Category: Japanese

With Nobody’s Boy Remi, He’s Not the Only One With Issues in MediaOCD/AnimEigo’s latest project

In addition to a review of Nobody’s Boy Remi, we got an interview with CEO Justin Sevakis.

Nobody's Boy Remi BlurayAvailable to order on Amazon USA

A lot of longtime fans are thankful for what Justin Sevakis is leading. In addition to re-releasing a bunch of old AnimEigo titles considered long out of print in new packaging, his video post-production company, MediaOCD, is offering works which haven’t seen North American home video release, like Nobody’s Boy Remi. This operation produces all the Blu-rays for Discotek Media, NIS America, and many more.

This title came out last week. Back in the day, as part of World Masterpiece Theatre on CBC’s French television channel, I viewed a curated selection in what English literature offered. Although I didn’t read the original by Hector Malot, the desire wasn’t there. But with other titles like Sherlock Hound to which I read, to know the differences was essential. In the cartoon, that added sense of whimsy drew me in.

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Aria’s 20th Anniversary Album is a Best Hits!

This year marks Aria’s 20th Anniversary, and this anime franchise has various projects planned for release, including a Best Hits, and we got the track listing!

ARIA The BEST 2005-2025ARIA’s is celebrating 20th glorious years, and this anime’s producers have more than a best hits album planned to acknowledge the fact. This 3-disc album will feature the best songs performed ever since this IP made its way to television and cinema!

This coming of age series focuses Akari Mizunashi as she trains as an apprentice gondolier (known as Undines). Along with Aika and Alice, they face various dangers on a terraformed planet now known as Aqua (formerly Mars). The manga written by Kozue Amano debuted in 2001, and since then, creators have regularly released new material.

From the Press Release:

The five main theme songs featured in the trilogy, ARIA the AVVENIRE, ARIA the CREPUSCOLO, and ARIA the BENEDIZIONE, have been recorded on albums by their respective artists before, but never on an ARIA album until now. The first disc will be a collection of 14 opening and ending themes from the anime, the second disc a compilation of 13 insert songs, and the third disc will feature an original collection of songs on piano by pianist and producer Mina Kubota.

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When Nobody’s Boy Remi Is Heading “Home” In The Warm Month of May!

When 19th-century life was harsh, what options were available? In Nobody’s Boy Remi, this French country boy learns what the true meaning of family is after getting sold off by his mean spirited father…

Nobody's Boy Remi Slipcover Box ArtBack in the 70s, I often tuned into CBC’s French channel to get my daily anime fix. They often featured films and series more often than the other channels, and two such works included Sherlock Hound and Nobody’s Boy Remi. As for The Mysterious Cities of Gold, that did not arrive until the early 80s, and together they defined a part of my childhood. ‘

Flash forward to the present, I’m thrilled to see that anime distributor AnimEigo and parent company MediaOCD have announced the home media Blu-ray release of Nobody’s Boy Remi. This series will become available for purchase on May 11th.

Before advances in technology reinvented the three-dimensional effect for modern day televisions, some production houses used a built-in illusion without having to change anything. The Pulfrich Effect (more information below) created the sense that objects appear closer than they are. This technique preserves the visual image, allowing viewers to see both flat and pronounced images with or without glasses.

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Celebrating Spring Equinox with Five Animated Films

The best thing about Spring Equinox is not the longer days, but the times spent with family and friends, and there’s a few favourite films I like to watch too.

Spring Equinox at the Movie TheatreAs Spring Equinox is officially in full bloom, just what I want to view is not your regular fare. My recommendations better reflect the season than any spiritual aspect; my top five favorite animated works include more than just current movies. I have short films on this list too.

And so I’m not spending the entire time indoors, what can be viewed can be done in an evening while the afternoon is spent hunting for eggs. Unfortunately, no bunnies are on this list. For part of this Easter Sunday, I’ll be enjoying:

To Spring (1936)

Very few tales acknowledge Spring Equinox as passionately as this classic produced by Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising, and directed by William Hanna before forming his own studio. It’s a simple tale where gnomes are helping the world transition to the new season. But challenges are in store for them….

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When Assassination Classroom is Making A Comeback in Japan, There’s A New Soundtrack Attached (not Attacked) To It!

Fans of the anime Assassination Classroom might want to check out the upgrade! As for whether Crunchyroll will also replace their vaults with this new broadcast, it’s all about the music here!

Assassination Classroom Manga CoverA Japanese television network is rerunning the anime series Assassination Classroom using new opening and closing songs. This wonky science fiction comedy manga series created by Yūsei Matsui has quite the following because it’s about saving Earth from destruction.

This series is about an alien octopus teaching tweens the finer points in what goes on in their galaxy and encouraging them to put a stop to his nefarious plans by any means necessary. Honestly, I think he looks more like Pumpkinhead Sam from Trick ‘r Treat, but I digress. While he doesn’t hide the fact he’s targeting their home world for destruction, they’ll have to halt his plans. On my first impression, this high school series may well be digging up ideas which predate Baby Assassins and include concepts from Nightmare on Elm Street on top.

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The Crunchyroll Game Vault Now Has 50 Exclusive Titles! And At the End of the Year, Manga Will Be Added Too!

For those folks who have not subscribed to this streaming service, the higher service tiers give folks access to the Crunchyroll Game Vault!

Crunchyroll Game VaultWhen the Crunchyroll brand focuses on something other than its streaming service, the mobile gaming division may remain relatively unknown. Only those who have joined at the highest service level (Mega or Ultimate Fan) will know the Crunchyroll Game Vault. And for those folks not up to date, this company will launch a digital manga service later this year!

And with 50 games to try out, it may be time to check out what they got. While I’m not expecting to find the elusive Wild Arms: Million Memories, hopefully some distributor will consider it!

From the Press Release:

“Since launching Crunchyroll Game Vault in November 2023, we worked diligently to build a library that is quickly reaching an estimated 500 hours of immersive gameplay hours. This, paired with more than 25,000 of anime available to stream now on Crunchyroll, allows for endless adventuring,” said Terry Li, Executive Vice President of Emerging Business, Crunchyroll & General Manager of Crunchyroll Games.

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