Mouryou no Hako DVD & BD Box to be released on 21 Dec 2008

Although Mouryou no Hako only started airing this autumn, the DVD release has already been decided as it enjoys a strong following. Vap will release the first volume on 21 Dec 2008 which includes the first two episodes. Total run time for Vol 1 is 47 minutes. There will also be a special hako (box) which allows fans to store all 5 volumes of the DVD release. The first volume will be sold at a price of 3,150 yen (inclusive of tax). The release schedule is on a monthly basis for the next five months following Dec 2008.

In addition, the Blu-Ray Disc Box (BD Box) is scheduled to be released in April 2009.

Top 10 animes for week ending 19 Oct 08

1) Sazae-san (FujiTV) 19.7%

2) Chibi Maruko-chan (FujiTV) 13.8%

3) Crayon Shinchan (TV Asahi) 11.0%

4) Doraemon (TV Asahi) 9.7%

5) One Piece (FujiTV) 8.2%

6) Gegege no Kitaro (FujiTV) 7.3%

7) Yes! Puri Kyua 5 GoGo! (TV Asahi) 6.0%

8) Pocket Monster DP (TV Tokyo) 5.8%

9) NARUTO (TV Tokyo) 5.7%

10) Keroro Gunsou (TV Tokyo) 5.0%

[Monster] めざめるかいぶつ The Awakened Monster - Author Unknown

Title: めざめるかいぶつ The Awakened Monster
Author: Unknown
Japanese translation: Urasawa Naoki
English translation: Chiaki

There stood a huge rock blocking a cave. According to a legend, there was a monster sleeping in the cave. It was said that if the monster can be awakened, one can get anything in the world.

A young boy who lived in the village and led an unhappy life wanted to have everything in the world very badly. The boy went to an elder and asked how he could wake the monster. The elder replied, "In the middle of the night, say the name of the person who is most well-loved and see if you can wake the monster."

Coincidentally, there was a wedding going on in the village. People were singing and dancing happily. While watching this, the boy had an idea and said that he knew who were the most well-loved people. The boy went to the cave and shouted the names of the bridegroom and the bride. "Majenka!! Pepichek!!" However, the monster did not wake up.

In the village, there was a popular man with a lot of strength. The boy then thought, "I know who's the most well-loved person." The boy went to the cave and shouted the name of the the man. "Ijiku!!" However, the monster did not wake up.

There was a woman who boasted of the best vocals and charmed others with her nice voice. The boy then thought, "I know who's the most well-loved person in the world." He went to the cave again and shouted the woman's name. "Maidarenka!!" Again, the monster did not wake up.

There was an elderly couple who had been together for many years. They also had many children and grandchildren. The boy thought again, "I know who's the most well-loved person in the world." He went to the cave and shouted the elderly couple's names. "Bojenka!! Venosik!!" However, the monster did not wake up.

As the boy had seen many happy people, he started to feel as if he had gotten their happiness as well. He gradually forgot about going to the cave.

However, one day, he saw a woman crying at the borders of the village. The woman revealed that her child went missing suddenly. She revealed how much she had loved her child and even whispered her child's name to the boy. He was shocked upon hearing it and thought, "I know who's the most well-loved person in the world."

The boy rushed to the cave and thought to himself, "The lady's child's name is the same as mine. The name of the most well-loved person in the world is the same as mine."

The boy shouted his name at the cave. Subsequently, the rock slowly moved away. Upon seeing the monster, the boy was...

Rip rip, crush crush, crack crack, gulp.

The boy's name was...

Review of 20 Seiki Shounen Part 1 (20th Century Boys)

To begin with, here are a few points to take note:

1) As mentioned countless times, if you haven't watched this and do not wish to know the story, I suggest that you leave this till after watching the movie. Lots of spoilers around. Don't say I didn't remind you.

2) I have not read the manga. I do not know the storyline so there will be no comparison between the original and the movie.

