Japanese Anime For Gameboy Advance - AM3 Smart Media Player

Video game consoles have had a lot of accessories throughout the years, all the way from retro consoles like the Atari VCS with its Starpath/Arcadia Supercharger of Coleco Kid Vid Voice Module accessories, to modern consoles such as the Xbox and PlayStation consoles, and this was no different for handheld consoles such as the GBA. Now, users have to anime, TV shows and movies on their consoles, phones and computers, but it was always like this.

Looking at the title, you may be wondering why anyone would want to watch video on the Gameboy Advance, but this is actually a unique way to watch anime on a video game console, when streaming anime online was not as accessible as it is now, and when handheld systems did not have the ability to access the internet. Apparently this topic is so unique, that even Wikipedia does not have an article on this topic. Also coming back and editing this article with further details, the version that was released that was designed to just play the anime cards is officially called 'Advance Video' [7].

Image from: link

In the United States and internationally, Game Boy Advance Video cartridges were made available which on standard Gameboy Advance cartridges contained a heavily compressed copy of one of many series or movies.  A large list of animated television episodes and movies were released. In Japan however, AM3's own system existed which allowed users to view videos on their Gameboy Advance systems from smart media cards.

Gameboy Advance Video Advertisement (source: YouTube)

AM3 created a system in 2003 [1] with an adapter that allowed users to insert special Smart Media Cards which contained videos, and that could play these videos. The cartridge contains special software and has a slot on the side allowing the user to insert a standard sized Smart Media card. A wide range of anime titles would be made available for purchase on prerecorded Smart Media cards, or blank anime-themed cards could be purchased.

Image from: link

The Only Video of the Smart Media Player I Can Find (source: YouTube)

Image from Amazon: link

Individually packaged cards could be purchased with videos on them, or bundled with the card reader adapter. The adapter could also be purchased separately, and with blank Smart Media Cards. Sets of Smart Media Player adapters with blank branded cards could be purchased themed around some series.

Image from: link

Image from: link

The cards can hold up to 24 minutes of animated content on a standard 32 Megabyte card, or 192 minutes on a 256 Megabyte Smart Media Card [6]. The videos uses a proprietary video compression technology by both Act Image of France as well as IMAGICA Corporation, which is also known for HDCAM video compression [2][2(archived)]. These cards were partially transparent [6]. 4 titles were available at launch in May 2003 and the adapter was available for 3200 yen [7]. Additional titles could be written to blank cards for a price of between 100 yen and 500 yen, and blank cards were available for purchase at a price of 1800 yen. Kiosks were also set up that allowed customers to purchase videos and have them copied onto blank Smart Media cards or write over cards that already have videos on them. There were also dedicated kiosks for one particular program known as 'Advance Gacha' and were planned to be placed in convenience stores and toy stores [7]. This is similar to the way that the Family Computer Disk System in Japan had kiosks set up that allowed users to purchase Famicom Disk System games and have them written onto disks. AM3 planned to have over 10,000 of these machines to copy onto blank cards by the summer of 2005 [4]. The cards were distributed in conjunction with Happinet Co [6].

A mock of an 'Advance Gacha' system
Image from: link

A pricing table has been added below:

Release date	Content	Price
Adapter
November 20	Advanced Movie Adapter	3,200 yen
Adapter + Movie Card Set
November 20	Advanced Movie Adapter Detective Conan 'Roller Coaster Murder'	3,800 yen
Movie Card
November 20	Detective Conan 'President Daughter Kidnapping Case'	2,380 yen
	Detective Conan 'Idol Closed Room Murder Case'
	Detective Conan 'Big City Crypto Map Case'
December 18	Detective Conan 'Shinkansen Large Blast Case'
	Detective Conan 'Valentine Murder Case'
	Detective Conan 'Monthly Present Threatening Case'
	Time Bokan 'Start! Time Bokan is Petcha'
	Time Bokan 'Petcha is the Greek Zukkoke War'
	Time Bokan 'Petcha, a Witch Hunt for Fear'
	Time Bokan 'Hentoko Saiyuki Da Petcha'
Undecided	Blank movie card	1,800 yen

Table Sourced From: [7].

You might think that the prices listed for a single low quality copy of an episode are expensive at about 25 USD per episode given how cheap it is to buy a digital movie or TV series online, but with this technology, you were really paying for the novelty of it, and at this time, there was really no way to watch videos on the go or in a portable manner, except for perhaps Hasbro's VideoNow which offered content at a lower price point, but only in black and white for the original version and which may not have been released in Japan.

