Episode #15

[Kscriv]

Well another nice cover of a Smallville ep, I'm saying meh to spoilers now since the show has kinda gotten boring on me (I'm early in the 4th season) nowehere near as good as the end of S2.

James, More greatness in the way of animezing segment, R.O.D. (TV & Movie) have both been recomended by a ton of people so I might check that out for myself.

My segment, well I hope I can improve on my audio work in the future (and also not sound like such a wuss anymore)

Also on that, if anyone wants to know where to get a fansub of Kimi Ga Nozomo Eien, PM Skyre, he knows where to get them from.

Also Mike, the Anticipation was not what I was PMing you about, I was thinking of just doing a straight-up review of Gundam SEED (which I scrapped in favor of my 50-part mega-project that I sent you part 1 of). And I'll be doing another ep of Anticipation soon,m Witch Hunter Robin's final ep airs on YTV @ 10:30 tomorrow, so I'll need to do the before bit tonight hopefully.

[Missy]

Ah, well I knew you were working on something.

Sorry about the lack of a spoiler warning for the Smallville segment, but, really, there wasn't much to spoil. Someone new has powers, they meet Clark and Lana, trouble ensues, Chloe digs up info, LuthorCorp is somehow involved, Clark confronts Lex, Lex pleads innocence, Lex gets involved (or was involved all along), the day is saved by Clark. That's the basic formula of nearly every show, so I didn't feel like we were spoiling all that much.

Kellen, as I said through e-mail, I really like the premise of your segment. Great stuff there. But it sounded like you were too far from the mic. (It also sounded like you were yelling / raising your voice to compensate.) What program and equipment are you using to record your segments?

[Kscriv]

I used Audacity like you said, with the mic that came with my comp

[Missy]

How close were you to the mic?

[J Marv]

I haven't finished the episode yet, but you were wondering why anime is more expensive than other similar products.

Anyway, perhaps Wikipedia has the answer (from the entry on "anime industry"):

The anime industry is currently going through what the companies call a "market correction", or, less charitably, a "recession". From 2001 to 2003 the anime industry exploded in terms of what it licensed compared to before. Because companies licensed so much, the industry found itself stretched thinly. Many series failed to earn back their licensing and production costs, because there were too few consumers to support the amount of shows being licensed. While the anime industry did grow markedly, its consumer base had not grown fast enough to be able to cover its expenditures. The anime industry is slowing down as a result. Far less is being licensed, and what is being licensed tends to be series that are sure to be a success. The only anime company that is still licensing more than they did in past years is Geneon. Time remains to see how this "market correction" will fare.

And earlier in the article:

Because anime is produced mainly by Japanese companies, it has to be licensed in other areas of the world by companies in order to be legally released. Licenses are extremely expensive and it is not uncommon to find that companies are paying at rates of up to $20,000 an episode to license a series for release.

Combine that expense with a lack of customers, you get high prices per unit.

[Missy]

$20,000 per epsidoe?! Wow!

Thanks for that, by the way.

[JackFetch]

A few of things off the top of my head:

1. I agree that Lana is a waste of space on the show. The problem is that they didn't plan far enough ahead when they started the show. They ran out of things to do with her. The same thing happened to Pete, and they took the easy way out and got rid of him. The problem is that everyone knows how Lana's life turns out, and that she doesn't end up with Clark. They need to end the on again off again romance since we all know it doesn't work out. Originally she was a great character because she was the unattainable object of Clark's affection. The problems started when they had her love him back.

2. Your theory about Chloe becoming Lois doesn't make sense. Wouldn't Clark/Superman call her Chloe instead of Lois when they are together? It would seem kind of morbid to take a dead relative's name too(assuming Lois dies).

3. I do believe the episodes are all leading up to a showdown with Zod. They have mentioned him a couple of times now. I think they'll bring back Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg just to have the "JLA feel' to the episode.

4. The reason Nancy Cartwright didn't get a vote is because she is Bart Simpson, and that's all she is known for. The 2 top vote getters are the kind of people that when you hear their voices you can name a handful of things they have done. With Nancy Cartwright, you say that's Bart Simpson and.....Bart Simpson.

That's it for now. Good work on the show. I'm not really looking forward to the vampire episode but you know I'll be listening anyway.

[Missy]

2. Your theory about Chloe becoming Lois doesn't make sense. Wouldn't Clark/Superman call her Chloe instead of Lois when they are together? It would seem kind of morbid to take a dead relative's name too(assuming Lois dies).

Oh, my "Chloe takes the name Lois Lane" theory doesn't stop there.

Everyone in Smallville -- from Lex to Sheriff Ethan to Clark's classmates -- have seen the future Superman without his glasses. Way, way too many people could look at a picture of Superman and say, "Hey. That's Clark Kent!"

So my theory goes like this: Zod, who's been posing as Jor-El, will somehow reveal Clark's secret to everyone in Smallville. To counter this, the real Jor-El will step forth and use Kryptonian technology to mindwipe everyone... not only of what Zod revealed, but about every super thing they've ever seen Clark do. Maybe even wipe them of their suspicions, thus taking care of Lex. This, of course, includes Chloe.

She'll forget that she knows all about Clark's secret, become a bigtime reporter in Metropolis (using Lois' name, of course) and thus we have a Chloe / Lois (and world) that doesn't recall that Clark Kent is super.

As for Clark calling her "Chloe" after she takes on Lois' name, that's easy to counter: it hasn't happened yet. Smallville ties into some aspects of the Superman films, but it also diverges from the lore those films created. So we can't really say the two are connected, and we can't base what might happen on what we've seen in (semi-)unrelated material. For all we know, once Clark and Chloe (as Lois) are reporters for the Daily Planet, Clark will call her "Chloe" because, after all, "Lois Lane" is only her pseudonym.

[James D.]

Congrats on figuring out where you heard the "Robin is with the Titans" thing.

Good episode, as always. As I said in PM, I'm reviewing Abenobashi next month for the Segment and I have a MAJOR bone to pick with it as I discussed with you.

I really couldn't tell you why anime is so expensive, but I guess J Marv's post answers it as well as could be expected.

Kellen, I second what Yoda said--you sounded like you were yelling across the room at the mic. I definitely like your method, though. It's fresh and original.

Can't wait for the vampire show next week!