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Cel Shaded
Jason Yadao
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Classic series get another go-round
It could be said that the success of a particular anime or manga series can be determined by the number of times a property holder re-releases said property in newer, fancier packaging.
Sometimes, the re-release is to flip manga from an American-style, left-to-right format back to the original Japanese right-to-left format, as seen with Dark Horse's "Ah! My Goddess" and Viz's "Ranma 1/2." Other times, it's to add more DVD bells and whistles, as with Bandai and "Cowboy Bebop."
Now comes word of even more re-releases. Dark Horse's Web site recently announced plans to reprint several titles by Masamune Shirow, including "Appleseed," "Dominion," "Orion" and "Black Magic," starting in October and running into next year.
And then there's "Neon Genesis Evangelion," the cash cow that keeps on giving for ADV. On the heels of the series' original release on DVD in 2000, the "Director's Cut" editions of the last six episodes in early 2004 and the remastered Platinum Edition in late 2004 comes word of what could be termed an ultra-super-hyper-deluxe premium edition.
According to the latest edition of Diamond Previews, "Eva" fans should start saving up now for the 10th Anniversary Box Set. Promised are the complete series, a deluxe collector's tin and "a plethora of commemorative items," which Anime News Network reports includes a jacket and manga volume. All of this can be yours for $249.99 on Aug. 22 ...
In Sunday's 'D&Q'
Who is Tomoko Taniguchi? I couldn't really tell you, having passed up her manga many times when one could actually find them on store shelves. But Wilma J. recently found a few of Taniguchi's titles buried on the shelves at Book-Off in Shirokiya and promptly bought them in the name of "D&Q" research. She'll share her findings on this shoujo (girls) manga artist in the Sunday Today section ...
Cel Shaded, a look at the world of Japanese anime and manga, appears every Monday. Reach
Jason S. Yadao at
jyadao@starbulletin.com