Anime Roundtable

Plenty of everything this week, anger, laughter, insults, and time (lots of it). Oh yeah, and maybe some good material to ponder too. We start this week by answering a call out on the blog. Then we talk at length about Valentines Day in Japan, and the latest in gifts for the girls this year. Finally in the bullets themselves, we briefly look at some of the announcements from the New York Comic Con...

The other members of the Roundtable finally begin to take up some Rant Space. So while we wait for the taping of the next episode, Enrico looks back one of our last episodes of 2008 and gives his honest feelings about Crunchyroll’s current direction. Enrico Bianco

Adam talks about the weird experience watching Kodocha without the original theme song, which leads to a discussion about the use of likeness in Japanese media. Then, not much in the way of news this week, so the group plays Over/Under in looking ahead to the year in the anime and manga industry. Bullets wise, we look at the disturbing case of a missing 14 year old girl with a 43 year old man head...

Adam makes his first appearance of the 2009, showing the damage from a week in Cuba. First we make jokes about the latest problems in Mike’s place, York University (which really is the punchline), the PS3, and the fallout from Right Stuf’s 12 Days of Christmas sale. Then we give lip service to the licenses from the Christmas season, with an interesting set of thoughts for one of them. Bullets wise...

So after yet another month off, the Canadian Roundtable finally decides to return for a less politically incorrect version (Adam is off this week). In this inaugural episode of 2009, we’ll spend the idle talk (and about half the show) on university labour strife, the Inauguration itself (duh), and the follow up on the NHK Kouhaku. Then on the important stuff, we’ll take a look at the Diamond Comic...

We finally introduce our new feature where the regulars get the chance to sound off on anything they want by themselves. It can be a reflection, it can be a story, and yes it can be an angry rant. But it is all genuine. In the first edition of Space To Rant, Mike looks back on the NHK Red and White Show, its broadcast history in Canada, and the woman behind bringing it here. Something appropriate...

The final episode of 2008 sees the guys talk about Crunchyroll’s first attempt at a paid service and other legal options for watching anime now. Then a trio of bullets about 2ch’s reactions to what manga are popular in different parts of the world, reactions to who wants to play Spike in a live action Cowboy Bebop, and reactions to the idea of a Canadian made Persocom. Yes It-chan may actually be...

The Visser Brothers face an audience for the first time, all the while being distracted by Judge Judy on the TV (Mike for reference got distracted by his phone). At the meat of things, we talk about Geneon changing hands from Dentsu to Universal Pictures International, more Comic Book Legal Defense, and thoughts on Hobbystar’s night before Christmas mini con. Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Terry Viss...

Adam asks Mike to play with the Garageband controls and what results is the single biggest (and longest) file yet. In it, James faces the music over being away last week, while Enrico has no clue what has happened. In between comments about condo noises, going through bookstores, and teasing the upcoming contests, we get Japanese political as we talk about Miyazaki’s comments concerning Prime Mini...

The roundtable finally returns after yet another hiatus…albeit in digest form. Mike tries to get people together for a show, and only Austin shows up so he decides just make the first digest in more than a year. In it they give an excuse for the month away, then they give a quick review (or beat down) of Dot Con, the latest attempt at another anime con in Toronto. And to top it off, they preview t...

Adam and Megan see the new place for the first time as we talk about Japan’s lack of laws concerning virtual child porn. Then we shift gears talking about the resale of imports and the American first sales doctrine. A legal blotter to be sure. Also, Mike makes a manga recommendation, we make fun of James since he’s not there, and Adam for the first time refuses to speak on a certain topic for fear...

Mike was thinking about the next episode then realized he had forgotten about putting up the last one. You can blame that on either personal matters (ie moving) or his feeble attempt to block out what happened in the episode. Mercifully it wasn’t as news oriented as it usually is. Five around the table as we talk about an academic paper on anime’s internationalization and then the Comic Book Legal...

After Mike successfully finds a nicer room to tape, we start off this week with Adam showing signs of interest in girls closer to his age…then he spends the rest of the show in a degenerative spiral hoping for coffee. In all of that Mike poses updated thoughts on impressions of things in our little world…of course they’re things we’ve talked about in some form already…of course they’re based on Sp...

