Gintama | Shonen Beam

Beamcast – August 9

August 9, 2010 Jean-Christian Leave a comment

In this week’s show:

News
The World God Only Knows vol. 10 to include anime DVD
Fullmetal Alchemist side story next month
New KochiKame live action film

Licensing announcement
Sentai Filmworks: Ghost Sweeper Mikami

Weekly Oricon rankings (7/26 – 8/1)

New releases

[anime]
Naruto Shippuden (DVD 12) $24.99

[manga]
Inuyasha (vol. 51) $9.99
Inuyasha (vol. 4 VIZBIG) $17.99

Discussion / Weekly Poll
Which character do you most wish you could remove from his/her respective manga?

The Great Shonen Tier List

Introduced this week:
Franky (One Piece)
Orochimaru (Naruto)
Shihouin Yoruichi (Bleach)
Medusa (Soul Eater)
Frederica (Psyren)
Kira Yoshikage (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure)

Anime Discussion
Highschool of the Dead (ep. 5)
Seitokai Yakuindomo (ep. 6)
Legend of the Legendary Heroes (ep. 6)
Nurarihyon no Mago (ep.5)

This Week in Manga
0:33:06 – Soul Eater 76
0:38:31 – Kure-nai 32
0:41:31 – One Piece 595
0:52:15 – Naruto 505
0:56:56 – Bleach 415
1:02:19 – Otter #11
1:04:55 – Bakuman 96
1:09:05 – Beelzebub 72
1:14:06 – Fairy Tail 195
1:16:28 – Hayate no Gotoku! 283
1:19:27 – History’s Strongest Disciple Kenichi 393
1:22:57 – The World God Only Knows 109
1:26:07 – Mahou Sensei Negima! 298
1:30:01 – AR∀GO 30
1:32:19 – GE ~ Good Ending 45
1:35:14 – Metallica Metalluca 9-10
1:37:41 – Devil Clutch
1:40:57 – D.Gray-man 197
1:41:27 – Air Gear 286
1:42:07 – Gintama 318
1:43:13 – Katekyo Hitman Reborn! 301
1:44:20 – Kimi no Iru Machi 100

Chapters of the Week

Final Flash

Comments / questions / additions? Email the show.
Want to share with friends? How kind. Have a shortlink: http://wp.me/pJOZe-yS

Credit: AnimeNewsNetwork

Weekly Power Rankings: 7/25 – 7/31

August 8, 2010 Jean-Christian Leave a comment

Categories: Power Rankings Tags: Bakuman, Gamaran, Gintama, Nurarihyon no Mago, One Piece

Beamcast – August 2

August 2, 2010 Jean-Christian Leave a comment

[download link – 107min, 47mb]

In this week’s show:

News
To Love-Ru spin-off
Funimation pre-paid debit cards

Weekly Oricon rankings (7/19 – 7/25)

New releases

[anime]
Naruto Shippuden (DVD Box Set 3) $49.95
Naruto Shippuden Special Edition (DVD Box Set 3) $69.99

[manga]
Bakuman (vol. 1) $9.99
D.Gray-man (vol. 18) $9.99
Gintama (vol. 19) $9.99
Hikaru no Go (vol. 20) $9.99
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (vol. 15) $9.99
Muhyo & Roji (vol. 18) $9.99
Slam Dunk (vol. 11) $9.99

Current/Classic Reviews
Kekkaishi
Double Arts

The Great Shonen Tier List

Introduced this week:
Nico Robin (One Piece)
Tsunade (Naruto)
Hitsugaya Toushirou (Bleach)
Shishio Gen (Kekkaishi)
Elraine & Kiri (Double Arts)
Saotome Ranma (Ranma 1/2)

Anime Discussion
Highschool of the Dead (ep. 4)
Seitokai Yakuindomo (ep. 5)
Legend of the Legendary Heroes (ep. 5)
Nurarihyon no Mago (ep.4)

