======== Newsgroups: rec.arts.anime.info Subject: [APG]: Anime Pocket Guide (00/17) (Intro) From: Alan Takahashi Date: 11 May 1997 21:36:58 -0400 Anime Pocket Guide by: Alan Takahashi Last Updated: March 1997 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ============================================ = Introduction to the Anime Pocket Guide = ============================================ These files is intended as a short reference guide to anime. It can be grepped by specific keywords to retrieve some sorted information. It is periodically posted as an information resource for readers of rec.arts.anime. All names which appear in this Guide are arranged in the English style (i.e. {First Name} {Family Name}) because this is the order which the Japanese seem to prefer when writing out the names in romaji. Additions and corrections are welcome. I'll update this whenever time permits. Thanks to Jeff Okamoto and Hitoshi Doi for the use of the Anime Seiyuu Collection. The actual Pocket Guide appears in the next postings. Note that the Guide is broken up into several parts due to the fact that some gateways have a 30K posting limit. To recreate the Guide, combine the parts in order, and remove any header info with your favorite editor. Permission to copy and forward the Anime Pocket Guide in an electronic/softcopy form is granted, provided that you send me e-mail telling me you've done so. I like to keep up on where this thing is headed. Please contact me if you wish to print the Guide on paper. My e-mail address appears at the end in my .sig. The Anime Pocket Guide is mirrored as a World Wide Web site with several cross-referenced indexes and images. To access the Anime Web Guide, the URL is as follows: http://www.tcp.com/~doi/alan/webguide/awgHome.html ========================================= = Changes to this issue of the Guide. = ========================================= CHANGES BETWEEN THIS VERSION AND THE LAST (May-95): =================================================== - MAJOR CHANGE! The Voice Keys have been changed so that family name appears first. This is to aid in sorting the Seiyuu Indexes, since sorting is done by key, and it might be easier to find someone based on their family name. Also, the Voice Keys are now being autogenerated, so if anyone is linking based on a Voice Key, please be aware that reliance on this key is *very* shaky. Since there are so many changes to cast lists, I will not list any of those changes in this change log. - New entries: [NOTE: Some have already been installed in previous versions of the Anime Web Guide.] Armitage III Bastard! Detective Conan Those Who Hunt Elves Vision of Escaflowne Neon Genesis Evangelion Fantasia Fushigi Yuugi Ghost in the Shell Gunsmith Cats El Hazard Hana Yori Dango Hyperdoll Raven Tengu Kabuto Whisper of the Heart (Mimi wo Sumaseba) Miyuki-chan in Wonderland Martian Successor Nadesico Magical Girl Pretty Samy Nurse Angel Ririka SOS Mysterious Thief Saint Tail Slayers Saber Marionette J Shamanic Princess Tobe! Isami Wedding Peach Phantom Quest Corp - Changes in the Anime Web Guide tree: POSTS: Nikaku Animart Updated URL and E-mail address info POSTS: History of rec.arts.anime Added mailing list info for 1994 Added alt.fan.sailor-moon Added 1996 newsgroup split POSTS: A brief history of Sailor Moon Added info on Sailor Moon SuperS Added info on Sailor Moon Sailor Stars Added info on DIC's Sailor Moon Added info on SOS (Support Our Sailors) Note series conclusion in 1997 NEW POSTS: Anime Conventions Musings on Anime America '95 (Parts 1 & 2) Musings on Anime Expo '95 (Parts 1 & 2) Sailor Moon Radio News Story on DIC's Sailor Moon TV Anime Misc. TV Anime Misc #10 (Parts 1-9) TV Anime Misc #10 addendum (DIC's Sailor Moon) Trek Chronicles: Baycon '88 Baycon '89 Timecon '89 Baycon '90 Baycon '90 addendum Timecon '90 Baycon '91 (really AnimeCon '91) Baycon '92 INDIVIDUAL ENTRY PAGES: "Go to" links have been added to the bottom of the page to make it convenient to access them on longer entries. HOME PAGES: Root Page: Added categories to "Anime Hotspots" links. Added more links to "Anime Hotspots" list. Note that I'll probably not add more, since this isn't intended to become a jumping off point for anime links. Reformatted "Anime Hotspots" to use HTML 3.2 tables. Reformatted "Commercial Pages" to use HTML 3.2 tables. Added category links pointing to the "Anime and Manga Resources List". Fixed problem with "Pioneer" web site. It was a local configuration problem. Shoudouka no longer needed! Added lots more commercial companies. Added "donation" link to The Commnet Project. Updated "Work in Progress" section. Introduction Page: Added pointer to Anime Web Guide in "Introduction" section. Added additional contributors to "Contributors" section. Changed Voice Key generation notes for new method in "Key Explanations" section. Added general copyright note for anime production companies in "Disclaimer" section. Ratings Page: Updated list of favorite anime. Interestingly enough, the FILM list remains the same as before. MISC VISIBLE CHANGES: Added copyright line to every page in the Web Guide tree. Links to Hitoshi Doi's anime tree have been redone and new ones have been added. Editor's E-mail address has changed. - Cast updates: [LOTS of them. Now auto-updating with the Seiyuu Database.] - Entry description updates: AD Police [Update US release info and add UK release info] Akira [Update US release info] Appleseed [Change US release: 'US Renditions'->'Manga Enter.'] Bubblegum Crash [Update US release info] Blue Seed [Fix Release Info-26 eps. Added US Release info] Burn Up! [Update US release info] Akazukin Chacha [Update Release Info (19 eps in 2nd season)] Cutey Honey [Update Release Info (new TV series)] Dangaioh [Change US release: 'US Renditions'->'Manga Enter.'] Dirty Pair Flash[Update Release Info. Two OAV series.] Dominion [Change US release: 'US Manga Corp'->'Manga Enter.'] Doraemon [Rating change: upward] Giant Robo [Update US/UK release info] Crusher Joe [Update Release Info. 1 movie and 2 OAVs] Adventures of Yohko [Added US Release info] Lodoss Wars [Added US Release info] Lupin III [Fixed 'Natually' spelling in description] Luna Varuga [Added US Release info] Black Magic [Change US release: 'US Renditions'->'Manga Enter.'] Macross Plus [Add US release info and Release Info fields] Madox-01 [Updated US/UK Release info] Maison Ikkoku [Added Release Info (TV series, OAVs, movie)] Mary Bell [Noted that "Sailor Moon" does not appear here.] Mamono Hunter Yohko [Added "Yohko^2" to Release Info] Minky Momo [Added 1995 OAV to Release Info] Patlabor [Added US Release info] Porco Rosso [Added Release Info field, though only 1 movie] Rayearth [Added 2nd TV series and new OAV series to Release Info] Sailor Moon [Update Release Info for final TV series] 3x3 Eyes ['Sazan Eyes' comment moved to Description] Spirit of Wonder[US Release info added] Tenchi Muyou [Many things added to Release Info field] Tonde Buurin ["Balls" changed to "Pearls". Release Info added.] Wandering Kid [US Release Info added "Software Sculptors" only] Wings of Honneamise [Manga Entertainment added to Release Info] You're Under Arrest [Description entirely rewritten. 1996 TV series added to Release Info. US Release info updated with dubbed release. Rating change: upward] - Rating updates to new scale: Akira Dragonball GS Mikami Gunbuster Hello Kitty Hime-chan no Ribbon Iczer 1 Iczer 3 Iron Leaguer Crusher Joe Karura Mau Kiki's Delivery Service Kishin Heidan KO Century Beast Kimagure Orange Road Lamune & 40 Laputa Adventures of Yohko: Leda Legend of Lemnear Locke the Superman Lodoss Wars Luna Varuga Superdimensional Fortress Macross Macross Plus Mama is a 4th Grade Student Marmalade Boy Mary Bell Mamono Hunter Yohko Lupin III (*) Miracle Girls Minky Momo Moldiver Nadia: Blue Water Nadia movie Nuku-Nuku Nausicaa Only Yesterday Otaku no Video Patlabor Porco Rosso Plastic Little Queen Millenia Ranma 1/2 Magic Knight Rayearth Riding Bean Robotech Rumic World Sailor Moon 3x3 Eyes Silent Moebius Tenchi Muyou Tonde Buurin Tonari no Totoro Irresponsible Captain Tyler Umi ga Kikoeru Wandering Kid Urusei Yatsura Vampire Hunter D Vampire Princess Miyu Wings of Honneamise Yadamon Yawara! Yotoden Zeorymer (*) Old entry was missing rating!! - Genre change You're Under Arrest (to gDR) =========================== = Legend to the entries = =========================== KEY TO THE ENTRIES: ================== **> Sample Entry: Title: [TITLE] ([TYPE]) gKEY tKEY aka: [JAPANESE NAME] tKEY aut: [MANGA AUTHOR] ([JAPAN PUBLISHER]; US:[US PUBLISHER]) tKEY Cast: tKEY Character .................................... Voice Actor vKEY tKEY Description: [(by {AUTHOR})] tKEY [DESCRIPTION] tKEY Release Info: tKEY [RELEASE INFO] tKEY US Release by: [US DISTRIBUTOR] tKEY UK Release by: [UK DISTRIBUTOR] tKEY Rating: {RATING] tKEY **> TITLE The title of the piece. Usually, the title will be used to refer to the entire series (e.g. "Project A-Ko" and "Bubblegum Crisis"). Unless something major happens, typically this title will be used to blanket everything produced with these characters. An example of this would be "Urusei Yatsura". There are a multitude of OAVs, movies and TV episodes. Rather than list everything, a short entry is all that is needed, since the characters and situations don't really change across the TV series and movies. An example where separate titles is used is "Bubblegum Crisis" and "Bubblegum Crash!". Between the 2 OAV series, the production and distribution companies changed, and the entire basis for "Bubblegum Crisis" changed. These two are essentially 2 different OAV series and are listed as such. **> JAPANESE NAME If the commonly used title is translated, then the Japanese version of the title is shown in this field where known. This is provided for cases where you might want to find a tape/CD/book/model/other and the only label is the official Japanese one. An example of this would be "Nausicaa" where the commonly used title is "Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind", but the Japanese would read it as "Kaze no Tani no Nausicaa". As before, no claim is made for consistent usage of romaji... **> MANGA AUTHOR Most anime is actually based on a Japanese comic series or "manga". In most cases, the manga is much more detailed, and has additional plotlines that were eliminated when the work was made into anime. Often, questions raised about plot holes in an anime have already been answered in the manga plotline. Typically, only the most successful manga series (in sales) get made into anime... 90% of anime, such as "Urusei Yatsura" or "Appleseed" follow this pattern. Exceptions exist, of course. The "Sailor Moon" manga almost totally goes in a different direction from the anime plotline and could be considered a separate story. The "Tenchi Muyou" and "Vampire Princess Miyu" manga were both published after the success of their respective anime OAV series. This field names the author of the manga. Unlike their US counterparts, a manga author has to be character designer, background artist and story writer all in one. Where possible, the other fields on this line are included: **> [JAPAN PUBLISHER] Name of the Japanese Publisher. Most Japanese bookstores will store the collected manga by publisher first. **> [US PUBLISHER] If a translated version of the manga exists, the US publisher will be listed here, if known. **> TYPE FILM - Released as a theatrical feature. OAV - Released as a one-shot Original Animation Video (OAV). OAVs - Released as an OAV series (multiple parts). TV - Released as a TV series. Many anime have been released in multiple ways, and are noted when that occurs. Definition: Original Animation Video (OAV) Original Video Animation (OVA) An OAV or OVA (the Japanese use the terms interchangeably) is a feature which is released only to the video tape rental/buy market. The feature is *not* released to the movie theaters or as a TV series. As a personal preference, I always use OAV. **> gKEY This will identify which genre this anime will fall into most closely. This does not mean that an anime *only* fits in this genre, but this is how I would describe it if I could only use one category. The following genre keys are used: gAD - Adventure This genre is characterized by great events happening to the characters and the stories are about how they survive or adapt to the greater events. Often, the central characters can determine the path to be taken later (i.e. will the great power discovered be used for good or evil). Also tends to have a lot of action. Also, 'action-adventure'- type stories would be placed here. gCO - Comedy Funny funny funny! Common uses in anime seem to be parody (making fun of something else), satire (exaggerating some attributes), or slapstick (action-based comedy). Comedies are also good places to find cameo appearances by other anime characters that don't belong there. gDR - Drama This consists of serious stories which are character- driven. Typically, a character's life is followed and we see how he/she changes as he/she matures through the story. We also see how relationships change over time...and how some relationships never change. Some of the most interesting stories fall into this category. gFA - Fantasy This group has magic and dragons and other mythical creatures. Typically, the stories are either comedies or adventures but with a strong fantasy element. gGR - Giant Robots This is a subset of the "Science Fiction" category with the technological emphasis on giant man-shaped robots. The robots can be sentient or controlled by a human operator and are the central focus of the anime. gHO - Horror Brrrrrr. If you want to be scared, then watch this anime. The topics range from traditionally Japanese stories to Western concepts to fantasy worlds. gKI - Kids For lack of a better description, this is anime directed at little kids. As such, the stories tend to be rather simplistic and can be funny or touching. gMG - Magical Girls The typical set up is that a young girl has or gets a magical power that she uses to help others or for personal gain (usually with humorous results). The stories tend to be equal parts comedy and drama. gMI - Miscellaneous This anime doesn't fit anywhere! :-) gRC - Romantic Comedy This is a subset of the "Comedy" category where the humor revolves around romantic situations. Typically, the guy is trying to get the girl or visa versa, and his/her bumbling attempts result in a lot of slapstick humor. gSF - Science Fiction Anime which use science fiction-like gadgetry fall into this category. Note that in a strict sense, many stories are *really* fantasies in that they use psuedo-science to substitute for real science (e.g. FTL drives). gSH - Shoujo Drama A subset of the "Drama" category. The plot tends to be centered on the life of an ordinary girl (sometimes with extraordinary circumstances). Her problems, loves and crisis are examined at a personal level. Often takes on the tone of a soap opera. gSP - Sports drama A subset of the "Drama" category where the emphasis is on some sport. The whole series/movie would circle around that sport and the characters involved in that sport. **> DESCRIPTION A short description of the title(s) listed. This should be enough to give the reader a general idea of what the anime is about without going into much detail. Also, relevant production comments and other such details appear here. If {No Description available} appears in this field, this means that I didn't know enough about this anime to give a brief description. Contributions are appreciated. **> {AUTHOR} Optional field. May not appear in an entry. On those occasions where I use someone else's description, their name will appear after the "Description:" header. Usually, I will reformat and do some minor editing. This will happen when I actually *have* a description of some kind, but don't know anything about the anime myself... **> tKEY The title key. Used by grep for retrieving information about a particular title. See example in grep section. **> vKEY The Voice Actor key. Used by grep for retrieving all roles by a particular voice actor. See example in grep section. **> RELEASE INFO Optional field. May not appear in an entry. When an anime series becomes popular, more and more features are produced around it. (More and more toys/paraphenalia are produced as well, but that's outside the scope of the Guide. :-)) If a lot of anime is produced for a title, it can get a little confusing as to how much of it there is, particularly for a newcomer. This field is also useful if the anime series ends in a confusing manner or in an unresolved cliffhanger. This field lists the available anime with more detailed information. This is an extension of the shorthand used in the "Title:" line. **> US DISTRIBUTOR **> UK DISTRIBUTOR Optional field. May not appear in an entry. When rights to part or all of an anime are acquired by a US or UK company, that is noted in this field. Also whether the anime has been, or is going to be subtitled or dubbed. Definition: 'subtitled' - original soundtrack and voices are used with a written translation appearing at the bottom of the screen. Close-captioning may be used instead. 'dubbed' - voice track has been replaced with native voice actors. Sometimes, the BGM (BackGround Music) has been replaced as well. **> RATING This is an entirely subjective rating...basically, what did I think of this anime. There are no standards which determine how the rating goes, so don't go looking for one... :-) Keep in mind, though, that this is aimed at a novice -- someone new to anime, or just someone who hasn't seen this piece yet. With this in mind, here is the rating system: In brief, this is a 5 level rating system. The ratings range from 0 (Not Recommended) to 5 (Highly Recommended). For more information, check the separate file on ratings. Occasionally, I leave comments in this field as well, though I try not to do this too often... ==================================================== = Sample GREP session (Unix & Pocket Guide only) = ==================================================== SAMPLE GREP SESSION: =================== First, we'll want to see what's currently in the Pocket Guide, so we'll use grep to get a Table of Contents: lacerta% grep Title: pocket.guide Title: Area 88 (TV) tA88 Title: Akira (FILM) tAKI . . . Title: Queen Millenia (TV) tQUE Title: Ranma 1/2 (FILM,OAV,TV) tR12 Title: Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon (TV) tSAI Title: 3x3 Eyes (aka Sazan Eyes) (OAVs) t3X3 Title: Silent Mobius (FILM) tSIL Title: Urusei Yatsura (FILM,OAV,TV) tUY Title: Video Girl Ai (OAVs) tVAI Title: Space Cruiser Yamato (FILM,TV) tYAM Title: Yawara! A fashionable judo girl. (TV) tYAW OK, now we want to see what this series called "Ranma 1/2" is all about, because people keep talking about it on the net, sooooo: lacerta% grep tR12 pocket.guide Title: Ranma 1/2 (FILM,OAV,TV) tR12 Cast: tR12 Ranma Saotome (boy) .................... Kappei Yamaguchi vKYa tR12 Ranma Saotome (girl) ................. Megumi Hayashibara vMHa tR12 Akane Tendou .............................. Noriko Hidaka vNHi tR12 Kasumi Tendou ............................. Kikuko Inouye vKIn tR12 Nabiki Tendou ........................... Minami Takayama vMTa tR12 Ukyou Kuonji ............................... Hiromi Tsuru vHTs tR12 Happosai .................................. Ichiroo Nagai vINa tR12 Kodachi 'Black Rose' Kunou ................ Saeko Shimazu vSSh1 tR12 Sasuke .................................... Shigeru Chiba vSCh tR12 Azusa Shiratori ............................ Naoko Matsui vNMa tR12 Description: tR12 Take a high school boy. Give him a curse where he turns into tR12 a girl when splashed with cold water and returns to normal with tR12 hot water. Arrange a 'violent' girl (Ranma's words) to be his tR12 iinazuke (fiancee). Stir liberally. A martial arts comedy by tR12 Rumiko Takahashi. tR12 Rating: RECOMMENDED -- especially the 1st TV season. tR12 Well, I like Ranma-chan's voice, so let's see what else Hayashibara-san has done...: lacerta% grep vMHa pocket.guide Ume .................................. Megumi Hayashibara vMHa tAKO Minky Momo ........................... Megumi Hayashibara vMHa tMOMO Ranma Saotome (girl) ................. Megumi Hayashibara vMHa tR12 Pai/Sanjiyan ......................... Megumi Hayashibara vMHa t3X3 Video Girl Ai ........................ Megumi Hayashibara vMHa tVAI Let's look at one of her projects: Video Girl Ai. In this case, we're not interested in the cast list so let's remove it as we display the Pocket Guide entry: lacerta% grep tVAI pocket.guide | grep -v " v" Title: Video Girl Ai (OAVs) tVAI Cast: tVAI Description: tVAI One day, Yohta is walking home. He's just been told that the tVAI girl he likes (Moemi) likes someone else. Trying to cheer up, tVAI he rents an 'explicit' video tape from a wierd rental shop, and tVAI when he plays it, Video Girl Ai pops out of his screen to tVAI comfort him. Unfortunately, Yohta's VCR is on the blink, and tVAI Ai appears minus a large part of her bosum, and with a new and tVAI dangerous mischievous personality... tVAI Rating: RECOMMENDED tVAI >From here, you can use grep to look at any of the other titles... ============================================== = A capsule biography about ye ol' editor. = ============================================== Alan Takahashi is a long-time anime fan who tripped into the genre after seeing a couple of "Robotech" episodes. Of course, it took "Nausicaa" to fully draw him in. As a hobby, he works as a software engineer at Northern Telecom, making the world safe for telephones (which only proves that anime fans can pop up ANYWHERE :-)). The Anime Pocket Guide was an even bigger accident. It started out as a small thing and probably wouldn't have amounted to much. The biggest mistake that Alan made was to post it on rec.arts.anime and, like Dr. Frankenstein, watched his creation spiral out of control... The Anime Web Guide is, of course, the illegitimate daughter (and secret Magical Princess) of the Anime Pocket Guide. ================================== = Disclaimer (for the lawyers) = ================================== The Anime Web Guide and the Anime Pocket Guide are the creation of Alan Takahashi (that's me!). Northern Telecom Inc. is kind enough to provide me with an E-mail link, but they are not responsible for the Guides, nor their contents. The various anime described and their associated names and images are copyrighted by their respective rights holders...typically the production company in Japan. All Rights Reserved. ----- _ __ ____ ___ _____ ____ __ Alan Takahashi / \ / / / _ \ / _ \ /_ _/ /__ / / Santa Clara, California / / \/ / / /_/ / / _/ / / / /__/ / /__ E-mail: takahash@nortel.ca /_/ \__/ \____/ /_/|_| /_/ /____ /____/ ----------------------- N O R T H E R N T E L E C O M "When you need to knock on wood is when you realize the world's composed of aluminum and vinyl." -- Flugg's Law