Disenchantment
By Andrew Osmond.
The first thing to stress is that Disenchantment, now streaming on Netflix, gets better. This is a terrible advert for a TV series, of course, though anime fans may be readier than most viewers to give animated shows time to improve. After a first part that feels naff and derivative – and a huge misstep from Matt Groening, creator of Futurama and The Simpsons – Disenchantment quickly starts gelling and connecting. No, it may never achieve the greatness of the previous shows at their peak, but it’s a perfectly likable corner of the Groening-verse. Continue Reading
Books: Pencil Wars
By Motoko Tamamuro.
“I could not marry because of Hayao Miyazaki.” That is the provocative opening sentence picked out for Hitomi Tateno for her column in Neppu, Studio Ghibli’s in-house magazine. As ever, producer Toshio Suzuki was behind the scenes, suggesting things that would make the impact of her 27-year career memoir substantially punchier. But already, Tateno had other ideas.
“I think,” she replied, “it should rather be: ‘I could not marry because of Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki.’” The results were eventually published in book form, in Japanese only, as Pencil War Chronicles: The Studio Ghibli Nobody Knew (Enpitsu Senki: Dare mo Shiranakatta Studio Ghibli).
Eureka Seven
By Andrew Osmond.
In April 2005, Japanese viewers turning on their TVs on Sunday morning were greeted by a boy on a flying board, soaring above clouds and leaving a trail of green fire, set to exuberant music. Viewers of different generations could make a range of connections. Youngsters might have linked the image to Disney’s recent film Treasure Planet, whose hero Jim Hawkins flies in a similar manner.
Older anime fans might remember Gainax’s 1992 epic Nadia, which also starts with clouds and flying. And really old-school fans might have linked the image to a seminal 1928 painting of a flying man by Frank R. Paul, which graced the pulp magazine Amazing Stories and defined science-fiction at its most optimistic.
Perhaps Gainax’s Nadia is the most fitting comparison Like Nadia, Eureka Seven was a serial for youngsters (who’d be watching animation at 7 a.m. on a Sunday morning), and it starts as a bright, cheerful adventure. In a contemporary interview, Eureka’s main writer Dai Sato specified “the series was aimed at children, but there are subtexts for viewers who aren’t children.” Continue Reading
English dub of “Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms” confirmed!. Full cast & crew list • Coming to Blu-ray and DVD in Q4 2018.
We know a lot of you enjoyed being able to see the directorial debut of Mari Okada (writer of Kiznaiver, scriptwriter of The Anthem of the Heart), Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms, subtitled on the big screen in June. Well today we have some exciting news to share are we are delighted to confirm that an English language dub for the film is being produced!
That's right, and we can tell you it's been produced by us (Anime Ltd./All The Anime) and handled by the great folks at NYAV Post NY•LA, the same studio that produced the English language dubs for your name., A Silent Voice and Mai Mai Miracle. What's more, we can also confirm that this dub will be included on our upcoming home video release of film tentatively scheduled for December 2018! (More details to follow on that as we can bring it, but for now you can find placeholder listings at our AllTheAnime online shop HERE which will be updated accordingly.)
But before we tell you about who is involved in the English dub of Maquia, we (Anime Ltd./All The Anime) wanted to create a new trailer for the film that also shows you some snippets of this English dub we've produced. We're delighted to show this preview which you can watch below right now.
Now we want to take a few moments to highlight the cast and crew involved in the English language audio. Read on below for the details:
ENGLISH CAST
Maquia - Voiced by Xanthe Huynh
Ariel - Voiced by Eddy Lee
Teenage Ariel - Voiced by Ryan Shanahan
Childhood Ariel (pictured left) - Voiced by Barnaby Lafayette
Leilia - Voiced by Cherami Leigh
Krim - Voiced by Kevin T. Collins
Lang - Voiced by Michael Schnieder
Young Lang (pictured) - Spencer Rosen
Mido - Voiced by Allegra Clark
Dita - Voiced by Ryan Bartley
Young Dita (pictured) - Catie Harvey
Racine - Lipica Shah
Izor - Marc Thompson
Medmel - Brooklyn Nelson
Young Medmel - Courtney Chu
Barou - Daniel J Edwards
And now here is the full English credits for you -
CAST
Maquia Xanthe Huynh
Ariel Eddy Lee
Teenage Ariel Ryan Shanahan
Childhood Ariel Barnaby Lafayette
Leilia Cherami Leigh
Krim Kevin T. Collins
Lang Michael Schneider
Mido Allegra Clark
Dita Ryan Bartley
Racine Lipica Shah
Izor Marc Thompson
Medmel Brooklyn Nelson
Young Medmel Courtney Chu
Barou Daniel J Edwards
Marzarte King Mike Pollock
Prince Hazel Michael Schneider
Darel HD Quinn
Old Woman Ryan Bartley
Proprietress Lolita Lafayette
Baiera King Marc Thompson
Millia Pheobe Quinn
Lilly AnnaBelle Deaner
Hyke Wanye Grayson
Riko Graham Halstead
Jack Christian La Monte
Eido Ben Phillips
Additional Voices -
Ryan Bartley
Camden Carter
Courtney Chu
Allegra Clark
AnnaBelle Deaner
Michael Deaner
Daniel J Edwards
Wayne Grayson
Graham Halstead
Christian La Monte
Lolita Lafayette
Eddy Lee
Ben Phillips
Mike Pollock
Spencer Rosen
Michel Schneider
Ryan Shanahan
Jason Simon
Marc Thompson
STAFF
Voice Direction Kevin T. Collins, Michael Schneider
Casting Stepahnie Sheh, Kevin T. Collins, Michael Schneider
Recording Engineering Michael Schneider, Stephanie Sheh
Audio Mixing Oscar Garcia
Script Adaptation Christian La Monte
Spotting Marianne Miller
Production Supervision Clark Cheng
Production Assistance Chelsea Rodgers
Recorded at NYAV Post NY•LA
Executive Producer Andrew Partridge
And there you have it! This wonderful cast and production team have been hard at work to help bring the film to many new viewers as well as those who have already experienced the film in its native Japanese audio with English subtitles. We hope you're looking forward to it experiencing this later this year.
We will add that, while not 100% certain at this time, we are investigating whether or not it might be possible to hold a theatrical premiere screening of the dub ahead of our home video release. Obviously if there's any development on that we'll be sure to make it known.
Stay tuned for more details and previews of our home video release of Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms coming to the UK & Ireland during the fourth quarter of 2018.
Signing out~!
Jeremy
Aoharu x Machinegun and survival games
By Andy Hanley.
However much you might abhor it, it’s hard to deny that armed conflict holds a certain fascination – whether it’s the cutting-edge technology available to the military, the awe of seeing the firepower that this technology allows, the strategy of war or the human dramas and friendships. This interest in the machinations and machines of war can clearly be seen across popular culture: in video games, movies and anime. However, stories based upon all-out war also have some inconvenient disadvantages for those that write them – there’s typically little room for normal every-day life to intrude upon the bloodshed, death and destruction.
There’s a handy solution which anime has turned to on several occasions – the existence of so-called “survival games”, or Airsoft. The hobby arrived in Japan in the 1980s, around the same time as paintball boomed in the US and as a generation of blockbuster violent action movies excited the masses. The result was an opportunity to revel in the intricacies of modern weaponry and the thrill of combat, but with no mortal danger beyond the possibility a bruise or two. Continue Reading