Japanese Spider-Man - free episodes from Marvel!

Marveller, Change Leopardon!

You can now watch subtitled episodes of the 1970s Japanese tokusatsu adaptation of Spider-Man on the Marvel Comics Website! They seem to be releasing one episode a week, and they're onto the third one now. :D

Everything I knew about this series up to now was pretty much from the opening and ending sequences, as I have then on a Yuki Hide compilation album, and saw the videos on youtube. The music in this series is composed by Watanabe Chuumei, so <3 <3 <3. :D I'm very grateful to be able to see this series, especially for free!

Don't expect it to be anything like the story of Spider-Man that you have read in Marvel comics, it's a standard tokusatsu type plot. It is about as far away from the original as any sentai series becoming a Power Rangers series. Perhaps moreso! I found myself thinking "hey, this concept was stolen from Ultraman / Kamen Rider!", though according to wikipedia this series pioneered the concept of having a giant robot to fight giant enemies. (though, hmm, Ultraman being giant for 3 minutes is very similar, he's just not a robot...) There is a lot of overacting and the special effects are.... well, not so bad for something that's the same age as me... but somehow, that's part of its charm. It is very entertaining! :D

Clannad got licenced for release on US DVD

Earlier this week, ADV announced that they've licensed Clannad for release on DVD. They'll release it in box sets of 1/2 a season at a time, subtitled only (no dub), and the retail price is $39.99.

Source

I notice that the pre-orders are $29.99 on rightstuf.com though, set to come out as early as the 3rd of March 2009! ^_^

ADV haven't been doing very well as a company as of late (directly due to the "credit crunch"), and can't afford the expense of producing a decent dub. I can't help but feel that it's turned out well, despite their troubles. It means that they are releasing a series like this with a fast turnaround, no delay waiting for individual DVD volumes, and it works out much cheaper too. ^_^

Tower of Druaga - free 1st episode

Following the announcement that the Japanese animation studio Gonzo will officially be streaming their brand new anime episodes with english subtitles, and the announcement that viewers are free to pay what they think the anime is worth, the first episode of The Tower Of Druaga - The Aegis of Uruk is available for free, and can be viewed on youtube here.

Normally I wouldn't bother going out of my way to watch an anime from Gonzo, but since it's linked to a Namco game, and is apparently rather funny, I might watch it. (however, not right now, since I'm busy...)

Maria-sama ga Miteru - US release!

Woo! Maria-sama ga Miteru has been licensed by Nozomi Entertainment (Rightstuf International).

Official Site: http://maria-sama.rightstuf.com/

It'll be released in box set seasons (1,2,3), subtitled only, and the first season comes out on July 29th. The other two don't have dates listed.

I placed my preorder for Season 1 already, it was only $37.49, which means that two seasons cost about the same as one volume (two episodes) on Region 2 DVDs. An excellent deal.