Sensei's Upgrade 2010.04: May Misdemeanors - Girls and Dolls

[sensei]

My “May Madnessâ€

[ReiTheJelly]

Nice update, sensei. I like the new Rozen Maiden additions. Although I must admit to being guilty of not yet having watched RM: Traumend.

[teggacat]

as always, Great Job Sensei!! I love the art from RM, intrigues me enough to actually check out this show, and also very touching to tribute the Quirky Tour to Anime Museum, really classy thing to do

[Killua]

Really like the genga from Vampire Princess! Beautiful artwork.

[cutiebunny]

Love the new update, especially the Usagi-chan cel. It's always nice to see redheads in a (somewhat) positive role.

..Even though that shirt is, like, two sizes too small for her...

Don't be modest about the update. The economy is in a slump and I think that a lot of collectors have had to cut back. But it's nice to see that you can still add some nice stuff without having to blow a paycheck or two on it.

[Captain Haddock]

Nice update I loved the Miyu sketch! It's one of those shows I've always admired, but never had the fiscal clout to diversify into.

[sensei]

I like the new Rozen Maiden additions. Although I must admit to being guilty of not yet having watched RM: Traumend.

Thanks, Brenda. I've watched RM art for years and find it nice to finally score some. I've heard that Traumend is a disappointment, though. Lots of people, even in Japan, felt that the second-season ending was a cop-out, so PEACH-PIT actually started the story-arc again recently in a parallel universe mode (kinda like CCS/Tsubasa). So far, all the sketches that I've tracked are from the first 12 episodes, which tell a complete story and can stand on their own.

I love the art from RM, intrigues me enough to actually check out this show, and also very touching to tribute the Quirky Tour to Anime Museum, really classy thing to do

The show is well worth it, and gets moving quickly. Hina-ichigo is the obligatory irritating squeeing tot character, but even she can be very scary, and she knows how to push Jun's buttons. The more "grown-up" dolls are nicely conceived as characters. Anime Museum was a class act, and (like many others) I'm only sorry I didn't visit one more time before it closed.

Really like the genga from Vampire Princess! Beautiful artwork.

Thank you! It looks good in person and actually looks good in the reduced version, which accents the eerie way that it gets a sense of 3-dimensionality into the profile, which can be tricky. That stray strand of hair is a crucial player in the composition, and the carefully done shadow on the nose bridge is another.

It's always nice to see redheads in a (somewhat) positive role.
..Even though that shirt is, like, two sizes too small for her...

Heh. I think that body is about two sizes bigger than even anime characters tend to grow. There are cels of Mimika standing sideways that make it look as if she's hiding a water balloon in there. However, one thing that stands in Usagi-chan's favor is that it does has a discernable plot that makes the overstuffed anatomy relevant to something other than short-term gratification. Nooo, not a deep plot that you want your mom or significant other to catch you taking notes on, but a plot nevertheless.

Nice update I loved the Miyu sketch! It's one of those shows I've always admired, but never had the fiscal clout to diversify into.

I'm glad you didn't see that sketch FA, then, as it was dang cheap! Miyu is one of those series that I admired from afar, then was pleasantly surprised to see prices come down dramatically. If you're willing to do a lot of looking and very occasional bidding, you can grow a pretty good VPM collection a couple of cels a year.

[Macron one]

Nice additions, particularly those Rozen Maiden sketches.

As a dedicated anime collector i'm however disappointed to read...

I watched this series as soon as I could get a bootleg Hong Kong DVD (a good thing, as North American distribution has been slowed by the demise of Geneon, the official licensee)

I consider it rather inappropriate to refer to any bootleg as "a good thing", even when it's of a series that has no chance of a region 1 DVD release. If you must watch a series that isn't available on domestic DVD, you could at least watch it fansubbed, rather than buying an illegal copy and thus giving your money to small time criminals in Hong Kong or Malaysia who make money at the expense of the people who actually created the series and the companies who paid good money for the right to distribute it outside of Japan.