3) If you are going to watch this movie soon, please stay till the end of the credits roll. I know the credits roll is terribly long (because of the number of people involved) BUT you will get to see something from Part 1 which gives an inkling of the focus in Part 2 AND the trailer for Part 2. Just stay in your seats till the end or you will never know what you are missing.

Storyline:

First of all, the story begins in 1969 which was the year when Man first landed on the moon and the year just before the Osaka Expo. A group of primary school students Kenji, Occho, Maruo, Yoshitsune, Mon-chan, Donkey, Yukiji and Fukube create a secret base to gather and writes the story, "Yogen no Sho (Book of Prophecy). The story is about an evil organization which plans to take over and destroy the world but 9 brave warriors combine forces to prevent that ambition.

1997, Kenji has now given up the idea of being a rock singer and operates a convenience store while looking after his missing elder sister, Kiriko's baby daughter, Kanna. However, the sudden disappearances of his regular customer's family and Donkey's death marks the end of his peaceful life so far. He comes to know that a secret organization led by a person by the name of "Tomodachi (Friend)" is behind this series of events and is even more shocked to find out that the events are exactly what he and his childhood friends had written in Yogen no Sho. Before he can do anything to stop Tomodachi, he is framed by the organization for being a terroist and has to be on the run. He also has to protect Kanna who is supposedly Tomodachi's daughter.

On 31 Dec 2000, Kenji and his friends get together to stop Tomodachi's plans to launch an attack on Tokyo and the world by using bio-weapons...

And my thoughts:

Well, in the beginning, I didn't understand why the story started in the prison with Kadota (Moriyama Mirai) who was arrested for publishing his manga on the Internet. Seems like the story he drew was similar to what was in Yogen no Sho. He was relating his plight to the prisoner locked up in the opposite cell who is Occho! This was only apparent during the final moments of this movie when the credits roll was over. As such, my guess is that Occho was nabbed by the police after Kenji succeeded in blowing up the robot which spread the virus but from the Part 2 trailer, the rest of the group were safe.

As the story kept jumping between 1997 and 1969, it was difficult to keep track of the characters since there were so many of them. Other than the very obvious ones like Kenji, Yukiji and Donkey, I couldn't remember most of their childhood faces. I just found it amazing that they managed to make the young Donkey and the adult Donkey look almost the same! Thus, for people who have never read the manga, it can be hard trying to link the childhood faces to the adult versions and remembering all those who are involved in one way or another.

Nevertheless, I liked the idea of seeing so many good actors gathered together. It was especially refreshing to see Tokiwa Takako again since she has not been acting in dramas for a long time. Toyokawa Etsushi took too long to appear but the moment he was shown on screen, that aura is definitely unmistakable. I was just thinking, doesn't Occho feel hot wearing that long coat in Bangkok?! ^__^ Karasawa Toshiaki was also funny at times and brought much relief to the fast-moving storyline. And Sano Shiro playing the twin bullies...kudos to the casting director who managed to find such spitting images of the childhood version.

With regards to the storyline, it is definitely very fast-paced. For people who have not read the manga, I think it can be rather difficult to follow the story as it zips through different periods back and fro. I've never been too keen on science fiction stories so that was a main reason why I did not buy the manga although I had become keen on Urasawa Naoki's works after watching Monster. Then again, based on what I've read in Monster, Urasawa is very detailed when it comes to every development. I wonder if the movie did rush through things because it appears as if they covered a lot of material in just 142 minutes.

There is a suspense element to this story i.e. the biggest mystery being who is Tomodachi. Pertaining to this, I think the hairstyle is somewhat a give-away clue. I don't know how the manga handled this but from the way it seems, Fukube is a suspicious character. Something about his eyes during the classmate reunion session and his hairstyle resembling Tomodachi's behind a mask just makes him a likely choice. And the way he "died" just gives more room for imagination. However, I am doubting that Urasawa will give away the answer so easily so that hairstyle could be a trick after all. From the way how Kenji looked at the face of Tomodachi at the end of the story, I am guessing that Tomodachi is either someone who has supposedly died or someone who is from his team. I hope that the final answer is logical i.e. don't give us a character who has not even been featured because there is no way anyone could have arrived at the answer.

