, but a markedly different style of art execution: less depth, a simpler scheme, a palette with fewer pastels and more primary hues. I was not as impressed with these earlier works as I was with the art prepared for ARIA and AQUA, though I imagine fans of Amano-sensei’s other series will find something to their liking in these sections.

A brief word on the packaging. The hardbound artbook comes in a transparent plastic slipcase – a feature I’d like to see on more artbooks, mainly for the added protection it gives. In this case, the title of the artbook and the standard back cover details (price, barcode, etc.) are printed on the slipcase, which leaves the covers of the book itself mostly unmarred by text.

AVAILABILITY

The first edition of Alpha was released in 2004. Several reprints have been issued since then (most recently in September 2008), so availability isn’t a major concern even though five years have passed after the collection first hit store shelves.

If you’re in Japan – or if you have friends in Japan who can do the shopping for you – locating this artbook should be a piece of cake. I purchased my copy of Alpha from the Akihabara branch of Animate, where as of 26 March 2009 (the day when I visited the store), there were several copies on display and possibly more in storage. If I remember correctly, the Akihabara branch of Comic Toranoana also had at least one copy on sale; a nearby branch of AsoBitCity was selling either Alpha or one of its two successors (Stella and Cielo) – can’t remember which – at a slightly lower price. I expect any major bookshop or anime merchandise store will have it on their shelves.

If you’re outside Japan and can’t get the book through local bookshops, you can try one of the major online retailers. Amazon Japan, for example, has Alpha on offer at the prevailing Akiba street price and will ship internationally.

Saki is not amused at the Johnny joke.

Eden of the East has been one of the more commonly talked about anime series of the spring season, with good cause. Having been an avid watcher of the first two episodes, here are some insights about this strange little concoction from Production I.G. (Spoilers follow)

Well, this certainly was one of the better surprises for this season. A high-calibre mystery thriller with a dose of simple romance and high production values. Production I.G. has always been a supplier of quality goods, and this is no exception: Eden of the East is a heckuva house. See: They hired actual English VAs to do the voices in the first episode. None of that horrible Black Lagoon Engrish crap.

Whiteblot censorship ftw.

The premise is as wild as it is unforgettable: A girl by the name of Saki decides to visit the White House before heading home to Japan. However, she gets into a bit of trouble when she tries throwing coins through the fence in an act of childhood self-vows. She is rescued by an amnesiac man who happens to be stark naked with nothing save his gun and a phone with over eight billion yen in it. And that’s just the beginning. This eventually develops into something quite large as we learn that the memory loss was definitely not natural, and the mysterious woman behind the scenes, Juiz, who is scarily efficient at carrying out the orders of her ‘clients’. Struggling to find his path, the amnesiac man takes on the name of Akira, and follows Saki back to Japan, where the threat of missile attacks loom overhead…

Well, what can I say that hasn’t been said already? Despite the odd premise, Eden of the East has proven to be quite the juggernaut of the Spring season. It’s got a way with storytelling that’s engaging and at the same time lets the viewer see things as they unfold in a manner that ranges from the humble to the spectacular. The background music greatly helps in emphasizing a scene, and the wierd adventures that Saki and Akira get in and out of makes for quite the ride.

Episode two, so far, has only helped tremendously to heap more mystery and tension to the plot, as the newcomer Kondo seems to be able to track Akira’s expenditure via his own cellphone, which is similar to Akira’s. Furthermore, he seems to have no hesitation in abusing his connection with Juiz to order the execution of some debt collectors, as well as an unfortunate witness at the scene.

I don’t think I need to say that I’m waiting for the next episode with bated breath. If Eden of the East is able to keep its juggernautian approach, it could very well have a place in my top ten.

I know when and where I was when it happened. I was sitting in the airport, waiting for my flight home. It was December 17, 2007. I was bored, and I had an internet connection, so to kill the time I decided to take a few minutes to try this game Yamcha had recommended. “Kingdom of Loathing”–what a nonsensical thing to name an online RPG, I thought. Well, I’d give it a spin anyway. I remember thinking as I logged on, hey, if I like this, I might get a couple of months’ worth of entertainment out of it!

