The News Thread (for news that does not need a thread)
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Lutga
Mad Scientist
Was interested to see a few comments earlier on about NEO and MYM mag - personally I subscribe to both and while I enjoy them both, I have mixed opinions about them too:
NEO - Personally I really like the overall visual style and aesthetic of the magazine, although I feel - as someone else said, they sometimes have really low quality/pixelated visuals. For the most part though, my main issue with the magazine is the quality of the writing - generally, it stinks. I'm not sure if it's a conscious decision to dumb down the writing for the readership (which I imagine if pretty young), but with the exception of Jonathan Clements, Tom Smith and Andrew Osmond, I find a lot of the reviews read really poorly and typically just amount to 'great characters! great art! oh this thing wasn't so good!) - compare it to the insightful, analytical reviews on the likes of ANN and it's chalk and cheese.
The copy is typically strewn with spelling/grammar errors too - and sometimes even factual errors too - like it's barely been checked over. Maybe I'm asking too much, but it only bothers me because I care about the magazine and want to support the domestic UK anime market and the magazines that comment on it.
MYM - On the whole has a much higher quality of writing across the board and I find their anime reviews - as with their gaming and film reviews - are generally typically spot on. The design of the mag can be a bit iffy at times - it has a early 00s videogame magazine vibe in places, but for the most part it has a much higher quality than NEO when it comes to print quality and very rarely has spelling/grammar mistakes.
The issue I have with MYM is generally around the non-anime coverage, where it often seems to shoe-horn in entire page/double page pieces on topics that seem to be stretching the whole 'geek culture' thing to its limit. And worst, often seem to be included just to support some kind of advertorial-esque deal or a 'favour' to someone. Sure, three pages analysing the Hunger Games Movies is fair enough, but a double page spread on the Burning Man festival or some obscure indie director no-one has heard of? Nahh.
NEO - Personally I really like the overall visual style and aesthetic of the magazine, although I feel - as someone else said, they sometimes have really low quality/pixelated visuals. For the most part though, my main issue with the magazine is the quality of the writing - generally, it stinks. I'm not sure if it's a conscious decision to dumb down the writing for the readership (which I imagine if pretty young), but with the exception of Jonathan Clements, Tom Smith and Andrew Osmond, I find a lot of the reviews read really poorly and typically just amount to 'great characters! great art! oh this thing wasn't so good!) - compare it to the insightful, analytical reviews on the likes of ANN and it's chalk and cheese.
The copy is typically strewn with spelling/grammar errors too - and sometimes even factual errors too - like it's barely been checked over. Maybe I'm asking too much, but it only bothers me because I care about the magazine and want to support the domestic UK anime market and the magazines that comment on it.
MYM - On the whole has a much higher quality of writing across the board and I find their anime reviews - as with their gaming and film reviews - are generally typically spot on. The design of the mag can be a bit iffy at times - it has a early 00s videogame magazine vibe in places, but for the most part it has a much higher quality than NEO when it comes to print quality and very rarely has spelling/grammar mistakes.
The issue I have with MYM is generally around the non-anime coverage, where it often seems to shoe-horn in entire page/double page pieces on topics that seem to be stretching the whole 'geek culture' thing to its limit. And worst, often seem to be included just to support some kind of advertorial-esque deal or a 'favour' to someone. Sure, three pages analysing the Hunger Games Movies is fair enough, but a double page spread on the Burning Man festival or some obscure indie director no-one has heard of? Nahh.
IncendiaryLemon
Captain Karen
Lutga said:
This is making me think I need to rethink how I write my own reviews :lol:
st_owly (witch)
Time-Traveller
The thing I always enjoyed the most in Neo was the section about the current Japanese manga market. That sort of information isn't as readily available in English as reviews etc. Never read MyM.
Tales of franchise has a countdown going on that ends on December 15th, which marks the 20th Anniversary of Tales of Phantasia (the first Tales game which was released in December 15th 1995). While this may end up being Tales of Berseria news, it's worth pointing out that there is going to be an anime adaptation (currently under the name Tales of 20th Anniversary) from studio Ufotable airing in 2016.
