Anime FAQs

Table of contents

1) ANIME CONS: 2) ANIME IN-JOKES IN STAR TREK 3) DAICON VIDEOS 4) WHAT WAS THE FIRST OAV? 5) WHAT DOES IT MEAN WHEN A LARGE DROP OF WATER APPEARS ON ANIME CHARACTER'S HEAD? 6) WHY WAS "AH! MY GODDESS" CHANGED TO "OH! MY GODDESS"? IT WAS IN ENGLISH TO BEGIN WITH! 7) KIMAGURE ORANGE ROAD: THE FIRST OVA AND EPISODE #46 8) LASERDISC ANIME GAMES 9) LUPIN, RUPAN, WHAT'S GOING ON HERE? WHY THE DIFFERENT NAMES FOR THE SAME GUY? 10) LEARNING JAPANESE 11) MIYAZAKI FILMS IN ENGLISH 12) NAUSICAA OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND vs. WARRIORS OF THE WIND 13) RANMA 1/2 "WHAT-IF"s 14) ROBOTECH VS. MACROSS 15) MATTHEW SWEET'S "GIRLFRIEND" VIDEO AND SPACE ADVENTURER COBRA 16) WHAT'S AN OTAKU? 17) WHAT DOES "BUBBLEGUM CRISIS" REFER TO? 18) I HEARD THAT SONODA KENICHI DIDN'T CREATE BUBBLEGUM CRISIS! IS THIS TRUE? 19) WHO OR WHAT IS BEAN BANDIT AND HOW CAN HE DO THE THINGS HE DOES? 20) OCCASIONALLY, IN ANIME, SHORT, ROUND VERSIONS OF ANIME CHARACTERS APPEAR. WHAT ARE THEY AND WHY ARE THE JAPANESE FOND OF USING THEM? 21) IS THERE AN ROLE-PLAYING GAME SYSTEM FOR RECORD OF LODOSS WAR? 22) WHY WON'T THERE BE ANYMORE RIDING BEAN OR BUBBLEGUM CRISIS OAVS? 23) WHY DO JAPANESE ANIME MAGAZINES COST SO MUCH IN THE U.S.? 24) WHAT DO ALL THESE ANIME ACRONYMS STAND FOR? 25) WHAT IS THE HISTORY BEHIND ROBOTECH AND IT'S COMPONENT SHOWS? 26) HAS ANYONE SEEN THAT MUSIC VIDEO FROM THE GUNHED MOVIE?

ANIME CONS:

Once upon a time, we anime fans occupied tiny anime rooms at comic & SF cons (when they let us). In the 80's, there were several attempts at small anime related cons but the real action didn't happen until the 90's when AnimeCon came along, with both Japanese & American industry guests. Anime Expo followed the next year, filling the void left by AnimeCon with Anime America making its appearance the next year. After 5 years, Project Akon finally got a Japanese guest. The next year was witness to the East Coast Convention explosion as Otakon, Anime East, & Katsucon all debuted in the space of one year. Now, there are a plethora of Anime related conventions all over the country.

For advance notice of upcoming conventions, check out the Convention Calendars published in each issue of Animerica, Animeco or Protoculture Addicts magazines.

ANIME IN-JOKES IN STAR TREK

Some of the people who work in the set design department of Paramount Pictures are anime fans, and have been able to sneak anime references in Paramount's various STAR TREK television series. According to set manager Rick Sternbach, there is at least one reference per episode. Usually these references are in computer displays or in the sets themselves. Examples include:

• Japanese characters in the "ambo-jitsu" ring that Cmdr. Riker used in "The Icarus Factor". All of them are written references to URUSEI YATSURA.

• In the 2nd season episode "Peak Performance", a computer display with two ships called Kei and Yuri, a reference to the protagonists of the DIRTY PAIR OVA and TV series.

• A reference to the element "sonodaium", for Kenichi Sonoda (creator of GALL FORCE, BUBBLEGUM CRISIS, and RIDING BEAN).

Ironically enough, one of the most "obvious" anime in-jokes is not really one. The sister ship to the Enterprise, the Yamato, has the same name as the ship from SPACE CRUISER YAMATO (known in the US as STAR BLAZERS). However, Mr. Sternbach has indicated that it is only a coincidence, as both spacegoing vessels are named after the WWII Japanese battleship Yamato, one of the largest seagoing vessels ever built. (In fact, the Yamato from the anime series IS the WWII battleship, but that's another story).

