Akemi's Anime World

2003 What's New

Dec 30, 2003

Down side of having a one-man editorial team: when he can't finish the big update before he leaves for Japan, it doesn't happen until he gets back. Sorry to both our readers and all the writers who've submitted work that will be published later in January, but until then, have a Happy New Year!

Dec 25, 2003

Merry Christmas! A start to kick off a holiday slew of reviews before the AAW editorial staff (all one of him) makes its annual pilgrimage to Japan: From Animagess, both a short review of Robot Carnival and, what you've all been waiting for, some detailed new Anime Style Drawing Lessons! Lost more to come shortly.

Nov 18, 2003

Finally getting rolling again. To start with, an official review of the romance Kanon, by Arcane. To go with that, the first round of unofficial reviews: From Animonster: Big O II, Crest of the Stars, and Shaman King. Also, an alternate take on Berserk from Chainclaw, this one a vicious pan in contrast to the other glowing review.

That's just getting warmed up; there are unofficial reviews of Haibane Renmei and Robot Carnival on the way very shortly, a quick take from Arcane, several full reviews from Makosuke, and something that people have been clamoring for for years. You guessed it... more how to draw lessons! All coming to this very site, very soon.

Nov 12, 2003

Our honest apologies for the recent dearth of new stuff (and to the people who have submitted new stuff that hasn't bee posted yet). After a couple of trips and a major computer upgrade, we're just about ready to get rolling again--look for lots of good stuff coming very soon.

Oct 13, 2003

Two new official reviews of releases by a very new US company, Hirameki International: the cheesy Idol Fighter Su-Chi-Pai, and the solid kids' series Soar High! Isami.

Oct 01, 2003

Sorry, missed a couple of weeks of updates in there. We'll make it up.

First, from Animonster, new reviews of several popular series: Digimon, split into the first and second halves of the show, similar coverage of Zoids (season 1 and season 2), Medabots, and the classic Gundam 0079.

Also new are second opinion reader reviews of Hellsing (by Zile), Rurouni Kenshin: Reflection (by Brere Marer), and a small 2nd opinion of Rurouni Kenshin: The Rememberance (by jubei) just for the heck of it.

I apologize for the lack of official reviews in this update, but I'll make up for it very shortly: Coming are the promised review of Strange Dawn, as well as Vision of Escaflowne (TV and Movie), KO Beast, a quick look at Brigadoon, and a first look at the new series Idol Fighter Su-Chi-Pai and Soar High! Isami. There's also one more review coming from Animonster.

Sep 07, 2003

Ok, slowly catching up (but still way behind--again, sorry). First, a lengthy official review by Legion of Orphen. Plus, for fans, the next Japanese lesson is now up: Lesson 3-2, on Adjectives.

On the reader review front, we finally have Animonster's moderate review of Dragon Ball and glowing praise for FLCL. Also new is a review of Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death and Rebirth by the new reader reviewer Brian the Evil Clown. Finally for today is a 2nd Reader Opinion of Noir, by Jade (still trying to work out formatting for 2nd opinions, since these are the first we've gotten, so sorry if anything is odd).

Next on the schedule are two 2nd opinions of Ruroni Kenshin on the way, an official review of Strange Dawn, and several in-depth reader reviews of younger-audience-oriented series from Animonster.

Aug 27, 2003

Apologies to the folks who've submitted reviews recently (particularly Animonster)--it's slow, but I'm working on getting everything posted. That said, today we've got a glowing, and very long reader review of Record of Lodoss War: Chronicles of the Heroic Knight from Chainclaw, who's about to spend a long time away from the Net. We wish him well.

Aug 24, 2003

In the process of posting a big backlog of new reviews, but just one to whet your appitite: Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, by Gregory Schwab.

I'd also like to take a minute to make an honest apology for the rather messy state of affairs around the site right now--hard to use indexes, half-and-half formatting, some ugly leftover design, etc. It's a side effect of the glacial transition from old to new, but once that's finished, I'll get everything else cleaned up and easier to use. Bear with us.

Aug 13, 2003

New for today is a positively huge review of a masterful classic series, Heidi, Girl of the Alps. The series is unfortunately unavailable in English at this point, which some company will hopefully fix, but in the mean time there's also a fansub in the making.