:roll:
ilmaestro said:
:roll:
The one copied from 4chan or wherever.
First official print ad confirms that the live-action I Am A Hero movie will go on general release in Japan on April 23rd. Going by both this and the only other image available online, it actually seems to cover more of the manga than I'd expected, and I would hazard a guess that the film's climax will be Takao's encounter with the hostile survivors at the mini-mall.
Professor Irony said:First official print ad confirms that the live-action I Am A Hero movie will go on general release in Japan on April 23rd. Going by both this and the only other image available online, it actually seems to cover more of the manga than I'd expected, and I would hazard a guess that the film's climax will be Takao's encounter with the hostile survivors at the mini-mall.
April 2016? That's literally around the time in which Dark Horse start releasing the first omnibus (2-in-1 volumes). I look forward to this film, kind of curious to see how Japan handles zombies in live-action form (that does not go overboard if you know what I mean).
Buzz201 said:
I should have made it clearer. I was referencing the strange films that Japan have done that are 'so bad it's WTF' material, Zombie Ass for instance.
Buzz201 said:
While I take the general point that we've long since passed saturation point with zombie media, I think dismissing something you (presumably) had no prior knowledge of as being a retread of a completely unrelated series is a bit harsh.
I think what sets I Am A Hero apart is its dark sense of humour; the title is ironic, something that Takao has to keep telling himself as he stumbles haplessly through the emerging crisis through blind luck as much as judgment, fortunate enough to have a live firearm, but terrified of using it in case he breaks a gun law.
Buzz201
Mad Scientist
Professor Irony said:
I wasn't necessarily suggesting I Am A Hero is a retread of The Walking Dead, I have not read I Am A Hero (and if Dark Horse are putting out omnibuses, that probably means there won't be a digital release, so that is unlikely to change any time soon).
I'm just saying there's not a whole lot anti-zombie melodrama you can do, and The Walking Dead covered the full range in it's 13 episodes worth of nothing that was the second season.
Buzz201
Mad Scientist
So, Oricon have announced the top selling manga by volume and by series, and the top light novels by volumeand by series.
Worth noting that Attack on Titan is monthly, I believe everything else is supposed to be weekly, so it generally sold more per volume than The Seven Deadly Sins. Tokyo Ghoul :re is a direct continuation of Tokyo Ghoul, combined they would both be number 6 (if my mental maths is correct).
I was also surprised that My Hero Academia is really low, given the way people have been talking about it and are seemingly willing it to become 'the next big thing', and for some reason I though Ajin: Demi-Human might be on the list, but that's at a distinct disadvantage as it's only put out 2 volumes this year. Also, I'm offended that Kagerou Daze made the light novel list, but Durarara!! SH didn't. Having attempted to read Kagerou Daze and being in the middle of reading Durarara!!, it's clear who the better writer is...
Worth noting that Attack on Titan is monthly, I believe everything else is supposed to be weekly, so it generally sold more per volume than The Seven Deadly Sins. Tokyo Ghoul :re is a direct continuation of Tokyo Ghoul, combined they would both be number 6 (if my mental maths is correct).
I was also surprised that My Hero Academia is really low, given the way people have been talking about it and are seemingly willing it to become 'the next big thing', and for some reason I though Ajin: Demi-Human might be on the list, but that's at a distinct disadvantage as it's only put out 2 volumes this year. Also, I'm offended that Kagerou Daze made the light novel list, but Durarara!! SH didn't. Having attempted to read Kagerou Daze and being in the middle of reading Durarara!!, it's clear who the better writer is...
kuuderes_shadow
Thousand Master
Buzz201 said:
Is it fun taking offence at the fact that people like things you don't?
Anyway, Durarara SH was never going to get on the list. Only one volume out this year and that only sold 37k over slightly over 3 weeks, and although this was a very slight increase on the previous volume Durarara!! is nothing like as popular as it was 5 years ago.