[Siegel Clyne]

Because of the great success of the Suigintou no Koyoi mo Ennu~i (Suigintou's It's Ennui Again, Tonight) Radio CD - in which popular character Suigintou (Tanaka Rie) serves as the radio host - that was put on the market in conjunction with the Rozen Maiden Ouverture television animation DVD, production of a second volume had been decided.

The Suigintou no Koyoi mo Ennu~i Radio CD Vol. 2 is slated to be released on June 27, 2007.

Rozen Maiden Web Radio Bara no Kaori no Garden Party Bangai-Hen Suigintou no Koyoi mo Ennu~i Vol. 2 Radio CD

Amazon Japan Link

CD Japan Link

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Rozen Maiden: Ouverture - Anime - Fansub TV

Rie Tanaka has a knack for delivering memorable lines spoken by characters she plays, such as Chii's (Chi's) cute, adorable "pantsu pantsu" ("panties panties") in episode 4 of Chobits, Koyomi (Yomi) Mizuhara's tough, aggressive "Double chop!" in episode 4 of Azumanga Daioh, and Eriko Futami's sweet, gentle "I love you, darling" in the KimiKiss love simulation game.

Rie Tanaka excels at spewing invective, mockery, condenscension, anger, and hatred: 1) Bianchi's "Poison Cooking!" in Katekyo Hitman REBORN!"; 2) Tomoe Marguerite's "gomikuzu" ("trash") in episode 15 of My-Otome; 3) Tomoe Marguerite's "Matte!!!" ("Wait!!!") in episode 25 of My-Otome; 4) Suigintou's "Nyuusankin totteru(u)?" ("Are you taking your lactic acid bacteria?") in episode 8 of Rozen Maiden; 5) Suigintou's "Shinku!!" in episode 2 of Rozen Maiden Ouvertüre; 6) Suigintou's "Junk ni shite ageru(wa)!!" ("I'll turn you into junk!!") in Rozen Maiden overall; and so on.

No voice actress plays mean, spiteful bitches (e.g., Isabella in Soukou no Strain) and evil, if not crazy, villains (e.g., Morganna Mode Gone in .hack//SIGN, Suigintou in Rozen Maiden, Tomoe Marguerite in My-Otome) better than Rie Tanaka.

This is the same Rie Tanaka who voices such sweet, kind, gentle characters like Maria in Hayate no Gotoku! (Hayate the Combat Butler), Mariel in Hanaukyou Maid-tai (Hanaukyo Maid Team), Mary in Soukou no Strain, Hikari Kujou (Shiny Luminous) in Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart, Ren Mikihara in Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu, and Lacus Clyne in Gundam SEED / Gundam SEED DESTINY.

(Well, some people - inside and outside Japan - think that the last character is really evil.)

Among anime fans in Japan and elsewhere, Rie Tanaka has become inextricably linked with Suigintou's famous trademark lines, "Nyuusankin totteru(u)?" ("Are you taking lactic acid bacteria?") and "Junk ni shite ageru(wa)!!" ("I'll turn you into junk!!").

For example, because of Rie Tanaka's delivery of the line "Nyuusankin totteruu?" ("Are you taking your lactic acid bacteria?") as Suigintou in episode 8 of Rozen Maiden back in late 2004 - a line which Japanese fans say originated in the anime, not in the manga - Japanese (and non-Japanese) fans now commonly associate Suigintou with Yakult, a popular Japanese drink containing lactic acid bacilli (bacteria) reputed to have health benefits.

A couple of weeks ago in an anime character thread for Maria from Hayate no Gotoku! (Hayate the Combat Butler) at Japan's 2ch forums, or message boards - probably the largest in the world - a Japanese poster wished Rie Tanaka's sweet, kind, gentle Maria would shout, "Junk ni shite ageruwa!!" ("I'll turn you into junk!!").

Going by hundreds - if not thousands - of posts at Japanese forums and message boards the past two and a half years, a lot of Japanese fans wish Maria and other Rie Tanaka characters would yell, "Junk ni shite ageruwa!!"