Image Used With Permission, Credit: u/karulg on Reddit

According to the website lik-sang, a former importer of Japanese products, content for AM3's smart media player was planned to be released in stores on CDs with content on them, and which could be transferred to cards [2][2(archived)][7]. It is not known whether these CDs were ever released. This is however contradicted by ASCII corp. which claims that the content would utilise DRM that tied data to hardware in order to prevent unauthorised copying. The system adopted a special ROM-specific ID system recorded for each file, so even if it was copied onto a commercially available Smart Media card, it could not be played. This would be encrypted with DES encryption and use a 128-bit encryption key which would be recorded in the media ROM, and would need to be verified before a video could be played back. Despite this, data from computers and cameras could still be recorded to the memory cards [6].

Unlike Gameboy Advance Video which would not allow users to play the cartridges on the Gamecube Gameboy adapter, the AM3 Smart Media Player could be used on the Gamecube [5]. The adapter is 55 mm long and extends 20 mm out of the GBA [6].

The player has several functions that can be used whilst playing back video. These are play and pause using the 'A' button, fast forwards and backwards, using the right and left buttons on the d-pad respectively, and pressing and holding for forwards and backwards at 1x speed, 2x speed, 3x speed, and 4x speed. Some material would also support chapter menus, although earlier content such as the Detective Conan Roller Coaster Murder Case did not [6]. Titles such as the Pokemon titles would support basic interactive menus which allowed the selection of either the main movie, or short commercials for other Pokemon movies to watch [u/karulg on Reddit].

The player contains no decoding chip, but instead uses the ARM7 CPU of the GBA in conjunction with the specially developed FastVideo codec to allow video playback. This allowed the player to be built at a low price-point as it did not have to contain any custom chips. Video can be played back at 30 fps and at a resolution of 240 x 160 pixels, the full resolution of the GBA screen [6].

Lik-sang, a international distributor expected a wide range of content to be released for the system including [2][2(archived)]:

• Animated content
• Game and movie previews and trailers
• Pictures
• Music
• Educational software titles
• E-books
• Karaoke

This is also backed up by a 2004 GameSpot article which claims that AM3 was also planning to release other peripherals that would works with different types of media. These included [4]:

• Advance Picture for still images
• Advance Music for music
• Advance Comic for manga
• Advance Navi for maps

According to ASCII, the company was releasing animated content at first, but planned to also release other content such as eBooks, so that the GBA and GBA SP could be used for educational materials. Nintendo however prohibited the company from using the technology to distribute any games or adult materials [6].

Looking at listings for the Smart Media Player on Amazon.co.jp (which can be found by searching for 'AM3' under the category 'TV games'), it can be seen that cards were released for many anime series including, but not limited to:

• Meitantei Conan/Detective Conan (Case Closed)
• Pokemon
• Lelere's Genius Bakabon
• Crayon Shin-chan
• Time Bokan [7]

Image From Amazon: link

These releases could have either television series episodes or movies on them. During the time of the Nintendo DS, smart media cards continued to be released with Nintendo DS branding on the packaging, although they were still the same GBA cartridge design. AM3 would go on to release DSVision, which was a similar concept to the Smart Media Player except it took Micro SD/TF cards and was housed in a special DS cartridge that looked similar to a DS flash cart.

The ActImage codec was announced by Shinji Hashimoto, the executive officer of Square Enix to also be planned for use in the GBA game 'Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories', which did feature rendered cut-scenes. Although from research I cannot find whether it was in fact this codec used to compress the video used in cut-scenes, it likely was due to this announcement [7].

In 2005, am3 would also provide 'Poke Park Advanced Navi' at PokePark, the world's first Pokemon theme park, which was a video utilising the Advance Video technology and could be written free of charge onto a card using an 'Advance Gachapon' system. They also operated a lending system there, where a guest could pay 2100 yen to rent a system with the card and movie, 2000 yen being given back to the guest on the system's return [8].

Currently, there does not appear to be much information on the internet about the AM3 Smart Media Player, or at least it is not easily accessible. Many sites that contain information about the product such as 'lik-sang.com' are no longer available, and many western sites did not cover this product as it did not have an international release, unlike Gameboy Advance Video. It is likely that the Smart Media Player was not released internationally, due to the success of Gameboy Advance Video, and it's much simpler nature only requiring a cartridge for each video, and not a bulky adapter with fancy media cards. Some information can be found through listings on sites such as Amazon.co.jp, which is not normally used by people outside of Japan, which makes it hard for people to discover the AM3 Smart Media Player.