This Week in Manga
0:45:19 – Mirai Nikki 54
0:46:42 – Bleach 414
0:54:37 – One Piece 594
1:04:51 – Naruto 504
1:08:49 – Beelzebub 71
1:12:37 – Fairy Tail 194
1:14:56 – Hayate no Gotoku! 282
1:15:59 – Kekkaishi 315
1:17:11 – History’s Strongest Disciple Kenichi 392
1:20:47 – Toriko 104
1:24:45 – The World God Only Knows 108
1:26:38 – Mahou Sensei Negima! 297
1:30:37 – Psyren 129
1:32:43 – Zettai Karen Children 225
1:34:33 – Hajime no Ippo 902
1:36:17 – AR∀GO 29
1:37:26 – GE ~ Good Ending 44
1:39:56 – SWOT 5
1:41:33 – Air Gear 285
1:42:14 – Gintama 317
1:42:22 – Katekyo Hitman Reborn! 300
1:43:17 – Kimi no Iru Machi 99
1:44:11 – Nurarihyon no Mago 115-116

Chapters of the Week

Final Flash

Comments / questions / additions? Email the show.
Want to share with friends? How kind. Have a shortlink: http://wp.me/pJOZe-xB

Credit: AnimeNewsNetwork

Weekly Power Rankings: 7/18 – 7/24

July 31, 2010 Jean-Christian Leave a comment

Categories: Power Rankings Tags: Bakuman, Gamaran, Gintama, Nurarihyon no Mago, One Piece, SWOT

Beamcast – July 26

July 26, 2010 Jean-Christian Leave a comment

[download link – 138min, 60mb]

In this week’s show:

News
OneManga closing
Yen Press+ launching as online magazine
Marvel anime to run on G4 in 2011
Bakuman spin-off in upcoming Jump double issue

Weekly Oricon rankings (7/12 – 7/18)

Licensing announcements
Seven Seas: To Aru Kagaku no Railgun
Yen Press: Highschool of the Dead
Viz: Genkaku Picasso, Death Note Black Edition

New releases

[anime]
Dragon Ball Season 5 Uncut (DVD) $49.98
Love Hina – Complete Series (DVD) $39.98
Soul Eater: Part 4 (DVD) $59.98

[manga]
Black Jack (vol. 12) $16.95
Cirque du Freak (vol. 6) $10.99
Code:Breaker (vol. 1) $10.99
Negima! (vol. 27) $10.99
Oh My Goddess (vol. 15) $10.99
Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (vol. 7) $10.99
School Rumble (vol. 14) $19.99
Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle (vol. 27) $10.99

Current/Classic Reviews
Toriko
Devilman

The Great Shonen Tier List

Introduced this week:
Jiraiya (Naruto)
Tony Tony Chopper (One Piece)
Ichimaru Gin (Bleach)
Devilman (Devilman)
Coco (Toriko)
Minami “Ikki” Itsuki (Air Gear)

Anime Discussion
Highschool of the Dead (ep. 3)
Seitokai Yakuindomo (ep. 4)
Legend of the Legendary Heroes (ep. 4)
Nurarihyon no Mago (ep.3)

This Week in Manga
1:06:47 – Naruto 503
1:12:12 – Bleach 413
1:17:02 – One Piece 593
1:26:43 – Bakuman 95
1:32:01 – Beelzebub 70
1:35:26 – Fairy Tail 193
1:38:21 – Hayate no Gotoku! 281
1:39:58 – Kekkaishi 314
1:42:08 – History’s Strongest Disciple Kenichi 391
1:47:11 – Toriko 103
1:50:55 – The World God Only Knows 107
1:52:52 – Mahou Sensei Negima! 296
1:55:24 – Psyren 128
1:58:56 – Zettai Karen Children 224
2:00:32 – Hajime no Ippo 901
2:02:47 – AR∀GO 28
2:04:56 – GE ~ Good Ending 43
2:06:57 – SWOT 3-4
2:11:17 – D.Gray-man 196
2:12:43 – Gintama 316
2:13:37 – Katekyo Hitman Reborn! 299
2:14:37 – Kimi no Iru Machi 98
2:15:45 – Nurarihyon no Mago 114