The Anime Roundtable takes a video game turn when the crew discusses downloadable, paid extras. Then it gets back to more normal content with thoughts on new and switched licenses, the iPhone in Japan, a new Nintendo DS, and something about dying in a porn store. All this while we introduce a newcomer around the table…a girl…with Neil and Adam also around…this cannot be good… Mike Nicolas, Neil Si...

Neil makes his first appearance of the season, and find out what he and Adam say about Clarissa when she’s not here. Also some video game talk, and Neil’s take on Fan Expo in the idle talk. Then getting down to business, we talk about the end of Toonami and what to look forward to in Anime on TV in the future, then a lone bullet about a widower and an inflatable doll…do you think we should have ta...

After another month off, here we are with the season premiere. After starting off the season talking a little bit about the Toronto conventions, we’ll go through the legal items talking about the Canadian Bill C-61 (a proposed ammendment to the copyright act and then a legal paper trying to justify the need for fansubs (and how it’s flawed in Adam’s eyes). All that peppered with a discussion on fa...

The crew brave thunderstorms and passing trains to bring you their thoughts on much of the industry happenings in the two months since the last episode, skipping an episode intro to do so. Anime in the first segment, then manga in the second segment. Then during Final Insults, we reveal a very interesting segment of the Visser family tree (one you have to hear to believe). Mike Nicolas, James Aust...

I don’t know if it was us trying to deal with the feedback with the speakers in the room (something we rarely use), or the fact it was 11:30pm and we were all very tired, but it might sound a little faded. Apologies in advance. In our first episode this year from Anime North, we once again come back to Makoto Shinkai. Then talk about the themes in the Animania documentary taped at AN in 2006. Fina...

In our first episode in more than a month, and the final one before Anime North, we talk about the licenses that happened around another convention, and the questions that have arisen from them. Then our attention turns to Japan. First what they feel are the best anime features of all time, and then bad behavior in Akihabara. And we do it with two Austins. Trust me, when you hear them, you’ll know...

The regular season finale. First some thoughts on reading manga in digital forms. Then after seeing IGN’s elaborate April Fool’s joke, we talk about a few good ones. Then a listener e-mail prompts a discussion on the merits of North American cartoons over the last 20 years. In an extended bullets segment, we talk about Joe Hisashi, X Japan, Gonzo and open pricing, the used book market in Japan, an...

This week, we begin with some thoughts from a fan translator and James’ attempt to see Kite Liberator on the big screen. Then we talk at length about Crunchyroll. Anime Boston’s registration issues, more Someday’s Dreamers anime, and the first Geneon rescue are loaded and shot in the bullets segment. And finally, Mike responds to being called out on the blog…then Adam finishes the job. Note: We me...

This week, some thoughts on St. Patrick’s Day and Easter, the fallout from a quick and painful Artist Alley registration, Tekkon Kinkreet as a “bookend” to the Japanese anime industry (and goes somewhere else), and a lash out on life sized anime dolls. Mike Nicolas, Neil Sinclair, Angela Jordan, Dean Colak

The second All Girls/White Day episode. Presented in two parts In part two, Clarissa’s memories of Japan continue with some of her anime adventures, from clubs to the biggest adventure of them all…Comiket. And yes, Genshiken isn’t that far fetched. Also some thoughts on Japanese Kit Kat and Crunchyroll

The second All Girls/White Day episode. Presented in two parts In part one, Clarissa returns from her year in Japan and starts to recount some of her favourite moments from her year there, from travelling Japan and other parts of Asia, to food, and to life as a university student at Meiji U in Tokyo

With Neil and Adam again at the same time, you can only do so much, just ask the idle talk. But somewhere in the mess we talk about the mix between Death Note, Naruto, Bully, and school violence (and a tasty mix at that), ADV deciding to finally blame downloads, Disney teaming up with Japan, Right Stuf’s first acquisition of 2008, and a successful busty defense (one Adam would certainly use). Plus...