Father Geek here along with Scott Green wishing all of you a safe and wonderful New Year. Happy 2002! Annnnnnd what better way to kick it off than to jump right into this week's fun, fact filled edition of The AICN Anime Report...

Anime Spotlight: Princess Nine ("First Inning" & "Double Header")

Released By ADV Films

Ryo Hayakawa is the daughter of a championship pitcher who died at a young age. She has inherited her father's fast ball, and pitches for the local sandlot team. After graduating middle school she had planned to help her mother in the bar she runs.

Keiko Himuro is the chairwoman of a large corporation, and president of the prestigious Kisaragi Women's Senior High School. Despite the misgivings of the rest of the school board, her plan is to form a girl's baseball team capable of competing against boys' teams and eventually winning the championship. Ryo is the foundation of her plans to build the team.

The first two volumes of Princess Nine are primarily dedicated to gathering the team's nine members. The team is made the baseball series or anime regulars, and a few more unique entries: Chairwoman Himuro's princess like daughter Izumi who is a tennis star, a country hick, a delinquent with a troubled background, a bookworm who disguises herself from her father (the principal) who objects to the team, an energetic girl with the huge mouth, a girl who seems to be shell shocked, an enormous but shy catcher, a tanned energetic girl who hopes to use baseball as a springboard to stardom, and a bubbly manager who knows about baseball through comics. The coach is a scruffy alcoholic.

The characters are charming in the way anime makes people you would hate to have to deal with in your life fun to watch. The delinquent girl is loud, brash, and insulting. The shell shocked/robotic girl has a small stick figure tied to her belt. When asked about it, she responds its an alien from light years away, who is her best friend. The star wanna-be is used sparingly enough that her complete incompetence, and fear for her face has not become annoying. Anime always does a good job with the shiftless alcohol abuser who typically doesn't even bother opening their eyes extremely fun to watch.

At the end of the second volume, after the team has been gathered, the series shows a bit of an edge. The advertisements of the series are a picture of Ryo cover in dirt, smiling, but with tears streaming from her eyes. This is the side of the series seen in these episodes. There is a history between Ryo's mother and Chairwoman Himuro, and possibly the coach, that has been left ambiguous. Izumi's anger with he mother feeds on this and leads to a show down with Ryo. Some circumstances differ between the English dub, and subtitle scripts. In the dub Izumi is more openly hostile to Ryo earlier rather than just brushing her off, and in the dub Izumi's father is distant from her mother rather than being dead. The two make a bet, if Izumi can make it to first base off a pitch from Ryo, Ryo will have to leave the school, and the team will be disbanded.

The shown down is compelling to watch. The two train until they are dirty, bruised and bleeding. The confrontation demonstrates the merciless potential of the game.

The series is sentimental without being tacky, sufficiently well told as to be enjoyable for people who might not inclined to like a story of a girl's baseball team. It works because its simple, high energy, and full of likable characters.

Princess Nine is ADV Film's experimental excursion into shoujo (girl's anime). At $19.98 for five episodes on the first disc, and four on the second, its hard to go wrong with the series, especially since it a series that's easy to watch it large blocks.

Anime Spotlight: GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka Volume 1

Released by (TOKYO POP)

Onizuka is the last person you'd expect to become a teacher. His hair is dyed blonde, he has multiple ear piercings. His resume includes being a the former leader of biker gang, a second degree black belt in karate, and being a general leach on society for the six years he's been in Tokyo. Actually it includes lines like "can take three people at once". Despite his colorful background, and often rather literal problem solving methods (if there is a wall between people he grabs an over sized hammer and literally breaks it down), he eventually finds a position teaching at a prestigious high school. Because his lucks runs hot and cold, he also is assigned the school's worst class, he is living in a storage closet, and he earned the enmity of the vice principal after stomping on him for making untoward advances on a woman in the subway, then destroying his car while foiling a suicide attempt.

GTO is fun, low brow humor, from Onizuka's odd life style, lusting after girls, bathing in the school sink, or the student pranks such as superimposing his face over gay porn or S&M, and posting the pictures all over the school. When a group of students attempt to black mail him with compromising pictures with a young girl his response is to have the ring leaders tortured by some gang associates.