Chapters of the Week

Final Flash

Comments / questions / additions? Email the show.
Want to share with friends? How kind. Have a shortlink: http://wp.me/pJOZe-wj

Credit: AnimeNewsNetwork

Power Rankings – First Half 2010

July 15, 2010 Jean-Christian 1 comment

Rank	Series	Chapters	Score
1	*One Piece*	569-589	86.55%
	Aside from overall excellent quality, chapter 574 stands out as the most important shonen manga chapter in the next 10 years.
2	Bakuman	68-91	81.92%
	Great character development across the entire cast, most notably Mashiro and Iwase. Highlight: Mashiro breaking down and calling Azuki (ch. 74).
3	Cross Game	156-160	81.50%
	Brilliant ending to a magnificent series. In particular, the last page of chapter 158 is still breathtaking.
4	Beelzebub	43-66	78.58%
	Expertly funny. Highlights: OHKO (ch. 56), Demon World / huge Baby Beel. Furuichi still among best comedic straight men.
5	Toriko	78-101	76.50%
	Toriko vs. Tommyrod: Best fight so far this year.
6	Bloody Monday: Season 2	10-33	76.08%
	Consistently thrilling and packed with interesting twists. Highlights include a powerful death and a wonderful kiss.
7	Gintama	291-314	74.83%
	Four Heavenly Kings arc again proving Sorachi’s talent for poignant seriousness amid absurd comedy.
8	Psyren	101-124	72.75%
	Great trip to Psyren. Excellent Shao/Vigo fight. Kyle, Frederica, and Kabuto also noteworthy.
9	AR∀GO	2-26	72.30%
	Fascinating narrative and a perfect cast of characters combine for a strong showing from a young series.
10	Kekkaishi	289-312	71.92%
	Few series make training arcs as interesting, and the huge steps forward in the story have left nothing to be desired.
11	Hayate no Gotoku!	254-277	70.67%
	An extremely impressive serious arc (Athena) set this series apart from ordinary comedy fare.
12	GE ~ Good Ending	18-41	70.67%
	Great relationship buildup that has only recently begun to disappoint.
13	Defense Devil	34-55	70.27%
	Fantastic art, clear action, and solid (if not overwhelmingly engaging) plot.
14	The World God Only Knows	81-104	70.25%
	Uncharacteristic half-year for this series, with neither major arc following the series’ tried-and-true formula.
15	Nurarihyon no Mago	89-112	69.00%
	Finally experiencing a return to form after focusing on everyone except Nura for far too long.
16	Ane Doki!	25-26	68.00%
	Suitable, enjoyable conclusion to a short series.
17	Hajimete no Aku	47-71	67.50%
	Fun but unremarkable episodic comedy.
18	Gamaran	31-54	66.08%
	Excellent fights interspersed with fights featuring comparatively less interesting characters.
19	Mahou Sensei Negima!	275-294	65.50%
	Straightforward, enjoyable fantasy action with just enough humor (and a little fanservice) to keep things lively.
20	Hunter x Hunter	291-310	65.00%
	Biggest “what the hell” moment of the year to date (ch. 299). Great to finally see Gon relevant in this arc.
21	Kimi no Iru Machi	74-95	60.27%
	Strong start to the year marred by a largely disappointing trip to Tokyo.
22	History’s Strongest Disciple Kenichi	366-389	59.83%
	Some fantastic fights, some fantastic new enemies, a heartwarming moment, and entirely too much fanservice.
23	Air Gear	265-283	53.34%
	Excellent art, unintelligible plot, “fanservice” bordering on hentai, and President Obama body-swapped with a high school girl.
24	Zettai Karen Children	200-222	53.28%
	Notable positives (Kugutsu, Kaoru’s maturity) counterbalanced by questionable moments (“Lost Guys” arc, Feather’s tremendous power).
25	Hajime no Ippo	879-899	52.74%
	A horrible half-year for an otherwise fantastic series.
26	Katekyo Hitman Reborn!	272-295	48.17%
	Thankfully, the end of the pitiful Future arc. The Shimon arc started well, but is beginning to regress into Future arc territory.
27	Naruto	477-499	48.07%
	Sasuke ruined any plot involving him. Madara’s “Moon’s Eye” plan is laughable. Series very recently began to improve drastically.
28	Fairy Tail	165-190	46.90%
	Cats.
29	Metallica Metalluca	1-7	44.79%
	Acceptable but completely generic shonen, most notably borrowing liberally from Dragon Ball, One Piece, and Hunter x Hunter.
30	Lock On!	1-18	43.22%
	Horrible art, formulaic plot, generic characters. One exceptional highlight: Sanada’s flashback in chapter 16.
31	MiXiM☆11	78-102	37.90%
	Over-dramatization of ridiculous elements (the death of a finger puppet), predictable fights, and dime-a-dozen characters.
32	Bleach	387-409	22.41%
	Invisible story, uninteresting characters, terrible pacing, awful art, incomprehensible fights, most insulting moment of the year (ch. 396 – ‘everything according to plan’).

