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Tuesday, 2008-11-25 1:09
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All times on this site are Pacific Time (UTC-8) unless noted otherwise
| Attention | Updates |
ATTENTION
 You know you want it!! |
UPDATES
| » Tuesday, 2008-11-25 OK, I want to get a few details out of the way. Rather than announcing anything new, I will start concentrating on the projects that should have been done by now. So if you've applied for a job or had a correspondence with me, then you may want to send it again so I'll see it. I may be in a hurry to get things done while I can, but I will do my best to make sure that we release with our usual quality in mind. Hopefully we'll have them in time to make your holidays a little less stressful. IZUMO 5 is the closest to release. For some reason I just can't get my head back into the game. *stares at pictures of girlfriend* Oh... That's why... On a personal level and to followup on the death of my life as a single guy, my girlfriend and I have been quite busy... Yeah... I wondered why I've been so tired lately, but then I realized that we do the "セフレ" thing on average of 3-5 times a week. But enough of those details. In short, I'm tired, but for damn good reason. セフレ = sefure, which is short for sex friend; take sekusu furendo, then shorten it. New Japanese slang word for ya. ;) Here's a percentage breakdown (will be done in order listed):
Of course, this is just to give you an idea where everything is. Don't count on anything until we actually release it for download. I'm wondering about Renketsu Houshiki and Hatsu Inu 2. Renketsu Vol. 2-3 are a huge drop in story quality compared to the first volume. If you didn't know already, Renketsu Houshiki does not have one main story. That cliffhanger at the end of Vol. 1 is where the story ends. Even in the manga, that's how it ends. Two and three are separate stories, SCHOOL and BLIND (which are not too good). As for Hatsu Inu 2, I'm really not liking where it's going. Some of the character designs seem like they've been changed just enough to look rather odd or just plain bad. Mita especially looks horrible. But for now I'm just going to concentrate on the above. Also, here are some things that may catch your attention. So far, we haven't broken even on the raffle yet, meaning that we will actually be losing money buying the prizes rather than gain more money for our projects. Hopefully that'll change once we get this push for releases done, but then the raffle will be over. Even then, people are going to be saving up for the holiday season. So it may have just been bad timing on my part with the worldwide economy shift and the holidays coming around. I'll try this again next year and see what happens. For now, I have extended the raffle one more week to December 5th since a lot of people will be doing things for Thanksgiving and Black Friday. (At least I will be.) Anyway, here are some dakimakura that we are now additionally offering in the grand prize tier to sweeten the raffle:
Also, in case you're interested, here are a few items that I have an interest in that have sprung up for pre-order. Unfortunately they won't be available for our prizes. The only chance of that is if we get more than $500 in the next couple of weeks, and I don't think that's going to happen. Some of them are even already out of pre-orders. (Stores can only allocate so many, so it may be on to eBay for some of you. And of course, these are the Japanese release dates. US distribution [usually AAA Anime] can take a month or two afterward to release stateside.) Pics are links.
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| » Wednesday, 2008-10-29 Whoa, where did the time go...? I have a few items here... Obviously our releases are at a standstill.... again.... really, again. I've got a lot to do right now. One of the most important changes that has happened to me is that I am no longer single. That's a lot of the reason why I've been kind of neglecting HEroAP stuff altogether in the past month or two. Sorry guys, but anything related to her comes first. (Wouldn't you do the same?) We are getting a little serious, where as before I didn't want to say anything since we were just getting started... But now things are taking off. (I mean, why watch when you can do all of it in real life? XP ) I got lucky in that she accepts the general otaku subculture (or at least puts up with it, LOL). But I haven't revealed the adult section of my collection as well as HEroAP to her just yet. That'll probably take me a while until she trusts me more than she already does. I would like to brag and post some pictures of her cuteness and of us together, but for privacy reasons I will not. I already have a few stories to tell, hehe. Well, I'll leave those for later. =) Anyhow, I am also extending the raffle deadline to the end of November. See the raffle page for more info. One of the reasons include the global economic turmoil that happened right as I introduced the contest. Figures, huh? I would guess that some of you are indirectly affected by it. I am in many respects. Another reason is that I have not been releasing so there haven't been many people coming to the site, hence not many people have even had the chance to donate. (And again thank you to those of you who have already.) A good side effect of that is that more prizes will be available to the winners. The problem is that we haven't even received enough donations to break even on this raffle, much less open up the prize tiers. If you double our current donations since the contest started, then we'll break even for just the grand prizes. That's how low it is... Ugh... Anyway, watch out in the next week or so for more prizes and general updates. So, to be honest, I just don't know what's going to happen. My guess is that I'll trip over the releases again, then the holidays will come around. (Busy for the rest of the staff too I'm sure...) However, many things are actually really close to release, but I've just been too much of a lazy-ass (and too busy wooing my dear girl) to progress at all. But of course, I haven't completely forgotten about all of you. I just can't get to it as of now... |
| » Tuesday, 2008-09-23 The domain and server transfer went off fairly well, but I'm beginning to see all the little things that make the service suck, especially for our staff. So, we will be moving again, but not for a while as I want to get things done. You've waited long enough I think. People will be happy to know that we are close to getting you IZUMO 5. When all the quality check steps are taken care of, I will release it. And, I am pleased to announce that we will indeed be holding a donor raffle!! Click the promo image below to get all the juicy details! And of course, you can begin right away should you choose. And of course, I must use the cliche and say for all of you to play responsibly. Some people just get really crazy when it comes to these things. If you'd like to help us in another way, then please post details of the contest to a bunch of forums, friends, and anywhere else you please. (And don't worry, I don't think most forums would count this as spam.) In fact, I am relinquishing image hotlink protection for that part of the site so you can post any picture from the raffle section for the duration of the contest. This is an adult anime-related site, so many of the prizes will be related, but there are many mainstream anime prizes available as well, especially for those of you who have people over on a regular basis and don't want any awkward situations, or for people who simply want something else.
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| » Sunday, 2008-09-07 We're currently in the process of transferring domains and servers. There shouldn't be any downtime in the process. However, look out for weird things like funny redirects and such. I am finishing up on a couple things for us, and I will release details on them soon. (Soon = 1-2 weeks perhaps) I want to get these things done and move on with HEroAP activities. And I'm really sure that all of you want the same thing too. |
| » Saturday, 2008-08-30 Well, to continue Lunarpages' "brilliant" service to me, they have decided that they can audit people's content on their servers whenever they feel like. Apparently they feel that anything stored on their servers is their property. And consequently, they suspect me of copyright infringement and gave me 48 hours to give them a notice permitting me to use that content. That was yesterday. I have since written them back but I'm guessing they won't get back to me until Monday at earliest, far past the 48 hours. Just watch, my account will be suspended anyway. And coincidentally they did this right after I paid them in full for the next year. Yeah, I know... Out of the blue they give me this notice, and then make it so I won't be able to contact them until after they've frozen my account. Yeah, that's not wrong at all... Should this occur, I will be unable to continue under their service as they will lock my account. I will then proceed to get a plan under a new company that doesn't add hidden clauses to a contract whenever they feel like it. There's been other problems too, so I've had it with them. Unfortunately that also means that this site will remain frozen until I can get new service to it and have the domain transferred, if I can even do that. So if you can read this, then please go to my "home base of operations". If you need assistance, please feel free to email heroap at gmail dot com or consult one of my many contacts and friends in different places. They'll probably tell you what to do. If you have a suggestion of where I may get a web service that does not invade the privacy of its customers, then please email me with those as well. And just to debunk any confusion, this is not a troll or joke like that April Fool's notice was. I'll try to keep this site updated, but if I cannot, please visit your independent anime BitTorrent haven and give Lunarpages the finger by downloading our future releases from there. If I do have to step down for a few weeks or months, then I will take this opportunity to thank you all very much. |