Many of the jokes are showcased him wood framed imaginary sequences, or Onizuka's grotesque face faults.

Onizuka is a unique character, even by anime standards. His problems do not stem from a lack of intelligence (his revenge plots are occasionally quite crafty), or will (his karate and gang experiences seem to indicate that he excels at the goals he sets), but from a lack of inspiration. He seems to have floated from Great [fill in the blank] Onizuka jobs before stumbling upon teaching. While continuously crediting his decision to lust, his motivation is to correct the problems of his past. He genuinely wants to become a great teacher to counteract the teachers like the ones who called him trash that would amount to nothing.

Its plot may sound too sitcom-y, buts its dementedness and earnestness makes it something different and enjoyable.

Anime Spotlight : Gundam

(Released by Bandai)

The Year One War (Mobile Suit Gundam, and Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team) is the entry point to the Universal Century Gundam series. Humanity has partially emigrated from Earth to orbiting colonies known as Slides. One of these colonies declared itself the Principality of Zeon, and utilized its new weapon, humanoid armors known as Zaku to engage the Earth Federation in a war of independence. The first months of the war saw weapons of mass destruction end the lives of half the population on both sides. After months of stalemate the federation development its first Gundam mobile suit.

Mobile Suit Gundam: 4 & 5 ("Desert of Despair" and "In Love and War")

The young crew of the White Base continues to move across Asia in hope of linking up with the Federation forces in Operation Odessa, a move to cut of the rebellious colony of Zeon from its mining facilities on Earth. The Zeon dispatch their veteran ace Ramba Ral along with his wife and subordinates against the White Base in a revenge squad to avenge the death of Garma Zarbi, son of the Zeon's ruling family. Before they reach Operation Odessa the crew nearly fall apart from the damage inflicted to their equipment and the death of one of the crew's lynch pins.

The Zeon continue to be more interesting than the protagonists. There is a fundamental divide in their personal between their ace pilots' warrior ethic, and more ruthless superiors in the Zarbi family. It goes deeper than a conflict in morality. Like Char in the earlier episodes Ramba Ral is a soldier dedicated to victory, but with a chivalrous code, and a camaraderie with his soldiers, and like Char he appears to be engaged in an unspoken, but lethal conflict with the ruling Zeon body.

Following the Federation troops remain trying. Their progress through Asia is slow, and made slower by unsound decisions, and a lack of group cohesion. None of the characters emotionally rise to the occasion. Every opportunity to have a break down for emotional reasons is taken. After 22 episodes it seems like the group who have their act together.

With the dull desert landscapes, and lack of progress the view can empathize with the frustration of White Base's crew.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team Volume 3

Rookie Federation commander Shiro Amada, and Zeon test pilot Aina Sahalin crashed Shiro's Gundam, and the prototype Zeon Apsalus on a ice swept mountain top. In an uncharacteristically melodramatic episode the two lament the division war has force upon them.

The episode also serves to show as a look at the workings of the two characters

In a delicious state Shiro a Zeon attack on his home colony, that resulted in the type of poison gas attack that killed a large percent of the federation and Zeon populations in the early days of the war.

When Shiro compares Aina's porcelain beauty to that of a doll, there is a look at Aina's relationship to her genius brother, and the Zeon. Her sickly (physically and mentally)brother used her as an extension of his own body in order to test his inventions. She is caring and vulnerable with Shiro, but without a second thought she instantaneously and brutally acts on her loyalty to the Zeon, destroying mech with a Federation mobile suit on top of it, and ordering the destruction of a Federation air craft.

Upon their returns each is questioned as a potential spies. Shiro's questioner's probe whether he will still be able to kill Zeon. The answer comes when he abandons house address in order to aid his guerilla allies when the Zeon invade their village.

The kicker was that only one of the three was abusing the villagers, the other where a father who missed the his, and a woman trying to keep her subordinates under control. One of the many brutal moments when basically decent people are forced to kill eachother.