Besides, the US release of the Rozen Maiden anime was only delayed for a year, until late 2008, when Funimation started distributing the series that Geneon USA had left unfinished in late 2007. The final volume of Rozen Maiden Traumend came out in January of 2009 and a complete collection has since been released (The only part of the Rozen Maiden anime which still remains unlicensed in the US is the Rozen Maiden Ouverture OVA).

One more slight nitpick: Geneon USA does technically still exist, though only as long as its licenses last for the series that Funimation distributes for it. It would however still be accurate to say they're effectively gone.

Geneon (Japan) on the other hand is still alive and kicking, though it merged with Universal Pictures Japan, becoming Geneon Universal Entertainment Japan, which has had the unfortunate side effect that ever since the merger pretty much nothing that Geneon Japan has produced in the last 3 years has made its way to the US (Hellsing Ultimate OVA 5 and on, Kara no Kyoukai, Higurashi Kai, Shakugan no Shana season 2, To aru Majutsu no Index etc..). I hope that whatever is preventing these series being licensed to US distributors gets worked out soon, as i'm interested in purchasing several of those series on R1 DVD.

[Gonzai]

Another nice update. I always enjoy loooking at your
updates. I love the details you add with each item.

This last one is a good example of an issue that I mentioned in another thread: the feeling you get in your bones when you see a sketch and you somehow know it’s something good.

I couldn't agree more. This was the sketch that stood
out most to me. I have never seen Rozen Maiden before,
but such a wonderful sketch and so nicely drawn. Had
you not put your description, I would have assumed she
was a main character.

[sensei]

Gomen to Macron one if my choice of words implied that it was OK to buy pirated versions of movies, games, etc. I don't recall exactly how or from what source I purchased my boxed set, but on reading this post I looked closely at it. It clearly is of Chinese origin, but of excellent production quality, particularly the covers, and not obviously a knock-off like some other Chinese-origin DVDs I've seen with photo-litho cover art and DVDs with paper labels. While I can't read the Chinese credits, in other respects it's similar to box sets I've gotten more recently from reputable sources (e.g. Amazon). So I assumed at the time that it was a legitimate release for that market. If I was wrong, shame on me.

Probably "gray-market" would have been preferable to "bootleg." In any case, I probably should have upgraded by now to a North American release, but to be honest I haven't thought much about this series since 2005 (my files show mentions of it around then, which is probably when I obtained the set). As the NA release was delayed, the eventual release slipped past me. My old interest was rekindled over Lent when I happened to notice that sketches were becoming more available on dealers' sites (e.g., Anime Asylum), and so around Easter I looked more intensively.

Anyhow, I didn't mean to encourage Betarians to buy non-legit releases or to use fansubs or streamed versions to avoid paying the creators of shows their fair reward. My apologies if I offended other readers as well.

Thanks for your comment, too, Gonzai. That was the sketch that tipped the balance for me, even though it was not the one featured by the dealer. Sou is a pivotal character, as I see her, more important for her impact on Sui, who is, next to Shinku, the most central Rozen Maiden to the action. Someone obviously loved her, as this beautiful sketch testifies. Now I really want to find that "lake" scene.

[Macron one]

Gomen to Macron one if my choice of words implied that it was OK to buy pirated versions of movies, games, etc. I don't recall exactly how or from what source I purchased my boxed set, but on reading this post I looked closely at it. It clearly is of Chinese origin, but of excellent production quality, particularly the covers, and not obviously a knock-off like some other Chinese-origin DVDs I've seen with photo-litho cover art and DVDs with paper labels. While I can't read the Chinese credits, in other respects it's similar to box sets I've gotten more recently from reputable sources (e.g. Amazon). So I assumed at the time that it was a legitimate release for that market. If I was wrong, shame on me.

