Pizza Cats Review Newsletter

[TGLucario475]

nice newsltter & i claim the 100th post

[Daisensei]

And I'm professor of Inorganic Chemistry... it looks like SPC attracts chemists... 

[Blackcat]

And I'm professor of Inorganic Chemistry... it looks like SPC attracts chemists... 

Must be all the explosions ^_-

[Violet]

Christmas in Edoropolis
Why is there a Christmas special in Kyattou Ninden Teyande?  Most Japanese are not Christian, but Christmas has still managed to become a popular holiday in Japan, probably starting during the post-World War 2 American occupation.  The religious significance has been disregarded for the most part, Japanese shops wanted to cash in on the gift buying profits Christmas brings, so they've encouraged the adoption of the holiday.  It's not as big of a deal as in predominantly Christian countries, but if you're in Japan this time of year, you'll see a lot of Christmas related advertising.  In fact, it's probably more open in Japan where they'll still say "Christmas" in ads rather than sticking with politically correct "Happy Holidays" American ads use to avoid leaving out any non-Christians.  "The Cheese Who Stole Christmas" reflects the Japanese view of Christmas, which is all about presents and Santa Claus.  One thing you may notice is the pizza shop is open on Christmas, like most Japanese shops, they wouldn't close for it, and like other Japanese business people, Otama isn't going to miss out on all the sales to be made.  The masks dropped by Koon no Kami/Big Cheese are based on Otafuku masks used in Kyogen theater.  Kyogen is a less formal, shorter and comedic version of Noh theater, and the character Otafuku is the Goddess of Mirth.
Some scenes removed from the English version show what presents the Cats actually got.  Yattarou got one of the official KNT video tapes which were being released at the time, Sukashii got a "Date Map" book to show him good places to take any potential dates he might get, Pururun got nail polish, and Otama got a calculator.

Why does Francine always rhyme?
Well, she doesn't, not every time.
She will occasionally say something plainly,
but it seems rhyming is what she does mainly.
When KNT was on in Japan,
rhyming was not in the plan.
Otama and Fran both love money and fun,
but only Fran rhymes when firing the gun.
Poetry is her way of communication
for launches or normal conversation.
She could be a rapper if she had a beat,
she'll sell you all the pizza you can eat.
Green clothes and cat bells are her style
but the cash register bells make her smile.

Battle of Pizza Cat
The Nihonbare team has finished translating another comic from the doujin "Hash Hash".  This one is called "The Battle of Pizza Cat" by Yukio Oki, translated by Daisensei, and edited by me (Violet).  In this comic, Pururun tries to show Otama that she's a real lady, starting a competition in the pizza shop.  The pages were uploaded to Nihonbare as they were translated, and now that this comic is finished, I have uploaded it to my Manga Library for all to enjoy.  You can see it at http://www.edoropolis.org/violet/library/hashhash/index.html

This Month's Pic
It's Otama-chan, so cute!

See you next month/year!
-Violet

[felineki]

I just watched the KNT Christmas episode the other day, the part where Yattarou gets a KNT tape always makes me laugh.  While SPC is known for fourth wall breaking, KNT had its fair share of it, too. When Otama holds shows her new calculator to the audience, you can see the display says "waribiki" (tenths discounted), part of her usual phrase when docking someone's pay. A nice rhyme and a very cute scan this month!

[Mechadon]

Why does Francine always rhyme?
Well, she doesn't, not every time.
She will occasionally say something plainly,
but it seems rhyming is what she does mainly.
When KNT was on in Japan,
rhyming was not in the plan.
Otama and Fran both love money and fun,
but only Fran rhymes when firing the gun.
Poetry is her way of communication
for launches or normal conversation.
She could be a rapper if she had a beat,
she'll sell you all the pizza you can eat.
Green clothes and cat bells are her style
but the cash register bells make her smile.

Awesome. ^_^

Hey, it's better than vogon poetry. 

[SteC]

I've read yer translated comic, and it looks like a riot is going to happen! What's gonna happen to Yattarou and Sukashii?!