| » Monday, 2008-08-11 HEroAP State of Affairs Hey everyone. I hope that last entry didn't confuse too many of you. I know a lot of you have given up on us as our releases are at a standstill. The problem is the same that it's been: time. I think I'm getting to that point in my life where I just do not have the free time to do all the things that I want. I am an active person in a lot of other hobbies and social events so finding the time for HEroAP stuff is simply getting more difficult as time goes on. In fact, I am almost finished with three titles, but I never have the time to even get those out to you, much less my staff to get them done. I'm just having too much damn fun this summer, so I hope you all can understand that. Then again, I really want to do something for our anniversary as August is the month that we launched our website and first releases to the mass public. So if I manage to get a huge block of time, I will try to work on more releases. In terms of expanding our website and services, I just don't think I ever get to it. It would be great if I had a patsy to do a lot of the grunt work, but I don't have that luxury like other fansub groups. I'm still the core of this group. So, expect to see a lot of releases, or nothing at all. Hopefully and most likely the former. But to be frank, I'm not sure how much longer I can consistantly keep this group going over the next year. Free time is hard to find now since I have two part time jobs, classes, a social life, and many other hobbies that take up any extra time. To put it in an open way, this is work that I am not being paid for that takes up my time, and I am finding it increasingly difficult to make that work. Plus in another year I will be graduating and hopefully be on my way to Japan to work there. Who knows what'll happen after that begins. I'm just warning all of you that I may have to put this group on a long hiatus or if it does come to it, close HEroAP. (Hopefully not the latter). If I can get a good rally going like other groups, then I may be able to make this work, but that's being entirely optimistic. We'll just have to see what the future brings. So on that happy note... (It's going to get a little worse, just warning you.) You may have noticed that I have not added the new section on getting people to buy more domestic DVDs of adult anime. As of now I am officially giving up the effort. The market is simply dead and I expect all of the licensors to stop all distribution by next year. Perhaps one day when a distributor can actually market it correctly it'll come back, but I'm expecting all companies to eventually phase out their adult anime subsidiaries. AnimeOnDVD is now dead as its founder has given up. He stated that he can no longer keep the site going. It has since been bought by Mania Entertainment and is nothing more than a shadow to what it was. RIP AnimeOnDVD. But now some good news, at least to me. I am going to launch a few new things to the site in order to establish a rapport with more of the fans and experiment with that works and what doesn't. 1) BPS3 or "Bushido Philosopher's Secondhand and Surplus Store" I have my fair share of things that I don't need anymore. So, rather than tossing it out or selling it to a store at an obviously unfair price to me, I would like all of you to get the chance at it. You save money while I get a little bit of cash in the process. without all those eBay fees. The things I will be selling will range from everything from anime DVDs to computer parts. In fact, here's the page if you want to take a look! (Albeit, it's still incomplete.) 2) Drawing / Raffle Donations This is an experiment I would like to try. It's simple: you get chances to win via set increments of your donation (e.g. donating $20 will get you 4 tickets, and after say a month, I draw a winner. The winner will get to choose from a list of prizes ([adult] anime DVDs, figures, toys, goods, etc.) or perhaps even request something. So you get something more that you want for the price of your donation, and in return, I hopefully get a lot more money to pay off the HEroAP related bills and DVDs that we get. I'm still working out the details of it, but it's something I would like to try to see what response it gets us. Stay tuned for more details! Scroll down a bit to see what kind of figures I could order for the winner(s). 3) Direct downloads A lot of people beg for seeders for old torrents. So, I am (tentatively) willing to provide direct downloads to our website visitors. The catch is that they will be older releases, say six months old or longer. I'll start out with a few and then see how that goes. The biggest potential problem I can foresee is people leeching the hell out of it, running the server and my wallet into the ground. Another problem is that I will run the greater legal risk as it will physically be on the server instead of BitTorrent. I'll tell you all the details when I decide on the specifics. And of course, this is provided that I can keep HEroAP going. I want a lot of things for this site, but it may prove to be impossible. A lot of this depends on all of you as well. All those experimental things are sure to fail without your support. So here's hoping that we'll be able to press on into the next year... Some things around the site have received updates to them. I'm sure some of you will be excited to hear that there will a Hatsu Inu 2 coming at the end of September. In other news, I think I've developed a figure fetish in the past couple of months. (No, not in the creepy jacking off to it - stroking it like it's a real woman - etc. kind of way.) I started with one or two, but now the collection is slowly growing. (Damn all these anime companies, taking my money. LOL.) These are some that I have or are thinking of getting and it's figures like these that I will order for people in the drawings if that ever takes off. (Click pics for links and more pics.) I personally strive for quality not only in our fansubs, but for everything else as well. Believe it or not, the pictures don't do these figures justice. They're stunning in real life.
YouTube of VOCALOID Nendoroid figures. The Caramelldansen part (1:40) pwns the beginning. (After Miku falls, look out for the bandage in the back of her head when she turns around. LOL.) This one will explain the leek... kinda. VOCALOID is a singing syntheizer by YAMAHA that allows you to synthesize singing via lyrics and a melody. Hatsune is a mascot character for it. And if you're interested, someone made a 3-D holographic figure using one of those experimental holo pads. I would showcase more figures related to our releases like Hatsu Inu or IZUMO, but unfortunately there are none to be found. I don't think too many of you would necessarily want a fully nude figure being displayed and you would be a little uncomfortable looking at it 24/7. Plus, many of them are not up to par with mainstream figures, in my opinion anyway. Also, many of them are "cast-off" which means you can remove the clothing, sometimes ALL the clothing, and put it back on. But if you do want one anyway, then that could just be something that you can request rather than get something from the prize list. Then I could consider 2nd and 3rd prize things if it gets really popular. If you're already really excited for it, go ahead and drop me a line. Bye for now. |
| » Thursday, 2008-07-10 User: ************* Password: ****** HEroAP Admin login......... Success ENTER COMMAND COMMAND \\ Locate Bushido_Philosopher SYNC GPS......... Success TRACING................ .................................. ................. SUBJECT LOST........ RETRYING(1).... .................... SUBJECT LOST........ RETRYING(2).... .................... SUBJECT LOST........ RETRYING(3).... .................... UNABLE TO PINPOINT SUBJECT...\\\\ REQUEST DENIED....\\\\ LOGIN ENTRY ADDED TO BLACKLIST...\\\ LOGGING OUT......... Success INCOMING MESSAGE... STANDBY....... 04:02:04 PST Alpha Four report. DISCLOSED. Unable to locate subject Bushido_Philosopher. Presumed MIA. Confirmed no possibility of AWOL or KIA. Clues to *** presence are sparse. Projects cannot proceed without leader's presence. Will continue search and will report further with any developments. Separate projects "BPS3" & "Legacy Download" proceeding shortly. Time constraints proving challenging. Surge of project completion after leader's return. Recalibrate coding algorithm..... Success (con't) Message received from unknown source July-01 09:34:18 PST. Origin presumably from subject Bushido_Philosopher. Confirmed from localized coordinates. HEroAP authentication Hotel-Echo-Romeo-Oscar-Alpha-Papa Coding H-E-R-O-A-P believed to be authentic message as follows: "The fans are getting impatient. Izumo, Kafun Shoujo, Oshiete Re:Maid, and Cosplay Kissa were to be completed as of July. Speculation includes lack of funding, loss of interest, time constraints, staffing conflicts, logistical errors, and communication errors. Current estimated time to completion invalidated. Standby for project resurge. 'We will be back online soon. And we will be ready.'" -- Message End -- Transmission Closed........ ....... Ending session..... Success ENTER COMMAND COMMAND \\ Standby Logging out.... Success HEroAP
Ecchi Ero Anime Philosophy |
| » Thursday, 2008-06-05 *sigh* So many things this season: weddings, graduations, birthdays -- so therefore, projects are progressing... MUCH slower than I wanted. Maybe I should just shut up about release estimates altogether now. This is just ridiculous, and I'm sure many of you are getting tired of being let down. It's just that as soon as I finish something, something else comes on in to push my schedule back for HEroAP work. And of course I (still) do the bulk of the work, so everything just sits there in the meantime. So I'll have to ask for your continued patience, everyone. I must repeat myself like a broken record and say that while I do most of the work, no one from the outside steps up to help me. Even EROBEAT has staff problems, and they've been around three times longer than we have. They've never had a permanent translator in their history (according to their website). So I hope that more people will start stepping up and helping out in the more high profile jobs like translation. And for the rest of you, I hope you're not resentful toward any fansub groups, because they are providing a free service, some of them providing it extremely fast, and in the process they are taking a legal risk as piracy is a major concern among the respective production & marketing companies. OK, I've said my piece... So bottom line: it will take me a while to start cranking out projects again at the pace I want, and I'm sure that all of you want. I dream of the day where we can release something only a day or two after getting the DVD. That's all