|
by David Park
Note: Pictures added February
1999.
The Japanese economy is in trouble, which is bad news for yen-earning salarymen like me, but good news for anime fans in other countries. With the current currency exchange rate near 140 yen per US dollar, anime products from Japan can be bought at very good prices. If you have been saving your cash waiting for the right moment to splurge on some 3x3 Eyes merchandise, then here is a list of some products worthy of your money. The ten categories listed here are fairly broad, and they try to take into account the variance in product availability in different parts of the world. The list ranking is loosely based on three criteria: content, value, and required Japanese-language ability. Content refers to the product itself. Value considers the cost and what you get for your money. The final criteria should be self explanatory. Items that can be understood or at least enjoyed by English-speaking fans are ranked higher than those that require knowledge of Japanese. Here is the list. To add a little suspense, the list is in reverse order, from 10 to 1. 10. Character GoodsCharacter goods are the miscellaneous toys and accessories that seem to be available for every popular anime series. A great variety of 3x3 Eyes posters, notepads, pencil boxes, file folders, telephone cards, vinyl model kits, UFO catcher dolls, and even T-shirts have been produced. While character goods in general are plentiful, specific 3x3 Eyes items can be hard to find, even in Japan. Part of the problem is that the most recent 3x3 Eyes anime series was released almost 3 years ago, and merchandisers have moved on to other things (such as Nuku Nuku). But if you search, you may find a special 3x3 Eyes item that will be the object of envy of your friends.
Value:
Japanese Required:
Availability: 9. Drama and Image AlbumsThe first 3x3 Eyes compact discs (and cassettes) to be released were drama albums. The first CD, Heaven Chapter (KICA 23), has dramas of important scenes from the early manga. The next two, People Chapter (KICA 34) and Earth Chapter (KICA 61 or KICA 137), contain original stories. Since these dramas were created before the anime series, some different voices are used, notably for the Sanjiyan. (Megumi Hayashibara is still the voice of Pai.) You also get to hear Haan, who has yet to show up in the anime but has appeared in the video games. 3x3 Eyes Soundtrack II (KICA 71 or KICA 136) can also be considered a drama album, since it has very little BGM from the anime. The dramas on this CD are very silly, with Pai taking on the roles of Heidi (Paidi) and Cinderella. Finally, there is the Takada Band image album (KICA 115), collecting the Takada Band songs from the earlier CDs. I can only recommend this one to hardcore Takada Band fans.
Value:
Japanese Required:
Availability: 8. Fact BooksThere are two books available that can best be described as 3x3 Eyes guides or fact books. The first, titled 3x3 Eyes no Himitsu (Secrets of 3x3 Eyes, ISBN4-88718-189-2), is an unauthorized book published by Data House in 1993. It contains answers to questions both common and obscure, based on the speculation of some people that obviously spent way too much time reading the manga. Think of it as a 217-page version of the 3x3 Eyes FAQ. The other book is the new and official 3x3 Eyes: Youma Daizukan (Demon Big Picture Book, ISBN4-06-319934-7), compiled by the staff of Young Magazine and published this April. The title sounds goofy when translated, but it is basically an illustrated, up-to-date guide to nearly all of the characters that appear in the 3x3 Eyes manga, with information about their backgrounds, special powers, and relationships. Both Himitsu and Daizukan have some interesting charts and diagrams, including information on romantic moments between Pai and Yakumo and the number of times Yakumo suffers serious injury.
Value:
Japanese Required:
Availability: 7. Video Games3x3 Eyes has a long history of video games, going back to the Super Famicom (SNES) and early Japanese PCs. Most fans these days will probably be more interested in the trilogy of games from Nihon Create: Sanjiyan Henjyo, Kyuusei Kousyu, and Tenrin Oh Genmu. (Nihon Create seems to favor difficult kanji. I am still working on translating the names.) All of the games were originally made for PCs, are they are currently available in Windows 95 compatible versions. Kyuusei Kousyu is also available for both Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn, and a PlayStation version of Tenrin Oh Genmu was just released. The games feature original stories, a few new characters, and voices by the anime cast. There is an old non-playable demo of the Kyuusei Kousyu game available from the Nihon Create website. The demo seems to work with the US version of Windows 95. To view the demo, download and uncompress the LZH file (using WinZip or a similar tool), run the EXE file, and hit the Esc key to quit.
Value:
Japanese Required:
Availability: 6. CalendarsThe joy of anime calendars is that they are both attractive and practical. They also offer an opportunity to acquire poster-sized versions of series art that was previously confined to the back covers of the manga, as well as some original art. While the 1998 3x3 Eyes desk calendar did not offer much in the way of large pictures, the 1999 3x3 Eyes "My Poster Calendar" seems like it will rectify that. It will include 13 posters and stickers for customizing their look.
Value:
Japanese Required:
Availability: Continue to the top five products... |
3x3 Eyes story, art, and characters Copyright ©
1987-1999 Yuzo Takada / Kodansha. Last updated: March 1, 2011 2:43AM UTC |