Saturday, May 30, 2009

Anime 3000 Podcast talks about CPM, CPM anime legally avaible from Vuze


Note: This isn't really "news" per say, it's just a popular podcast that talked about Central Park Media and John O'Donnell. Still thought I'd report it.


It is very interesting to listen to it. They discuss John O'Donnell, Central Park Media, many of their titles, and their downfall in great detail. It's very informative, and well worth the time to listen to it. Their final note about O'Donnell was that they'd be surprised if John O'Donnell doesn't get back into the anime industry in one way or another. I'd have to agree with that.

Listen to the podcast here.

The site they mention in the podcast is Vuze. Many of CPM's anime titles are still legally avaible to download (for free) from Vuze.com . To browse through titles hit the right arrow key on the bottom right hand corner of the website.

The titles include: Maze, Dominion Tank Police, Descendants of Darkness, Garaga, A Wind Named Amnesia, Guardian of Darkness, Black Jack, Legend of Himiko, Ayane's High Kick, Project A-ko, Knights of Ramune, MD Geist, Fencer of Minerva , The Revolutionary Girl Utena Movie, Geobreeders, Demon City Shinjuku, Munto, Odin - Starlight Mutiny . Jannik Hastrup's animated film "The Boy Who Wanted to Be a Bear" and the famouse Korean stop motion-animated film "Doggie Poo" are also avaible to download for free on Vuze. Many Live Action titles from CPM are also still avaible to download for free from Vuze. It is not known at this time how long those titles will be avaible to legally download, due to Central Park Media's recent filing for bankrucpty.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

DVD look : Domain of Murder



Well with all the bad news of CPM filing for bankrucpty, and then lots of things in my personal life, I haven't gotten to review a DVD from CPM in awhile. But now that everything has calmed down, I decided to review a little known OVA, Hello Hedgehog: Domain of Murder . I found out about this anime by reading Justin Sevakis's "Buried Treasure" review of it. He made it seem interesting, and I always like a good mystery, so I went ahead and bought it. It was really cheap too. Sevakis's review of it raised the price of the DVD a couple of dollors, but I still got it for $5.00 with shipping. You can now find it on Amazon for under $2.00, and Robert's Anime Corner has a ton of them for sale, and I'm sure you can find it elsewhere. I'm very glad I bought this, as for only 5 bucks it was well worth it. Overall I quite enjoyed it. It was a refreshing mature detective drama, something I'd expect to watch as a movie or live action series, not an anime. The OVA is based off of the best selling seinen manga series, "Hello Hedgehog" by Kenshi Hirogane . Kenshi Hirogane is also behind another mature, and rather unknown series Human Crossing.

Domain of Murder is an OVA from 1992, by studio Deen that clocks in around 52 minutes long. The story starts with Detective Goro (nicknamed "Hedgehog" due to his hair) being asked to find some women's long lost husband. The man ran away from home years ago, and she thought he was dead. However recently she discovered a wanted poster with his face on it. This women wants Goro to find her husband, so she can talk to him once more, before he get's arrested. It's a rather odd request, but Goro accepts it. Of course he has no idea where to start, and doesn't think he can find the man. If the entire police force can't find it, why could he right? Well Goro heads to the other side of Japan, and finds out the man is wanted for murder. He discovers some clues here and there, and meets two people who end up helping him. One is the bartender of the place the murder happened at, and the other is a police officer, and old friend of the missing husband. Overall the story plays out well, and the mystery is great. However there are some problems with the plot that need to be addressed. I wouldn't go as far as calling them plot holes, but there are some real problems with the story. Many things that unfold are very unlikely, which is normally a little forgivable in an anime, but I'll hold them to it for this, since they are trying to be very realstic. One example is toward the end of the anime, the police make mistake after mistake. Not to spoil anyone, but pay attention to the descisions the police make when they are at the amusement park. If the police acted this way in real life, they would get fired. Because of their bad choices they put many people's lives in danger. If they only acted, everyone could have came out of this alive, but instead they would rather risk the lives of a couple people. The part in the story where the husband kills the man in the bar needed to be explained more as well. As this is, it doesn't make complete sense yet. More time should have been spent in that flashback to make us understand exaclty what happened. And the car crash scene seems very illogical. It just doesn't make sense how that scene plays out. So besisdes a few problems with the plot, it is actually a pretty good OVA.

As far as the animation goes, I enjoyed it. I found it above avergae for 1992. The backgrounds are detailed and do a decent job of showing us Japan circa 1992. It didn't blow me away, but I did like it alot. The character designs are great as well. They go for a more "normal" look, so no big eyes or exaggerated expressions. It works though as all the characters look like real people and seem very original. They are highly detailed and look great overall. Ok so it may not be the best looking thing ever made, but you can tell the budget for this was pretty high. The music is alright, but nothing stood out for me. I'm not sure why CPM went back and dubbed this for the DVD, years after they released it sub-only, but I'm glad they did ! The dub is top of the line. All the characters are spot on. Michael Sinterniklaas directed this, and also played the lead character, Goro, and he does a great job. He makes Goro feel like a real person, like Goro exists out there somewhere. All the other characters are well cast, and do a great job overall. Caroline Hellman is alright as the Bar Tender, but there are some awkward lines here and there from her. She is funny when she is drunk though, so that is a plus. Dan Green plays two roles in this, and does a great job as always. Addie Blaustein plays one of the detectives at Goro's agency and she does a good job as well. Overall it's a great dub, but it sort of feels wasted on such an unknown title.