for HEroAP news... By the way, after June 12th, I might disappear for a long time. Just a fair warning... Seriously though I just know for a fact that I'll be incredibly absorbed in my PS3 once I get it. Not a good thing for our projects, eh? We'll just have to see how it all goes down. Information for my fellow MGS fans: Hideo Kojima will be visiting the Virgin MegaStore in Times Square, New York City for the midnight release of MGS4 to sign autographs. Details here. That place is going to be crazy. Hosting anything in a store in Times Square is nuts. Good luck to you New Yorkers, and for the fans crazy enough to travel for it. For the people in the Los Angeles area, Best Buy is hosting a midnight release with guests David Hayter (English voice actor of Solid Snake), Kenichiro Imaizumi (Producer), and Ryan Payton (Assistant Producer and Kojima's gopher-- I mean, friend.) Details here. I am in proximity to the LA area, but I really don't want to be there at midnight unless it's Kojima himself and Yoji Shinkawa or something. But I might go... depends on my mood. Further "sneaking" has found that there's a "World Tour" going on. The staff is going to various different places, including many parts of Europe. The unfortunate part is that the web site is mostly in Japanese, so not many people can figure out the details. Go to that site, and see if there's a signing in your area as the cities are in English. If you need the particulars, I'm willing to translate for you, so just shoot me an e-mail. Or you can Google it with something like "Metal Gear signing [your city]" and see if there's anything on it, especially if you prefer your home language. Hurry though, they've already made their way past a few countries. (Holy crap, Kojima-san is going to have one major case of jet lag.) |
| » Saturday, 2008-05-24 Finally done with finals and all that stuff. Right now I would like to announce that we are going make a huge push while I am available these next few precious weeks. I'm not exactly sure how much we'll be able to finish, but I am going to work at a faster pace than usual since we have fallen behind where I want to be. Now a little bit of bad news, or probably good for all of you. Unfortunately because of an oversight, EROBEAT has released Kafun Shoujo Chuuihou! allegedly without knowledge that we were subbing it. This is actually pretty embarrassing for me because our version should have been released by us over a month ago but things got away from me. The problem is that the other adult anime fansubbing teams out there don't keep up with updates like I do, so I have absolutely no idea what they're up to. Because of this, I will be prioritizing the project so that we can get our version out there as soon as possible. I was thinking of adjusting the release date so that we can release Vol. 2 simultaneously, but I think that's too far down the line as it would be released June 27th, with our sub coming out in July sometime. I honestly wouldn't blame you for getting their version. I've watched their version and it is quite pretty in every aspect. Major props to shocwave. If you're looking forward to our version, it should be out in another week or so. That said, we are canceling the beta project to ensure a prompt release time. Again, I apologize to all the beta testing candidates. (E-mails were sent out with an apology to all candidates who signed up for the beta.) I'll be doing more of them in the future though so stay tuned. That is the end of HEroAP-related news for the day. Anyway, following more Metal Gear news, since June 19th, there have been pre-orders on Konami.com for the Limited Edition bundle of MGS4. It includes a specially made gun metal PS3 unit plus a matching Dualshock 3. And you also get the limited edition version of the game which includes the game, a Blu-Ray documentary featuring interviews with Kojima, and the official soundtrack CD. The downside is that it's the 40GB version, so two fewer USB ports, and no backwards compatibility. More details on the page. If you do want that, I suggest going at all parts of the day to get one. Also keep in mind that they will only ship to US residents. (Sorry EU and Australia.) FYI, the Japanese version sold out a week after it was unveiled for pre-order. A lot of people will also be getting it to sell it later for a mad amount of cash. However, if you're like me, you don't like the new color and that it's the 40GB version. What I plan to do is get the 80GB bundle pack. That includes the 80GB version, meaning four USB ports and backwards compatibility. For an explanation of the differences between all the SKUs, go here. I believe that this bundle will go on sale on launch day, which is June 12, but not being available for pre-order before then. Of course, I can't truly know what SONY will do. (I don't think anyone can, hehe.) This bundle includes the piano black 80GB PS3, plus a DualShock 3 (new rumble-featured SKU), and the regular version of MGS4. What I plan to do is to get this bundle, then buy the Limited Edition of MGS4 separately. In the end, it will roughly be the price of the Limited Edition bundle, only I will get the better black 80GB PS3 unit. Then I can even turn around and sell the regular copy of MGS4 that's in the box to someone. |