Yeah, right.

One year to the day later I found myself sitting in the same airport, playing the same game, and a bit stunned at the year-long journey into a bizarre blend of pop-culture, gaming satire and surprisingly deep gameplay I’d undertaken–and am still undertaking!

The dreaded sabre-toothed lime, both feared enemy and loyal citrus-based familiar.

The Quick-and-Dirty

- www.kingdomofloathing.com
- It’s a browser based mostly single-player RPG with a wacky sense of humor and parody
- It’s free (donations get you limited-edition in-game swag)
- Other draws: surprisingly deep amounts of content, new content rolling out constantly, low commitment for an M?PRPG, active fanbase that maintains a comprehensive Wiki, collection of Greasemonkey scripts, and variety of botting programs/supplemental interfaces.

I hate the cliche that something only takes seconds to learn, but a lifetime to master. Kingdom of Loathing doesn’t really fit either of those–it takes about half an hour to learn the basics (thanks to the guiding influences of the punningly named Toot Oriole, the first in a long line of groaners), and it takes a couple of months to learn how to efficiently manage your daily adventuring. Veterans of RPGs, of the MMO persuasion or otherwise, will find that there’s a lot of stuff here similar to what they know–monsters drop items, you go on quests throughout the kingdom, and equipping yourself properly is half the battle.

There’s a lot that’s familiar, but tweaked enough that wizened gamers will smirk at it. Each day in KoL gives you forty adventures (turns) to play with, consuming one per adventure (fights, etc.) and one for some other select activities (such as resting at your campsite). You get more from food and booze, the latter of which comes in a variety of blush-inducing names (calling a drink a Sex on the Beach has nothing on some of KoL’s brews). Your equipment slots are fairly stock–weapon, off-hand, hat, pants (shirts are not just optional but actually unavailable until you get a skill to equip them), and accessories. Of course, considering the image of your character clad in a grass skirt and a mullet wig while wielding a balloon sword in one hand and an hors d’oeuvres tray in the other stretches the imagination (and bends it to breaking when you consider you’re probably a crudely rendered stick figure anyway). You also get a little familiar to accompany you, but again, the paradigm has undergone a proverbial shift–you journey with sabre-toothed limes, spooky pirate skeletons, and levitating potatos in tow, each with their own assistive abilities and equipment.

This sassy pirate has sassed his last frass...Whack! Bonk! Zap! Splat!

And then there’s the stuff that’s simply ridiculous. Perhaps your disbelief finally breaks down when you find yourself fighting ninja snowmen, or using ball polish and rigging shampoo to appease a pirate crew. Perhaps it’s when you’re ordered to start a war between the frat boys and the hippies–and you have to choose a side (or, if you want a challenge, mutual destruction!). Perhaps it’s fighting your way, arm in arm with fellow clannies, through the game’s multiplayer dungeon. But what kind of dungeon crawl would KoL offer if it didn’t include carving your way through a sewer system filled with malevolent, surprisingly powerful hobos?

The real complexity, and fun, comes from the game’s sort-of-circular nature. You complete the quests, hit level 13, fight the Naughty Sorceress (the final boss, sort of), free King Ralph from his imprism-ment (that’s imprisoned in a prism) and ascend to a higher plane of existence. Where, it turns out…there’s nothing to do. So, you get reincarnated, retaining one of the skills you acquired in your previous life along with all your familiars, and your possessions (safely kept in Hangk’s Ancestral Mini-Storage) and go back to a time when the Sorceress still struck terror into the hearts of adventurers everywhere and the Kingdom still needed saving.

I suppose part of the appeal comes from wanting to better yourself each time you play through, with each run allowing you to play with a twist. Hardcore restricts you from using any gear or items from previous ascensions and limits your skills to only those retained with another hardcore ascension. Teetotaler, boozetefarian, and oxygenarian acensions prohibit the drinking of booze, eating of food, and consumption of both, respectively. For the particularly masochistic, a Bad Moon ascension requires a hardcore lead-in, which has its own restrictions, but then puts you into a particularly nasty ascension where awful things happen to you and you begin with absolutely nothing–gear, familiars, and skills, hardcore or otherwise.

