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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS);faqs.156 --From posts by David Blume & Sea Wasp o WHAT DO ALL THESE ANIME ACRONYMS STAND FOR? GUNDAM: General purpose Utility, Non-Discontinuity, Augmentation Maneuvering VOTOMS: Vertical One-man Tank for Offensive Maneuvering MOSPEADA: Military Operation Soldier Protection Emergency Aviation Drive Aut GERWALK: Ground Effective Reinforcement of Winged Armament with Locomotive Knee joint o PLEASE TELL ME ABOUT JAPANESE HONORIFICS AND TERMS OF ADDRESS Here are the most common honorifics and terms of address. -sama Very respectful ending. Not normally used with someone's names. Used to people of superior status, like your boss, or to your guests as a host. Envelopes should be addressed with "-sama". A shopkeeper might call a customer "o-kyaku-sama" (Respected Mr. Customer). sensei A respectful term meaning "teacher", also used with physicians. Frequently used to refer to experts in a field or people in any respected occupation. Lawyers, master chefs, fashion designers, and even some manga artists are called "sensei". Sometimes used like an honorific with a name or title, as in "kouchou-sensei" (Mr. Principal, Sir). -san Usual term of respect. It can stand for Mr. and Ms., and is attached to either first or last names, and names of occupations like "o-mawari-san" (Mr. Policeman). You use it for strangers and people you don't know well, but are more or less the same social status. When in doubt, use "-san". However, never use "-san" with your own name or your family members' names. Also, it shouldn't be used to refer to famous people, since a small degree of intimacy is implied. High school girls are usually called "-san". sempai Somebody in the same general social class, but socially superior to you. "Sempai" can also be used as an honorific. Older students may be addressed respectfully as sempai, especially by girls. -kun Used by a socially superior male to a socially inferior male. Familiarly used among male students and boys who grew up together. Recently, some teachers call girl students and some bosses call office ladies with "-kun", but it's still considered a masculine suffix. High school boys are called "-kun". Girls go from "-chan" to "-san" in high school, but boys go through a period of "-kun" in between. - Calling someone by a family name alone is being very familiar (or rough). Calling someone by given name alone is less rough, but more familiar. Using no honorific when one is expected can be an expression of contempt. -chan Intimate form of address. Families that are close use it, and "-chan" is often used to, and by, very young children. Used with given names, abbreviations of given names, and nicknames, but not family names. Children who grow up together (like Madoka and Hikaru), may keep using "-chan" into adulthood. Note: to call a social superior "-chan" without reason is very insulting. Family terms are also common terms of address. (Note: One may sometimes identify a person by taking the listener's point of view, as when a man refers to himself as "father" to his children.) Referring to Addressing yours someone's yours (*) someone's grandfather sohu ojii-san ojii-san ojii-san grandmother sobo obaa-san obaa-san obaa-san uncle oji oji-san oji-san oji-san aunt oba oba-san oba-san oba-san elder brother ani onii-san (o)nii-san [Name]-san elder sister ane onee-san (o)nee-san [Name]-san These six forms of address occur a lot. Children call strangers by the above family member terms, depending on whether what type of relative they consider them old enuf to be. (A good example of this is a scene recently described in this newsgroup where a child addresses a question to a young woman as "oba-san", and she responds, referring to herself as "oNEE-san".) father chichi otou-san (o)tou-san/papa otou-san mother haha okaa-san (o)kaa-san/mama okaa-san younger brother otouto otouto-san [Name] [Name]-san younger sister imouto imouto-san [Name] [Name]-san daughter musume ojou-san [Name] [Name]-san son musuko musuko-san [Name] [Name]-san wife tsuma/kanai oku-san omae/[Name] oku-san husband shujin goshujin(-sama) anata goshujin(-sama) [Surname]-san Some ways of saying "you": otaku very polite sochira very polite anata polite, common (*) kimi informal masculine pronoun, common (*) omae very informal or rough (*) anta very informal or rough contraction temae very rough (Note: can also mean "I") onore very rough (Note: can also mean "I") kisama very rough Some ways of saying "I": watakushi very polite kochira