I'm sorry if my earlier post sounded a bit harsh. If i'd known that you had accidentily purchased a bootleg DVD set I wouldn't made a big deal out of it. Heck, most anime DVD buyers have at some point picked up a bootleg unknowingly. When I had just started getting interested in anime (early 2002) i got suckered into buying a bootleg boxset of The Big O (which i've since replaced with a legitimate R1 boxset), since which time i've made sure to avoid bootlegs like the proverbial plague.

It's actually not that difficult to identify bootleg DVDs generally. A few key point to remember are:

1. Region Coding:
Bootleg DVDs will usually be region-free (shown as region ALL or region 0 on the back of the case), which is extremely rare on legitimate releases. The Japanese usually do not allow an anime DVD to be coded for regions other than the one for which the license was obtained. This is mainly due to fear of reverse importation (Japanese anime DVDs are extremely expensive, as most fans probably already know), but also because the Japanese licenseholders want to be able to license to the European (region 2) and Australian (region 4) market as well. Having an official region-free release floating around would decrease the perceived value of the title when they're negotiating with anime companies from these other countries/regions. There are a couple of legitimate region-free DVD releases, including early CPM DVD releases like Revolutionary Girl Utena and Magic Knight Rayearth, but most of these are titles released prior to 2003, many of which have since gone out of print.

2. Subtitles:
Bootlegs tend to include Chinese and English subtitles. Chinese subtitles are however almost non-existant on official US anime DVD releases. I currently own 1553 anime DVDs, of which only one DVD boxset has both English and Chinese subtitles, which actually happens to be an official Taiwanese region 3 DVD release, not a region 1 US release. Chinese anime DVDs meanwhile are approx. 99.5% bootlegs. There are a few legitimate Chinese companies that release some anime, but their output doesn't amount to much. There are however a tiny handfull of legitimate Chinese DVDs and VCDs which include English subs, though this is mostly limited to fairly high-profile movies like the Ghibli catalog. If you come across a release with Chinese and English subtitles, it is almost guaranteed to be a bootleg.

3. Episode count per disc:
The usual maximum number of standard length (25 min.) episodes on a legitimately released anime DVD is 7. This is common with Funimation's and Sentai's half-season sets, which are 12 or 13 episodes on 2 discs.
A few of Funimation's releases have included 8 episodes per disc, such as the four Yu Yu Hakusho double-thinpack sets, but this represents the effective maximum for official releases (though i believe some 4kids DVD releases included as many as 12 episodes per DVD, with rather disastrous results on video quality. Being both dub-only and edited, i don't count these as anime releases). Bootlegs will usually cram as many episodes as possible on a DVD, which means they often contain anything from 8 to 13 episodes per DVD. Specifically, series with a length of two cour (24 or 26 episodes) will be released as a 3-disc bootleg boxset. This is a very common type of bootleg which should be pretty easy to spot.

4. Beware of E-bay and Amazon Marketplace:
This applies specifically to E-bay, but bootlegs on Amazon Marketplace are common enough to be worth mentioning. E-bay in particular is notorious for being swamped with bootlegs. Many sellers will describe the bootlegs they're selling as legitimate import DVDs. It's probably best to consider "import" to be a general euphemism for bootleg when seen on an E-bay auction. Amazon itself is mostly safe to purchase from, though there was a notorious instance of them selling a Sailor Moon Stars bootleg:
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/20 ... ial-boxset
Amazon Marketplace on the other hand needs to be used cautiously, as many of the sellers do offer bootlegs, many of which have been there for years. Amazon doesn't seem to care much about this, as they've repeatedly ignored complaints of bootleg selling as long as the sellers maintained an overall positive customer rating.
Some examples of bootlegs on Amazon Marketplace:

http://www.amazon.com/Tenchi-Muyo-OVA-M ... 28&sr=1-15
http://www.amazon.com/Fushigi-Yugi-Eiko ... 413&sr=1-2
http://www.amazon.com/4-DVD-Box-GUNDAM- ... 498&sr=1-4
http://www.amazon.com/Sailor-Moon-Limit ... 658&sr=1-3