Aug 09, 2003

Almost caught up: Animonster on Big O (he liked it a lot), The Animatrix (not much good to say), and an unkind look at Soul Taker. A formatting issue with series sections is causing a bit of delay on Animonster's Dragonball review, but it's coming.

Aug 04, 2003

Catching up: a solid review of Ah! My Goddess: The Movie, by The M Man, a review of the spectacular one-man production Voices of a Distant Star, by Brere Marer (he beat me to that one, though I'll eventually write my own take on it), and two of the coming 6 (count 'em six) traditionally lengthy and unequivocal reviews by Animonster: A brutal shot at Gatekeepers 21 and a very positive take on Cyborg 009. Soon (hopefully late today) will be more from Animonster on The Animatrix, The Big O, Soultaker, and the ever-popular Dragonball.

Still not satisfied? Then I'll kick an extremely lengthy review of Street Fighter Alpha: The Movie I've been stuck on. An equally long review of Heidi, Girl of the Alps will follow relatively soon, along with the next installment of the Japanese lessons.

Jul 27, 2003

Just when we were starting to settle into a once-a-week update schedule, I get struck with an arm problem that prevents me from typing. Oh well, we're back on track now: A small update today consisting of a review of the kid's show Monster Rancher, by Brere Marer, and a fix for the fact that there were no links to the reader review submission page after I changed the layout. They'll be a whole passel of reviews from Animonster, as well as a few other things, coming soon.

Jul 12, 2003

Two extensive new reader reviews today: Rurouni Kenshin: Reflection (the 2nd OAV series), by Jeremy Barnes, and Mahoromatic, by Tejj Sarkin.

Jul 05, 2003

Animonster seems to be on a major roll; three more long reviews from him today: an extremely positive opinion of A Little Snow Faerie Sugar, some praise for the children's show Hamtaro, and a cold reception for the nostalgia-based Kikaider.

As a side note, we're slowly picking through the older reviews at a rate of about one per day, updating them to the new format as well as adding as much additional information as possible and touching up the actual reviews (quite a bit, in some cases).

Jun 29, 2003

New today from Animonster are reviews of the popular series Noir and .Hack//Sign, as well as a vicious pan of Beyblade.

We also have the first review from Liam Knight, of the still-in-fansubs series Naruto.

And, you've probably noticed a significant change in the site menu, and a massive change in the way stuff is organized. I'm still working out the kinks (the switch is a bit premature, but I wanted to go ahead and get those reviews out there), but I'll go over the new features soon.

Jun 20, 2003

The reader reviews just keep coming. Today are two from a new reviewer, KaptainSarcasm: Escaflowne: The Movie and Martian Successor Nadesico.

Jun 16, 2003

A bit ahead of schedule with this update, another review from Corrupt Phantasy, of Hellsing--they just keep coming. Also new is a slight update to the looks of the review pages, hopefully making it more attractive (not quite a final state, though). Oh, and on our updated reviews we're going to start adding Japanese text for the title, when available--you'll need a Japanese text-equipped computer to view it, though (if you're on Windows, you should be able to download and install a Japanese support package for free; MacOS X includes support automatically. Then again, if you can read Japanese, you probably already knew that.).

Jun 13, 2003

Already another review from Mike Yeh, this time of the ever-popular Rurouni Kenshin TV Series. Next up will be an official review of Street Fighter Alpha, and at least two minorly cool new features--I'll bet you just can't wait.

Jun 12, 2003

As promised, today comes a new official review of Space Travelers, an extensive review of Saber Marionette J to X from Corrupt Phantasy, as well as a review of Kiddy Grade from Mike Yeh. And, at long last, the much-requested continuation of the Japanese Lessons, Lesson 3 Part 1.

Today also brings the first experiments with a format adjustment around the site; not a major redesign, but a slightly fancier and cleaner presentation. Both of those reader reviews sport the first draft of a new, much more extensive reader review format (pretty much the same as the official reviews, now). The reader review submission form has also been spiffed-up, so if you're into that, you can now input just about all the information that the official reviews have (it's a big form now, but don't panic--everything new is optional, for the dedicated). There are minor adjustments elsewhere, which will spread to the rest of the site eventually, with some additional tweaks.

Incidentally, for those wondering, our new design will sport fully HTML4.01 compliant code, but is being tested to be useable in everything from WebTV to Lynx--if you see a significant problem on one of the new pages, please let us know.

