Batman Anime and Wonder Woman Origins toon coming

[Raph's Girl]

http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=123595

WONDER WOMAN

On the mystical island of Themyscria, a proud and fierce warrior race of Amazons have raised a daughter of untold beauty, grace and strength – Princess Diana. When an army fighter pilot, Steve Trevor crash-lands on the island, the rebellious and headstrong Diana defies Amazonian law by accompanying Trevor back to civilization. Meanwhile, Ares (the god of War) has escaped his imprisonment at the hands of the Amazonians and has decided to exact his revenge using the mystical “Hand of Rage,” an ancient artifact with the power to raise armies from the dead and infuse them with a thirst for blood. Ares intends to start a world war that will not only last for centuries – but will wipe out every lving being on the planet, starting with the Amazons! It is up to Princess Diana to save her people and the world – by using her gifts and becoming the ultimate Wonder Woman!

Target: Males 18+, women 18+, and girls 9-17.

Proposed rating: PG-13

DVD street date: Q4 2008/Q1 2009


BATMAN ANIME

Targeted Audience:
Dual: Core fans and tween boys
Rating: PG-13 (anticipated)

Release:
2-4 weeks in advance of The Dark Knight film release.

Overview:

Set in the period between BATMAN BEGINS and THE DARK KNIGHT, this brand new adventure follows BATMAN as he unravels a mystery over six original stories done in the style of Japanese Anime. Each of the six original stories has been written by a highly respected screenwriter or comic book creator. The talent includes Academy Award nominee Josh Olsen (The History of Violence), screenwriter of the Blade films and Batman Begins David Goyer, and famed comic book writer Brian Azzarello, among others.

The Batman Anime DVD is viewed as a perfect companion piece to BATMAN BEGINS and THE DARK KNIGHT. The original stories introduce a number of classic characters from the DC Comics BATMAN universe as well as following up on characters and storylines that were introduced in BATMAN BEGINS.

Raph's Girl note: SW33T!!

[DrSpengler]

Well, as long as the Batman "anime" is being written by Americans it should be good. I shudder to think of what the Japanese would turn Batman into. Would they give him a giant robot like they did Spider-Man?

Well, Kia Asamiya's Batman: Child of Dreams was actually alright. Not steller, but alright. Asamiya's a different animal, though, as he's a total addict of American comic books and understands how they're written and drawn...unlike most Japanese creators who try to take on American properties and totally **** them up (the Ninja Turtle OVAs come to mind).

[Mecha Cow]

unlike most Japanese creators who try to take on American properties and totally **** them up (the Ninja Turtle OVAs come to mind).

SAINTOOO MUUUTATIONNN!

[Drtooth]

Originally Posted by DrSpengler

Well, as long as the Batman "anime" is being written by Americans it should be good. I shudder to think of what the Japanese would turn Batman into. Would they give him a giant robot like they did Spider-Man?

I dunno... but they did give the dumb Filmation series a kick ass opening theme...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=uEFeB7qLDVs

BTW, look at who comes up when the singers say "Midnight lover"

[DrSpengler]

Heh. I'd actually seen that before. I'm not a big fan of J-Pop, particularly their consistent reliance on non-sensecal Engrish (LET'S FIGHTING LOVE!), but that opening is awesome for it's hysterical value.

[Krang]

Originally Posted by DrSpengler

unlike most Japanese creators who try to take on American properties and totally **** them up (the Ninja Turtle OVAs come to mind).

I can't speak for other properties since I haven't seen too many other examples, but I still don't see what was so bad about the TMNT OVA. Like the original cartoon, it was an action-comedy with most of the focus on comedy and parodies. The plot wasn't all that different from what you may see in a cartoon episode, and I can't think of any examples offhand of the characters acting too differently from their OT counterparts.

Originally Posted by DrSpengler

I'm not a big fan of J-Pop, particularly their consistent reliance on non-sensecal Engrish

While it's true that some J-Pop does use nonsensical English, that certainly doesn't apply to all of it. Some uses perfectly intelligible English, and some uses no English at all. It depends on the lyricist.

(LET'S FIGHTING LOVE!)

As I'm sure you know, that's just a parody.

[Barkworm]

That South Park ep was pure genius.

[Drtooth]

Originally Posted by Krang

I can't speak for other properties since I haven't seen too many other examples, but I still don't see what was so bad about the TMNT OVA. Like the original cartoon, it was an action-comedy with most of the focus on comedy and parodies. The plot wasn't all that different from what you may see in a cartoon episode, and I can't think of any examples offhand of the characters acting too differently from their OT counterparts.

I guess what bugs me about the TMNT OVA is I don't know if they were attempting parody or if they really were meaning to make the Turtles transform on purpose. If someone said they meant to do some of that as parody (I.E. they were trying to satirize Saint Seiya in part 2) I would respect it a lot more.

As for that Batman... I love the attempts at English puns. But man- clearly a bad pun on their end. They use the same sound for our short U (Uh) as they do for short a (ah). The Engrish lyrics are quite silly, but I think the beat is pretty danceable. Considering the original opening was just Batman and Robin talking.