One thing which I couldn't really understand is why Kenji seems to have clean-forgotten about Yogen no Sho right in the beginning. From the flashbacks, it seemed like Kenji was the one who wrote and drew the pictures in Yogen no Sho. It is puzzling as to why he had no impression of what he did.

Another big mystery is the fact that Kenji and Co. wrote in Yogen no Sho that there were 9 warriors. However, after eliminating Donkey who is supposedly dead, there are only 7 of them. I remember Yoshitsune saying that there was a guy who always wanted to join their gang but that guy always wore a mask and seemed to be particularly interested in Kenji. Could he have felt left-out by the group and hatched this plan to take revenge?

I'm somewhat glad that I have not read the manga yet because this doesn't kill the excitement like what happened during Death Note when I was very concerned about the differences between the original and the adaptation. Maybe the manga fans would have a different take on the storyline. It's just quite painful to wait for the second series since there's a big cliffhanger at the end of Part 1. Assuming that it takes 2months for the movie to come to Singapore, the earliest we can see this would be in March 09!

The focus on Part 2 seems to be shifting to Kanna who is now grown-up. It still remains to be seen why Kanna is the chosen one and her mother Kiriko should provide more answers. As of 2015, a new Yogen no Sho will be at work. Thus, the gang will probably have no prior knowledge of what's going to happen since they did not even finish Yogen no Sho in the first place.

And my ratings for this movie...
Story: 9 out of 10 (too fast at times but it is an engaging piece of work)
Acting: 9 out of 10 (too many characters around, some of the actors don't get enough airtime so there is limited understanding of the characters. however, the standard of acting is good)
Theme song: 6 out of 10 (the intro is catchy BUT i don't really like the song as a whole)
Visual effects / Scenery: 8 out of 10 (CG prowess at work, the final explosion scene was magnificent. I think besides the pay for the huge army of actors and extras, most of the money spent on this movie must have been for CG.)
Teamwork / Chemistry: 7 out of 10 (the core group blended pretty well together but they could have got together much earlier to show the strong friendship they had)

Total: 39 out of 50

Introduction to 20 Seiki Shounen Part 1 (20th Century Boys)

Title: 20th Century Boys Part 1
Official site: here
Original manga / Scriptwriter: Urasawa Naoki
Director: Tsutsumi Yukihiko
Theme song: 20th Century Boy by T.REX





Introduction:

"20 seiki shounen" (20th Century Boys) was serialized from 1999 to 2007 by Urasawa Naoki who had also created other popular titles like YAWARA and MONSTER. To date, it has sold more than 20 million copies. Besides Japan, this manga is also published in 12 countries in translated format i.e. the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand. It has also won the Enclare International Manga Festival's Best Serialized Manga award which was held in France.

As this story involves scenes from around the world and spans about 50 years, the movie adaptation will be split into three instalments. It had been said that this manga cannot be made into a live adaptation due to the scale of production but this has become the first-ever Japanese movie which has 3 parts. The total production expenses come up to about 6 billion yen and location shooting was done in New York, London, Paris, Beijing and Bangkok. The first instalment is shown from summer 2008 while the second and third are anticipated to be screened in 2009 New Year and 2009 Autumn.

Due to the fact that there are many characters in this story, the movie series will boast of a star-studded cast comprising of at least 300 actors and actresses. At the moment, the 7 main characters are Karasawa Toshiaki (Kenji), Toyokawa Etsushi (Occho), Tokiwa Takako (Yukiji), Kagawa Teruyuki (Yoshitsune), Ishizuka Hidehiko(Maruo), Sasaki Kuranosuke (Fukube) and Ukaji Takashi (Mon-chan). As for the rest of the lineup especially for the 2nd and 3rd instalment, announcements will be made gradually.

