Dec 31 2004
Its been a busy year in Anime. Ah yes... a busy year indeed. Like a little recap? Here's all the great anime happenings for 2004.2004 brought us a slew of great new anime to sink our teeth into. FUNimation kicked out some great titles like Spiral, Tenchi Muyo GXP and Fullmetal Alchemist. Fullmetal is the story of Edward Elric, a young alchemy genius, and his brother Alphonse. In their quest to bring someone back to life (their mother?), they ignore the basic rules of alchemy. In order to manipulate matter, something of equal cost must be sacrified in order to manipulate the new creation. As a result, Edward loses an arm and part of a leg. Alphonse's body is lost completely, but Edward manages to trap his soul in an armor suit. Together, they set out on a journey to find the Philosopher's Stone, a magical amplifier that can reduce the costs of matter manipulation.
2004 was also the year Case Closed hit the States. Another anime hit from FUNimation, Case Closed is the Americanized version of the popular Japanese anime, Detective Conan.
Geneon Entertainment brought us Gungrave, a mix of man-made zombies, a murderous ringleader and a dude back from the grave looking for revenge.
Manga.com and Bandai Entertainment partnered up to deliver Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, which is currently airing on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim and Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence hit the big screens, courtesy of Bandai and Dreamworks.
Cartoon Network picked up some other great hits in addition to Ghost in the Shell:SAC, such as Wolf's Rain from Bandai and the remake of Astroboy, the grandfather of mainstream anime.
ADV Films brought us Grrrl Power and took away production of Sailor Moon DVD's.
The Anime Network expanded into Denver and added some great new titles - like Slayers - to its lineup, while Bandai announced it was opening up its Canadian market.
Not to be outdone, TOKYOPOP had its own share of exciting announcements, including a new Cine-Manga line including popular titles such as Kim Possible. They also sponsored two Rising Stars of Manga Contests, giving aspiring manga artists an opportunity to see their ship finally come in.
Viz brought us a slew of graphic novels, including some great online sneak-peaks and the Dragonball Flash Manga. Inuyasha movies to DVD were another Viz contribution as well as the recent announcement of a new Shonen Jump Advanced line for teens and the YuGiOh! Ani-Manga release.
Gaming fans saw some great anime come their way as well. Several new Dragonball titles including Budokai 3, Ghost in the Shell and YuGiOh titles to name just a few. Duel Masters hit the trading card game venue, joining other TCG greats such as YuGiOh, YuYu Hakusho, Shaman King and .hack.
What will 2005 bring? I hope its nothing but anime :)
Have a happy and prosperous New Year!
