Via Anime Insider: Reader Mail (June 2003)

Not a huge fan of this section personally, but this one has two bits of info, albeit ones probably corroborated elsewhere. One, it specifies the type of paper mangaka generally use, and two, it verifies that Yoshiyuki Tomino was responsible for the exclusion of The Island of Kukuras Doan from Gundam’s original US run.

Continue reading

Via Anime Insider: Numerical Tidbits (April 2003)

Two separate bits of info that come in small blurbs – one gives the sales total for the first issue of US Shonen Jump as about 250,000 copies (a factor of 10 less than its Japanese parent), and the other gives the contemporary box office records of the best-performing anime movies released in the US.

Continue reading

Via Anime Insider: Spirited Away’s Oscar Campaign (April 2003)

A very interesting article commenting on the lack of publicity Spirited Away got in the states, containing quotes from industry experts on why the release was limited and Disney’s underwhelming campaign for the Oscar Spirited Away eventually won.

Continue reading

Via Anime Insider: Shinichiro Watanabe, Toshihiro Kawamoto, and Yoko Kanno (Winter 2003)

An interview with Cowboy Bebop’s director/character designer/composer team. Contains a couple nuggets of information (Yoko Kanno was composing ost pieces a year before production started, Ein was modeled after Yoko Kanno, the “new genre unto itself” eyecatch quote was inserted into the show without Watanabe’s permission).

Continue reading

Via Anime Insider: Dubbing Excel Saga (Fall 2002)

A short piece on the process of dubbing anime. There’s lots of informational material on this available in English already (VA con panels are ubiquitous fixtures of the scene, and  get on youtube now and again), but it does give an idea of the timescales involved in working on such a project – about 12 hours of voice acting work for a main character, per episode.

Continue reading