| » Saturday, 2008-05-10 IZUMO Vol. 4 is now available via BitTorrent. Go to the download page and onward to the tracker page to get it. Certain donors have already been notified that there will be direct downloads available for them. I am not publicly revealing how much you have to donate to be able to get direct downloads from HEroAP. Quite frankly I'm not completely sure myself, I just designated a given amount. If you have donated a relatively fair amount in the past, please contact me to see if you are eligible for direct downloads as I may have missed you. I might test our server with public direct downloads; emphasis on might. I did some calculations and I think potentially we could offer direct downloads based on user traffic both on the site and our tracker, but it's probably going to be close. With a 10% overall increase of how much data is transferred on the tracker per month, we will barely fall under the monthly bandwidth limit under my hosting package. I must also consider that offering direct downloads is very dangerous from a legal standpoint. Fansubs are already illegal (and don't let anyone tell you otherwise with phrases like "grey area") but to offer the content on a server rather than via free user bandwidth is like waving a red flag in front of people. Another factor is that I know people will potentially abuse the server and whore the links to many different places on the internet. I have different plans on what I could potentially do such as only offer the link for a certain amount of time or to only offer older releases. I do not wish to use donor money for better service because it's already unfair enough that only a select few people are basically paying for the DVDs and over 30,000 downloaders per release. If there were a lot more donors (not necessarily more money) then I perhaps would reconsider. I'm also trying to look into a way to implement web seeding. It'll combine the server's bandwidth with the peers on BitTorrent so it'll be very fast, yet won't completely annihilate my bandwidth, especially with our older releases losing peers. If anyone knows how to implement it (not via rumor), then please contact me. Things are still quite busy however and I'm afraid it'll be awhile until I get things going to where I want them to be. I would like to get Kafun Shoujo Chuuihou!, Oshiete Re:Maid, and Hitozuma Cosplay Kissa 2 all out of the way, however, there are many other titles that are coming out that will probably take precedence over them such as the Accelerando/Stringendo crossover, Renketsu Houshiki 2nd, and maybe Sora no Iro, Mizu no Iro Vol. 2. (I may contact [yesy] for that one. They will do a better and faster job than I will.) I would like to put up a poll on here (as well as many other things) in order to ask all of you things such as which title you would like prioritized, but unfortunately the very few coders that have contacted me have been hard to work with. Some even disappear never to be seen again. It's actually very long and complicated to make a simple poll because of all the database and table variables you have to set. I'm far too busy and far too unwilling to start learning PHP or SQL. Again, I simply can't do all of this myself and I'm only willing to give so much time to HEroAP. Anyway, on to the countdown thing. (Removed from this entry on May 23.) It is the amount of time left until the launch of Metal Gear Solid 4. If this was the only game I could get in the next few years, this is the one. I could care the hell less about any other game on any other system this year. I want this damn game!! Roughly about a month left... You can only imagine my impatience. I'll be leaving this on until launch, so if you don't like MGS, then my first reaction would be "shame on you" and then I would apologize. But since that will be the time that I am getting my PS3 and all the games I have missed out on, adding to that all of my summer fun and extra work, I may be unavailable for HEroAP projects this whole summer. We'll just have to see how this all works out. |
