Friday, July 27

Gedo Senki (Tales from Earthsea)



Trailer no 1



Trailer no 2
Well, just got this movie and I will post my thoughts later. I wonder if Miyazaki Junior have what it takes to inherit the mantle of anime masterpiece like his father.

Skygirls



GAH! Why they have make it a lolibait?! Nice art, nice designs especially the exo skeleton but but why the lolis?! ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei (2007)



This is a clever anime, very entertaining work by Shindo, known for his funky camera work and eccentric taste of storytelling.

I would recommend this anime for people looking for something different to watch.

The Significance of Anime

Japan's animation boom began in the summer of l977, when the movie Uchu Senkan Yamato (Space Cruiser Yamato) captivated teenagers and young adults to emerge as a major box-office hit. The success of this sci-fi "anime" prompted a fundamental shift in the cultural status of animation.

Even before Space Cruiser Yamato, Japan had produced a considerable number of animated films, but they were generally regarded as children's fare or, at best, family entertainment; the few adult-oriented animated movies were not successful commercially. Space Cruiser Yamato was the first anime to demonstrate that the medium need not restrict itself to kiddie fare. Following suit, from the late l970s, Japan put out a steady stream of animated films geared to young adults, including Ginga Tetsudo 999 (Galaxy Express 999) and Kido Senshi Gandamu (Mobile Suit Gundam). Most of these were commercial successes as well, although critics dismissed these as exploitation films pandering to teenage tastes. The attitude of film critics changed abruptly, however, with the 1984 release of Kaze no Tani no Naushica (Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind), a film whose artistic quality was widely regarded as more than sufficient to hold the attention of adults. With this movie, writer-director Miyazaki Hayao overturned the conventional image of the anime director as a versatile hack, and was soon crowned as anime's first genuine auteur.

Another excellent article talks about anime in general. Full link is here.

Monday, June 18

My thoughts on Claymore





This is one of the best anime series besides Seirei no Moribito in 2007 and I am glad to see it was animated well. The characters are well developed and after ep 11 it is good flow of story, since the reason to be is established. I would heartily recommend this anime to anyone who likes good story with progressing characters.

Convincing characters and tragic story of "live by the sword, die by the sword" ethos of warrior. I am kinda sucker for those kind of story.

The ethos of Claymore operators seems to model on Ancient Sparta hoplites that is made famous in movies like 300. Same outlook, same elan and comradeship under arms type of feel. Episode 11 of the anime as I suspected, reinforces this warrior etiquette.

Will write a review on this anime after it is done.

Synopsis: Based on a shounen manga by Yagi Norihiro serialised in Monthly Shounen Jump.

The setting of the story is a fictional world of abundant towns where humans coexist with demons called Yoma. These monsters feed on humans as their main source of food, hiding themselves in human society until they strike.

A group of skilled warriors form a nameless organization to protect humans from these demons. These warriors are called Claymores, after their immense Claymore weapons. They willingly infuse themselves with demon flesh and blood to become powerful half-human hybrids. Villages in danger of attack hire warriors from the organisation for protection.

The story of Claymore follows the adventures of the beautiful Claymore warrior Claire, who fights demons and struggles to hold on to her humanity.

Long ago, the Yoma, the shape changing demons, took human form to live in disguise among human society. They feed on human innards, and take possession of memories from the brains of people they eat. These acquired memories help them better disguise themselves within human society.

In recent years, a secret society discovers a way of implanting demon bodies and body parts into humans, to create hybrids more powerful than the original demons. Hybrid`s standard abilities include faster healing, limited shape modification, the ability to detect other demons and hybrids, and overall enhanced physical prowess. Almost all hybrids are created against their will; they are typically survivors of families attacked by demons. The only exception is the lead character, who volunteered to become a hybrid to avenge her family. The society sends hybrids to towns that can afford their fares to kill demons, although not every hybrid does so willingly (this is implied in the manga.) The society is often strict and harsh; hybrids who break the rules risk being hunted down by their fellow hybrids.

(From Anime DB)

My second post on Claymore here

Thursday, May 17

Boy love manga obsession

Japan's young women are obsessed with comics packed with stories of male homosexual sex, according to Shukan Shincho (5/17.)

Tens of thousands of women packed the Super Comic City exhibition held in Tokyo's Ariake over the Golden Week series of holidays, with a large chunk of them looking for Boy's Love.

Super Comic City is an exhibition for dojinshi, fan-created comics, with a 22-year history. In just two days, this year's version attracted 92,000 visitors, 99 percent of them women.

And about 40 percent of the comics on display fell under the genre of Boy's Love, which features stories about love affairs between two men. The majority of Boy's Love stories are harmless, but many feature scenes of men kissing or petting, while other hardcore versions don't hold back when it comes to drawing things like the usually forbidden private parts or even sodomy.

Some comics feature stories where the members of all-boy bands are lovers, while another notable favorite told the story of love between two prominent male politicians.

How the subjects are being portrayed as homosexuals when they're not remains a matter of conjecture, but Boy's Love is not popular among gays, instead drawing its fan base almost entirely from young women who are generally referred to as fujoshi, or "wilted women."

