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News Archives - September 2003

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September 29 2003, 12:39 PM

Pioneer to Become Geneon as of October 1

As you've probably noticed on the news feeds by now, Pioneer Animation has been bought out by the advertising agency Dentsu, and will be renamed Geneon, effective October 1. Note that this will obviously not affect releases that are already out on the market (you can't go back with Sharpies and cross out Pioneer from every DVD out there) but we will be modifying our information over the next few days to reflect this change.

 
September 29 2003, 9:00 AM

It's Monday again. Time for a quick update.

First off, you can now refer to our handy-dandy sidebar for links to our newest reviews, thanks to the continued work of web designer Pete Harcoff.

Also, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has donated time and money to keep this site running. I will be posting a list recognizing all the donors from the "Save THEM" campaign when our credits page is back up. ^_^

We are again taking donations through PayPal for the continued maintenance of this site, and the link is also on the sidebar.

As for new review content - Stig Høgset, chronicles fluffy semi-harem show HANAUKYO MAID TAI, and the significantly more profound Korean animated feature OSEAM. He also gives us a full review of HAPPY WORLD, which is not, in fact, the same as HAPPY LESSON.

Samuel Arbogast's second review takes us back in time to the mid-70s, long before the age of singing crustaceans with Jamaican creole accents. That's right, this is the anime version of THE LITTLE MERMAID.

Finally, Tim Jones gives us a second opinion on SISTER PRINCESS ... which pretty much reinforces the first opinion. Oh well.

See you again on Wednesday!

 
September 27 2003, 1:00 PM

I have been contacted by the webmaster of AnimeNfo, who is in the process of getting credit due to the original writers of the synopses on his site.

That is all for now.

 
September 27 2003, 12:00 AM

Special Announcement

It has come to my attention that synopses for reviews on our site as well as other review sites around the Internet are being used in places such as AnimeNfo and AnimeDB.

Our review text is NOT open-source. This is copyrighted material, and any uncredited usage of our text is considered plagiarism. This is illegal according to international copyright law, and steps must be taken to rectify this situation, either by the inclusion of proper credits for the text taken from our site, or by the removal of plagiarized text.

We have not, do not, and will not give permission for anyone to use our textual content without proper credit. And the only people who are allowed to use our text without asking first are anime vendors and distributors who wish to use it to promote their product. And even, then, proper credit must be given where it's due. It's that simple.

That is all.

 
September 26 2003, 9:00 AM

Congratulations, you've made it through another week.

A whole mess of reviews fresh off the queue - it's been a very busy few days for us here at THEM.

Next, Stig Høgset reviews two of the as-yet non-licensed installments of the PIA CARROT series. While the original series is a hentai title released in the States by NuTech, Stig is actually discussing the G-rated theatrical feature PIA CARROT: SAYAKA'S STORY, and the not-quite-as-tame but still non-hentai PIA CARROT 2 DX. Odd how that works out.

Stig, as our Norwegian correspondent, also bravely tackles the cute-girl series UFO PRINCESS VALKYRIE. Bravely, I say, because the show largely eschews his beloved Norse mythology in favor of parading perhaps the brattiest character yet to star in an anime.

In the meantime, Enoch Lau shifts gears and gives us an overview of the surprisingly accessible and appealing STELLVIA OF THE UNIVERSE, which he greatly enjoys.

Not to be left out completely, Editor-in-Chief Carlos Ross digs deep into the digital source backlog and, unfortunately, comes up with MIRACLE GIRLS. He doesn't like it at all. Wait a second - Carlos "Marmalade Boy is my favorite show of all time" Ross, NOT liking a shoujo title? Watch ... and learn.

Tim Jones gives us a look at the anime version of the popular card game phenomenon YU-GI-OH, and wonders why on Earth anyone with a functioning brain would purposely expose themselves to this series. He also gives a vastly more encouraging look at the third DIGIMON series, DIGIMON TAMERS.

Finally, Samuel Arbogast makes his reviewing debut, giving us a look at the third PATLABOR movie, PATLABOR WXIII.

Enjoy your weekend, and see you again on Monday.

 
September 24 2003, 9:00 AM

Happy Wednesday, folks. Hope you're having a decent week wherever you are.

Three reviews on tap for today (unless you're King Arthur, in which case the number of the counting is apparently *five*).

First off, Jason Bustard gives us a nearly complete rundown of the fantasy drama SCRAPPED PRINCESS, perhaps the biggest fantasy Big Hoohah since RECORD OF LODOSS WAR and BERSERK. Deservedly so, he says: it's looking really good.

Next, Stig Høgset gives us a review of what is arguably the most widely known anime edit of all time: ROBOTECH: THE MACROSS SAGA. FYI, this review is treated as separate from the (as yet unwritten) review of the original MACROSS series.

Finally, Tim Jones gives us a second opinion on FULL MOON O SAGASHITE, though he's really reinforcing the original opinion because he likes it just as much as Jen does.

So, yes, that's *five* reviews.

