2/06/02 -- Giveaway over! - SNAP, that was fast. Sorry if you missed it,
but my giveaway is now officially complete! Four people sent me the correct answer,
which was "Ural" (but I did accept "Victoria" too, since I wasn't more specific
on which Terpschore that I wanted.) Check back here in the future for other giveaways!
Maybe I'll give comic issue #2 or the CB anime guide away in the same fashion.
2/06/02 -- Giveway for the Space Cowboys - That's right, I'm giving away
four copies of the first issue of the Cowboy Bebop comic book just for the hell
of it! This giveaway is free to anyone in the lower 48 United States, but if you
live outside that domain and you win then you'll have to send me shipping costs.
^_^; The way of it is this: the first four people to send me an e-mail
with Terpschore's first name will get a comic! (be sure to also include your name
and e-mail address, so that I can contact you if you win)
2/03/02 - Now, before I print this news item, I would like to make it expressly
clear that this is a rumor. A rumor printed by a reputable anime website (Anime News Service), but a rumor nonetheless.
Therefore, I want to caution my readers not to spread this around as if
it's fact; it's a rumor, and thus could end up being completely wrong in the end.
Now that the disclaimer is out of the way, here's ANS's scoop:
"According to unconfirmed reports from a little bumble bee, the recently confirmed
Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment release for Bandai Visual and Bones' Cowboy
Bebop: Knockin On Heaven's Door is moving forward in some very interesting directions.
Possibly, plans are being considered to make an English dub audio track for the
movie and the original English dub voice cast responsible for Bandai Entertainment's
English TV series dub are being sought out as candidates for respective reprisal
roles in the film. The resulting dubbed version of the TV series has been broadcast
in America on the cable Cartoon Network channel and the cast's performances for
bebop have been highly acclaimed far and wide among anime fans. . . . .
Finally a tentative American release date for the film has been rumored as fall
2002, possibly September or October."
If you haven't already, please sign the petition that I've linked to at the top
of my website. :)
2/1/02 - The CB news just keeps getting better. A resin model of Spike's
ship "Swordfish II" is coming soon. Check out Figures.com
to see the specs and some pictures. Also (on a smaller scale) there's something
on the way for this website: a giveaway. Stay tuned, space cowboys. :)
1/30/02 - Further news on the Cowboy Bebop anime guide and the Cowboy Bebop
manga (comics) may be found at the TokyoPop
website. According to TokyoPop, both the anime guide and the manga are being
published this month! Looks like I'll be making a visit to my friendly neighborhood
comic book retailer tomorrow. ^_^ Of course, if you feel you're above such places
as comic stores, you can always wait for the manga to be published in graphic
novel form and buy it from Amazon.com. :p
1/28/02 - A slight update for Mushroom
Samba. Cartoon Network actually had the good sense to run it unedited tonight.
Good job, CN!
1/27/02 - 20,000 hits and counting! Thanks for the support!
1/26/02 - OK, I'm just a bit worried about whether or not Columbia/Tristar
will use the same voice actors for the movie as were cast in the TV show, so I
want to encourage everyone to sign this petition:
Keep the Original Dub
Cast for the Cowboy Bebop Movie
Normally I stay away from petitions, but hopefully this will show Columbia/Tristar
that there's actually a _fanbase_ for the English voice actors, and that we would
be most upset if they were supplanted. ^_^;; Do me a favor and sign it, even if
you prefer the Japanese version. I really can't imagine anyone but David Lucas
as Spike, Wendee Lee as Faye, and Beau Billingslea as Jet.
1/25/02 -- Cowboy Bebop movie licensed - That's right. I made it nice and
big so everyone would see it (nobody seems to read my news section. ^_^;). Columbia/Tristar
has licensed the Cowboy Bebop movie "Knockin' on Heaven's Door." This news comes
from Anime News Service, who got a press
release from Columbia/Tristar stating that a trailer for "Knockin' on Heaven's
Door" would be on their "Metropolis" DVD. Is this good news or bad news? To me,
the answer to that question will come when the English voice cast is announced.
I'll keep my ear to the ground on the subject.
1/19/02 - Not precisely on topic for my website, but: The anime movie "Escaflowne"
will be in theaters in limited release starting on Jan. 25. This movie, like Cowboy
Bebop, was made by Sunrise. The best way to get a limited or even a full release
of the Cowboy Bebop movie would be to show distributors that theatrical anime
releases can make money, so -- go see it! Here is a theater
listing if you're interested. Even better news for theatrical anime (if you ask
me) is the fact that Dreamworks
seems to be interested in Hayao Miyazaki's latest work "Sen To Chihiro" ("Spirited
Away"). If you pay attention to anime news, you know that Miyazaki is one of the
most universally renowned anime directors/creators out there. Only four of his
works are currently avaliable in the USA - "Princess Mononoke" (anime), "Nausicaa
of the Valley of Wind" (comic), My Neighbor Totoro (anime) and "Kiki's Delivery
Service" (anime). All of them are exceptional works, and I particularly encourage
everyone to take a look the first two. Anyway, a few years back Miyazaki sold
the U.S. rights to most of his works to _Disney_, a move which was reviled by
some and cheered by others. Unfortunately, for whatever reason (many blame Disney),
"Princess Mononoke", Dis' first attempt at bringing Miyazaki to America was (supposedly)
a "failure." Thus Dis canned the other Miyazaki projects they had started. For
example, "Castle in the Sky" (which they even finished dubbing!) has been in limbo
for years, no one knows if they'll ever release it. So you understand the joy
of many of us Miyazaki fans when we discover that Dreamworks is interested in
the film -- this gives hope for the eventual release of all his films here. Good,
good things are happening in the anime world people! We're on the cusp of some
cool shiz!!
1/18/02 - A few things: first, I finally added the edits for Waltz for Venus. There are actually two
edits rather than just the single one that most people suspect. In other news,
the new Saturday Adult Swim block has been confirmed by Cartoon Network. You can
visit Toonzone's report
on the matter to find out the official schedule of this block. I should
point out that Cowboy Bebop's addition to the Saturday schedule means that it
won't be appearing on the Sunday schedule any longer - in short, only one Bebop
a week. Also, according to Nothing (a good source), none of the shows which have
been taken from Toonami to be added to that block will be re-edited; it's too
expensive to do so. Moreover I have it from various sources that while _Yu Yu
Hakusho_ has been edited to AS standards, _Pilot Candidate_ and _Gundam 0083_
didn't make it in time and will therefore be edited to Toonami standards. So much
for my hopes. :( According to Matt Wilson, though, this block will eventually
be the home of more adult anime has time goes on, which is good news. Another
subject that has come up, which is not alltogether encouraging, is that CN has
decided to give up doing anime edits. From this point on, they're leaving it up
to the distributers. If this doesn't set off alarms in your head, it should. Anime
distributers are notoriously bad when it comes to editing their anime.