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The only necessary continuation to Blade Runner is BGC

"There's practically no one living 400m above or below the actual surface of the sea."

Don't forget these guys!
http://www.madman.com.au/wallpapers/sealab_2021_326_1680.jpg

Exactly the same thing happened to Madman's website when they had an online AU$10 DVDs for 10 Hours sale to celebrate their tenth anniversary. The website was completely inaccessible for those 10 hours, and led to a lot of irate anime fanboys. ;)

Upshot is, I went to see Steamboy late last year. It is visually spectacular, although I thought the plot was really disappointing. It's basically another "evil-creature/machine-stomps all over Tokyo", except it's not Tokyo it's 19thC London. Seemed a real shame that they went to so much trouble with the animation, and had a really nice premise, but let it all down with a poor story.

Well that or I've got a bit older and pickier now ;) Go see it anyway.

Buy it from Australia when Madman releases it here.

Madman does a superb job on their discs, at very reasonable prices. They're currently in the process of releasing 10 Studio Ghibli shows. The first four - Kiki, Laputa, Mononoke and Spirited Away - have been out for a couple of months now. Actually, Spirited Away was released about the same time it was released in the US, but it was re-released with the other three.

Buy it from Australia when Madman releases it here.

Madman does a superb job on their discs, at very reasonable prices. They're currently in the process of releasing 10 Studio Ghibli shows. The first four - Kiki, Laputa, Mononoke and Spirited Away - have been out for a couple of months now. Actually, Spirited Away was released about the same time it was released in the US, but it was re-released with the other three.

Madman December Newsletter

I don't know who's doing what where though - mastering, dubbing, subbing, etc - it may well be that the Madman releases will be sub-only (SBS-subtitled I would presume) if there isn't already a dub, or Madman may be getting the dubbing done in the US, or it may be part of the US deal ... I don't know.

"Prepare Yourself for the Biggest Announcement of the Century!

We are absolutely thrilled to announce the acquisition of a treasure trove of Studio Ghibli anime feature films.

After the success of the acclaimed Madman release of Spirited Away, Studio Ghibli has entrusted Madman with the DVD releases of 10 of their classic films including their newest feature - The Cat Returns.

Stay tuned and connected for updates and news on release dates and other details about this exciting announcement. In the meantime, make room on your shelves for all of these Ghibli Classics...

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
Laputa: The Castle in the Sky (1986)
My Neighbour Totoro (1988)
Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)
Only Yesterday (1991)
Porco Rosso (1992)
Pom Poko (1994)
Whisper of the Heart (1995)
My Neighbours the Yamadas (1999)
The Cat Returns (2002)

Studio Ghibli's animated features are world-renowned for their intricate stories, multi-faceted characters and fluid animation. The painstaking attention to detail is evident in every cell of their largely handcrafted anime features. Its founders - Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata - have long been celebrated in Japan as visionary directors and icons in the field of animation.

Madman Entertainment plan to release all ten Studio Ghibli titles over the year between April 2004 and May 2005. Theatrical screenings and a Ghibli film-festival touring select locations will showcase the collection. Takahata's GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES - release date 11 February - will also form part of Madman's Ghibli Collection.

We hope you are as thrilled and excited about this announcement as we are... Stay Tuned!"

Some of us keep odd hours. I do something even more absurd than you're describing - I buy television shows on DVD. It is convenient to be able to watch such things when it suits me, such as waiting for a compile job to finish *drums fingers*.

Still waiting for a seaQuest DSV box set though.

YLFI

Obviously, I can't speak for slashdotters as a whole, but I can give my experience.

When I was a child (mid-70s - 80s) I found that there were some cartoons that I really enjoyed, and some that I didn't.

Somewhat later (when Robotech came around) I discovered that nearly all the shows I had enjoyed originated in Japan - Kimba the White Lion; Astro Boy; Voltron (vehicles and lions); The Mysterious Cities of Gold; Star Blazers; Battle of the Planets; Ulysses ...

OTOH, the shows I disliked were universally from the US - Scooby Doo; Flintstones; Jetsons ...

As time went on I discovered that I *still* didn't like most US animation, but I did enjoy most Japanese animation I watched. There were some US shows I enjoyed (e.g. Simpsons) and some anime I detested (e.g. Debutante Detective School).

Eventually I worked out the major things I liked and disliked. I enjoy story- and character-driven shows. I dislike episodic shows with no connection between the episodes and no character development. Of slightly lesser importance is character design and the overall look of the show - I *like* most of the anime character designs (esp. Miyazaki and CLAMP designs) and anime shows tend to look better in general - more attention to background detail, etc. OTOH, I'm currently watching "The Soultaker" and I don't overly like the look ...

There is a *much* greater percentage of anime which is character- and plot-driven than US animation. The Simpsons is a character-driven show - most of the episodes don't have much to do with each other (though they often refer to previous events), but the characters are well-developed - they have real (caricatured) personalities. There are others, but they're few and far between (and of course, there are shows such as "King of the Hill" that I'll never watch because the ads just turn me off).

I just finished watching "Burn Up Excess" today. It's a show with ridiculous storylines, huge breasts and unrealistic hair colours. It's also a lot of fun, with an on-going storyline that develops over the series, and characters whose stories draw me in *despite* the huge bouncing breasts. Of course, it's not a patch on shows such as "The Irresponsible Captain Tylor" or "Crest of the Stars" or "Kiki's Delivery Service" to name a few excellent shows. It's a (mostly) lightweight bit of fun, and much higher quality than most of the crud I occasionally catch on Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon.

My personal collection is about 300 or so DVDs, and about 400 VHS (used to be more VHS, but I've managed to sell quite a few ...). All up I have about 200 complete series and movies. I tend to pick and choose my shows quite a bit (for example, I never got the El-Hazard TV series because everything I read said that it wasn't nearly as good as the OAVs) but I've got quite a few in there that I'll never watch again (fortunately, most of those are VHS). There are a number of shows though that I watch time and time again.

Fortunately, Madman is releasing lots of anime here in Australia now - importing was prohibitively expensive. Oh - and I have lots of manga as well - Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind is definitely my favourite manga. However, the US comics I've enjoyed over the years have also tended to have strong storylines and characters - I don't find *that* great a disparity although no US comic I've ever read has had the depth of "Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind".