Geek of Oz

Recently I had the absolute delight and pleasure in speaking with an incredibly prolific manga translator, William Flanagan. The translator of the Eisner nominated A Bride's Story , Clamp's  Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle , xxxHolic and my personal favourite series Fairy Tail among others. Without a doubt a prolific, if not legendary translator, Mr. Flanagan fills us in on what it takes to become a top quality translator and the step by step process of manga translation. So without further ado, follow on after the jump for what is without a doubt our most comprehensive interview to date!

Two months ago I reviewed the first collection of Fairy Tail on Blu Ray and a more glowing review I could never write. Thankfully the good people at Madman have already released the 2nd collection in no time and the 3rd is just around the corner! "In the Kingdom of Fiore, powerful wizards make their living by joining magical guilds and contracting out their services to become "wizards for hire." Harnessing the forces of Dragon Fire, Ice, Weaponry, and the Zodiac, four young wizards of the infamous guild Fairy Tail team up to seek their fortunes. Growing stronger with every mission, they travel the countryside helping people and battling rival guilds, but with personalities as different as their magic skills, this team may end up doing more damage than good."

Tegami Bachi ( テガミバチ ) is a strange beast. It is so far removed from the shonen stalwarts like Naruto, Bleach and One Piece, breathing some much needed vigour into what can at times become somewhat repetitive. Fairy Tail can be strikingly similar to  One Piece  and Naruto to Bleach . Tegami Bachi (Letter Bee), on the other hand, is like nothing I've ever read. "Gauche Suede is on his last delivery before a big promotion. In the outskirts of Yodaka, the darkest area of Amberground, Gauche is surprised to find that the package is a young boy named Lag Seeing. Lag had been traumatized by his mother's abduction and is due to be delivered to his aunt. In this remote area rife with Gaichuu, Lag and Gauche face a dangerous journey that inspires Lag to become a Letter Bee."

The anime voice over industry is a pretty tight one and many of the same names tend to pop up a fair bit. One such name is Todd Haberkorn, the voice of Takumi Nishijo in Chaos Head , , Italy in Hetalia , Android 19 in Dragon Ball Kai and Death the Kid and Natsu Dragneel in two of my new favourite new series Soul Eater and Fairy Tail. So, how did this man of mystery make it into the industry? How does he approach the role of a fire breathing wizard and what life changing event will occur if he makes it to 100 episodes? All of these questions and more will be answered after the jump!

I don't know what it is about the month of May that seems so underwhelming. Perhaps it has something to do with its placement. Its certainly not the beginning of the year but doesn't quite make it halfway. Plus, there aren't even any public holidays that spring to mind. It lacks certainty,  even its name makes it sound like a half baked effort; "I may!" Most noticeably, however, is the distinct lack of letters. What self respecting month has only 3 letters to its name? Sure, size isn't everything but I hear that November and December are much more popular with the ladies, April and June. Luckily for we anime geeks, Madman has a veritable swathe of anime being released to get us through the uncertainty, insecurity and undoubted self loathing that is the month of May. Find out what's on its way in May after the jump!

Fairy Tail is one of those series that isn't particularly well known here in Australia, but those who do know about it think it is brilliant. Hiro Mashima (Rave Master) writes and illustrates the manga series of the same name, a series that was the 4th best selling title in Japan last year, won the Kodansha Manga Award in the Shonen category in 2009 and was listed as the best shonen manga of 2008 by Deb Aoki of About.com . This series is without a doubt one of my favourite ongoing manga series but does the animated series live up to my expectations? Find out after the jump!

Released in 1997, One Piece has become a world wide phenomenon and I have finally realised why. In 14 years, I must sadly admit that I had not read a single volume or watched a single episode of One Piece. That is, until today. I have just finished the first volume of One Piece and the first thought I had when I closed the back cover was "yeah, I get it". I immediately understood why One Piece has sold more that two hundred and forty MILLION copies since its release making it the most popular manga series of all time. In fact, the English language copy that I read was the SEVENTEENTH printing from Viz. "As a child, Monkey D. Luffy dreamed of becoming the King of the Pirates. But his life changed when he accidentally gained the power to stretch like rubber - at the cost of never being able to swim again! Now Luffy, with the help of a motley collection of pirate wannabes, is setting off in search of the "One Piece," said to be the greatest treasure in the wor...