Being such an old and niche title, I wasn't expecting much with the the special features on this one. There really is nothing worth mentioning on the DVD. Overall the anime is pretty interesting. There are some problems with the plot, but I have to agree with Sevakis, that they are forgivable seeing how rare to see an anime like this make it to the US. The animation and dub are very good, but the music is not the best ever. It's a good detective drama, well worth the couple bucks for the DVD and I suggest it to anyone interested in mysteries. You can't go wrong with the price it's going for anyway.

Saturday, May 9, 2009

CPM anime still avaible legally online


Many of Central Park Media's titles are still legally avaible for download (to buy or to rent) on legal video-on-demand (VOD) online sites (totalvids, greencine) and on iTunes. CPM series are also still avaible to watch on ATAKU TV, an all anime cell phone TV channel. It is not known at this time how long these titles will remain avaible to purchase, or to watch legally, due to CPM's recent filing for bankrucpty.

Links:

http://www.totalvid.com/Anime-Videos/1
http://www.centralparkmedia.com/ipod/
http://www.greencine.com/genre?action=viewGenre&genreID=2&page=8&inc=20&sort=title
http://www.ataku.tv/index.php

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

ADV Films "license rescues" several CPM titles


The independent ADV Nation Blog reports that ADV Films has "license rescued" (or is distributing) several Central Park Media titles. The titles are: "Now and Then Here and There" , "The World of Narue", "Grave of the Fireflies", and "MD Geist" . They use Rightstuf.com as their source. ADV Nation reports that the titles will be released in July, 2009. These are the first titles that have been rescued after Central Park Media filed for Bankrucpty on April 24th, 2009.

About the shows:

"Now and Then Here and There " was originally released by CPM in 2002. The anime recently aired on the Sci-Fi channel during the summer of 2008. The show has also aired on Illusion On-Demand, the International Channel, Comcast's Anime Selects, and multiple other VOD channels. The anime was directed by Akitaro Daichi (Kodacha, Fruits Basket), and written by Hideyuki Kurata (Bamboo Blade, ROD TV/OVA).

Plot Summary: Shu is a typical Japanese boy, but has an unbeatable, optimistic and determined attitude. However, when he sees a mysterious girl with strange eyes named Lala-Ru up on a smokestack, he is soon pulled into a strange desert world. Shu soon discovers the true terrors of war, which includes genocide, brutal torture, hunger, thirst, and child explotation. Now Shu is trying to save Lala-Ru, as well as his hard earned, and often relunctant, new friends from the insane dictator, Hamdo. Whether Shu can possibly accomplish saving those he cares about while still holding up to his values remains to be seen.

"The World of Narue" was originally released by CPM in 2004 in a DVD box set. There were never individual volumes released, it went straight to box set. The anime was directed by Toyoo Ashida (Fist of the North Star Movie/TV, Vampire Hunter D) and Hiromitsu Morita . It was written by Yuu Sugitani (Black Blood Brothers). It was based on the manga by Tomohiro Marukawa, which was also partly released by CPM Press.

Plot Summary: Iizuka Kazuto is a 14 year old boy who meets a somewhat weird but cute and charming girl named Narue Nanase who claims she is an Alien. The show is about the trials and tribulations of the young couple as they get to know each other.

"Grave of the Fireflies " is a studio Studio Ghibli film, directed and written by Isao Takahata. It was first released on DVD in 2002.

Plot Summary: On the final days of World War II, 14-year-old Seita and his four-year-old sister Setsuko are orphaned after their mother is killed during an air-raid by American forces in Kobe, Japan. After having a falling-out with their aunt, they move into an abandoned bomb shelter. With no surviving relatives and their emergency funds and rations depleted, Seita and Setsuko must struggle to survive their hardships as well as those of their country, which is on the losing end of the war.

"MD Geist" was one of CPM's first titles released in North America on VHS in the early 1990's along with "Dominion Tank Police" , and "Project A-ko". It was the was the first top selling anime, and stayed on the VHS top ten charts for weeks after the release. Re-releases of the title (on VHS and later DVD) also sold very well. CPM also co-produced the sequel, MD Giest 2 and a directors cut of the original in 1996. M.D. Geist the character is the logo for CPM's US Manga line, which was the main branch of CPM that dealt with releaseing anime. It was directed by Hayato Ikeda and Kpichi Ohata (director's cut). It was written by Riku Sanjo.

Plot Summary: In the distant future, mankind has colonized other planets in the universe. While many planets lived in peace, the planet Jerra has been ravaged by decades of war. Geist is an M.D.S. (Most Dangerous Soldier), an enhanced human with unsurpassed combat capabilities and an insatiable lust for battle. Because of his uncontrollable nature, Geist is cryogenically frozen and locked in a satellite. Several years later, the satellite crashes and Geist wakes up from his sleep to engage in another war. This time, to help the army stop the planet's central computer from activating a doomsday device that will lead to total annihilation of all life on Jerra.

(Plot summary and general information about the titles taken from Anime News Network)

Monday, May 4, 2009

Erica Friedman Eulogizes Central Park Media


Erica Friedman ,the President of Yuricon & ALC Publishing, wrote a "eulogy" blog about Central Park Media, following their recent bankrupcty, on AnimeVice News . She writes, "Circumstances were very cruel to the owners of CPM. I know that they have been struggling as hard as they can to come back from the above losses, but obviously were unable to after several attempts, after rethinking and restructuring their business more than once." . She also comments on how fansubbers and scanlators are affecting the anime industry, in Japan and the U.S. .


You can read the entire blog entry here, on AnimeVice News website.