That's it until Friday, and watch out for those rabbits. They're real killers!

 
September 22 2003, 9:00 AM

Happy Monday!

Does that sound like a contradiction in terms? Well, it isn't, because it's time for some new reviews.

A whopping *seven* reviews this time up. (Jinkies!)

Isaac Cynova gives us an overview (and a very hearty thumbs up) to the occasionally racy, often hilarious schoolyard comedy GTO. Great-oh!

Meanwhile, Hannah Stanton raves about the sprawling epic LEGEND OF THE GALACTIC HEROES, which is by far the longest OAV series ever made with more episodes than most televised anime.

Also, a review of the third (and final) SAILOR MOON movie, SAILOR MOON SUPER S: BLACK DREAM HOLE, which probably really should have been called Sailor Chibi Moon: the Movie. The thumb gets pointed squarely sideways, as this enjoyable, but predictable movie gets an average rating. That title, though, really doesn't sound right for a kids movie. Black Dream Hole?!?

Speaking of which, we have a double shot of hentai from our fearless (but strange and perverted) Editor-in-Chief, Carlos Ross, who submits his take on KOIHIME and SPACESHIP AGGA RUTER, both loose pastiches of existing favorites (LOVE HINA and TENCHI MUYO, respectively). Funny, perhaps, but are they any good? We'll see about that.

On the complete opposite side of the spectrum, our Editor-in-Chief *also* gives us an early look at the first TV series incarnation of the children's fantasy comedy MAHOUJIN GURU GURU, as well as the movie, MAHOUJIN GURU GURU: THE PICKLE OF HAPPINESS. Strange stuff, and occasionally prone to fart jokes (and cameos from a random dancing old man in a hula skirt), but they're ultimately very charming because the leads are just so damn cute.

And remember, kids, as John Madden would say, it's hard to win a football game if you don't put some points on the scoreboard, here's hoping the Sun Devils do better next time.

That's all until Wednesday. Ciao!

 
September 19 2003, 9:00 AM

Rolling towards the weekend.

We've got four reviews to add to the list today.

First off, THEM's Norwegian correspondent Stig Høgset gives us an advance look at HAPPY LESSON ADVANCE, which is like HAPPY LESSON, except ... with fan service. Uh oh.

Going on to more adult fare, Stig also discusses the hentai parody SEX DEMON QUEEN, which sounds intimidating until you realize that it is, in fact, as close to a hentai version of EXCEL SAGA as you'll get without actually getting a Koshi Rikdo stamp at the beginning of the show. Surprise, he likes it! Though not for under-18s, obviously.

Meanwhile, our Meticulous Figurehead Carlos Ross gives us a preliminary review of the weird, as-yet-unlicensed COOKING MASTER BOY (CHUUKA ICHIBAN), which features still shots of Chinese people raving over food, kinda like IRON CHEF in the setting of WING CHUN. Fun and colorful, but sadly not widely appealing.

Finally, Jen B (doinkies) gives us a look at POPOTAN, which looks all cute and innocent until you realize that it's a moronic cutesy-girl hentai-dating-sim tie-in about magical dandelions. With fan service. Uh oh.

Have a good weekend, and I leave you with my obligatory rah-rah statement of the week:

LET'S GO DEVILS!!!

(For the uninitiated, THEM is based at Arizona State University, whose mascot is the Sun Devil.)

 
September 17 2003, 9:00 AM

As of today, we are instituting a review update schedule of three times a week - Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Since we snuck in a plethora of new reviews on our relaunch on Monday (to the tune of over fifty newly written or updated reviews from over a dozen writers), we figured that future updates would be less ... well ... overwhelming.

So, *only* four new reviews today.

First, Isaac Cynova gives us a less than favorable look at the uncut DVD release of the AIC television series BLUE GENDER, recently featured on Cartoon Network.

Meanwhile, Tim Jones takes a good hard look at FUSHIGI YUGI: THE MYSTERIOUS PLAY: EIKODEN, and pelts it with large, sharp, pointy objects, proving that even the most diehard shoujo fans know when it's time to call a favorite franchise dead in the water.

Finally, our intrepid Editor-in-Chief Carlos Ross (who is always terribly amused at having to refer to himself in the third person) tackles the two unrelated adults-only OAVs on the Kitty Pleasure Pack volume 2 DVD release (which he is very glad he didn't spend a dime on): the well-written, but badly-animated STAIRS, and the well-animated, but hopelessly awful COUNTDOWN TO DELIGHT. Not permitted for those under 17, but in actuality, not recommended to *anyone*.

More reviews coming on Friday (and hopefully we'll actually get to rating something higher than *two* stars this time).

 
September 15 2003, 9:00 AM

Welcome to the all-new THEM Anime 4.0. We're still cleaning things up here, so expect a few reviews to still be updated over the next few days, but the majority of the main content has been converted. Enjoy, and please feel free to leave comments at the THEM Anime Boards!

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THEM Anime Reviews is updated three times a week, every week: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 9:00am Mountain Standard Time.

 
 
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