As you can see from the cast relation chart, this is a huge and complicated web of relationships. Just to name some of those who will also be appearing in the 1st instalment: Miyasago Hiroyuki, Namase Katsuhisa, Kohinata Fumio, Ishibashi Renji, Kuroki Hitomi, Fujii Takashi, Yamada Hanako, ARATA, Katase Nana, Ikewaki Chizuru, Fujii Fumiya, Oriental Radio, Oikawa Mitsuhiro, Takenaka Naoto, Moriyama Mirai, Sano Shiro, Mine Ryuta etc. This movie looks as if it is going to get almost everyone in the industry involved by the time it finishes its trilogy. It will be good news for the movie-goers since there's a lot of stars to see at one go but as to whether hardcore fans will like the match-up, that's a different story. I for one, have not read the manga yet (the Kinokuniya in Singapore seems to be out of stock) so I may just read the manga after the trilogy ends. It appears as if the movie will have a slightly different ending from the manga.

[Monster] へいわのかみさま (The God of Peace) - Klaus Poppe

Original title: Buh Miru
Japanese title: へいわのかみさま
English title: The God of Peace
Author: Klaus Poppe
Japanese translation: Urasawa Naoki
English translation: Chiaki

The God of Peace was very busy. He had to blow his trumpet all day long and didn't have time to look into the mirror.

The God of Peace's trumpet brought happiness to everyone. He did not have any time to look into the mirror and poured amazing water to the land. The water created lush mountains, made farming land fertile and grew flowers in the process.

The God of Peace was very busy. He did not have time to look into the mirror and gave names to everyone.

"Your name is Otto. Your name is Hans. Your name is Tomas."

"And your name is Johan."

Johan gave his hat to the God of Peace as an expression of thanks for giving him a name.

The God of Peace was very happy and wanted to see how he looked with the hat. That was when he first looked at himself in the mirror.

However, the reflection in the mirror was that of the devil.

The devil said, "You are me. And I am you."

The God of Peace thought, "What should I do? If this devil exists, everyone will not be able to live happily. What should I do? What should I do?"

The troubled God of Peace decided to...

(Story ended at this juncture with half a page torn. I believe this was deliberate by the publishers where the ending was not meant to be included in the Monster picture book.}

[Monster] めのおおきなひとと くちのおおきなひと (The man with the big eyes and the man with the big mouth) - Jakub Faroubek

Original title: Velkooky, Velkousty
Japanese title: めのおおきなひとと　くちのおおきなひと
English title: The man with the big eyes and the man with the big mouth
Author: Jakub Faroubek
Japanese translation: Urasawa Naoki
English translation: Chiaki

The devil said, "It's a deal. Let's make a deal."

Man with the big eyes: "No, I definitely won't agree to this."
Man with the big mouth: "Fine. Let's make a deal."

In a flash, the garden belonging to the man with the big mouth transformed to one filled with beautiful flowers.

On the other hand, the man with the big eyes became very poor and he had to bear with the gnawing hunger pangs.

The man with the big mouth was very happy every day. As the flowers in his garden bore fruit, he could eat to his heart's content. However, the man with the big mouth failed to realize something.

In a short time, the garden's flowers began to wilt. It was too late when the man with the big mouth realized it.

In the garden where flowers couldn't be seen again, the man with the big mouth burst to tears and murmured this as he felt hunger pangs,

"It would have been good if I never made a deal with the devil."

As for the man with the big eyes, he was on the verge of dying due to hunger. As he wept, he said,

"I should have made the deal with the devil."

"It's a deal. Let's make a deal." So said the devil.