[Violet]

New SPC Pantomime
These are audio only plays made by SPC fans on Edoropolis Emporium.  Like last year's, this one has a bit of a Christmas theme, which I think could have been left out, since for 11 and a half months of the year I'm not interested in hearing about Christmas. But other than that it's well written and produced.  It this episode, the Big Cheese gets a hold of a magic lamp and uses it to wish away the Pizza Cats.   http://truro359.tripod.com/id7.html

Princess Vi Wants You
I usually do this newsletter on my own, but it's not because I don't want your help.  I always welcome any articles people would like to contribute.  Even if you're not a great writer, I'm a great editor.  I can fix any messy article you send me.  Even if you just have ideas for articles that will help let me know what people would like to read about.  Artists, you can help too.  The newsletter includes a picture every month.  You can have a chance to show your art here, all I ask is that you send me something new that isn't already on the internet, and that it be good.  After the newsletter comes out, then you can post your picture on your DA or FA account and show it to everyone else.

KNT Torrent
Started by Tannim, this torrent contains all 54 episodes of Kyatto Ninden Teyande.  These are the unsubtitled episodes, many taken right from old video tapes taped off Japanese TV.  If you want a complete set, this is your chance.  If you are not familiar with torrents, it is a method of file sharing that allows multiple computers to upload and download the same files at the same time, which spreads the bandwidth out and makes things more manageable.  As a curtsey to other users, after you have completed downloading, you should stay connected to the torrent for as long as possible, since it will continue to upload for the other people.  http://www.edoropolis.org/forums/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=1583.0;attach=1264
If you don't even know what a torrent file is, that goes beyond the scope of this newsletter, so I'll just refer you to Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.torrent

This Month's Pic
I should have asked some artists to do a special picture for this issue (see the article below), but I didn't think of that until it was too late.  So, instead I've gone into my collection, found one of my original KNT animation cels that has never been scanned before, and made a nice scan of it for you. 

10 Years of SPC News
Every January I think I mention it being the newsletter's anniversary.  But this one is special.  As you can see by the issue number, 120 dived by 12 months a year equals 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!  I had been considering discontinuing the newsletter, or at least stopping the monthly schedule and just sending one out when I had enough articles.  Not because I'm any less dedicated as a SPC fan, but because the Edoropolis Emporium forum is around to post any news.  But I decided rather than let the forum replace the newsletter, I could use the newsletter and forum together.  Recently I've been getting most of my ideas for stories from EE posts.  With the newsletter I can sum up some of the things being discussed and even do some research to add new information.  Plus, not everyone has time to come check EE every day.  So, for now at least I will continue the monthly schedule.  Having a schedule is good for getting things done, without it, I become a lazy bunny and keep putting things off.  So see you next month.
-Violet

[Blackcat]

The pantomine was cool.

Princess Vi Wants You? While It would like to help, Im busy with the making of "Gatos Samurai 2.0", Most of the text stuff is done, I just have to get enough estamina to sit one day in from of my computer and turn all of the stuff into a website. So Yeah I hoipe It will be ready for next Chistmas.

KNT Torrent?

Cant use that, No Internet at home-_-  ·!·"·$·%$·% You Telefonica!

This Month's Pic

Its Cool!

10 Years of SPC News?

Wow, 10 years? Really? Awesome!

[KageReneko]

I just can't understand why I can't download torrents from EE, they always appear like a messy file that i can't use... I finally got Internet and now this...

[TGLucario475]

well, lets celebrate by stripping for the 10 years of SPC News

the torrent, well i suggested some sites to Tanmin to upload it to & put the EE link in a .txt file ^_^

the radio play was brilliant, cant wait for the next one

& the picture, brilliant

[felineki]

I'll see about sending you some art if I can ever manage to get any finished (which isn't likely). Thanks for the cel scan!

[Daisensei]

120 issues of newsletters... you have been done a great Job, Violet!
 Besides it's great to have the forums and the newsletter working together. I don't think newsletter would be ecliped by the EE.

