Spike Spiegel and Keanu Reeves

Despite of general negative reaction to the development, personally I felt he can pull it off. Spike is easily most popular male character in anime history hence the feedback bound to be negative from anime fans but Mr Reeves do have affinity for certain stock of characters. Spike is one of those anti hero rogue types in space noir setting which Keanu can act it out. The only problem is, Spike is a very dynamic martial artist based on Bruce lee and judging from Reeves martial arts in Matrix saga, it is a bit problematic.



IMDB Source

My summary is; give them chance then judge it. Pre-judgment is not very smart in my humble opinion.

South Korea versus Hetalia Axis Powers

the trailer



the Korean news on it.

In massive outcry led by netizens of South Korea, a nationwide strike to cancel broadcast of new anime, Hetalia Axis Powers, a cynical satirical look of nations morphed into mostly male humans situated in both world wars. Despite an assurance from network that the Korean character is not present in the series, the petition still going strong even reaching highest level (National Assembly) in nation which denounced the series as discriminating against Koreans.

As it is now, the show was canceled broadcast in the aggrieved nation, but I felt it would have reverse effect as DVD sales will skyrocket in South Korea due to curiosity factor alone. It is a free publicity for the series in massive way. This is what the protesters miss.



The discussion of the said series in highest South Korean assembly.

Personally I share with many people that this is an attack on freedom of expression on ridiculous level. I don't see the series itself is a problem as 20 over nations depicted in the series did not raise as much a a heckle but only Korean seems to take it a bit too seriously. What gives?

The only explanation that I can think of is Koreans in large still feel the sting of Japanese attempt to destroy their nation down to root level. From time of massive Toyotomi Hideyoshi's invasion of Korea in 1500s to World War 2 ruthless colonization which saw the extinction of Korean royal family by Japanese overlords. Not to mention intricate historical crimes like comfort women issue, refusal by Japanese royal family to issue formal apology for war crimes and current island disputes. Plus Koreans were seen as second rate by Japanese despite the K-Wave led by famous dramas like Winter Sonata lately.

It would seem Hetalia Axis Power is a new victim of the uneasy dispute between both nations.

ANN
Sankaku

First impressions: Druaga, Sword of Uruk / ドルアーガの塔 ～the Sword of URUK

Hmmmm.....

First episode is streamed in Crunchy Roll few days ago and looks good. Skipped 6 months after 1st season ending, the characters were re-introduced somewhat slowly. Still too early to say anything but for 1st episode it is not too bad. It has action, comedy, soft moments and foreshadowing that points to general direction of the story. We see a broken, tired Jil who is now a recluse who was consoled by high spirited but in denial mode Fatina who meet Utu later on in a fair. The first priestess of Ishtar suddenly appear into their life and another adventure is on hand for Jil as he saw a terrifying vision regarding about Kaaya from the priestess.




Great character design from previous season is still around especially Fatina, this time GONZO did a right thing. A surprise hit from last year, Druaga is based on dungeon crawl video game and expanded into full blown series.



A little investigation revealed the screenwriter and director were responsible for few good series. Koichi Chigara (director), who did Blue Submarine no 6 and Shoji Gatoh (screenwriter and novelist), responsible for episode 11 of Haruhi Suzumiya and entire Full Metal Panic! series scripting.

GDH is banking their hopes on this one and as this entry is written, milking Strike Witches for all its worth. Let's just hope they did not overdo this series.


Their OP is tongue in cheek humor just like last year. Previous entry.

First impressions: Rideback / ライドバック

Just saw it and I love it very, very much. The story is about Rin, an ex-ballerina prodigy who can't dance anymore due to a severe injury found her body expression freedom again when she riding a mecha/motorcycle in near future Japan out of curiosity. However her new found freedom is clouded by an oppressive military government that replaces representative democracy who sees university students as most dangerous rebels against their absolute rule.

The university student themselves were organizing protests against the military government with tacit approval from some of the intellectuals in the university. Think of South Korean student protest movement in the 80s and you will get the picture.

I would heartily recommend this series to anyone who look for something more meaningful to watch. Very few anime can impresses me within 1 episode and happily this is one of them.



Easily the most beautiful scene in anime so far. It captures essence of human spirit: freedom. Because of her background, the mecha/motorcycle reacts to her in certain manner that is liberating to see.



The question of this series is, will Rin's spirit overcome her surrounding or to be corrupted by odious government.

Easily the best series of new year offering so far.

Previous entry.

Updates on Akira Live Action

Hmmm....

Director Ruairi Robinson with first time screenwriter Gary Whitta is confirmed in the making, the material will be split into 2 movies to accomodate 6 volume manga works. Set in New Manhattan instead Neo Tokyo though.

Who is Mr Robinson? Frankly this info did not give me much confidence. However I have to confess that I have yet to see any of his works here so it is 50-50 for me.

Earlier entry

Crunchy Roll rolls on with more GDH titles.

In closely watched move, Crunchy Roll, the premier media streaming site which formerly stream fansubs illegally now add more titles from GONZO library which mainly old series from 2002-2005 era. Last EXILE, Kaleido Star, Chrno Crusade and Peacemaker Kurogane are on the list of the additions. GONZO likes the site since they do allow screening of Druaga and Strike Witches there.

I am interested to see if the streaming site can make money from this. In future, people might just turn to these technology to get their weekly anime fix instead of downloading fansubs if the fees were reasonable enough. I do believe this is way of future.

Source

Earlier, bigger entry