<<Animation DVD Sales Rankings and Figures in Japan>>

Japanese fans can obtain sales rankings and scanned sales figures of DVDs from Oricon, Japan's counterpart of the US's Nielsen, through various channels, such as websites (e.g., ORICON STYLE, goo), ORICON STYLE magazine, maybe once in a while a magazine like Animedia ... and Japan's huge 2ch forums, probably the world's largest.

One or more reliable sources at 2ch regularly or semi-regularly post sales rankings and sales numbers of animation DVDs, Japanese and non-Japanese, based on data from Oricon.

A reliable source who posts daily on animation DVD sales [in Japan] threads at 2ch, on more than one occasion, has described in detail how and where he (I am assuming that it is a he) obtains his facts and figures concerning scanned DVD sales from Oricon. Others are free to verify his usually very thorough information. He mentioned, among other things, subscribing to one or more services from Oricon. He is considered a "god" of animation DVD sales information by fellow 2ch posters, who ruthlessly root out fakes who post phony information, a common occurrence on 2ch's anonymous message boards.

Big Japanese companies like NAMCO BANDAI Holdings Inc. and TOEI ANIMATION CO., LTD publish annual character sales figures and annual copyright income sales figures, respectively, on their official websites.

I have posted links to, and scans of, Namco Bandai character sales figures and Toei Animation copyright income sales figures in numerous posts on other English language forums. Due to ANN policy, I cannot post links to many of these posts. But you can still search for them on Google, etc.

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Top 10 Animation (Anime) Series DVD Sales Figures Ranking in Japan For 2005 - Oricon Examination, Animedia Magazine, February 2006

01. Kidou Senshi Gundam SEED DESTINY (Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY)
[Volumes 1-10]
645,512 Copies Sold
[64,551 Copies Sold Per Volume]

02. AIR
[Volumes 1-6 + SUMMER + MEMORIES]
174,299 Copies Sold
[21,787 Copies Sold Per Volume]

03. Initial D Fourth Stage
146,024 Copies Sold

04. BLEACH
[BLEACH Soul Society Shinigami Daikou-hen Volumes 1-5, BLEACH Soul Society Sennyuu-hen Volumes 1-5]
126,429 Copies Sold
[12,643 Copies Sold Per Volume]

05. Mahou Sensei Negima! [Negima]
[Volumes 1-6]
103,661 Copies Sold
[17,277 Copies Sold Per Volume]

06. Dragon Ball Z
[Volumes 1-6]
99,576 Copies Sold
[16,596 Copies Sold Per Volume]

07. Mai-HiME (My-HiME)
[Volumes 1-9]
98,025 Copies Sold
[10,892 Copies Sold Per Volume]

08. Koukaku Kidoutai STAND ALONE COMPLEX (Ghost in the Shell S.A.C.)
88,865 Copies Sold

09. Keroro Gunsou (Sergeant Frog)
85,077 Copies Sold

10. Aa! Megamisama! (Ah! My Goddess) [Volumes 1-8]
78,681 Copies Sold
[9,835 Copies Sold Per Volume]

Studio Ghibli and Disney animation DVD sales are excluded.

(American television animation series usually fail to sell on DVD in Japan.)

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Top 20 Television Animation (Anime) DVD Sales Figures Ranking in Japan for 2006

Television Animation DVD Sales Figures Ranking in 2006 (2006/01/02 - 2006/12/04 {January 2, 2006 - December 4, 2006})

01. DRAGON BALL Z
(Volumes 7-39)
568,216 Copies Sold
[17,219 Copies Sold Per Volume]

02. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY
(Volumes 11-13, Special Edition Volumes 1-3)
339,610 Copies Sold
[56,602 Copies Sold Per Volume]

03. Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya)
(Limited Edition Volumes 00-5, Regular Edition Volumes 2, 4)
225,293 Copies Sold
[37,549 Copies Sold Per Volume]

04. Fate/stay night
(Volumes 1-7 + Volume 8 Limited Edition)
194,973 Copies Sold
[24,372 Copies Sold Per Volume]

05. BLEACH
(BLEACH Soul Society Kyuushutsu-hen Volumes 1-5, BLEACH Baunt-hen {Bount-hen} Volumes 1-6)
108,181 Copies Sold
[9,835 Copies Sold Per Volume]

06. ARIA
(ARIA The ANIMATION Volumes 1-6, ARIA The NATURAL Volumes 1-5)
100,334 Copies Sold
[9,121 Copies Sold Per Volume]

07. NANA
(Volumes 1-5)
88,456 Copies Sold
[17,691 Copies Sold Per Volume]
Note: NANA Volume 1 sold around 60,000 copies; for nearly three months after its release in Japan, the retail price was only 707 yen (less than US$7), presumably after the number of the apartment the two Nana's co-rented, 707 (Nana-Zero-Nana in Japanese).