[Violet]

Plush Pizza Cats
Setsunakou.com is an online anime shop.  They mostly specialize in Sailor Moon items, but one unique service they offer is custom made "UFO" dolls.  No, these aren't dolls of aliens (OK, some are), the name comes from the "UFO Catcher" games which are the Japanese version of the claw vending machines in which you use a small crane to try and grab toys inside the machine.  UFO catcher dolls are usually in the 6-12 inch range, plush, and have simple cut felt features.  Setsunakou dolls were never actually used in these machines, but are modeled after this type of doll.  Since they are simplified, don't expect an exact replica of the character, but if you want a plush of your favorite Pizza Cat to snuggle, this might be just right for you.  Lady Flame of the Edoropolis Emporium has ordered several custom UFO dolls of SPC characters.  Setsunakou has photos of these in their catalogue (http://www.setsunakou.com/ufo/samuraipizzacats.html), and since they already have some practice making these, you can order them online with no problem. But if they don't have what you're looking for, you can have it made for you as long as you can provide some good reference pictures.
http://www.setsunakou.com/ 

Time Will Tell
Can Pizza Cats fans pass the test of time?  The answer is "Yes".  We pretty much have already.  In about 2 more years KNT will be 20 years old.  Some fans weren't even born yet back in 1990.  Towards the end of this year it will have been 10 years ago that the last SPC episode was broadcast in the USA, in some other countries it's been even longer.  Yet the fandom seems to actually be growing.  True, there are some new fans who are just now discovering SPC/KNT thanks to videos, but mostly it's just normal people who liked the show discovering "Hey!  There are other people who like this!"  People who had done nothing more than watch the show are starting to get involved.  Being an active fan is more than just watching, its doing.  Even something as simple as posting in a forum makes you an active fan, but some people do a lot more.  Artists, writers, translators, programmers, people with the technical expertise to do things like encode audio/video, run forums, web pages and FTP hosts.  I haven't seem much success in flash videos or games yet, but I think that's something that may become more common in the next few years.  Anyway, as long as we have fans who care enough to actually do things, the Pizza Cats will live on.

Model Sheets
This is nothing new, but since I've noticed people looking for model sheets of the Pizza Cats and other characters from the show, I will take this opportunity to remind people that there are model sheets online at the Samurai Saving Time site.  These aren't fan art, but scans of actual model sheets used during the production of the anime.
http://www.angelfire.com/ca/savespc/model.html

This Month's Pic
This nice picture of Yattarou is by Wakame-san http://wakame-cm.jugem.jp/

Thanks for reading, see you next month!
-Violet

[KageReneko]

20 years... The time really goes fast...

[Daisensei]

This Month's Pic
This nice picture of Yattarou is by Wakame-san http://wakame-cm.jugem.jp/

I visited Wakame-san's site but I couldn't find the Yattarou picture, so I guess it's there no more. Instead, I found a cute picture of Cream (the female rabbit of Eto Rangers).

[adam808]

Cream
Her transformations could be the subject of more fanart.

[Blackcat]

Plush Pizza Cats

It would be cool to get some, but as usual, I have no cash for that.

Time Will Tell

After more than five years of suffering and pleasure because my fanaticism of SPC, I just tell myself I should do something. Like end that fanfic, or do a revamp of my site, but the truth is that the Wikipedia has taken away my desire to continue updating “Gatossamurai”, and there are lot more SPC fanfic writers that they where years ago. I fell outdated, because people don’t use IRC anymore, and I never fell good talking to just one person in MSN, AIM or whatever. To be honest I still here because I need to get all the episodes. The community will live on, but in the next few years, I just won’t be here.

Model Sheets

I had those

This Month's Pic

I like it

[TGLucario475]

i like the pic & i would like a plushie please

[LadyFlame]

I've only just got reading the latest newsletter (been trying to cut down on my computer use lately) and it was nice to see that I got a mention!  Weird, but nice.  Thanks, Vi!