very polite watashi polite, common (*) atakushi polite feminine contraction kotchi polite washi informal masculine contraction, used by old men atashi informal feminine contraction boku informal masculine pronoun, common, used by boys/young men (*) uchi informal feminine ore very informal or rough I've marked with a * the ones that come up frequently. Learning them will make watching unsubtitled anime more pleasant, but there's no need to memorize them, all at once. You may notice that the very rough words for "you" are often translated as curses. These are pronouns that insultingly imply the speaker's superiority. They come up often as fighting words. - From a posting by Theresa Martin o WHAT IS THE HISTORY BEHIND ROBOTECH AND IT'S COMPONENT SHOWS? Sherman, set the Way-Back machine to 1982, in Japan. It was then that a series by name of Super Dimension Fortress Macross first aired on Japanese television, a product of Tatsunoko. After Macross ended in 1983, Tokyo Movie Shinsha's Super Dimension Century Orguss took its place on the airwaves. Orguss shared some common creators with, and had a few in-joke references to Macross. Beyond that, there was no relation. When Orguss finished its run of episodes, another "Super Dimension" show took its place: Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross. This is also in 1983. Bear in mind that these "Super Dimension" shows had little in common save the title. They were not related in any way, save for the brief references in Orguss mentioned above. Megazone 23, one of the first OVAs (Original Video Animation), was released in 1984. It had the same character designer as Macross and Orguss, one Haruhiko Mikimoto. On television, a short-lived series by name of Genesis Climber Mospeada came and went. Theatrically, the Macross movie was released (its title, Macross: Oboete Imasuka has been translated as Macross: Love, Do You Remember? or Macross: Do You Remember Love). The Macross movie was more of a retelling of the Macross series, rather than a sequel. Let's wander over to North America. Sometime around mid- to late 1984, the rights to the Macross series were acquired by Harmony Gold. Originally, Macross was slated to be translated rather faithfully, and a TV-movie compilation of the first three episodes had been broadcast. However, the "golden number" for television syndication is 65 episodes - 13 weeks of daily weekday episodes. So, in order to pad out the series, Macross was reworked a little, Southern Cross and Mospeada were hastily adapted and tacked on to the end, and the 85-episode Robotech series was born, first aired in 1985. (An extra transition episode was created by editing footage from Macross and Southern Cross together.) Now things get a little murky. Sometime around 1985-1986, back in Japan, Shogakukan commissioned an English translation of the Macross movie, which was then titled Super Space Fortress Macross. Also, Megazone 23 Part II was released on video. In 1986, Macross Flashback: 2012, a 30-minute OAV, was released in Japan. This was 22 minutes of scenes from the Macross series and movie, as well as images from various Macross publications, edited to accompany music from the series, plus eight minutes of new animation, showing some footage previously cut from the movie, as well as a showing what happened to our heroes after the war. Back in the US, Harmony Gold was riding the crest of Robotech's popularity, and had started production on Robotech II: The Sentinels and a Robotech movie. Sentinels was to be a brand-new series of 65 episodes, written in North America and animated in Japan, for North American broadcast. For a variety of reasons, this was never completed, and as a consequence never released on television. The Robotech movie was a re-edited Megazone 23, combined with footage from Southern Cross, plus a 12-minute happy ending, comprised of new animation commissioned from Japan. The movie was barely released (a few test screenings and a showing at the Los Angeles Animation Celebration) before vanishing from the big screen altogether. Back to Japan: Megazone 23 Part II is translated to English with Japanese subtitles, for use as a Japanese teaching aid. The 12 minutes of new footage for the Robotech Movie is included on this video, which was released as Megazone 23 Part II: Foreign Edition. A quick hop back to North America - in 1987, Super Space Fortress Macross makes it to North American shores - minus 18 minutes of footage - as Clash of the Bionoids. In 1988, seventy-six minutes of completed footage from Sentinels was compiled