Anime Expo 2013

Anime Sols

The panel for classic anime streaming and crowdfunding website Anime Sols started with a small crowd on Sunday. Founder Sam Pinansky led the discussion covering the site's current offerings and structure.

Pinansky: How many people here know what Anime Sols is? (hands) So..maybe 25%? Hopefully by the end of this you'll know more about it. What you can do is watch streaming anime and fund box sets. We focus on classic anime and try to get support from you, fans, and get funds for DVD sets for official releases.

[Website pulled up]

Pinansky:All you have to do is sign up. All you have to do register for free on the website, the next thing you do is watch anime. It's streaming, it's fast, and it's good quality. The last thing you can do is if you really like a show you can pledge funds for the anime. It's a really simple site, the sets are listed sort of like Kickstarter. We upload new episodes every day from the seven companies involved with us. Our site works on Windows, Mac Linus, iOS, and Android. You don't have to have flash and you can use it on anything that can access internet.

Every anime has a support goal for 13-episode sets. You can choose what support you like to pledge for from getting a sticker, to box sets with amazing cool stuff that PR found in a closet. No, really found in a closet. You aren't changed unless the goal is met.

What we have on thes ite is awesome shows. A lot are classic shows that have had almost no exposure before. We're really proud that we're bringing good solid localization that had never been fansubbed. This is the two shows from Tatsunoko Pro: Yatterman and Tekkaman.

Yatterman is just hilarious, I have a clip that I can show you.

[Yatterman clip shown]

Pinansky: It's filled with parodies and Japanese stars from the time. Yatterman's goal deadline is July 16. We need to raise the funds before a certain time. If you'e really fan please come on to Anime Sols and pledge for it. Next up is Tekkaman. Most of you probably aren't old enough to remember when this was dubbed on American television as Space Knight. It was back on American TV back in the early days. We have the original and for th first time ever available with accurate subtitles and no silly voice overs. Here's a clip

[Tekkaman clip]

Pinansky: Next up, we have two shows from Tezuka Productions. THe first is a show on the left called Aoi Blink. It's one of the little known works from Tezuka and one of the last works Tezuka was invovled in himself. It's based on a Russian ballet which in turn is based on a Russian tale. It has a lot of whimsy and fantasy that puts a smile on viewers' faces. This is from the beginning of an episode.

[Blue Blink clip]

Pinansky: In this particular episode the evil Count Ivory built a giant tower and engulfs the town in eternal darkness. The hero finds a way to solve the problem by lifting the town out of the ground with giant balloons.

Next from Tezuka Pro we have something special. Produced from 1978-1984 there was a series of television movie specials made for Nippon TV telethon that they still have every school year. The theme is "Love will save you" and for six years Tezuka produced a 90-minute movie using Tezuka's characters. We have the first three on our site. Basically these are actually incredible interesting art pieces that anyone interested in the history of animation should check out.

The first is Bander Book which I assure you is something you'll never see in any other context.

Pinansky: There you have it, Black Jack as a space pirate fighting with a sword. The movies have varying art styles from classic animation to more modern art styles. From Pierrot we have Cream Mami, one of the most influential magical girl shows before Sailor Moon. She doesn't fight bad guys with her magical powers but she becomes an idol. Let's check out Creamy Mami.

[Creamy Mami clip]

Pinansky: One of the things that's interesting, is the idea of using repeating animation sequences wasn't invented yet. In Creamy Mami, most are done differently each time in different contexts. Next up from Pierrot is Tobikage. This is another one that had an English dub back in the day but it was only in Austraila and Asia but it was cancelled. For the first time ever, we're bringing the direct translation. It combines robots, ninjas, and ninjas fight robots. I'll play the opening first.

[Tobikage clip]

Pinansky: Finally, from Yomiuri Television is New Yatterman. This is the brand new version of Yatterman and you can watch both on the set. It's interesting to see how TV standards have changed since the early 80s. Man, we used to get away with so much more. Finally, the last show we have is Black Jack television. It has a number of OVA series and movies but this is the only television series and it follows the manga pretty closely. I have a clip from Black Jack to show you.

[Black Jack clip]

Pinansky: So those are all the shows we have on Anime Sols and they all have goals for DVD box sets. We also have an announcement to make at this panel. We've been running a contest and anyone who came to our site today was eligible. We were giving away a free trip to Japan to go to Tezuka Studios and other places. We chose a winner by picking a number from registration, and it's Rebecca Silverman! A huge Creamy Mami fan and a reviewer on Anime News Network.

The panel then broke for Q&A and a small prize giveaway.

Pinansky elaborated that Kickstarter requires a U.S. base to run a campaign and that would hinder AnimeSols from going onto Kickstarter. He also stated the Tatsunoko Productions deal with Sentai Filmworks will not interfere with series on AnimeSols, as the deal as been in the works for some time and shows offered on AnimeSols are not a part of Sentai Filmworks' deal.