To the best of our knowledge, no one has done a canonical list of all the in-jokes discovered so far.

DAICON VIDEOS

DAICON is a yearly SF convention held in Osaka, Japan. It is called DAI-CON because the kanji for Osaka can be read as "dai". (A "daicon" is also the name for a Humungous white radish, but that's another story.)

"DAICON III" and "DAICON IV" were two animated shorts shown at the opening ceremonies of the 15th (1981) and 17th (1983) DAICONs. They feature the convention mascot (the Daicon Bunny, strongest Playboy Bunny in the universe) encountering everybody from the Space Cruiser Yamato to Ming the Merciless.

As an interesting note, the people who made DAICON IV later went on to create the GAINAX (WINGS OF HONNEAMISE, NADIA OF THE MYSTERIOUS SEAS) animation studio.

As well as the iconic Neon Genesis Evangelion series.

WHAT WAS THE FIRST OAV?

Contrary to popular beliefs, the first OAV was not Megazone 23 but rather

• Moon Station Dallos* It came out a year before MZ23.(1984, where MZ23 was

released in '85) - From a post by Gordon Waters

WHAT DOES IT MEAN WHEN A LARGE DROP OF WATER APPEARS ON ANIME CHARACTER'S HEAD?

That is a big drop of sweat, showing that the person is embarassed or is worried about something

WHY WAS "AH! MY GODDESS" CHANGED TO "OH! MY GODDESS"? IT WAS IN ENGLISH TO BEGIN WITH!

When the Englis licensors (Studio Proteus & AnimEigo) asked Fujishima what they should call the American release, and he said he didn't care, as long as they felt the title they chose sounded best in English. Therefore, they chose "OH MY GODDESS!", based upon their own opinions. Fujishima never expressed a preference for "OH" and he later told Hitoshi Doi that they should have left it alone. - From a post by Ryan Mathews

KIMAGURE ORANGE ROAD: THE FIRST OVA AND EPISODE #46

The first animated KOR ever made was an OVA based on a story from volume 5 of the manga with a beach resort being used instead of a skiing resort. For the KOR TV series that followed, the animation company and character designer were retained, but the voice actors were changed.

In episode #46 of the TV series ("Okinawa Vacation"), the same story was used as for the first OVA, but the setting was changed back to a skiing resort.

Most people consider KOR OVA #1 to be "White Lovers".

LASERDISC ANIME GAMES

Some of the laserdisc videogames that came out in the early 80's used footage from anime films. Note that while the game discs themselves are not commercially available, the movies on which they are based on are available (with the exception of COBRA COMMAND, of course).

1) The laserdisc videogame CLIFF HANGER by Stern uses footage from two anime movies starring Lupin III, a charming thief created by manga artist Monkey Punch. The movies used were:

• Lupin III: Lupin vs the Clones (a.k.a. Lupin III: Mystery of Mamo)
• The Paris car/helicopter chase scene and the hanging scene were taken from this film.

• Lupin III: Cagliostro's Castle

-All the other footage for the game was taken from this film.

Note: this film is currently being distributed in the US by Streamline Pictures.

2) The videogame BEGA'S BATTLE by Data East used footage from Katsuhiro Otomo's GENMA TAISEN (a.k.a. HARMAGGEDON).

3) The videogame COBRA COMMAND by Data East uses anime footage created (by Toei) specifically for the game.

4) The videogame GALAXY 999 used footage from Leiji Matsumoto's GALAXY EXPRESS 999.

LUPIN, RUPAN, WHAT'S GOING ON HERE? WHY THE DIFFERENT NAMES FOR THE SAME GUY?

The reason for the difference in names is a matter of international copyright. Lupin III is based on a series of French novels about a gentleman thief known as Lupin. Monkey Punch's anime charecter is purported to be the grandson of the first Lupin. Now here's where the fun part comes in... It's been about 50 years since the death of the author, which makes the Lupin copyright public domain, internationally. AnimEigo is trying to avoid any copyright problems by calling it Rupan. Streamline, on the other hand, after refering to him as The Wolf to avoid similar problems has reverted to the Lupin name now that they can. You may notice that the Japanese pronounciation of the word is "Rupan."