and released on video. In 1992, Macross II - a sequel to the Macross movie - is released nearly simultaneously in Japan and the United States. --From a posting by Emru Townsend o HAS ANYONE SEEN THAT MUSIC VIDEO FROM THE GUNHED MOVIE? The industrial group Front Line Assembly uses footage from the live-action Gunhed movie in their video, "Mindphaser," which is available on their Tactical Neural Implant album. --From a posting by Roderick Lee <> Xref: bloom-picayune.mit.edu rec.arts.anime:44533 news.answers:3984 Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!micro-heart-of-gold.mit.edu!uw-beaver!cs.ubc.ca!destroyer!uunet!dziuxsolim.rutgers.edu!gandalf.rutgers.edu!pearl From: pearl@gandalf.rutgers.edu (Starbuck) Newsgroups: rec.arts.anime,news.answers Subject: rec.arts.anime: Anime Primer Keywords: monthly informative posting Message-ID: <Nov.11.15.45.50.1992.7572@gandalf.rutgers.edu> Date: 11 Nov 92 20:45:50 GMT Followup-To: rec.arts.anime Organization: the Worlds Welfare Work Association, Rutgers Anime division Lines: 471 Approved: news-answers-request@mit.edu Archive-name: anime/primer The Anime Primer or WHAT ANIME SHOULD I WATCH NOW? produced by rec.arts.anime gestalt (Edited by Bruce Carlson, comments/corrections/additions to 71021.3160@compuserve.com) last revised January, 1992 With corrections made March, 1992 (thanks to Enrique Conty & Steve Feldman) and May & July 1992 (by Steve Pearl) This is intended for those who are new to anime, and looking for some suggestions of what to watch next. Anime programs come in three flavors: TV shows, Movies, and Original Animation Video (OAV or OVA). The latter were made expressly for the home video market. In general, movies have the best animation quality, while TV shows use less motion, and OAVs vary widely between those. Entertainment value is where you find it. The vast majority of Japanese animation is only available in Japanese, of course (and as with everything else, much of it is crap). But, there is a lot of fan-subtitled anime out there. Naturally, these are mostly available as dubs from clubs and individuals, tho there are some commercial products available (later ...). Getting a subtitled film or a script is a necessity if you don't speak Japanese and want to actually understand a film. :) Most cities of even moderate size have an anime club somewhere. You might visit, write, or call. They probably meet periodically and view the latest stuff, and probably have a decent library. A good way to find your local club is pull a recent issue of Electronic Animation Velocity from the U-Texas FTP server and look thru the list in the back. Also, most Science Fiction conventions have an Anime program in a room someplace these days. Drop in and sample some stuff. Recommendations on Anime? Well, there's an awful lot of it, I haven't seen even a significant fraction, and tastes vary. I'll try to suggest a few of my personal favorites, and mention some shows that others seem to really like even if their merits escape me. So, with those caveats, some thoughts on what to see. APPLESEED: A police officer and her cyborg friend confront a conspiracy in paradise. An OAV based on the manga (comic book.) The video has nowhere near the depth of the comic, of course.. AKIRA, now available in English thru Streamline pictures or from local comic shops. Bikers and the Army battle over the mysterious mutant entity known as Akira in future Tokyo. Sharp animation but a muddled plot.. ANGEL'S EGG - Ethereal film with religious overtones, but neat animation. An American scifi film uses a lot of footage from this. ARION is a gripping tale of Olympian intrigue which sports terrific animation, nice characterization, and a score of mythological figures, though not exactly as the Greeks saw them. Many love it, some find it muddled. Nice score by Jo Hisaishi. Rousing ending with all manner of plot twists. AURA BATTLER DUNBINE (TV series, OAV series). Biological mecha (look like bugs) and parallel dimensions reign. Good plot, character development. Good mecha combat, but the designs are "unique", to say the least. BLACK MAGIC M66 - M66 the Robot Assassin gets loose from the military and heads after it's test program target: the inventor's daughter. Energetic news reporter bulls her way into story. Sort of like The TERMINATOR. Quick action / suspense a la The Terminator. Available with subtitles from US Renditions. BUBBLEGUM CRISIS is a series (not yet complete - 8 videos out so far) of OAVs set in Megatokyo 2032-?. A mix of rock & roll, cyberpunk, and girls with guns & body armor, it