The federation evaluate the Apsalus to be a series threat to their war effort. Still under observation, Shiro takes his squad into a Zeon position to destroy the Apsalus. On the Zeon side of the line the gruff Zeon commander supervising the Apsalus project takes the opposite view of the weapon's value, canceling it and attempting to leave to prepare for the upcoming space battle. Aina's brother is not so willing to see his work ended.

The volume features some of the fiercest mecha battles. There is a jarring scene where one of the Gundams faces a surprise attack by one an amphibious mech that by itself would make the volume work watching. Neither side want to let down their comrades.

The animation in this volume is incredibly. The juxtaposition of beautiful landscapes, such as ice swept mountains, and or forest and the brutality of the battles is a commonly used on, but when it is animated the effect can be stunning.

Their is a genuine intensity to the series from caring, or empathizing with the characters, and with exceptions, not knowing whether they will survive a given confrontation. The characters design and dialogue given the characters dimension. There are no faceless minions, it clear that ever character has a story, and a life and that their death is a tragedy.

This Week's Releases...

Manga:

• Animerica Extra Vol 5 #2
• Dragonball Part 4 #6 (Of 10)
• Dragonball Z Part 5 #1 (Of 12)
• Geobreeders #33
• Oh My Goddess Part Xi #5 Mystery Child (3 Of 8)
• Ranma 1/2 Part 10 #10 (Of 11)
• Pulp Vol 6 #2
• Slayers Special #1
• Slayers Super Explosive Demon Story #3

Love Hina Manga Starts in March

TOKYOPOP will release the first two issues of a 4 issue Love Hina manga series this March for $2.99 each. After the initial mini series it will be released in collected editions. Love Hina is a popular romance comedy about a boy who takes over as manager for his family's boarding house/hot springs while trying to study to retake the entrance example Tokyo University in order to fulfill a promise he made to a child as a child. Unfortunately for his academic career his is distaction by the odd cast of girls living in the house, that range from a fox-eyed trickster, to a shy kendo freak.

Metropolis DVD Release Info...

Right Stuf is listing March 12th as Columbia/TriStar's release date for the DVD of Metropolis.

Akira Pyschoball Images

The December 28th update of Magic Box includes images of AIA / Kaze's PlayStation 2 pinball game Akira Psychoball, scheduled to release in US in Q1 2002. The game features characters from the popular anime series Akira, and continuously evolving pinball play field. There are dozens of event triggers and side rooms, changing just like an action adventure game as you progress through the game.

Upcoming Bandai Release (Gundam, Brain Powered, Ronin Warriors)

The three MS Gundam Movies will be released on DVD on May 7th for $24.95 each, and $69.98 for the box set, While a Japanese subtitled VHS version was released in the US, the DVD version will only include an English language version. The movies are an abridged version of the first Gundam TV series footage from the TV series and varying amount of new footage. The movies also change the order and effects of some events.

The second DVD volume of Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Operation Stardust will be released on March 19,

Mobile Fighter G Gundam has been confirmed by Bandai Ent for a DVD only release in Fall 2002 release.

FC (Future Century) 60: the Gundam Fight has begun anew. Fleeing the polluted Earth, the elites of Earth's nations have created luxurious space colonies from which they could control the rest of humanity that was left behind. In the true nature of humanity, the colonies soon found themselves at war with one another. In an effort to resolve their conflicts, a decision was reached to rotate leadership among the space colonies.

Now, every four years a tournament called the Gundam Fight is held to determine which colony will control the fate of the world below. Each colony forms its own mobile fighter to launch into a massive combat on Earth until only one remains. But the 13th Gundam Fight will be different from any that has ever gone before. A technological terror, created by Domon Kasshu's father, has been stolen by his brother. It's up to Gundam Fighter Domon Kasshu to find this Devil Gundam before a catastrophe befalls the world that will dwarf anything ever before imagined...