LEARNING JAPANESE

As is to be expected, all anime is in Japanese. Synopses, scripts, subtitles and dubbing all help to understand what's going on, but they can only cover a fraction of all the anime being released at a certain time. A common question in rec.arts.anime and sci.lang.japan is "What books would you folks recommend for someone who wants to learn colloquial Japanese?" The following books have been recommended by persons in this newsgroup as good sources for learning Japanese. Of course, they can't replace a live teacher in a Japanese course at your local university, or practicing with a Japanese-speaking friend (a GOOD friend, in case you unwittingly commit a faux-pas :-).

Basic Japanese textbooks:

BASIC STRUCTURES IN JAPANESE

by Aoki, Hirose, Keller, Sakuma

Taishukan Publishing Company

A beginner's Japanese textbook.

JAPANESE: THE SPOKEN LANGUAGE

by Eleanor Jordan

The standard text for college level Japanese.

Yale university Press, 1988.

ISBN 0-300-04188-8

ESSENTIAL JAPANESE

by Samuel. E. Martin.

JAPANESE FOR BUSY PEOPLE (volumes I and II)

by Association for Japanese-Language Teaching (AJALT)

Kodansha International Publishers (Tokyo and NY)

Another beginner's Japanese textbook. Recommended.

Books on colloquial Japanese:

JAPANESE IN ACTION

by Jack Seward

MAKING OUT IN JAPANESE

by Todd & Erika Geers

Yenbooks (Charles E. Tuttle Publishing Company)

A book on colloquial Japanese.

MORE MAKING OUT IN JAPANESE

The sequel to "Making Out in Japanese"

MIYAZAKI FILMS IN ENGLISH

Most of Miyazaki's films have been aquired by Walt Disney for dubbing and release in the States.

First up is Kiki's Delivery Service, which will be released in September on VHS and LD. The release schedule for the other films is not yet known.

Princess Mononoke will be released theatrically next summer by the Mirimax division of Walt Disney Pictures with a screenplay by Neil Gaiman.

Previously released in English and now unavailable was TONARI NO TOTORO (It was _dubbed_ into English (by Streamline Pictures), and later released theatrically by Troma Films. The Home Video release was on Fox Video.) and Nausicaa (see next entry for details)

Also dubbed in English and available as a part of the Ghibli Ga Ippai LD box set are: Kiki's, Totoro, Porco Rosso, and Laputa. No other Miyazaki films were dubbed into English.

NAUSICAA OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND vs. WARRIORS OF THE WIND

In 1984, Hayao Miyazaki directed NAUSICAA OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND, a SF film based on the manga by the same name (distributed in the US by Viz Comics). This movie has been very popular in Japan and with r.a.a. readers. In 1988 New World Films released an English-dubbed version of the film, and changed the name to WARRIORS OF THE WIND. To make WoW a more action-oriented and marketable film, about 20 minutes of footage were cut from the original version, and major changes were made in the dialogue. The drastic difference in quality between the two films is used by anime fans as an example of the typical kind of gross editing done to anime features translated to English. Note that this is not a practice incurred upon by the companies mentioned under SUBTITLED and TRANSLATED anime in the Anime Resources List (with the exception of FHE).

RANMA 1/2 "WHAT-IF"s

RANMA 1/2 is a TV comedy about Saotome Ranma, a teenager afflicted by a weird curse from a Chinese training ground called Jusenkyou (the land of cursed springs). There are more than 1000 pools there, each with its own curse. Ranma fell in Nyanniichuan (the Girl-Drowning Spring), where a girl drowned 1500 years ago. Because of the spring's curse, when Ranma is doused with cold water, he turns into a girl. Hot water changes her back nto a him.

Several FAQs have come across, mostly idle "what-if" speculations. Here are some of the most common:

ROBOTECH VS. MACROSS

SUPER DIMENSION FORTRESS MACROSS was made a little before 1982 and was released in 1982 as a TV series in Japan. The overall popularity that MACROSS received from the Japanese audience was so astounding that the creators of the series decided to make a movie rather than another series. In 1984, MACROSS: DO YOU REMEMBER LOVE opened in theaters all across Japan. It has the the same basic plot as the series, but with more visual pizzazz.

ROBOTECH is composed of three different series which have absolutely no connections to each other. Carl Macek bought the rights to these three series and with his team of helpers, got these three series to be combined into one story which was called ROBOTECH. The first is MACROSS as all you guys should know by now. Carl Macek massively edited the series to fit his need but still kept to the main story line that the Japanese creators made. The other two series that was part of ROBOTECH was great if their true stories were told rather than being part of the Macross saga which everyone who talks about this seems to like.

MATTHEW SWEET'S "GIRLFRIEND" VIDEO AND SPACE ADVENTURER COBRA

The video "Girlfriend" by Matthew Sweet uses anime footage from the movie SPACE ADVENTURER COBRA, based on the comic of the same name by Buichi Terasawa. VIZ comics published 10 (11?) issues of the COBRA comic in English. Neither the movie (nor the COBRA TV series) are available in English. Although the pilot episode of Cobra was dubbed in English. Some lucky people have a copy.

WHAT'S AN OTAKU?

(1) Original meaning: Your house (company, organiztion, etc), used as a polite form of the second person => you

(2) Meaning in early-late 1980's: An extreme fan of anime/manga/sf who lacks communications with other people and usually untidy => nerd, fanboy [Otakus used "otaku" for "you" instead of more common "anata" "anta" and that' what gave them the title of Otaku-Zoku (otaku-race)]

(3) Current Usage: Anyone obssesed or overly interested with any subject <ex.> Car otaku, Gun Otaku, etc... => mania, freak

(2) has VERY negative meaning and (3) still carries negative meaning, unless used between otakus, of course. :-) So use "otaku" to only other anime fans.

On the net, Otaku is usually refered to a big fan of anime and/or manga.

--From a posting by Tonghyun "Vajra" Kim

One other suggestion: Don't call _anyone_ else an otaku unless you know how they feel about the term. Not all anime fans like being called an otaku. I'm one of those who doesn't care to have the word applied to me, though I have no problems with other fans calling themselves otaku.

-- Christina Callahan

WHAT DOES "BUBBLEGUM CRISIS" REFER TO?

Conventional fan definition: It describes the state of technology in MegaTokyo (and the world)... Like a very big bubblegum bubble, surface tension in the city has been rising and rising, and it is about to reach a point where nothing will stop a collapse or blow-up... (ie. Boomers going rampant, etc.) Thus, it's a Bubblegum Crisis... Simple, isn't it?

--From a posting by Michael Studte

A Bubblegum Crisis is what happens when you blow a huge bubblegum bubble and it pops and gets all over your face and hair and won't easily get cleaned up. In other words, a wierd and yucky problem that just won't go away. Source : Toshimichi Suzuki, creator of Bubblegum Crisis.

--From a posting by Robert Woodhead

I HEARD THAT SONODA KENICHI DIDN'T CREATE BUBBLEGUM CRISIS! IS THIS TRUE?

Sonoda Kenichi did not create Bubblegum Crisis. He worked on character and mechanical designs for the first four episodes, and assisted on production designs on the last episode. The reason he is credited with character designs on episodes 5-8 is that character designs he did for episodes 1-4 were reused. Gooda Hiroaki and Urushibara Satoshi designed all the new characters in episodes 5-8. Sonoda is also credited with the character designs in Bubblegum Crash for the same reason, i.e., old character designs of his were recycled. Also, Sonoda was second choice for this job; he was tapped only after Artmic's first choice, Amano Yoshitaka (known for his character designs on such features as Gatchaman, Mospeada, Vampire Hunter D and Tenshi no Tamago), turned it down because he didn't want to do mechanical designs. The series was created by Suzuki Toshimichi, founder and resident of Artmic, and author of the screenplays for episodes 5-7.

Addendum: Sonoda started out working on Moonlight Rambler, but quit partway through, for reasons not entirely clear. Gooda Hiroaki took over at that point; Largo is his original design, for example. Sonoda also did the cover art for the videocassette and LD editions of all eight episodes of Crisis, all the Crisis CDs, and both Hurricane Live videos, which may explain his involvement in the character design process of later episodes. As for Vision, he did all the cover art for Double Vision (see above). Also, Urushibara intended the Vision design to be based on an older version of Irene, so Sonoda's work was at least tangentially involved here too.

-Michael House (AnimEigo)

WHO OR WHAT IS BEAN BANDIT AND HOW CAN HE DO THE THINGS HE DOES?

The character Bean Bandit in the OAV "Riding Bean" seems almost superhuman. He seems to withstand bullets, car impacts, etc. How can he do this?

1) Bean is supposed to be a mix of all the best races of the world. So he's supposed to be genetically perfect perhaps...or superior.

2) He wears a Titanium mesh jacket lined with Kevlar. 10-20 times stronger than Kevlar alone. Thus the bullets could not hurt him. You'll note he was holding up the collar flap against his cheek to protect his head. His gloves and headband are made of the same material.

3) As one poster said Bean is Sonoda's equivalent of every Tough Guy(tm) that Hollywood has ever created. Everyone from Sam Spade to the Eastwood's Mysterious Stranger (High Plains Drifter, et al) to John McClane of Die Hard. They perform deeds beyond the abilities of normal men. Bean is a modern-day pulp hero, sort of a Doc Savage for the 1990s. He's not superhuman, he's not a Buma and he's not normal. He's a Tough Guy (tm)!

4) The one TRUE source, Kenichi Sonoda, was asked "WHAT _IS_ BEAN?" and he answered: "Bean's one well built brother."

OCCASIONALLY, IN ANIME, SHORT, ROUND VERSIONS OF ANIME CHARACTERS APPEAR. WHAT ARE THEY AND WHY ARE THE JAPANESE FOND OF USING THEM?

That practice is known as "Super-Deforming" characters. It's a way of making even the most horrible monster into something small and cute. As far as I know, the first occurrance of this was in SD-Gundam. Nowadays, Super-Deformed characters are appearing *everywhere*. Here are a couple I can come up with, just off the top of my head. It seems to be appealing for some strange reason :-):

- Ranma 1/2 Nettouhen

The 'eyecatch' sequences

- Video Girl Ai

The postscript segments

- Dirty Pair

The closing credits of the 10 episode OAV series

- Superdimensional Fortress Macross

The opening credits (when the series was rerun recently)

- Gunbuster

The science lessons

- Gall Force

10 Little Gall Force

- Patlabor on Television

The first 'eyecatch' sequences

- SD Gundam

OF: COURSE!!

- From a post by Alan Takahashi

IS THERE AN ROLE-PLAYING GAME SYSTEM FOR RECORD OF LODOSS WAR?

The original RoLW was a pseudo D&D campaign, based on a much simplified verison of its rules. As its publicity grew, the gaming group, Group SNE, began to explain some of the rules at the back of their novels and RPG replays. The first attempt at publishing a complete system was the printing of the RoLW Companion in October 1989. The success it enjoyed prompted the release of volume two, which came out in June 1991, soon after the series has been animated. These books may be available at Kinokuniya or other major Japanese bookstores.

-From a post by Chadwick Sheeta "the Elf"

WHY WON'T THERE BE ANYMORE RIDING BEAN OR BUBBLEGUM CRISIS OAVS?

There are currently legal problems due to the recent breakup of Youmex and Artmic because they both own the rights to Riding Bean and BGCrisis jointly. And there's (currently) no way to resolve their dispute and/or the rights so there won't be any more. However, Bean has been making guest appearances in Sonoda's current manga, "Gunsmith Cats"

- From a post by Michael Studte

WHY DO JAPANESE ANIME MAGAZINES COST SO MUCH IN THE U.S.?

If you purchase your anime magazines at a Japanese bookstore like Kinokuniya or Nikaku, then you are getting your magazine for the best price short of picking it up in Japan. These bookstores usually charge $1.70 per Y100, which seems to be the standard rate for all Japanese periodicals. (This amount varies with the exchange rate) If, however, you are purchasing these magazines at a Comic shop, you are likely spending upwards of $15 each (with the risk that an unscrupulous shop owner might be removing the neat inserts). The reason why Comic shops are much more expensive is that Comic shops usually receive comic items at a hefty discount (around 40%). But they are getting these magazines at close to the same cost we are paying for them. So they have to mark up the cost in order to maintain the same margins.

WHAT DO ALL THESE ANIME ACRONYMS STAND FOR?

GUNDAM: General purpose Utility, Non-Discontinuity, Augmentation Maneuvering

VOTOMS: Vertical One-man Tank for Offensive Maneuvering

MOSPEADA: Military Operation Soldier Protection Emergency Aviation Drive Aut

GERWALK: Ground Effective Reinforcement of Winged Armament with Locomotive Knee joint

WHAT IS THE HISTORY BEHIND ROBOTECH AND IT'S COMPONENT SHOWS?

Sherman, set the Way-Back machine to 1982, in Japan. It was then that a series by name of The Super Dimension Fortress Macross first aired on Japanese television, a product of Studio Nue, Artland, and Tatsunoko.