is currently a very popular series in the US. The plot does not seem to be the point. Best place to start would be episode 1, of course. After Episode 8 the title (and much staff) changes to BUBBLEGUM CRASH. BG Crisis & Crash are available with subtitles from AnimEigo. CAPTAIN HARLOCK. High romance in space as pirate Harlock wages a secret battle to free the earth from alien control. English "Vengeance of the Space Pirate" is almost MY YOUTH IN ARCADIA. Fan-subtitled versions exist. CATS EYE is an old TV series in which 3 young women run a cafe by day and steal back their father's art collection by night. CITY HUNTER is an action-adventure private eye with a powerful lust, and a flock of women to keep him frustrated. A long TV series and a movie (or two.). CREAM LEMON. Series of adult porn-comedy. Most popular is probably "Pop Chaser". DAGGER OF KAMUI, a sprawling ninja tale set in the 19th century, even manages to get to Alaska and California before the story ends. Surprisingly hypnotic, operatic, and textured. An English version, "Revenge of the Ninja Warrior", is almost the same film. DIRTY PAIR: a book trilogy, a TV series, an OAV series, and a movie revolve around this SF comedy of two cute female agents of the far-flung future. Code-named "Lovely Angels," the duo are better known as the "Dirty Pair" because whatever the problem, their cure is sure to be worse. Best bet would be the movie, a/k/a PROJECT E.D.E.N. DOMINION - Action-comedy SF OAV, rather silly at times, about the Tank Police in a very punk future. Based upon characters and situations created by Masamune Shirow. Now available subtitled from US Renditions. DRAGON'S HEAVEN. A French-Japanese co-production highly reminiscent of French comics, such as those of Jean "Moebius" Giraud, but also of manga. Unique drawing style embellishes tale of two battle robots and their centuries-old vendetta. The good robot has a sexy female pilot. FIRETRIPPER, LAUGHING TARGET, and MERMAID's FOREST are more serious works by Rumiko Takahashi (Lum, Ranma, Maison Ikkoku). In FIRE TRIPPER a young girl gets moved back in time to feudal Japan. LAUGHING TARGET is spooky horror with supernatural turns. Mermaid's Forest is about the strange experiments of some folks in a creepy old house on a hill seeking immortality. These are U.S. Manga Corps release schedule for a subtitled release. FIST OF THE NORTH STAR a/k/a HOKUTO NO KEN (TV series and movie). Very bloody post-apocalyptic martial arts sword & sorcery fantasy. CONAN meets THE ROAD WARRIOR starring Sylvester Stallone possessed by the spirit of Bruce Lee. ;) A heavy metal or professional wrestling fan's dream-come-true. The TV series is addictive. The movie has to be seen to be (dis-)believed. FIVE STAR STORIES (OAV based on first book of the manga by the same name). Although not authorized by Nagano, this video is animated beautifully, and features all the nifty characters, plot, and mecha from the manga. In a distant galaxy, some folks are bred & raised to run robots for the Empire. GALL FORCE is a series of (7?) SF OAVs about cute girls with guns and space ships. All the men of the race died in the everlasting war with the Evil Paranoids, and there's nothing left but sexy young women who reproduce by cloning. But, they have a plan... Part 1 licensed by US Manga Corp for subtitled distribution in US. GRAVE OF THE FIREFLY. A very sad tale of two kids trying to survive amid the wreckage of end-of-WW-II Japan. Fantastic animation, not often shown at groups because of the tear-jerk factor. It is only slightly less grim than watching The Sorrow and the Pity. GUNDAM. In several series: GUNDAM, SUPER-DEFORMED GUNDAM, ZETA- GUNDAM, ZZ-GUNDAM, GUNDAM 0080, 0083, etc. etc. *The* giant robot (mecha) series I guess. Try ZETA-GUNDAM (series) or CHAR'S COUNTERATTACK (movie) for mainstream action, or War in the Pocket (0080) as an nice self-contained side-story of 6 half-hour parts. ICZER-1. A three-part SF OAV involving hideous monsters from space, cute but lethal girls, and two giant robots. Meant to be taken only semi-seriously, but has some great slime-monsters that'll make your skin crawl. (Not to be confused with ICZER-3, the recent 6-part sequel.) KIKI'S / WITCH'S DELIVERY SERVICE is another Miyazaki story for kids of all ages, about a 13-year-old witch who sets out to make her way in the world. Lavishly animated. LAPUTA, Castle in the Sky, is a great fast-moving action adventure by children's film-maker Miyazaki, and features designs Jules Verne would approve (not to mention Swift.) Two kids flee pirates, the army, and