Gamertell

When gamers think of electronics and video game shopping in Japan, most people name Tokyo’s Akihabara as its epitome. However, not many may know that Osaka, Japan, has an Akihabara equivalent named Den-Den Town.

Much like Akihabara, Den-Den Town is chock full of otaku goodness. Just a few years ago, one could actually count the number of video game and figure specialty shops on one hand but now it seems to have experienced a growth explosion.

Den-Den Town (Nipponbashi) is short for Denki no Machi (which means Electric Town in Japanese) and as a place that was once famous for its variety of…

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In Iowa, a 32-year-old man may spend 20 years in prison for possession of Japanese manga and will face penalties under the PROTECT Act (18 U.S.C. Section 1466A). Christopher Handley is still in big trouble because of the manga he purchased from Japan in May 2006 that the government claimed was obscene and depicted minors engaged in sexual acts.

Luckily for Handley, he no longer has to face the court system alone as the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund has decided to provide their expertise as a consultant to the defense and provide funds for use to support in obtaining…

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While gamers all enjoy video games with voice acting, they often tend to also take for granted the people behind the voices. Many times, the voice actor for a character isn’t even credited or listed, so people might just think someone sounds familiar, but not bother to confirm it.

Gamertell has compiled a list of 10 prolific, famous and noteworthy voice actors who have lent their talents to video games. Not all of the games that the following actors have appeared in will be mentioned, just a few of the more famous entries as well as significant roles in TV series.

Click through for the complete list…

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September 25, 2008, marks the beginning of the end as Sega’s newest Nintendo DS role-playing game, World Destruction: Michibikareshi Ishi (WD), invades store shelves everywhere in Japan.

World Destruction boasts designs contributed by key members of Square’s original Xenogears’ development team as well as former staff who worked on games including Grandia and Etrian Odyssey. Those who have played Xenogears may find…

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For those of you who remember the Gaia Online announcements from Boston Anime 2008 in March and zOMG! closed-beta announcement in July 2008.

I was tickled pink to take a personal tour of the upcoming zOMG! MMO game with senior producer and director of zOMG!, Dave Georgeson. The game looks amazing. Don’t let those little saucer-eyed marshmallow puffs of cuteness fool you. From the preview demonstration Georgeson and his team gave, its nothing I’d wanna hug or hang around with but its a world I can’t wait to explore.

If you think Gaia Online is amazing, you will be more than pleased with their newest game scheduled for the end of Summer 2008…

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If you’ve been following Important Importables for a while, you might have noticed that I like to touch on not only games but game-related imports as well (or at least things from Japan that might interest gamers). Today’s column is one of those days.

Due to coverage of titles like Tokimeki Memorial: Girl’s Side 2nd Season, Otometeki Koi Kakumei Love Revo DS!! and Duel Love, Important Importables has acquired a few otome fan readers (fans of dating/life sims for women). I figured today’s column would be a good chance to highlight an anime episode that they’d enjoy - Ouran High School Host Club episode 4, “The Invasion of the Female Manager.“ it has a hilarious storyline involving a devoted female otome fan, a club filled with otome stereotype guys and a series that is going to appear on DVD in the US in the coming months…

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Title: Bleach Uncut Season 1: The Substitute box set
Price: $27.99 (Amazon) - $44.99 (Barnes & Noble)
Format: DVD
Release Date: June 10, 2008
Company: Viz Media
ESRB Rating: Unrated
Pros: 20 unrated episodes of Bleach, Japanese and English voice acting, free double-sided poster and a free Bleach trading card.
Cons: Not that many bonus features in addition to the 20 episodes.
Overall Score: Two thumbs up, 95/100, A, **** 1/2 out of 5.

Bleach is a far reaching animated series that tends to go beyond “kill this week’s bad guy.“ It features identifiable characters, sometimes intellectual situations, mysterious story-lines that can’t be solved in one season and other concepts that many action animes don’t cover.

The first season of Bleach, referred to as “The Substitute,“ is really essential viewing for anyone who wishes to really follow the show. Other seasons may have more intrigue, more comedic moments and more characters, but the first season prepares a solid foundation for future episodes. Viz Media did an admirable job with the voice casting, translating and DVD presentation…

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During Comic Con 2008, many games and comics were featured. And who wouldn’t want to attend a special preview of today’s most talented directors and animators create independent film masterpieces. The Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival consisted of movies that fell into seven categories: action/adventure, animation, comics-oriented, documentary, humor/parody, horror and science fiction/fantasy. On July 27, 2008, the top films in each category were announced and awarded.

This year’s Comic-Con International: Independent Film Festival are…

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Viz Media has a special gift for everyone who wasn’t able to attend Comic Con this year in San Francisco - a free episode of Death Note. Members of Viz newsletters received an email today (July 26, 2008) offering an iTunes code for “Rebirth,“ the first episode of Death Note. The episode is a 236.1 MB download, and the code is good until December 31, 2008.

Death Note is the story of Light Yagami, a high schooler who comes across a death god’s notebook. Inside are specific instructions, but there’s one fact - if someone’s name is written in that notebook, that person will die. Light decides that he is going to use it to rid the world of despicable criminals. However, power can corrupt, and the super detective L and the police force are after the mysterious Kira who is wiping out criminals.

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Some fresh anime is now available through iTunes, if you enjoy that kind of thing. Viz Media has decided to make 103 episodes of Bleach, Death Note and Naruto available through iTunes for $1.99 an episode. So far only a sampling of two series are available, in the form of Bleach‘s “The Substitute” and “The Entry” arcs (41 episodes) and Naruto‘s (uncut) first season (25 episodes). The complete Death Note anime (37 episodes) is available. I highly recommend Bleach, its probably the best. Naruto has its moments as well. While Death Note is good, I personally preferred the manga.

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