There are a couple of freebies this time around.
First, I read about this on About.com: Anime. Publisher Tokyopop has created what it calls “iManga”. Tokyopop now has a MySpace.com site, which shows animated chapters from four (Western) manga, with a new chapter released every week:
Bizenghast by Mary Alice LeGrow (aka Marty)
Meet Dinah, a disturbed young girl who has been sent to the small town of Bizenghast to live with her aunt following the tragic death of her parents. She is thought by her aunt to have some sort of mental illness, as Dinah believes the house to be haunted. Only Dinah is aware of the restless spirits, which only feeds the doctor’s and her aunt’s suspicions about Dinah’s well-being. The house was a mental hospital, then a school for juvenile delinquents. The ghosts know Dinah can see them and they won’t leave her alone. A recluse, she sneaks out with her only friend, Vincent, and together they discover a lost graveyard. There they find a sunken mausoleum, where Dinah reads from a stone engraving. This act binds her to a contract requiring Dinah to release spirits stuck somewhere between an unhappy life and a peaceful afterlife. If she refuses, she will face an eternity of hell. So Dinah begins her quest of “cleaning” the vaults, crypts and graves of lost souls, all the while struggling with the haunts at home and suspicions of her growing mental illness.
Riding Shotgun by Nathaniel Bowden (writer) and Tracy Yardley (artist)
The gun industry has finally managed to justify the existence of firearms in mainstream America…by making assassination legal. And of course there is an assassins guild and guidelines and an assassins etiquette that should be followed. Now, Doyle and Abby don’t really have a lot of respect for any of that, until they find themselves broke, unable to land high paying kills, and beholden to the National Assassins Committee to even stay in good favor with anyone. The last thing they need is for their first NAC hit to go wrong, but when it ends up being Doyle’s ex-girlfriend, all hell breaks loose. This is an absurd look at an increasingly vicious society, but its also the touching tale of two people brought close together by gun violence.
I Luv Halloween by Keith Griffen (writer) and Ben Roman (artist)
Halloween has always been and always will be about one thing…getting the best CANDY. And, some fiendish friends excel at tricks if they don’t get the right treats. When these gremlins receive a frickin’ apple at their first house of the night, they plan deadly revenge on the offending fruit-favoring old-timer. Join the misadventures of a group of particularly disturbing trick-or-treaters as they go about their macabre business on Halloween night.
A Midnight Opera by Hans Steinbach
For nearly a millennium, undead creatures have blended into a Europe heavy with religious dogma and intolerance. These beasts of the night allied themselves with factions of mortal men who aimed at shaking the foundations of the Catholic Church and freeing society from its strangling grip. But always were their true natures hidden, often even from even each other. The world was unable and unwilling to accept the existence of extra-mortal beings. A Midnight Opera is the story of two undead brothers Ein and Leroux DeLaLune, who are divided in this epic struggle and who are forced to reconcile their differences in the modern day to stop an open assault on mankind by the dissatisfied elements among the rest of the undead.
Tokyopop also offers an online version of each manga if you prefer to read your manga rather than view an animation:
However to access more than six pages, you must register with Tokyopop.
In an earlier article, David mentioned that ADVFilms is offering the first episode of Innocent Venus for free viewing (offer good until August 23).
Not to be outdone, FUNimation is offering the first two episodes of Rumbling Hearts for free viewing. No end date is given for this offer. The episodes may be found here…just click on the “Watch Episodes” link.
Back in July, I wrote about this contest; since the deadline for entry is fast approaching, let me remind you that FUNimation along with Gibson USA is having a contest to promote the release of the Beck Starter Set for the series Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad. The prize is not the starter set, but an “Authentic Series Inspired Gibson Les Paul Guitar“. Enter Here…the contest ends on August 31, 2007 at 11:59pm CT. There is one major caveat…you have to be a legal resident of the US residing in the continental US or Hawaii…I assume Alaska is considered part of the continent.
Yet more FUNimation fun…they have another contest. This one is for budding manga artists called The School Rumble Draw Your Own Manga Contest. The grand prize winner will receive a computer with manga and anime software, Vol. 1 – 4 of the School Rumble manga from Del Rey, and more. The 11 runners up will receive similar software, art supplies, Vol. 1 of the School Rumble manga, and more. I had mentioned “budding manga artists” because the rules state that the entrant can not have won any previous awards and the work entered may not have been previously published. The deadline for entry is September 30, 2007. Here is where you can find general information, the official rules, and the entry form.
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Now on to the sales:
Robert’s Anime Corner Store has extended their Figures & Toys Sale through August 31 (or while supplies last). Prices have been marked down on most items and through August 31, you can save an additional 10%.
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RightStuf! is having a new sale called Magical Summer Savings.
You can take at least 35% off the retail price of DVDs and at least 28% off the retail price of select CDs from Geneon. This includes pre-orders. The coupon code is magic. The sale ends August 26 at 11:59 CDT.
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Wow, more FUNimation…this time via AnimeNation.
For a limited (but undetermined) time, you can save 40% on a select list of FUNimation titles…and if you’re lucky you could recieve a free babbit bag.
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Barnes & Noble.com is having a DVD sale offering 40% of select titles. While there are hundreds on the list, there are only a handful which is topical here (sort of). I didn’t go through the entire list, but horror fans may enjoy these three titles…all are directed by Takashi Shimizu:
- Reincarnation
- Ju-on 2
- The Grudge 2
I am not sure if Ju-on 2 is the 2000 sequel to Ju-on or the 4th in the series Ju-on: The Grudge 2 which was released in 2003. The BN info page has conflicting information (release date is listed as 2000, but the synopsis info is for the 2003 film). I am guessing it is the latter. If it is, then you can compare it to the US version.
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