08. Shakugan no Shana
(Volumes 1-8)
81,011 Copies Sold
[10,126 Copies Sold Per Volume]

09. Mai-OtoHiME (Mai-Otome; My-Otome; Mai-ZHiME; My-ZHiME)
(Volumes 1-9)
78,017 Copies Sold
[8,669 Copies Sold Per Volume]

10. Gintama
(Volumes 1-5)
76,528 Copies Sold
[15,306 Copies Sold Per Volume]

11. BLOOD+
(Volumes 1-12)
72,221 Copies Sold
6,018 Copies Sold Per Volume

12. Initial D Fourth Stage
(Volumes 10-12)
66,627 Copies Sold
[22,209 Copies Sold Per Volume]

13. Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's (Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's)
(Volumes 1-6)
64,903 Copies Sold
[10,817 Copies Sold Per Volume]

14. Eureka 7
(Regular Edition Volumes 6-13, UMD Volumes 8-13)
60,631 Copies Sold
[7,579 Copies Sold Per Volume]

15. Rozen Maiden Träumend
(Volumes 1-6)
55,712 Copies Sold
[9,285 Copies Sold Per Volume]

16. Keroro Gunsou (Sergeant Frog)
(2nd Season Volumes 4-13, 3rd Season Volumes 1-2)
54,762 Copies Sold
[4,564 Copies Sold Per Volume]

17. Hachimitsu to Clover (Honey and Clover)
(Volumes 5-9, II Volumes 1-2)
54,116 Copies Sold
[7,731 Copies Sold Per Volume]

18. SHUFFLE!
(Volumes 3-12)
53,263 Copies Sold
[5,326 Copies Sold Per Volume]

19. Pani Poni Dash!
(Volumes 2-7)
48,038 Copies Sold
[8,006 Copies Sold Per Volume]

20. Mushishi
(Volumes 1-5)
46,830 Copies Sold
[9,366 Copies Sold Per Volume]

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Animation Titles on the Top 100 DVD Bestsellers List in Japan During 2006 (Oricon)

2006 DVD TOP 100
(Aggregate Period: 2005/12/05 - 2006/12/18)

Ranking | Estimated Cumulative Sales | Highest Ranking During Period | Title | Release Date

**5 | 483,556 | *2 | Howl's Moving Castle | 2005/11/16

*13 | 283,424 | *1 | Cars | 2006/11/08

*26 | 155,179 | *3 | Chicken Little | 2006/04/28

*27 | 150,753 | *2 | Tim Burton's Corpse Bride | 2006/03/03

*29 | 145,595 | *1 | Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam II -Koibitotachi- | 2006/02/24

*31 | 139,873 | *1 | Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam III -Hoshi no Kodou wa Ai- | 2006/08/25

*35 | 130,709 | *4 | Madagascar Special Edition | 2005/12/02

*41 | 120,189 | 16 | My Neighbor Totoro | 2001/09/28

*51 | 105,067 | *3 | Madagascar Premium Edition with "Penguin Christmas Caper" Disc | 2005/12/02

*52 | 103,624 | *5 | Robots Special Edition | 2005/12/16

*60 | *95,544 | *2 | Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY Vol. 13 | 2006/02/24

*64 | *90,079 | *2 | Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa [Perfect Limited Edition] | 2006/01/25

*70 | *81,840 | *4 | Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa | 2006/01/25

*76 | *78,699 | *1 | The Little Mermaid Platinum Edition | 2006/10/04

*82 | *74,745 | *4 | Arashi no Yoru ni Standard Edition | 2006/06/23

*92 | *68,828 | *2 | Brave Story (1-Disc Set) | 2006/11/23

*95 | *67,052 | *4 | Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY Vol. 11 | 2005/12/23

*99 | *64,745 | *3 | Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY Vol. 12 | 2006/01/27

100 | *64,059 | *4 | The Little Mermaid | 2006/10/04

Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny was the only television animation series to have single DVDs crack the list of the top 100 bestselling DVDs in Japan during 2006.