Beamcast – First Half 2010 Review

July 14, 2010 Jean-Christian 1 comment

[download link – 143min, 60mb]

The Beamcast crew presents a special 2+ hours mega-episode recapping the first half of 2010!

Series Discussed
0:00:17 – One Piece 569-589
0:16:59 – Naruto 477-499
0:27:46 – Bleach 387-409
0:37:16 – Bakuman 68-91
0:49:24 – Beelzebub 43-66
0:57:53 – Fairy Tail 165-190
1:05:07 – Katekyo Hitman Reborn! 272-295
1:07:23 – Hayate no Gotoku! 254-277
1:12:36 – Kekkaishi 289-312
1:17:05 – Gintama 291-314
1:18:45 – History’s Strongest Disciple Kenichi 366-389
1:23:03 – Toriko 78-101
1:28:12 – Gamaran 31-54
1:30:27 – The World God Only Knows 81-104
1:37:14 – Hunter x Hunter 291-310
1:39:16 – Mahou Sensei Negima! 275-294
1:44:16 – Psyren 101-124
1:51:02 – Deadman Wonderland 31-36
1:52:22 – D.Gray-man 191-195
1:53:11 – Soul Eater 70-75
1:55:31 – Zettai Karen Children 200-222
2:00:59 – Hajime no Ippo 879-899
2:03:30 – AR∀GO 1-26
2:06:11 – Nurarihyon no Mago 89-112
2:08:47 – GE ~ Good Ending 18-41
2:12:25 – Kimi no Iru Machi 74-95
2:13:37 – Lock On! 1-18 (complete)
2:14:36 – Cross Game 156-160 (end)
2:15:24 – Mirai Nikki 49-53
2:17:23 – Fullmetal Alchemist 103-108 (end)
2:19:20 – Metalica Metaluca 1-7

Awards

First Half 2010
Best Comedy
Best Drama
Best Action
Most Improved
Biggest Disappointment

Second Half 2010
Most Promising
Least Promising
Dark Horse

Series of the (half-)Year

We encourage you to let us know what you’ve thought of the first half of 2010. Leave a comment, email the Beamcast team, make your voice heard. We’d love to hear from you!