"I would absolutely never tell anybody else about the type of comics I bought at the event," one fujoshi in her 20s tells Shukan Shincho.

Another woman in the same age bracket is not so bashful.

"Boy's Love comics can be pretty wild. I guess the people being depicted in them would be pretty mad, but they're really nothing more than a girl's fantasy," she says.

A dojinshi comic seller has a fair idea of the appeal.

"This event gives a chance to be open for women who normally conceal the fact they're an otaku," the seller tells Shukan Shincho. "They really tried hard to get dressed up, put on a nice face and some even come from a long way away just to be here."

Social commentator Shunichi Karasawa explains why young women like the fujoshi have such a fascination with male homosexuality.

"It's said that we're now living in the Age of Women, and women are expected to perform at work as much as men, which makes them just as stressed out as guys. Boy's Love manga and novels are one way for frazzled women to let off a bit of steam," Karasawa tells Shukan Shincho. "Our information age has seen the guilt once associated with playing around disappear and the idea of sex for entertainment no longer exists for many women. The only forbidden love they've got room to imagine is love between men. The homo talk is all fantasy and women otaku are simply letting their imaginations run wild for enjoyment."

Link

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Well, this is one trend is going on, I also do wonder how many female anime fans loved boy love stories, something that some of us here befuddled. Oguie from Genshiken is stereotypical representation of this meme.

Lucky Star Timotei joke



This is Timotei joke here....



The reason why the ad is here. I still remembered it from the 80s. Just as to why there is this reference, surely beats me.

Wednesday, May 2

Romeo X Juliet and Seirei no Moribito



Very, very beautiful anime. I am very impressed by the work. Despite we all know how it is gonna end, it is still the most famous literary work in history. Let's see how GONZO (a lot of people I knew hated this studio like a rabid dog) doing on this story.



Another very very beautiful anime. I still waiting on the buzz by the community regarding about this anime. Anyone willing to tell me if this anime worth it or not?

Lucky Star OP



It is....It is......A - D - D - I - C - T - I - V - E.......ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

@_@


However, I heard Kyoto Animation removed the director as they felt the anime did not make a significant impact; the lack of oooomph. Admittedly the anime early part is bit shaky and most of the jokes went above my head. However, the lucky channel is the one that saved the show and Akira cracks me up, especially 2nd episode.

Sunday, April 22

Gundou Musashi



This anime is legendary for its bad quality and cheesy story. The thing is, the work is done in 2006. Holy crap it is bad. This video should convince anyone how bad it is. It is so bad it is funny, and some people watching it for that value. Satire? Serious? I don't know. One thing I knew, that I will never touch it.

Info on the series

Hint: A samurai have a Colt Six Shooter in medieval era Japan, fighting demons.

Thursday, April 19

Another interesting look at power suits

Pretty cool vid.

The inventor is very animated and trying very hard to sell the combat suit. Looks mighty interesting to me.

Friday, April 13

Gunslinger Girl AMV



My fave anime with my fave song.

Power Armour

The US military is planning to turn soldiers into supermen by fitting them with powered exoskeletons.

The research arm of the US military is spending $50m to develop new technologies that will improve the speed, strength and endurance of soldiers.

The research programme is aiming to give soldiers better protection against enemy fire, the ability to tote bigger guns, run faster, communicate better and help them avoid friendly fire.

The first trials of the technology are expected within the decade.

Power play

This month, the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) is expected to sign contracts to kick off the project to develop powered exoskeletons for its ground troops.

The contract signings follow a year of meetings and assessments run by Darpa to find the most promising technologies.

So far, Darpa, the main research and development organisation for the US Department of Defense, has not said which ideas it favours, but it has set out the broad goals of the programme which calls for technologies that can help troops:

carry heavier packs;
march faster over longer distances;
lift heavier objects and use larger weapons;
leap extraordinary heights and/or distances.


Dr Ephrahim Garcia, co-ordinator of the exoskeleton project, said its demands were "formidable" and much of the initial research was speculative to prove concepts rather than develop finished products.

"The controls, the power requirements, the human interface to the machine are all things that we do not know if we can do yet," he said. "There is a huge challenge here."

He added that the exoskeletons must be something that troops can wear and use without thinking rather than something they have to operate.

Suited up

The powered suits will help soldiers carry and use larger weapons and to take heavier loads into battle. Currently, soldiers carry a pack that is no more than a third of their body weight and usually take far less into combat.

Field trials have shown that troops typically dump anything too bulky or heavy to carry for long distances.

The exoskeletons will also have to be almost silent to operate and use fuel very efficiently. And soldiers must be able to use them for at least 24 hours before needing to refuel.

Early work sponsored by Darpa has used pneumatic muscles or deformable magnets to power artificial limbs or suits that soldiers could wear. Trials of a Springwalker system helped its developers travel at speeds in excess of 24 km/h (15 mph).

Stuck in the mud

The exoskeletons are expected to include a sensor web that expands a soldier's field of vision, passes on information about battlefield conditions, using GPS or thermal cameras, helps to co-ordinate groups of other soldiers and lessens the chance of being hit by friendly fire.