The regular edition of Howl's Moving Castle (Howl no Ugoku Shiro) sold something like nearly 800,000 copies during its first two weeks of release in Japan back during late 2005, which do not count in DVD sales figures in Japan during 2006. According to the ORICON STYLE website, the regular edition of Howl's Moving Castle sold 708,000 copies alone during its first week of release in Japan.

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Oricon DVD sales figures in Japan for the week of Monday, January 29, 2007 to Sunday, February 4, 2007 show that:

1) My Neighbor Totoro (Tonari no Totoro), from director Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli (September 28, 2001 release), sold 1,385 copies during the week - for a total of 703,816 copies sold.

2) Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi), from director Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli (July 19, 2002 release), sold 1,272 copies during the week - for a total of 2,276,909 copies sold.

Spirited Away is, by a substantial margin, the bestselling DVD in Japan ever.

According to Video Research Ltd.'s Top 30 Most Watched Television Programs During 2003 in the Kantou Region of Japan (Tokyo, Yokohama, Kawasaki, Saitama, Chiba, etc.), the television broadcast debut of Spirited Away on NTV (Nippon Television Network), Friday, January 24, 2003, 20:30-23:09 (8:30pm-11:09pm), finished at No. 1, scoring an average television household audience rating of 46.9% - the highest recorded by any movie in history, and the highest recorded by any animation in history.

Spirited Away is the highest grossing film of all time at the Japanese box office.

Last edited by Siegel Clyne; 2007-09-24 at 15:20 [PDT].

New York Anime Festival

Meet the Voice of Chii, Lacus Clyne, and Suigintou!

Voice Actress RIE TANAKA Comes to the NEW YORK ANIME FEST

Rie Tanaka Brings Her Famous Voice to NYAF

Jul 17th 2008
PROLIFIC JAPANESE VOICE ACTRESS TO ATTEND THE NEW YORK ANIME FESTIVAL AS A GUEST OF HONOR

Norwalk, CT, July 17, 2008: The New York Anime Festival (NYAF) today announced famous Japanese voice actress Rie Tanaka will appear at its 2008 event as a Guest of Honor. Ms. Tanaka is most known around the globe for voicing Lacus Clyne in the anime series Gundam Seed, Chii in Chobits, and Suigintou in Rozen Maiden. The New York Anime Festival, an anime, manga, and Japanese pop culture convention from the creators of New York Comic Con, takes place September 26th through the 28th at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.

"We're excited to welcome Ms. Tanaka into or show," NYAF Show Manager Lance Fensterman said. "She's given voice to some of the most popular and enduring anime characters in recent years, and we know she has an eager fanbase wanting to meet her in America."

While Ms. Tanaka is most known for her roles in Gundam Seed, Chobits, and Rozen Maiden, she has contributed her voice to characters in over 50 animations, with some standouts including Simca in Air Gear, Yomi in Azumanga Daioh, Sei in Burst Angel, Hiroko Matsukata in Hataraki Man, Monica Lange in Macross Frontier, Tomoe Marguerite in My-Otome, Saki in Steel Angel Kurumi, and Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke in Strike Witches. In addition, Ms. Tanaka is also the voice behind songs featured in many of the series she's worked on including Azumanga Daioh, Burst Angel, Chobits, and Gundam Seed.

Beyond question-and-answer and autograph sessions, Ms. Tanaka will perform a selection of her songs at the start of NYAF's World Cosplay Summit Masquerade -- a costume contest with prizes including a trip to Japan. Tickets to NYAF are on sale now at newyorkanimefestival.com.

The New York Anime Festival 2008 will be held from Friday, September 26, 2008 to Sunday, September 28, 2008 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York, NY, USA.