other parties in a race to find the legendary Laputa. Great soundtrack, too. A Must See. (Dubbed to English by Streamline, but not available.) LEGEND OF GALACTIC HEROES is a far-future SF epic in which two vast space-faring governments, the Empire and the Federation, vie for supremacy amid the sea of stars. Against this backdrop two young heroes on the opposing sides wage war with each other and politics with their peers. In LOCKE THE SUPERMAN, an intergalactically famous superbeing lured out of voluntary seclusion helps save Earth from a group of elite ESPers bent on galactic conquest. The design sense is rather primitive but the story line is lean, exciting and propulsive, revolving around the title character, a powerful female ESPer, and an evil conclave. Admittedly, these are simple premises, but the action & storytelling are first-rate. LODOSS WAR. Current OAV series (to be 13 parts?) based exactly on D&D. A party of adventurers (the usual fighter, cleric, mage, dwarf, elf, and thief) wander about opposing evil orcs, wizards & dragons. LUPIN III is a semi-modern series of (TV & OAV) stories about a stylish thief with a heart of gold and his gang. My personal favorite installment is CASTLE CAGLIOSTRO (see Miyazaki, above), although PLOT OF THE FUMA CLAN is one of the most action-packed and entertaining anime around. Fan-subtitled versions exist. Most LUPIN III is not by Miyazaki, but by a fellow who calls himself "Monkey Punch" (I'm not making this up, you know). MACROSS: DO YOU REMEMBER LOVE is the feature-film version of the Sci-Fi MACROSS TV Series (part of the ROBOTECH saga in the US), but much better drawn than the TV show. A reasonable SF entry. Fan-subtitled versions exist. Minmei sings a lot. (Note: Although MACROSS is ROBOTECH, this is NOT the "RoboTech Movie.") MAISON IKKOKU - A delightful contemporary romantic comedy about odd assortment of people sharing an apartment complex. From Rumiko Takahashi. Fan-subtitled versions exist, thanks to Arctic Animation. MANIE MANIE: LABYRINTH TALES - an "artsy" film like ROBOT CARNIVAL. It has three segments, one of which - "Order to Cease Construction" - is by Katsuhiro (AKIRA) Otomo. MEGAZONE 23. SF. A bunch of bikers, a sentient world-controlling computer disguised as a rock singing idol, giant robots, and a rock soundtrack propel this popular story of folks entirely unaware they inhabit a giant space ship. In 3 parts (except part 3 is in two sub- chapters). Part 2 is in available in English as well as Japanese. (It's Megazone Two-Three by the way, not "Twenty Three".) MIDNIGHT EYE GOKU. Futuristic detective fantasy. Private investigator Goku has a computerized eye that can interface with any electric device at will, as well as an expandable baton that enables him to skewer adversaries and vault across skyscrapers. Stylish animation with soft-core sex and bondage motifs. NADIA (SECRET OF BLUE WATER). Recent TV series in 39 parts. Starts as a Miyazaki-clone light action-adventure about a girl with a mysterious past and a fantastic amulet, "Blue Water", and the young boy who takes off with her. Gets silly for long stretches, ends with a bang. A 6-hour compilation of the TV series is titled "Nadia: The Nautilus Adventure". A new Nadia Movie is just released & not well reviewed. This series is being made available in dubbed format from Streamline Pictures. NAUSICAA OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND is probably Miyazaki's most popular film - a sort of post-apocalypse mystic eco-fantasy, more notable for plot, character, music and designs than the smoothness of animation. Excellent Jo Hisaishi soundtrack, too. Based on the comic (manga) of the same title. A classic. ORANGE ROAD. A TV series, many OAVs, and a movie. Contemporary high school students work out their love triangles and try to grow up, even though one has ESP "powers". A kindly, comic look at the youth experience, relatively easy to understand. Recommended. Fan-subtitled versions of it all exist, courtesy of Arctic Animation. AnimEigo is releasing the OAVs and Movie in subtitled format. OUTLANDERS. Cute but vicious space invader Kahm picks up a human pet, then tries to help him save Earth from even nastier daddy. SF/Fantasy from Manabe. PATLABOR - near-future police use mecha to combat criminals who use "labors" (mecha). Light action/comedy. The movie is more serious, and IMHO is a surprisingly neat action mystery if you can understand the dialog to follow the plot twists.. PROJECT A-KO (the 1st film). Spoof of just about every anime series, about three school-girls with super-powers and mecha and bad cooking. Very, very funny, or very very silly, depending on if you get the jokes. Several sequels. #1 available from US Manga Corp. RANMA 1/2. Current comedy about a boy with a curse that turns him into a girl whenever s/he gets wet. (Could be worse - his dad gets turned into a Panda, and I won't even mention the little piglet or the cat.). More slapstick from Rumiko Takahashi. Fan-subtitled versions of some episodes exist. ROBOT CARNIVAL. 