| » Saturday, 2008-05-03 Hi everyone. Everything is being put on hold because of major things happening at work, campus, and other things. So I am putting all my energy into otherwise negligible things and even putting my own work on hold. These next couple of weeks will also be hectic for me because it's the last stretch before finals, and then of course the finals themselves will come. Then I will probably put more hours into my work because of that. IZUMO 4 and Kafun Shoujo are very close to release and beta respectively. I just need to get a bunch of stuff mentioned above out of the way. Then hopefully things will be easier when break sets in. (I say that, but being the realistic & pessimistic person that I am, I know something will make me take that back.) This should again be a reminder that if something happens to me, HEroAP will effectively be no more. I haven't had many people offer to help me with the more important jobs like web coding, translation, and other stuff, so I can only do what I can, when I can. If you're relatively new to this site and haven't looked at the staff page, then go ahead and look to see how much of the HEroAP's weight is put on me, and that's not even including things like answering e-mails and handling donations. So I don't want any complaining that we're so slow on releases. (Luckily I haven't had many bad e-mails like that in general, but I know that there's scum out there in forums and message boards.) Stay posted. Rest assured things are coming... |
| » Monday, 2008-04-14 Sorry for the delays. That flu I had really kicked my ass, and therefore all my work and stuff I have to do elsewhere has piled up. Busy, busy, busy! If you missed the last update, there's a lot there that you might want to look at. I mentioned that there were a few elements of truth to the April Fools' prank. The rest will have to wait until later as I'm still in the process of "making" those. All shall be revealed in time - I just need these setbacks to stop bombarding me. Meanwhile, here are some non-HEroAP related updates. (Or so it would seeeeem!! Mwhahah--!! *cough attack* Yeah, I still have a cough...) A few points of attention... I REALLY need to call attention to our staff requirements. The most urgent matter is getting an artist to make me some proofs for a logo. I know some of you know people on DevianArt or something. I may have to create one on my own eventually, but of course I'd much rather have a pro do it. That and I really need some good webmasters. I can only do so much on my own, and I would definitely like to expand this site. Even this update page is done manually (no UI or database). All jobs are on the staff page. The April Fools' joke was fun. Just so you know, I was originally thinking of doing a fake fansub, maybe something like a JAV video or some ecchi anime, but then after thinking about that, I decided not to. It was also fun to see all the reactions people were having with the impending demise of HEroAP, as well as take a look at all the relief that people were having after I revealed the joke. Some people were insightful enough to catch it joke right away, and some made it seem like their whole world fell apart. But everyone seemed to take it with good nature. But as I said, there was a good point to it. Should any entity try to take me down for real, I may have to pack up and shut our group down. And with that said, I am tentatively releasing a preview to a new initiative called "HEroAP AAPI". You may view a pre-release page here. It will be a new subsection of our site that will hopefully become like a Wiki or think tank to express ideas about how to preserve the adult anime industry outside of Japan. If you have any contributions, rebuttals, concerns, or anything else involving the subject matter, please e-mail me at heroap@gmail.com with "APPI" in the subject line. Anyway, speaking of April Fools', here are my favorite April Fools' jokes from the video game universe that I found very amusing: IGN's Legend of Zelda Movie Trailer Assassin's Solid!? That last one looked too good to be just an April Fool's joke. (LOL at Kojima at the end. HELL YEAH I LIKED IT!!) Wouldn't it be cool if Altair's clothing was an unlockable in the game? Anyway, some of you may want to know about the new reveal for all the MGS4 stuff that's coming out. Click here for all the details on the PlayStation blog. It's press release-ish. Points of interest include: - MGS4 Limited Edition details - Cover art revealed for both Standard and Limited Editions (Hi-res anyone? It's there on Flickr.) - A limited edition version of the PS3 console bundled with the MGS4 LE game, with a gun metal grey color scheme My reaction? *heavenly choir* Halleluyah, halleluyah, hallllllleeeeeluuuuuuuyaaaaahhhh!!! My only debate is the Limited Edition console bundle. I want