There are in-game holidays, yearly Christmas-like celebrations with elaborate plots for players to explore, and the development team is continually rolling out new-content and expanding old vectors. Ambitious players will find loads of optional side quests and hard-to-reach areas to aspire to. There’s a small player-versus-player element that the devteam has promised will be getting an expansion in the future, and a healthy in-game economy, driven by player-run stores in a searchable market.

Perhaps the most important aspect for me in reviewing and recommending KoL is that it’s tons easier to play now than it was a year ago. A combat bar has been introduced that allows you to map frequently used functions (attacks, items, skills) to numbers on your keyboard, and players have to click less and less with the introduction of powerful new chat macros. For those who wish to automate the playing process further, KoL has an active fan community that’s developed everything from a truly serious Wiki, Greasemonkey scripts, and even sophisticated Java-based botting programs (KoLMafia is my own pick for when I need to farm or don’t have much time to play).

Another thing about Kingdom of Loathing is that it’s free, as in beer. But to support the staff that develops KoL from concept to coding, the game offers an “Item of the Month” that can be purchased for the in-game cost of one Mr. Accessory. A Mr. A, which is a powerful item in its own right, can be bought through the Mall, for in-game currency (meat, not something boring like gold or gil), or from KoL’s parent company, Asymmetric, for a PayPal donation of $10 USD. You can get the IoTMs, which are often powerful familiars or tomes that enable summoning of useful combat items, without ever having to pay a cent, but be prepared to do a lot of farming and market speculation. I personally never thought I’d pay to play an online game, but I find myself sending these guys a bit of cash month after month, and logging in daily besides.

So, asking ourselves the question that this feature poses–will you enjoy this? Well, if you’d like a twist on the old RPG formula, laden with bizarre humor, gratuitous pop culture references and not an insignificant amount of puns, you should enjoy KoL. If you’re looking for a more classically-designed MMORPG, this probably isn’t your grail–the game’s multiplayer aspects are still in its infancy. But KoL has a special something that captured my attention, and held it fast–fifteen months and counting!

Next week for You Might Like It I plan to tackle a game that’s well known among the freeware games community, for being single-handedly made from start to finish, having tight controls and a compelling story, and introducing a brave little toaster known as Balrog…see you next friday for Cave Story!

. . . into this?

Watch the 2006 Japanese comedy series Attention Please and find out.

STORY

Misaki Youko (Ueto Aya) lost her mother at an early age and grew up in the company of her brothers. It’s no surprise, then, that she acts like a boy, talks like a boy, dresses like a boy and sings in an all-male (plus one girl) rock band. When one of her fellow band members leaves to work for a bank in Tokyo, he cracks a joke about wanting to see her in a cabin attendant’s uniform. What he doesn’t know is that Misaki has feelings for him and takes the joke seriously, eyeing it as a chance to make a good impression on him.

Against all odds, Misaki is accepted into the rigorous training programme for Japan Airlines’ elite cabin attendant corps. Under the watchful eye of instructor Mikami Tamaki (Maya Miki), she begins her long, hard journey down the road that will take her to the skies. But can this rebellious, loud-mouthed, laid-back rocker transform herself into a demure, cultured, well-mannered cabin attendant – or will she crash and burn along the way?

IMPRESSION

The series follows a well-trodden path: boyish girl raised in a male-dominated household embarks on a long but invariably successful path towards becoming the ideal woman (without losing her “unique” personality, of course). If you’re looking for something different, something ground-breaking, steer well clear of this one. But if you have no serious aversion to generic comedy, hop on board and fasten your seat belt.

Through Misaki’s story, Attention Please shows us how an airline turns raw recruits into angelic sentinels of the skies. It’s not an easy process by any means. Candidates must strive for perfection in everything, from the angle of the bow (15 degrees for greetings) to the subtleties of English pronunciation (“fright” does not equal “flight”!). Beyond various niceties, they must also learn how to deal with difficult passengers, impose order in emergency situations and – when the occasion arises – use the limited equipment at their disposal to save lives within the confines of an airborne cabin. I can’t say whether their depiction of Japan Airlines’ cabin attendant training programme is accurate or not, but after making the usual allowances for simplification, dramatisation and (given that official cooperation seems to have been extended to the production crew) perhaps a bit of company-mandated sanitising here and there, the series seems quite credible.

