Adding to the recommendations

Just a short note this week.

I've been adding some new manga titles to my recommended lists.
Black Jack by Tezuka Osamu
MW by Tezuka Osamu

These are not new releases, I rarely do new releases for a couple of reasons, I've been slow to add things and I don't go with the latest hot-to-be-soon-forgotten titles.

I am working on new entries for the live action movie and the prose lists. Expect word on those within the week.

Changes and additions

I've been puttering on a few changes to my website Gilles' Service to Fans Page I removed some sections that were out of date and not likely to be updated and then tackled my recommended title pages. Before today I had three such pages, one for anime, one for manga, and one for live action movies.

What I have done is two things:

Each of the pages had a list of people and studios involved in production. This list was to help readers track favorite directors, writers and studios. As in some cases the same people are involved in different media you had to check each page separately to get information. So I created a new page Creators - Those Behind the Works I Recommend. Now you can go to the list and find if a movie, anime or manga has been based on one of their works, it works other ways too.

The second thing I did was create another new page for Recommended Prose Translated from Japanese and on Japan. This page will be both works translated from Japanese and books about things Japanese. At the moment it only lists the works of Edogawa Rampo that are available in English and my books. I list my books because of the requirement that authors be shameless in promoting their works.

All of this means I have to continue adding titles to the recommended pages to flesh them out and provide more options for people to consider.

Oshii's Virtual Worlds

I just added two new titles to my Recommended Japanese Live Action Cinema web page. These are both directed by Oshii Mamoru who is better known for his animation work.

These two stand out as among the best of his works, and interestingly enough both movies are, while Japanese productions, not in the Japanese language. These two movies are Avalon and its sequel of a sort Assault Girls.

 I had been meaning to add these for some time but was delaying as the Miramax release of Avalon has been out of print for years. Then I was happy to discover that the Japanese editions of Avalon all have English subtitles. In the entry for Avalon I link to CDJapan as I have found CDJapan's prices to be lower than most other sites for Japanese products.

Edo gangsters

Sometime you just want to watch a classic. Not something high falutin', something well done but intended to be entertaining. Why not go for a classic. So I fixed my dinner and popped in the DVD for Shiranami Gonin Otoko. This has it, a complex con to get some cash from a merchant, deceptions within deceptions, a lost child found (two actually), a lost family treasure, thieves, a rooftop sword fight, great visuals and more than a few laughs.

These discs, region free by the way, are not cheap by US standards but not bad if you remember what foreign films used to cost. In this case it is a kabuki play, something you may be able to get a chance to see live in the US every decade or so if you can get to the few cities where a showing may be taking place, and if they are not sold out. CD Japan has the best prices I have seen online for these. Click on the picture to be taken to the DVD I am referring to. BTW while it does not have subtitles it does have a good voice over that allows you to watch the program and understand what is going on.

Spooky stuff to chill out to

Yesterday I walked into the Cartoon Art Museum store in San Francisco, it is just down the street from where I work so I often go there.

While wandering about looking at their manga and Japanese culture section I spotted a new book I have eagerly awaited for some time. Yurei Attack! The Japanese Ghost Survival Guide

This the latest of the "Attack" books by Hiroko Yoda and Matt Alt, the other two books in the series, Yokai Attack and Ninja Attack, are also out in new all color expanded editions from Tuttle. Do keep an eye out for these rather than getting the older Kodansha International editions.

Delighted with such fun spooky stuff I read part of the book on the commute home which put me in the mood for a good Edo Period ghost story movie. So when I got home I fixed dinner and sat down to watch Haunted Lantern [Otsuyu - Kaidan botan dourou]. It was a perfect choice, BTW Haunted Lantern is out of print and the link I have to it here is for a great price.

So sit yourself down, turn the rest of the lights in the house off, and enjoy a good book, perhaps followed by a movie.

Yet More Dirty

A couple of weeks ago another package from Right Stuf was in my mailbox. This time a review copy of the Dirty Pair Flash Complete Collection.

Now Flash may be the least popular of the Dirty Pair series. Partly this is due to the character designs being unpopular with many fans, Kei's spiky hair for example. However the stories are still Dirty Pair. This is especially so with the first two discs, there are three discs in this case with 16 episodes in all. Each of the first two discs is a separate story and they have the feel of the earlier Dirty Pair movies and TV series. The weakest is the third disc which is a series of unconnected stories that are filled with various tropes common in the 1990s when the series was made, for newer fans these may be fine but fans who have been around for more than a few years may find the stories trite. However the final episode goes back to classic Dirty Pair mayhem with a vengeance complete with power suits and high end weapons.

If you are a Dirty Pair fan this is probably one you want to watch, and likely add to your collection.

The release date is set for July 10.

More Dirty Pair

When I got back from FanimeCon 2012 there was a nice little package in my mailbox. The Dirt Pair Features DVD collection from Nozomi Entertainment

The case is the size of a regular DVD case but it actually contains three discs with the Project Eden, Affair of Nolandia & Flight 005 Conspiracy features. These are classic Dirty Pair. If you like science fiction, especially action oriented space opera this is a set you will want to see. The Dirty Pair stories have long been favorites of anime fans outside Japan. They even were often referenced in the Star Trek: The Next Generation TV series well before any of the original works wewre available in English.


If you are new to the Dirty Pair stories these three features are a good place to begin. If you decide you want more you can then go on to the original stories which have been published in English by Dark Horse as well as the OVA and TV series also available from Nozomi Entertainment.


All of these works are available from the Right Stuf site.


Disclaimer: The generous folks at Nozomi sent me the set even tho' they know I don't usually do reviews.