the LE of the game, but I actually prefer the standard black system. Well, I'll just have to see. The box and bundle pictures haven't been released yet, and they still haven't mentioned a price. If they up it to like $800, then hell no. June 12th really cannot come soon enough... So why am I obsessing over MGS4 this much? Well, if you've played 1-3 then you wouldn't be asking that obviously. Think about it this way: imagine if Spielburg said that he was never going to be part of another movie ever again after this latest release. Imagine if Steve Jobs said that he was stepping down. Or The Simpsons stopped airing. I never got into the Grand Theft Auto, Halo, or Gran Turismo franchises (for various reasons, but I don't want to start a fanboy war, so I'll keep quiet). Releases will continue soon. Getting IZUMO Vol. 4 ready and already working on Vol. 5 as well. Then on to the new stuff! Because I am behind in our projects, I am now extending requests for the Kafun Shoujo Beta until April 20. Please read the last entry for requirements. |
| » Thursday, 2008-04-03 We're back!! There's A LOT of updates here. So many that I have to leave some out until later. Let's get started...! I would like to take this opportunity to inform all of you that the redirected page was all an elaborate sham - an April Fools' joke. Sorry to prank all of you, but like all things that I do, there was also a point to it. More on that below. Thank you very much to the people who actually bothered to contact me about it, including all the posts on Hongfire. It really put some things into perspective. Some were just great, some were actually a bit disturbing, and some were just confusing. I can't help but wonder how this might have gone down if it were real and it really did span over many weeks. If you somehow missed all the drama, click here to see what everything was about.
You simply have to be a smart shopper, especially when you're on a budget. Look out for thinpacks or full box sets of series to save more. They're usually released about a year after the first volume of the series is released depending on how long the series is. Go to places like AnimeOnDVD, AnimeNewsNetwork, or the official licensor sites (e.g. Bandai Entertainment). Now then, most of that is out of the way, but I will be saying more about those topics in a few days when I release a new initiative on our site. The following is all the little particulars of the prank, what was false, and what was true.
IZUMO Vol. 3 is now available!! Remember to pay attention to the download page before going to the tracker. I should give you the heads up that there are one or two scenes of rape and tentacles in these latter episodes, but they are there to advance the plot for the most part. The rest are just like how they've been in the first two episodes, maybe better with the tighter production techniques they use for the latter episodes. I am happy to report that we are going to green-light four, count 'em, FOUR new projects. And, I will most likely add on even more in the coming months if titles like the Accelerando/Stringendo crossover impresses me. That and we still have the second volume of Renketsu as well. Look at the projects page to see which ones will be translated as of now. I've already made the order at Himeya and they are on their way to me.   
Also, I am announcing another open beta for one of those projects: Kafun Shojo Chuuihou! (The Pollinic Girls Attack!). It will be very similar to the one that I did with IZUMO. Here are the particulars if you are interested: (please note that they have changed a bit since the IZUMO Beta back in December). The "Kafun Shojo Chuuihou!" Beta program is open to all who wish to participate (subject to approval). Upon approval of your participation, I shall give you a beta version of the episode's release. You will then watch it and give feedback to me on the various new features and tweaks that I will implement. You will then answer a questionnaire via e-mail about the beta release and comment on various aspects such as video and production quality, the new features, any problems you encounter, as well as other small things. When your participation is evaluated and confirmed, you will receive a gift for participating. If you have participated in the IZUMO Beta, I especially encourage you to also participate in this one. I had a lot of foul-ups last time, so I hope you understand that I must be cutthroat about certain things. I will talk about more issues in a couple days. Have fun out there guys! Last point of order: older entries have been moved to the news archive and will now be sorted by quarter. Follow the link below. |
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