A friendly reminder: don’t stop watching when the ending credits start rolling, or you’ll miss seeing Misaki garbed in the historic cabin attendant uniforms used by Japan Airlines from 1951 to the present day. (No pictures here – I don’t want to spoil the treat.)

The focus is, of course, on our errant heroine and her fight to squeeze her wild personality into a clean-cut uniform and polished leather shoes. It’s all rather formulaic, with the standard set of stock characters plying their trade: the stern mentor, the rival and her henchwomen, the best friends (one of whom, surprise surprise, is the daughter of a soba shop owner whose humble restaurant quickly becomes a favourite haunt). But the formula seems to work quite well in this case, with the dominant comedic thread tempered by a few moments of high drama to keep the story flying high from beginning to end.

The acting isn’t particularly good, although where J-drama is concerned that’s all par for the course. Maya Miki’s convincing turn as the determined, stoically elegant instructor Mikami Tamaki is the best performance in this series by far, while Ueto Aya’s ebullient Misaki Youko is satisfactory but forgettable. Most of the supporting performances run the gamut from good to mediocre. On the other end of the spectrum, Nishikido Ryou’s bland attempt at breathing life into the character of aircraft engineer Nakahara Shouta is almost laughable; fortunately, his role is little more than a bit part and inflicts no significant damage.

In summary: For those who don’t mind formulaic plots and less-than-stellar acting, Attention Please can be a light, entertaining and even educational watch.

SCREENSHOTS

VITAL STATS (from DramaWiki)

Genre: Comedy
Episodes: 11
Original broadcast period: 18 April – 27 June 2006 (9PM Tuesday slot)
Network: Fuji TV

DEVELOPMENT

Manga series (1970-present) >>> Live-action series (1970-1971; 32 episodes) >>> Live-action series (2006; 11 episodes) >>> Live-action special (2007; 1 episode) >>> Live-action special (2008; 1 episode)

Note: The 2007 and 2008 specials are spin-offs of the 2006 live-action series, with all key members of the 2006 cast reprising their roles.

External Links
DramaWiki (article)
Fuji TV (official site)
Wikipedia (article)

Today the spotlight falls on ADV’s R1 DVD release of the 2002 OVA Hoshi no Koe (release title: Voices of a Distant Star), part of the two-volume Shinkai Collection first launched in 2005.

DVD BLURB

An extract from the blurb on the back of the DVD jacket follows:

It is 2046 when a mysterious alien force begins their annihilation of the human race. Leaving behind the one person she loves, Mikako joins the interstellar battle as a pilot. As Mikako flies further into space, her only connection with Noboru are text messages sent from her mobile phone.

And so – while Mikako risks her life to save mankind – Noboru waits. At first days, then months, then years for each new message that will let him know whether Mikako is still alive. And, while she barely grows older in the timelessness of space, Noboru ages. The two lovers, worlds apart, desperately strive to remain connected as the gap between them widens at a frightening pace.

PACKAGING

The DVD case has a reversible jacket (top) with the side featuring Hoshi no Koe shown by default. The other side of the jacket (visible in the first image under the “DVD Contents” section below) features director Shinkai Makoto‘s 1999 OVA Kanojo to Kanojo no Neko.

Reversible jackets are always a welcome bonus, but I’m especially pleased with the inclusion of one in this particular release as it draws attention to Shinkai’s first OVA. While Kanojo to Kanojo no Neko‘s length – a mere five minutes – and lack of associated material (trailers, full soundtrack, promotional items, etc.) make a separate DVD release impractical, this debut work certainly deserves a bit of extra recognition to make up for its relegation to the extras menu of another film.

DVD CONTENTS

As described earlier, this DVD release contains two films on a single disc (above, left): Hoshi no Koe, the 25-minute feature presentation; and the shorter Kanojo to Kanojo no Neko, which is included as one of the disc’s extras.

