Remember when Pioneer went all out with Armitage III? For Armitage III, they took a cue from Hollywood animated movies and cast some Hollywood talent. Kiefer Sutherland and Elizabeth Berkley played the leads. There is a 2 page interview with Kiefer Sutherland about his role, and his experience with ADR voice acting.
What you’ll be noticing in the next couple of months is that studios will begin to release dubbed versions of show they already released subtitled. Record of Lodoss War is one of them. Sub is still a premium though. The 13 episode VHS box set is $129.95 English subtitled and $99.95 English dubbed.
Border makes its first retailer call-out in this CPM ad as well.
Next is Ani-Mayhem. MAYHEM!!!! Coming July 1996. My guess is that Pioneer wanted to latch on the Magic The Gathering craze and create a trading card game with all the licensed characters from their series. I was never a TCG/CCG player and this game was before my time in anime fandom. I was much more of a casual fan back them.
The one thing that sparked rarity and purchase of the game/title were the rare cards found only in VHS releases. I wonder if any of these cards “broke” the game in terms of gameplay? Also notice Pioneer’s new logo for anime “P-ANime” for Pioneer Anime. The logo only sparks a subconscious urge from me to go to the bathroom.
Up next is a staple in anime magazine for years and years and years. “Best Of” and “Fan Awards”
I like the variety of awards. “Most Lovable Mascot” “Character You’d Most Like to See in a Swimsuit” -both male and female choices, and “Character Most Deserving of a Hearty Slap” Not to mention a SPOILER!!! in “Most Heartending Death Scene” if you haven’t watched Sailor Moon.
Lots of Ranma 1/2 and Sailor Moon taking these awards.
In AnimeExpress, news of Ah! My Goddess OVA getting an English dub is the featured article I scanned. Coastal Carolina Studios is creating the English dub.
For every year, I try to scan the release schedule so you get a sense of what released when. June 1996 had the first volume of Slayers
Anime Nation had a feature on Ronin Warriors. That’s one series that didn’t have much of a life after broadcast. Also posted was the last appearance of the anime con Anime America and the second year of Anime Weekend Atlanta.
AD Vision has an ad promoting not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4, not 5, but 6 titles. ADV is The Count if you had to describe anime companies through Sesame Street characters.
The back cover has Manga’s ad for the VHS release of Ghost In The Shell. $19.95 dub $29.95 subtitled. Manga still the only company posting their website and taking advantage of this new medium.
Leave a Reply