Top 10 animes for week ending 12 Oct 08

1) Sazae-san (FujiTV) 17.9%

2) Chibi Maruko-chan (FujiTV) 13.6%

3) One Piece (FujiTV) 6.5%

4) Gegege no Kitaro (FujiTV) 6.3%

5) Stitch SP (TV Tokyo) 5.5%

6) Nodame Cantabile Paris-hen (FujiTV) 4.9%

7) Ashitanchi (TV Asahi) / Yes Puri Kyua 5 GoGo! (TV Asahi) 4.5%

9) Kidou Senshi Gundam (TBS) 4.4%

10) Gintama (TV Tokyo) / Oha Colosseum (TV Tokyo) 3.9%

Top 20 Best-selling Manga in Sep 08 from Manga Zenkan

1) 20 Seiki Shounen

2) SLAM DUNK

3) SLAM DUNK (New complete version)

4) Hana no Keiji

5) ONE PIECE

6) Cross

7) Dragonball

8) Detroit Metal City

9) Kinniku-man

10) Kami no Shizuku

11) Hokuto no Ken

12) NARUTO

13) Gintama

14) ROOKIES

15) COBRA

16) Nodame Cantabile

17) Sei Oniisan

18) Soul Eater

19) Itazura Na Kiss

20) MONSTER

For the complete ranking, please go here.

[Monster] なまえのないかいぶつ The Nameless Monster

In conjunction with the release of the renewed manga versions of "Monster", the picture book stories which appeared within Monster have been released in the form of a separate volume. I will be translating the stories which are written in Japanese but were first translated from the German/Czech versions by Urasawa Naoki. Please do not post the English translations to other sites or forums without my knowledge. Thank you.




To begin with, here's the first story, The Nameless Monster:

Title: The Nameless Monster
Author: Emil Sebe
Japanese Translation: Urasawa Naoki
English Translation: Chiaki

Long long ago, at some place, there was a nameless monster. The monster wanted a name desperately. As such, the monster went on a trip to find a name. However, as the world was vast and wide, it split into two and continued its journey. One went to the East while the other went to the West.

The monster which went to the East arrived at a village.
Monster: "Uncle Blacksmith, could you please give me your name?"
Blacksmith: "How can I even give you my name? That's impossible."
Monster: "If you give me your name, I will enter your body and give you strength."
Blacksmith: "Are you sure about it? If you can give me strength, I can give you my name."
Upon hearing this, the monster entered the blacksmith's body.

The monster became Otto the blacksmith. Otto became the strongest man in the village. However, one day...
"Look at me, look at me, the monster in me has grown so big."
Rip rip, crush crush, crack crack, gulp.
The hungry monster had eaten Otto from the inside. Thus, the monster became nameless once again.

Even after entering the cobbler Han's body...
Rip rip, crush crush, crack crack, gulp.
The monster became nameless again.

Even after entering the hunter Tomas's body...
Rip rip, crush crush, crack crack, gulp.
The monster became nameless again.

The monster then went to the castle to look for a beautiful name.
Monster: "If you give me your name, I will make you strong."
Prince: "If you cure my illness and make me strong, I will give my name to you."

The monster entered the prince's body and he became healthy soon after. The King was very happy.
"The prince has regained his health, the prince has regained his health."

The monster liked the prince's name and his lifestyle. Even though it was hungry, it suppressed its feelings. Every day, although it was hungry, it still tolerated the gnawing hunger pangs.

However, as it was too hungry...
"Look at me, look at me, the monster in me has grown so big."

The prince ate up the king and his followers. He ate up everyone.
Rip rip, crush crush, crack crack, gulp.

One day, the prince met the monster which went to the west.
"I've got a name. It is a very beautiful name."
The monster which went to the west said this:
"I don't need a name. Even without a name, I am happy. That's because we are monsters without a name."
The prince ate up the monster which went to the west.

After going through so much to get a name, there was nobody left to call his name.

Johan. Even though this is a beautiful name.