Extra features:

The language set-up menu offers three options: English 5.1, Japanese 5.1 with English subtitles, and the “director’s cut” version with English subtitles.

An extra audio CD (above, right) contains the soundtrack of Hoshi no Koe. Each of the twelve pieces on the CD has a corresponding entry in the “Soundtrack Notes” section of the companion booklet (page 27), where composer Tenmon briefly outlines his thoughts on the score (and reveals his favourite track).

BOOKLET

The 27-page companion booklet covers some of the major steps in the production process and supplies a wealth of detailed background information. Shinkai’s introduction (appropriately titled “In the Beginning”) offers some valuable personal insights into the origins of Hoshi no Koe and acknowledges the contributions of all who helped him during the making of his project. (It also briefly touches on Kanojo to Kanojo no Neko.) After the illustrated “Explanation of Terms” and a few “Making of” pages, Shinkai’s friend Tenmon chimes in with a few thoughts of his own on the score that he composed for the film.

IMPRESSION

Hoshi no Koe is a fine example of what can be accomplished when a mediocre story is beautifully told. The ideas and themes that underpin the plot – friendship, love, isolation – could have supported a more compelling treatment than the weak science-fiction vehicle that ultimately carries them in the finished project. Better results might have been achieved with a 13-episode series, a multi-part OVA or perhaps even a full-length feature film, but when you’ve got less than 25 minutes to tell the tale there isn’t nearly enough time to sketch out the background elements in sufficient detail to lend the story more credibility.

Yet for all its weaknesses, the story does manage to engage the viewer with its portrayal of the building uncertainty and sense of loss that accompanies the ever-growing distance between the two central figures, separated not merely by space but also by time. As each day passes, Mikako’s e-mails take longer and longer to reach Noboru, at one point requiring more than eight years for the briefest transmission to be completed. And all this time Noboru continues to age, in the course of the film progressing inexorably from youth to adulthood even as the Mikako of the messages remains a teenager. Distance, isolation, a lack of certainty about the future – powerful feelings that Shinkai himself experienced in his youth and later served as an inspiration for his work (including his unique animation style), as he writes in the introduction to the companion booklet:

Around the time I was about Mikako and Noboru’s age, I had the feeling that I was always looking up at the sky. Just like a lot of other kids, from an adult’s point of view, my problems were probably a matter of course and trivial. In my opinion, though, I harbored many truly serious problems. . . . Back then I didn’t know how to deal with those types of problems efficiently. I just gazed at the passing clouds and the star-filled sky, and thought, “These problems of mine are small things not worth taking note of in this world.” . . . Even now, the distinctly prominent outline of the scenery from those times remains strongly impressed upon me. That strong feeling of, “I have a feeling that I am alone in this vast world, but I am here” . . .

Themes and feelings of this kind require a special treatment, one that inspires contemplation rather than suspense or excitement. Shinkai rises to the challenge by deploying the hauntingly beautiful set animation style that has become the hallmark of his work. Backgrounds are painted with extraordinary detail in rich, vibrant colours that seem to surpass in depth and delicacy any landscapes one might expect to see in real life, contributing to the dreamlike, almost meditative atmosphere of Hoshi no Koe. Unlike his character designs, Shinkai’s set animation is more or less already fully developed at this stage, to the point where it seems as if some settings might blend seamlessly into the two films he made after this one.

Character animation is the film’s weakest point. Like the story, it’s not bad but one feels it could have been handled better. Tracking the evolution of Shinkai’s art from Hoshi no Koe through to his most recent project, Byousoku 5 Centimeter, one notes that even though his renderings of human figures have improved quite considerably in the five years between the two films, they still leave something to be desired.

Tenmon’s score is a worthy companion to Shinkai’s animation, relying on gentle piano-based compositions that perfectly match the wistful mood of the film.

Final assessment: A flawed yet singularly beautiful work of art, Hoshi no Koe is a fitting entry in the corpus of the gifted animation director Shinkai Makoto, and this DVD release presents it in a suitable manner with a fine selection of supplementary material.