Getting back on topic:

I like the tribute to Anime Taro/Anime Museum section you added to your gallery. I had often looked at that celshop even before I started collecting cels. It's a pity that it closed before I got around to buying anything from them.Even though my main source for cels is currently Yahoo Japan, I had earmarked a number of cels of interest in my mind, which I hoped to aquire eventually. I hope to see some of the ones that interested me appear on Yahoo Japan, as i've seen happen six months before Anime Taro closed with most of its Akazukin Chacha and Nadesico cels.

[sensei]

The to-do had the beneficial effect of making me check and learn that Geneon/Funimation released the complete box set of Rozen Maiden, both seasons, 24 episodes on 6 DVDs, on May 4, 2010. Lists at $49.99 but regularly discounted to ca. $28-30, including www.rightstuf.com, to which a link from Funimation's website directs you.

[benten]

Well, the weather was lousy today, so I actually had time to do "A Really Really Quick Gallery Tour" and "A Quicky Tour: Anime Museum R.I.P."

Your site is so chock full of interesting commentary I just can't skim through it. It takes time to savor the experience.

It's been interesting reading about your collecting journey and how you made decisions to enlarge your gallery to encompass other series.

Of course, because of purely personal predilections, I hope you understand when I say that I continue to remain partial to your Inuyasha collection, despite the attractiveness of so many of your other acquisitions.

[Cordelia]

May Misdemeanor...hehe what a great tradition! Congrats on the new additions, I especially like the Souseiseki sketch. You can see how much effort has been made into drawing the sketch by looking at the details in the eyes. And yea, VPM OVA has great artwork, the sketches are especially beautiful.

[sensei]

Well, the weather was lousy today, so I actually had time to do "A Really Really Quick Gallery Tour" and "A Quirky Tour: Anime Museum R.I.P."

Heh. Maybe I need to do over that Really Really Quick Tour if people need to be stricken by insomnia or a stubborn foul weather streak to get them to give it a try. Thanks for your effort. No, benten, I'm definitely not forsaking Inuyasha though I haven't seen anything with the crucial combo of good art and nice price lately.

Thanks to you and to macron one for the comments on the Anime Museum tour. I did kind of a similar tour some time ago that surveyed the range of sources of art, but it was interesting to go through my old records and remember just what I did get and when. I'd really forgotten that my first buy was mostly TnN.

I especially like the Souseiseki sketch. You can see how much effort has been made into drawing the sketch by looking at the details in the eyes. And yea, VPM OVA has great artwork, the sketches are especially beautiful.

I rewatched Ep. 12 today and located the Sou sketch: it's from a very moving moment from the "calm after the battle" scene, where Sou turns to Sui, holds out her hand, and says, "Well, let's go home!" It is one of just a few really peaceful and happy moments for this character, and it shows in the art. I also found the Shinku sketch that I featured above: it comes from the poignant moment when she (apparently) says she's leaving Jun now.

She doesn't leave, though -- and the contradiction is patched over very superficially, leaving the impression that someone screened the episode and said, "Nooooooo! We need to leave room for a second season!!!!!" But in a way the contradiction is charming in its sloppiness: nothing changes everything changes.

Thanks too for the compliment on the VPM sketch, which is a favorite of mine. But I'm bemused in the end that no one commented on the Haibane Renmei rilezu, which I'd really considered a highlight for the update. (Though, to be fair, probably most of you had already seen on Sovereign's website.) If any of you find yourself staring at the ceiling sometime this week, feel free to visit that page and start reading the technical note on what I learned about rilezu. Make sure you have a pillow and a snuggie nearby though.



And thanks to everyone who stopped by. Watch for more misdemeanors (of the same sort) soon!