So When is 91 Days Actually Set

Image from MyAnimeList.net

So, 91 Days is a historical anime series set during the course of prohibition America, a time at the start of the 20th century when alcohol became illegal, and which ran from 1920 to 1933. During this time, the mafia ran amok trading moonshine and making their own alcohol illegally. Based on the pretext of it being set during prohibition, we have a 13 year period that this show can be set over. During the series, it is never explicitly stated which year the '91 Days' that this series are over is actually set. You may think that there is nothing that can be done to find the year that this series is set over, but based on what is shown, it may be able to be narrowed down somewhat.

In one episode, a 1921 model 102 Series telephone is shown sitting on a table. This can be differentiated from the 101 as the model shown has a round base as opposed to the elliptical base of the 101 series. While this does not narrow it down it is a start, and suggests that the series takes place after at least 1921.

Throughout the series, a number of people say that they have heard rumours that prohibition is coming to an end. If there are people that are saying that prohibition is coming to an end, you may be thinking that it must be in the 1930s, the last few years of prohibition, but these are just rumours and due to the societal problems that existed during this period, there was much unease and people likely though that prohibition would end at many times throughout this period. It is likely though, that it is near the end of the prohibition period.

While there does not appear to be enough information throughout 91 Days to place the series in a particular year, it is definitely set in at least 1921 due to the telephone shown, and is likely set during the later years of prohibition due to the claims of people that prohibition is coming to an end.

If you noticed anything else whilst watching the series that may be able to more precisely place this series, feel free to comment it below.

High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even In Another World Episode 2 Review [SPOILERS]

The episode starts off showing that the corruption in the world spreads further than corrupt imperial knight exploiting their position. After seeing that the only licensed trader is trying to rip the village off, and that based on his prices the village will not be able to survive, Masato Sanada shows his business and entrepreneurial expertise in saying to Elch that if he does't like the bad trades he doesn't need to accept them, and that he can build his own business empire and put that trader out of business in a week. Masato explains that their whole group owes their lives to the village, and that he will not stand for them being exploited due to this.

The group has been shown to have incorporated well into the village and now each have their own roles. Masato establishes his own trading company through blackmailing the mayor for a permit, and that is the main premise for this episode. Masato establishes the Amazon equivalent of their world, selling the products of villagers for a commission fee of 10% allowing others to sell their own products directly without a permit legally, whilst making more than they would have elsewhere, and allowing Masato's new business to make money without ever having to purchase any product.

In stark contrast to the first episode, this episode has no narration and now has incorporated elements of a plot and daily life in the village, similar to other good isekai series. This episode has been much of an improvement compared to the first.

High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even In Another World First Impressions [SPOILERS]

Okay, so starting off with these first impressions, I have started watching the English dub version available on Crunchyroll, but plan to watch later episodes with the sub, due to the cheesy-sounding voice acting. Obviously, this review is going to contain SPOILERS!

Image From Crunchyroll

The first episode starts off with character introductions for the internationally renowned 'prodigies' that based on the relatively realistic setting of Japan on Earth seems unrealistic. There are these seven prodigies that all high highly-esteemed positions such as a politician (prime minster), surgeon, inventor, stock trader, magician (seems to be different, as it seems to be the most unrealistic in this setting of a realistic Earth), journalist, and a samurai that fights in war zones. It seems unrealistic that these high-school students would be given these jobs and responsibilities as children, particularly those that have a high risk. The introduction from the opening narrator to introduce these character and their premise of their plane flying to this magical world comes across as the type of thing that one would have seen in the original series of Pokémon.

The first of the group to wake up after the plane crash is the politician Tsukasa Mikogami who comes across as unlikable, and appears to be the main character/leader of this group. The episode immediately skips to a month later when the group have already been living amongst the village that found them, skipping the humour of a typical isekai-esque series where character try to get adjusted to their new world and vastly different way of life. The group seem to be held in high regard by this community, although to this point they have not been shown to have contributed anything or their ideas that supposedly make them 'prodigies' to this community. It is here that the group learn of a legend that a long time ago, a group of seven people came from another world and overthrew the evil ruler.

Under the guidance and leadership of Tsukasa the group aims to help 'rebuild the finances' of the community as a way of repaying their debt to the community for looking after them. Near the end of the first episode, the first conflict comes up, an evil militant group of imperial knights are abusing their power to impose a protection racket upon the town. Tsukasa steps in as a leader to reject their offer, and the leader of these knights says that it is an insult to the empire and the emperor. Just as the knights are about to assert their dominance, the samurai and the journalist (a descendant of a ninja) take out the group except for their leader.

Conclusion:
Overall the anime seems like a cheap cash grab of the isekai genre, with little substance or interesting semblance of plot.

Top Thief Anime

There have been a lot of anime made showing detectives and genius outsmart and capture criminals, but there have also been many anime that have followed the perspective of the thieves.