[AquaParade]

I'm super exicted about the Batman anime, can't wait until we get more info on that. Batman stories written by acclaimed writers, drawn in anime style, and set in the world of Batman Begins has huge potential to me.

[Drtooth]

wait a second... Written in the US and animated in Japan? Didn't they do that with half of Batman TAS?

[Raven]

Originally Posted by Drtooth

wait a second... Written in the US and animated in Japan? Didn't they do that with half of Batman TAS?

Yeah, I believe most of the first season was animated by a japanese studio.
I'm glad to hear that Azzarello is going to be writting one of the stories, cant wait to see what he'll be throwing in there.

[gobo]

Originally Posted by DrSpengler

I'm not a big fan of J-Pop, particularly their consistent reliance on non-sensecal Engrish (LET'S FIGHTING LOVE!), but that opening is awesome for it's hysterical value.

This is actually why I love "Summer Fighter" by Kamogawa (ED1 for the JP 2K3 dub). "WE ARE IN STAR RISE AND BEACHY SIDE, OH IN THIS SUMMER NONSTOP HOLIDAY" WTF, huh?

Originally Posted by Krang

I can't speak for other properties since I haven't seen too many other examples, but I still don't see what was so bad about the TMNT OVA. Like the original cartoon, it was an action-comedy with most of the focus on comedy and parodies. The plot wasn't all that different from what you may see in a cartoon episode, and I can't think of any examples offhand of the characters acting too differently from their OT counterparts.

Exactly my thoughts on the OVA. It's no less absurd than half of season three or the syndicated part of season four (the string of episodes I most consistently dislike). The OVAs are less appealing as I have to be reading the screen the whole time to follow the story, and the Engrish subtitles are just plain irritating. But, this is also my gripe with anime in general, they're humor is more weird than funny. I'd have to familiarize myself with Japanese culture more so than I already have to fully understand their take on humor. So, I just don't understand how any unbiased individual can sensibly say that the Japanese screwed up the Turtles. That's just crazy talk.


And, ON TOPIC: I'm eager for this Wonder Woman anime. I Wonder what the reason is for making it though? Is the rumored movie already being worked on? O_o

[Raph's Girl]

Originally Posted by gobo

And, ON TOPIC: I'm eager for this Wonder Woman anime. I Wonder what the reason is for making it though? Is the rumored movie already being worked on? O_o

That WW live action film aint ever gonna get green lit. They can never agree on the fraking script. We'll see her in the live action JLA movie tho.

[gobo]

I thought they couldn't get her for JLA because of the person with the rights to do a WW movie. Has he lost the rights now?

[Raph's Girl]

Originally Posted by gobo

I thought they couldn't get her for JLA because of the person with the rights to do a WW movie. Has he lost the rights now?

Dunno... I read today that WW is one of the characters in the JLA movie.

[ZariusTwo]

I like to place the OVA somewhere after the series ended, even if it sounds implausible, The Techodrome has been destroyed before and rebuilt over the course of one season (season four/seven's "european tour" arc). This time they succesfully have a transportable Portal that sends the thing back and fourth, that simple.

Shredder's ever changing body and facial apperances I can't explain, unless something in Dimension X finally infected him, coupled with finally cracking.

The second part of the OVA is much better than the first, the Turtles actually get to act more like themselves and are "in their element" with fellow Ninjas than they were as Sentai parodies.

[Drtooth]

Originally Posted by Raven

Yeah, I believe most of the first season was animated by a japanese studio.
I'm glad to hear that Azzarello is going to be writting one of the stories, cant wait to see what he'll be throwing in there.

Ah, the good old days when American cartoons were animated by Japanese studios. TMS especially had some beautiful limited TV animation (especially on Disney shows).

[DrSpengler]

TMS is probably the king when it comes to Japanese studios that "get" American animation. They actually got so good at doing Batman cartoons that by the New Batman Adventures they just sent the scripts to TMS and let them storyboard and direct the episodes themselves, which is pretty much unheard of with overseas animation. Heck, Bruce Timm and Paul Dini actually gave them their Emmy so they could display it in their studio, they were so proud.

It's a shame American studios don't outsource animation to Japan anymore and mostly just stick with cheaper and uglier Korean studios like the dreadful Akom, Sunwoo or Rough Draft. The only *really* good Korean studio I can think of is Dong Woo and they're pretty much the exception to the rule. Lotto Animation is pretty good, but I can't recall if they're Japanese or Korean based.

[Drtooth]

I think Rough Draft is pretty good, at least when it came to Futurama.

But exactly my seniment. All cartoons look alike to me now (except, Cureous George has the fullest most beautiful limited TV animation I have seen since Animaniacs was cancelled), and not even in a good way.

But then again, I also miss old animes looking grainy and dark like they were on film and having 2D ink and paint on cels. I love how it looked and felt. Now since everything is so perfect, animators became perfectionists and spend more time fixing a frame of animation than animating it.

it just looks dead to me.

On the other hand, ALF Tales had surprisingly beautiful animation.

[Spike Spiegel]

That Wonder Woman toon looks cool...and a Batman anime could be a great idea if handled right!