8 separate short pieces by different artists, some serious, some comedy, almost all very well done. All involve a robot somewhere - some more than others. Some comedy, some pathos. Artsy. Streamline dub versions exist (only 2 segments had dialog, anyway.) SUPERNATURAL BEAST CITY. Definitely for adults. Demon terrorists resist treaty to separate demons & mankind. Stylishly drawn. SOL BIANCA. Scifi OAV series about five sophisticated (?) pirate women and their alien spaceship. Sort of like a cross between BUBBLEGUM CRISIS (from the same studio, Artmic) and BLAKE'S 7. Nice mecha design. SPACE CRUISER YAMATO, the SF TV series that turned into STAR BLAZERS in North America. Also has several movies (YAMATO, BE FOREVER YAMATO, ARRIVIDERCI YAMATO, THE NEW VOYAGES, FINAL YAMATO.). TIME STRANGER is an involving variation on THE TERMINATOR, with slight nods of the head towards TIME BANDITS. The animation is very good and the story, complex. Feudal Japan is depicted nicely and in detail, as is the far future. Great plot complications throughout. TOTORO, MY NEIGHBOR. Miyazaki's most gentle film is about two kids who meet an odd-looking forest-spirit (Totoro) in their new rural neighborhood. In part a celebration of Japan's countryside, with a touch of pure magic. TWILIGHT OF THE COCKROACHES. A mixture of live action and animation in which a man becomes friends with the tiny inhabitants who share his apartment, until The Woman arrives. Funny. Available from Streamline Pictures in dubbed (videotape) or subtitled (laserdisc) versions. YOTODEN, Legend of the Mysterious Sword, is an historical sword & sorcery saga in 16th century Japan, with a trio of Ninja opposing the despot and his demon minions; (or is the despot the minion of the demons?) 3 parts. Crisp action. YOMA is another historical demon vs ninja tale, but is not on as grand a scale as Yotoden. Suppose your brother was possessed and out to kill you? Told in 2 parts. URUSEI YATSURA (translates as something like "Those Obnoxious Aliens", I'm told), a slap-stick screwball comedy about Lum, the flying electro-demon girl from space, Ataru, the earth boy she wants, and a host of other crazy characters. Popular madness in TV, OAV, and movie formats by Rumiko Takahashi. This entire series is planned for release in subtitled format by AnimEigo VAMPIRE HUNTER 'D'. Mutants roam the countryside, and a vampire has set up shop in the castle. A bite victim sends for 'D' to save her. D's a strange one indeed. Horrors. Available dubbed from Streamline Pictures. VAMPIRE PRINCESS MIYU. A supernatural horror series about a contemporary "vampire" who stalks wayward demons (Shinma) loose on Earth and sends them back to Darkness, while pursued by a persistent exorcist not as enthused about unlife as Miyu. Quiet, moody brooding chiller, hopeless to follow without understanding the dialog. Available subtitled from AnimEigo. Recommended. WINDARIA is a lovely fantasy story of two kingdoms at war, and how that disturbs two pairs of lovers - one peasant, one royal. A tragedy. Well worth the watch, IMHO. Nice music, too. WINGS OF HONNEAMISE. SF. Man's first trip into space, from the fictional nation of Honneamise, explores issues of morality, bravery, and dedication to a cause in first-rate animation. Some find it slow, though. As I said, tastes vary, and if you ask someone else you'd probably get a different set of shows. But, maybe that'll help a little bit. And, I've certainly not mentioned a lot of shows. (In particular I left out any shows that aren't widely available - like TV series not available on video. (The existence of fan- subtitling efforts not only means you might find a version you can understand, it also implies that somebody somewhere liked it enough to go to the trouble of translating and subtitling it. I don't claim to be aware of all fan-subtitling - or even a noticeable percentage.) Oh, there are some commercially available, legally licensed anime. In fact, there's quite an explosion of it this year, and it's getting hard to keep track (this list was 4 titles long last year, and empty the year before.)