Bandai has set a May 21st release date for the first volume of Brain Powered. The $44.98 release will include the first nine episodes of the series. Brain Powered was to be Gundam creator Tomino Yoshiyuki's answer to the success of Evangelion. It features the talents of Yadate Hajime (Escaflown, Cowboy Bebop), the elegant mechanical design of Nagano Mamoru (Five Star Stories), character design by Inomata Mutsumi (Tales of Destiny), and music by Yoko Kanno (Escaflowne, Cowboy Bebop, Macross Plus).

Right Stuf is listing the first volume Ronin Warriors as being released on April 23. The three episode volume will include Japanese and English language tracks. Right Stuf lists "Feature both the English "Ronin Warriors" series and the Japanese "Yoroiden Samurai Troopers" episodes uncut and presented in their original format."

Volume four of Pilot Candidate will also be released on 5/21.

KareKano Journal

The Right Stuf has started a Kara Kano(His & Her Circumstances) journal at here. Kare Kano is a shoujo series from Gainax, and Anno Hideaki (creator and director of Evangelion) about a girl who the perfect student at school, and a slouch at home who meets a boy who seems to be as perfect as she acts.

Merchandise News

Toycom Berserk two figure set of Casca and Griffith will be released on April 30, 2002 and retail for $29.99. Figures.com has images here.

A 5" Jin Roh figure of Fusé Kazuki with six interchangeable weapons and a variant, helmet-less head will be released in March for $12.99. It can be seen at here

Kaiyodo's FLCL figures of Haruhara Haruko and the robot Kanchi have been confirmed for US release in July 2002 for $15.99 each. Figures.com has images here.

Dynamic Forces will be working comic book painter Alex Ross on merchandise based on Gatchaman (G-Force, or Battle of the Planets), which will include T-shirts, lunchboxes, lithographs and trading cards.

According to Figures.com the first Battle of the Planets lithograph by Ross debuted at the WizardWorld Chicago Convention in 2001. A six-card Battle of the Planets preview set is due to ship in the First Quarter of 2002, T-shirts are currently available, and the full trading card set, featuring all-new artwork by Ross and a host of other artists will go on sale in the First Quarter of 2002.

Lone Wolf and Cub 2100 from Dark Horse

According to Newsarama Dark Horse will be publishing Lone Wolf and Cub: 2100, a sequel to the samurai series by Kazuo Koike.

The series will be written by Mike Kennedy (Ghost, Ghost/Batgirl, Star Wars: Underworld) and edited by Randy Stradley.

Kenneday says "The only common element with the original series is the core concept of the mysterious warrior escorting a child across a hostile land.. While this future environment does include some fantastic bits of technology, time travel isn't one of them. Hopefully any comparisons will stop right there. Ronin was perhaps the first comic to make a significant impression on me as a kid, and I wouldn't want to be so blatant as to rip off such an original concept. This isn't intended as a 'sequel' per se, though there's no reason why the believable history in Koike's original series didn't actually occur in our future's timeline."

That said, there are more than a few similarities to Koike's original. "Our hero does mirror the original Itto Ogami in that he follows a strict code of Bushido and eventually comes to wield a sword, but other than that, the only similarity is in the name 'Itto,' The child he is protecting is a young girl named Daisy, ne 'Diagoro', who may or may not contain the secret behind a deadly virus tearing its way across the planet. Whether that secret is the cause of or solution to the imminent global genocide is one of the mysteries of our plot."

See the full article at here

Final Sakura Wars

Sega Overworks has announced Sakura Taisen 4: Maiden Falls in Love, the final chapter of the anime-esque (and often adapted into anime) series. The entire cast of the first three games will appear. The game is schedule to be release in March 2002 in Japan.

Sega Overworks has released new info for the Dreamcast dramatic adventure game Sakura Taisen 4: Maiden falls in Love, the final chapter of the Sakura Taisen series. This time the entire cast of characters from Sakura Taisen 1~3 will present in the game, and the story advances to the "Grand Finale". Similar to Sakura Taisen 3, the whole game will be in 3D, and the movie sequences will have a mixture of traditional animated movies and CG cutscenes. Sakura Taisen 4: Maiden falls in Love is scheduled for a March 2002 release in Japan.