Share this with your friends! Convenient shortlink: http://wp.me/pJOZe-ta

Weekly Power Rankings – 6/13 – 6/19

June 26, 2010 Jean-Christian 1 comment

Categories: Power Rankings Tags: AR∀GO, Gintama, Metallica Metalluca, One Piece, The World God Only Knows, Toriko

Weekly Power Rankings – 6/6 – 6/12

June 19, 2010 Jean-Christian 2 comments

Weekly Power Rankings – 5/30 – 6/5

June 10, 2010 Jean-Christian Leave a comment

Categories: Power Rankings Tags: AR∀GO, Bakuman, Gintama, One Piece, Toriko

Oricon Manga Sales Rankings: First Half 2010

June 3, 2010 Jean-Christian Leave a comment

Oricon has released their figures for manga sales in Japan for the first half of 2010.

Top 10 Series – First Half 2010 (Dec. 7, 2009 – May 31, 2010)

Rank	Series	Volumes Sold	Magazine
1	One Piece	15,220,095	Shonen Jump
2	Naruto	4,178,597	Shonen Jump
3	Fairy Tail	3,616,942	Shonen Magazine
4	Fullmetal Alchemist	3,169,048	Shonen Gangan
5	Nodame Cantabile	3,029,300	Kiss
6	Bleach	2,626,932	Shonen Jump
7	Kimi ni Todoke	2,533,556	Bessatsu Margaret
8	Gintama	2,376,060	Shonen Jump
9	Katekyo Hitman Reborn!	2,083,508	Shonen Jump
10	Bakuman	1,574,448	Shonen Jump

The most notable series on the list is One Piece, which not only outsold the next best-selling series (Naruto) by a ludicrous amount, but within a half-year has already outsold its entire previous year’s worth of sales (14,721,241). Weekly Shonen Jump dominates the list, with the only shonen competition coming from Fairy Tail, which has seen a surge in sales thanks to its anime, and Fullmetal Alchemist. Bakuman is the most surprising entrant in this list; having sold this many copies with only eight volumes available to date, and with an anime adaptation coming this fall, it’s a series on the rise.

Top 25 Volumes – First Half 2010 (Dec. 7, 2009 – May 31, 2010)

Rank	Volume	Volumes Sold	Magazine
1	One Piece 57	2,305,594	Shonen Jump
2	One Piece 56	2,276,013	Shonen Jump
3	Fullmetal Alchemist 24	1,251,949	Shonen Gangan
4	Nodame Cantabile 23	1,223,488	Kiss
5	Fullmetal Alchemist 25	1,208,345	Shonen Gangan
6	Naruto 49	1,152,551	Shonen Jump
7	Naruto 50	1,119,029	Shonen Jump
8	Naruto 51	952,072	Shonen Jump
9	Kimi ni Todoke 10	939,831	Bessatsu Margaret
10	Hunter x Hunter 27	918,059	Shonen Jump
11	Nodame Cantabile 24	838,322	Kiss
12	Bleach 42	803,252	Shonen Jump
13	Neon Genesis Evangelion 12	771,680	Young Ace
14	Bleach 43	729,335	Shonen Jump
15	Bleach 44	716,829	Shonen Jump
16	Black Butler 8	612,185	Monthly GFantasy
17	Katekyo Hitman Reborn! 27	583,082	Shonen Jump
18	Detective Conan 67	566,216	Shonen Sunday
19	Katekyo Hitman Reborn! 28	554,355	Shonen Jump
20	Real 9	552,049	Young Jump
21	D.Gray-man 19	547,988	Jump SQ
22	Yotsuba&! 9	529,316	Dengeki Daioh
23	Ookiku Furikubatte 13	514,474	Afternoon
24	Vagabond 32	505,964	Weekly Morning
25	Gintama 32	487,694	Shonen Jump

Weekly Shonen Jump again controls the list, with 48% of the top 25. Of the top 25, 18 are shonen releases, and 12 of those (67%) are Shonen Jump titles. Surprisingly, despite Fairy Tail placing in the Top 10 Series chart for the same time period, no volumes of Fairy Tail or any other Shonen Magazine series placed in this list, while only one Shonen Sunday release did (Detective Conan 67).