Top 10 animes for week ending 5 Oct 08

1) Sazae-san (FujiTV) - 18.6%

2) Chibi Maruko-chan (FujiTV) - 13.0%

3) One Piece (FujiTV) - 8.2%

4) Gegege no Kitaro (FujiTV) - 7.2%

5) Pocket Monster DP Special (TV Tokyo) - 7.2%

6) Yes! Puri Kyua 5 GoGo! (TV Asahi) - 5.8%

7) Ashitanchi (TV Asahi) - 5.7%

8) NARUTO SP (TV Tokyo) - 5.3%

9) Keroro Gunsou (TV Tokyo) - 4.9%

10) Kidou Senshi Gundam OO (TBS) - 4.5%

D.Gray-man Complete Best

Title: D.Gray-man Complete Best
Catalog number: SVWC-7576
Distributor: Sony Music Entertainment
Specifications: CD + DVD (Limited edition only)
Release date: 24 September 2008
Price: 3990 yen (inclusive of tax)
Release Date: 2008/09/24

This greatest hits collection contains all 12 theme songs from the series. The bonus DVD features footage of the OP and ED without the credits plus a 40-page booklet of illustrations.

Top 10 animes for week ending 28 Sep 08

1) Sazae-san (FujiTV) 17.4%

2) Chibi Maruko-chan (FujiTV) 12.7%

3) Crayon Shin-chan Ouen Fure fure! Oshiri mo Fure fure SP (TV Asahi) 10.6%

4) One Piece (FujiTV) 7.3%

5) Pocket Monster DP (TV Tokyo) 6.9%

6) Gegege no Kitaro (FujiTV) 6.7%

7) Yes! Puri Kyua 5 GoGo! (TV Asahi) 5.5%

8) NARUTO Shibbuden (TV Tokyo) 5.2%

9) Anime Major (NHK Education) 4.8%

10) Gintama (TV Tokyo) 4.3%

Nodame Cantabile Paris Edition CD

To mark the broadcast of "Nodame Cantabile Paris-hen" in October, there will be a 2-CD collection of the music pieces featured in the Paris arc. One CD will be the Chiaki version which comprises of 7 orchestra pieces while the other CD is the Nodame version which features piano solos, chamber music and vocal music. The set will be sold at 3675 yen by EPIC RECORDS from 15 October 08.

The Nodame Cantabile music series have been very popular with the title "Nodame Orchestra LIVE!" released in Nov 2006 having the highest sales figure of 400,000 copies. This is a very rare feat for classical music CDs. In addition, the title, "Nodame Special BEST!" was the No.1 best-selling classical music CD in the first half of 2008.

Top 20 manga series sold via Manga Zenkan for 1st half of 2008

Manga Zenkan is an online merchant whose selling point is the sale of completed manga series as a set via the Internet. The following ranking is the top 20 titles sold via its website in the 1st half of 2008 (1 Jan to 30 Jun). Of the customers who used this site, 52.4% are male and 47.6% are female.

1) Rookies (24 volumes)
2) Cross (26 volumes)
3) One Piece (50 volumes - unfinished)
4) Nodame Cantabile (20 volumes - unfinished)
5) Hana no Keiji (15 volumes - new edition)
6) Slam Dunk (14 volumes - collection version)
7) Rookies (14 volumes - collection version)
8) Worst (20 volumes - unfinished)
9) Hana no Keiji (10 volumes - collection version)
10) Dragon Ball (42 volumes - new edition)
11) 20 seiki shounen (22 volumes + 21 seiki shounen Part 1 and 2)
12) Naruto (42 volumes - unfinished)
13) Kin-niku man (18 volumes - collection version)
14) Jojo no Kimyou na Bouken (63 volumes)
15) Tobaku Hakkairoku Kaiji (13 volumes)
16) Tobaku Mokushiroku Kaiji (13 volumes)
17) Death Note (12 volumes)
18) MAJOR (67 volumes)
19) Kaze no tani no Naushika (7 volumes)
20) Rosario to Vampire (10 volumes - unfinished)

Release info for OP of Mouryou no Hako - Lost in Blue by Nightmare

Title: Lost in Blue
Artiste: Nightmare
Catalog number: VPCC-82624
Distributor: VAP
Release date: 17 September 08
Price: 1500 yen

Comes in limited and regular edition. Limited edition type A includes bonus DVD with the music video for "Lost in Blue" and one anime-print trading card.