Last of all, since a review just went up, I'll point out that Bandai is going to release a Saber Marionette J - Ultimate Collection DVD Set special edition signed by the co-creator/character designer in August, which will include all of J to X. See the new bargain section above for one place to buy it.

Jun 02, 2003

A new official review of the light comedy My Dear Marie, and an extensive new reader review by a new reader reviewer, of Fruits Basket. Coming next is that Japanese lesson, as well as a new review by Corrupt Phantasy of Saber Marionette J to X and an official review of Space Travelers.

Completely unrelated note: If you're in the market for a bit of anime and want to give AAW a funding hand in the process, I've got a few used tapes and DVDs for sale on eBay.

May 29, 2003

An unfortunate delay, but a brief update for today; an extensive review of the mecha-shooter Zone of the Enders (the original), for PS2, as well as a quickie 2nd opinion of Phantom Quest Corp. Coming up very shortly will be a reader review of Fruits Basket, a continuation of the Japanese lessons (the response has been very positive), and several other reviews--be there, or be square.

May 19, 2003

Up for today are some long-delayed reader reviews from Animonster, an extensive look at Yuu Yuu Hakusho, an unflattering take on Betterman, and a brutal but amusing review of Reign. Also a short review of the ancient ADV release The Girl From Phantasia, from Chainclaw. Look for a Zone of the Enders game review from Arcane and a bit more in a day or two.

May 15, 2003

We have several new reader reviews on the way in a day or two, delayed on account of trying to get the new format worked out. Sorry Animonster! Also a new Japanese lesson on the way very shortly. In the mean time, enjoy the new logo.

May 06, 2003

We live! The various projects underway have delayed much else going on, but at least we've got a couple more official reviews up today: Spriggan and Twin Signal.

If you take a look at one of them, you'll notice the 2nd draft of a potential new (and hopefully much more useful) review format. Don't worry--all the info from before is still there, and then some. It's just better organized, and there's now a quick look page to go with each, to give you a brief rundown if you don't want to wade through a full review. If you've got any comments or questions, please feel free to drop us a line--better to get it right the first time, after all, and we do appreciate input of all sorts.

More new stuff will follow relatively shortly.

Mar 13, 2003

I'm still not doing so well at writing anything myself, but fortunately other people are--we've got six new reader reviews today. To begin with, three series that're making the rounds on TV, from Animonster: Inuyasha, Yu-Gi-Oh, and the 2nd Lupin 3rd TV Series.

Then, Corrupt Phantasy has cooked up a couple of reviews to cover part of the Saber Marionette series: Saber Marionette J, and Saber Marionette J Again.

And last, but of course not least (has the last ever been least?), Ashtray has a review of the currently fansub-only title Read or Die.

Mar 05, 2003

No, we're not dead. Not at all.

In fact, the recent dearth of updates is because I've been (sort of) hard at work on a number of neat new things for AAW. Unfortunately, it'll be a while yet before I have anything to show for my efforts.

Updates have been further delayed by a series of illnesses (relatively minor ones) and extreme work-related business of your humble and frazzled one-man editorial staff. Still, there was supposed to be a bit of newness this week, except that I've been laid low by a virus so vicious that even sitting in front of a keyboard is an unplesant experience. When health returns, so will regular updates--look for a review of Spriggan at least.

And just so this isn't pure whining, if you were about to buy some Bandai DVDs and didn't already know about the sale, RightStuf will knock 33% off retail with the cupon code "blooming" for the next couple of days. Not too shabby.

Jan 25, 2003

Another delay, but that's because there are a lot of interesting things in the works (and I've been very sick). New for today is Arcane's long review of Spirited Away. This review also marks the introduction of a new format feature, a review subsection for notes that spoil too much of the plot to be in the main review--check out his review to see what it looks like.

Also new since the last update (though both have been up for a bit) is an essay on exactly what anime means (or should, according to me) now, and a simple search engine to quickly see if we have a review of the title you're looking for--check out the reviews index to see it in action.

Now the teaser: That little search is the first step in some relatively significant additions and touch-ups that AAW will be sporting in 2003. What point in 2003, I have no idea, and exactly what will be spiffed up, I can't say for sure (because I'm not entirely sure myself), but interesting things will happen eventually. And don't worry--the reviews will keep coming, as detailed as ever.