After Macross ended in 1983, Studio Nue, Artland, and Tokyo Movie Shinsha's the Super Dimension Century Orguss took its place on the airwaves. Orguss shared some common creators with, and had a few in-joke references to Macross. Beyond that, there was no relation. On television, a short-lived series by name of Genesis Climber Mospeada came and went.

When Orguss finished its run of episodes in 1984, another "Super Dimension" show took its place: Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross. Bear in mind that these "Super Dimension" shows had little in common save the title. They were not related in any way, save for the brief references in Orguss mentioned above.

Theatrically, the Macross movie was released (its title, Macross: Oboete Imasuka has been translated as Macross: Do You Remember Love) in 1984. The Macross movie was more of a retelling of the Macross series, rather than a sequel. Megazone 23, one of the first OVAs (Original Video Animation), was released in 1985. It had Haruhiko Mikimoto, the Macross and Orguss character designer, as a guest character designer.

Let's wander over to North America. In January of 1984, the rights to the Macross series were acquired by Harmony Gold. Originally, Macross was slated to be translated rather faithfully, and a TV-movie compilation of the first three episodes had been broadcast. However, the "golden number" for television syndication is 65 episodes - 13 weeks of daily weekday episodes. So, in order to pad out the series, Macross was reworked a little, Southern Cross and Mospeada were hastily adapted and tacked on to the end, and the 85-episode Robotech series was born, first aired in 1985. (An extra transition episode was created by editing footage from Macross and Southern Cross together.)

Now things get a little murky. Sometime around 1985-1986, back in Japan, Toho commissioned an English translation of the Macross movie, which was then titled Super Spacefortress Macross. Also, Megazone 23 Part II was released on video.

In 1987, Macross: Flash Back 2012, a 30-minute OAV, was released in Japan. This was 22 minutes of scenes from the Macross series and movie, as well as images from various Macross publications, edited to accompany music from the series, plus eight minutes of new animation, showing some footage previously cut from the movie and series, as well as showing what happened to our heroes after the war. Back in the US, Harmony Gold was riding the crest of Robotech's popularity, and had started production on Robotech II: The Sentinels and a Robotech movie. Sentinels was to be a brand-new series of 65 episodes, written in North America and animated in Japan, for North American broadcast. For a variety of reasons, this was never completed, and as a consequence never released on television. The Robotech movie was a re-edited Megazone 23, combined with footage from Southern Cross, plus a 12-minute happy ending, comprised of new animation commissioned from Japan. The movie was barely released (a few test screenings and a showing at the Los Angeles Animation Celebration) before vanishing from the big screen altogether.

Back to Japan: Megazone 23 Part II is translated to English with Japanese subtitles. The 12 minutes of new footage for the Robotech Movie is included on this video, which was released as Megazone 23 Part II: Foreign Edition.

A quick hop back to North America - in 1987, Super Spacefortress Macross makes it to North American shores - minus 18 minutes of footage - as Clash of the Bionoids.

In 1988, seventy-six minutes of completed footage from Sentinels was compiled and released on video.

In 1992, Macross II - a sequel to the Macross movie - is released nearly simultaneously in Japan and the United States.

--From a posting by Emru Townsend

HAS ANYONE SEEN THAT MUSIC VIDEO FROM THE GUNHED MOVIE?

The live-action Gunhed movie is about ninety minutes of B-movie science fiction mind candy. The interesting aspect of it is that the dialogue is in both Japanese and English (The English has Japanese subtitles). Believe it or not, it is available on LD. Try any place that deals in anime LD's, but especially those in the Resource Guide.

The video you saw is by the Vancouver industrial group Front Line Assembly who purchased the rights, for about $10,000, to use the movie footage in their video, "Mindphaser," which is available on their Tactical Neural Implant album. In return, the Japanese are free to use the "Mindphaser" video to demonstrate Surround sound tv's in their video showrooms. The agent responsible for this video arrangement is best known for his work with Nettwerk videos, so it is not beyond the realm of possibility to see another joint agreement with another Nettwerk band. Unfortunately, FLA has not yet released "Mindphaser" to the home video market.

Other related material includes a three volume comic by Viz and follow-up graphic novel as well as a PC Engine/TurboGrafx 16 game just called Gunhed. In North America, the TG 16 title is Blazing Lazers. (The game appears to be unrelated to the manga series though)

(Abridged.)