4. D.N. Angel
D.N. Angel follows Daisuke Niwa, who after his birthday turns into the famous phantom thief Dark Mousy.










3. Detective Conan Kid the Phantom Thief (Magic Kaito)
An anime series by TMS, set in the Detective Conan universe and following the Magic Kaito manga by Goshou Aoyama. It follows the journey of Kaito Kuroba who finds out that his father, who had gone missing when he was younger was the internationally known Kid the Phantom Thief 1412. He finds out that his father was murdered by a group of criminals looking for a gem that has the power of immortality, and he takes his role as the new Kaitou Kid.

2. Lupin III
Lupin III is a long-running anime franchise that has ran from 1971 to now and follows Lupin III, the great grandson of Lupin, an infamous gentleman thief. Lupin and his gang travel around the world stealing priceless objects while trying to evade inspector Zenigata of the ICPO (INTERPOL). Lupin III has had numerous movies, and five main series encompassing hundreds of episodes, as well as the spin off series Lupin the Third: Mine Fujiko to Iu Onna.






1. Magic Kaito 1412

This anime follows the journey of the same Kid the Phantom Thief series from #3. This is another adaptation of Goshou Aoyama's Magic Kaito 1412 manga series, this time made by A1 pictures, and is more like a standalone series that does not need the viewer to know about the Detective Conan universe, unlike #3 which does require viewers to know at least the Detective Conan basics. This series is great, and works well as a short standalone series.

Top 10 Best Mystery/Crime Anime

The Mystery-Crime genre has always been very interesting to people, whether is be books like Sherlock Holmes and the books of Agatha Christie and board games like Cluedo (Clue in the US), to modern video games and movies. It only makes sense that some mystery anime have also been released over the years.
Images Sourced from Myanimelist.net

10. Agatha Christie no Meitantei Poirot to Marple
Agatha Christie no Meitantei Poirot to Marple follows the mysteries of the famous authour Agatha Christie. This series shows Poirot and Marple as they solve their classic mysteries. The series also has an overarching story of Mabel West's attempts to become a detective herself.








9. Chaos;Child
Set several years after the events of Chaos;Head, and mysterious deaths begin to occur again. Takaru along with his high school's Newspaper Club attempt to solve the mystery of these mysterious murders, but things are not as they appear.








8. Tantei Team KZ Jiken Note
Tachibana joins a group of soccer player boys in 'Tantei Team KZ' and they solve many mysteries that they come across in a series of short episodes.










7. Kamisama no Memochou
A group of NEETs form the NEET detective agency under the genius girl Alice and as a group they solve mysteries that come up in their everyday lives.









6. Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo
A genius high schooler Kindaichi helps to solve crimes that were thought to be impossible, The series goes through a series of unique crimes of all different times in different places. The series had been recently revived with Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo R and R2.








5. Haruchika; Haruta to Chika wa Seishun Suru Chika
Chika starts her year at a ew high school, and eventually decides to join the school's music club. Haruta, another member, and a childhood friend along with the club solve a series of mysteries in trying to bring their club into prominence.








4. Detective Conan (Case Closed)
High school detective Kudo Shinichi is famous with the police and his local area, commonly assisting the police with solving the hardest crimes. After going to the amusement park with his childhood friend Mouri Ran he solves a murder on a ride that they go on. After following two suspicious people and witnessing a deal between criminals, he gets knocked out and is forced to drink a poison, APTX 4869. The drug ends up changing him into a child instead of killing him, after he is abandoned. As he can't let these criminals know that he survived, he takes on the identity of an elementary school student Edogawa Conan and continues to solve crimes as a child in secrecy.



3. Tantei Gakuen Q
Kyuu is a ingenious young boy, who has dreams of becoming a famous detective. He stumbles into a small mystery and a murder. Together with Megu who has photographic, he solves these mysteries and is invited to take a test to get into Dan's Detective School (DDS). Despite not passing the test, after seeing promise in him, Dan places him into class 'Q', a special class for 'Qualified' students along with Megu, Kazuma an computer genius, Kinta and Ryuu where he solves one mystery after the other.





2. Hyouka
Hyouka follows Oreki, a Japanese high school student who spends his time trying to conserve his energy by limiting his unnecessary activities. After being convinced to join the Literature Club by his older sister, he meets Chitanda, and through his place with the other members of the Literature Club, uses his mind to solve a series of unusual and small mysteries in their everyday lives.






1. Gosick
Gosick is a excellent mystery anime set in a pre-war European state (Sauville), which follows a Japanese exchange (Kazuya Kujou) student, who due to his segregation by the other students ends up meeting the doll-like Victorique in the school's library. Victorique has a genius deductive mind, and as a result ends up dragging Kazuya into a series of mysteries and adventures.