Conducting fabrics could be used to swap data between sensors, and wireless networks could pass information between squads or soldiers.

The suits could also act as body armour or have physiological monitoring systems that let officers know the health of the troops under their command.

Field trials of mock-ups of future systems on soldiers running a cross-country course revealed the limitations of some approaches.

Visors on helmets that could double as screens got in the way of rifle sights or made the headgear bulky and unstable. Other sensors or power packs distributed around the body of a soldier got in the way when combatants were crawling and made it harder for them to hide.

Source



When I read this, it reminds me of this ongoing manga series, "Red Eyes" by Jun Shindo. Similar concept, same operational scope.

Wednesday, April 4

What I want from mecha anime?

I prefer story which show both sides people who has to fight each other due to circumstances beyond their control. The murkier the morality is, the better. No good guy, no bad guy, no clear cut "us vs them" splitting. The age of main character preferably veterans like 21 and above. And no need for betrayal plot, just simple military style of chess game story is good enough.

Prefer realistic mecha operations, the best one is Gasaraki. The more functional mech design is, the better something like Patlabor series. Tactics wise, a mix of Gasaraki and Gundam 08th MS Team is prefered, like the fact humaniod combat asset used for peacekeeping mission which shown brillantly in Gasaraki. Mechas also do not stand still and shoot, they actually use their best tactical advantage, the ability to sidestep while firing on the move in split second ability. Urban combat and forest also ideal combat terrain for mechs whereas there is no fucking way a mech can fight face to face and win against conventional tracked armoured assets on plain or desert. Missiles were used more sparingly, not those dramatic Macross style but actually use proper LOS ( Line Of Sight) and top attack pattern. In other words, I imagine mechs as armoured and rotorless version of gunships. Greatest enemy of mechas in my abstract will be opposition rotatry wing assets and tracked armoured fighting vehicles, not forgetting mines. Exotic weapons like EM guns or Metalstorm should be used sparingly, I am more for conventional caseless auto cannons that ranges from 12.7mm to 45 mm whereas anything above recoiless rifle is much more sensible. For example primary AT weapon for Gasaraki Gowa TA is 75mm recoiless AT rifle and all rounder is 35 mm auto cannon or chain gun. Maximum weapons per armoured bipedal asset will be 3+1, with F 15 E Strike Eagle style FAST straps. Height is primary concern, any ground based mechs must not exceed 6 -7 meters due to tactical reasons.

In zero gravity combat, mechs has to be in ideal in combined arms operations, battleships will try to support the mechs using long range weapons in extreme range like for say 4-6 million kilometers. Weapons like tactical nuclear missle is ideal for long range bombardment which has robust radius destruction capability. Mechs are designed to destroy ships in short range capabilty and other opposing forces mecha assets is deployed to counter the "hunter-killer" mecha teams. Ships has limited weapon coverage ability and mechas can exploit this to maximum use. In most cases if mechs manage to "land" on the ships, the ships will be doomed as this mechs can set explosives to the hull of the spaceships and effect a hull breach which will be fatal for the ship. Ship vs ship will be guessing shooting game, shooting in dark while guessing your enemy is one I think of now.

And has to be a political thriller something like those Tom Clancy's novels, where interests of nation state or powerfull entity is treated like chess game between opposing minds like Japan and USA "chicken" game in last parts of Gasaraki.

Oh well, just some of my wishlist for an ideal mecha story can be.

Friday, March 9

Code Geass



After the 1st ep, I am not too impressed by this anime. The character(s) are too angsty for me and have no frigging reason what they want to be. The background is highly implausible. Plus, no mechas can take on tanks in open terrain and win.

Sunday, February 11

Armoured Core Fort Tower OVA



OVA based on Armoured Core, however details are sketchy. Anyone have any news on this work?

Wednesday, January 17

A manga on English eccentricities in US of A


It's New Year's Day and the Yamada family, dressed in kimono, gather around the table for a feast, and to review English phrases they learned the previous year, like "take a breather" or "playing hooky."

Like many Japanese families that relocate to the U.S., the Yamadas are intent on nailing down American slang. But unlike other families, the Yamadas happen to be fictional.


Rest of article is here.

This is article on manga which talks about a Japanese family experience in USA especially concerning about local dialects and customs which can be humourous.

Japanese free weekly manga serials


Japanese manga industry is vibrant and strong plus highly competitive. I was wondering how this publication business model gonna work. Thru advertising?

My favourite so far is Dengeki Daioh which featured Tsukihime and Gunslinger Girl.

The article.

Monday, January 15

Some really nasty stuff....



Not anime related but too interesting to miss.....

SRW tribute to Virtual On



I used to be one of the dedicated player of Virtual On: Operation Moongate and also Oratario Tangram, I remembered the sweet days where I creamed people with Raiden and missile VOs.



The old Gundam Sentinel Video



The S Gundam versus Gundam Mark V. The series that never got animated, pitifully.

XBOX 360 Gundam



Holy Goat Sheet. I want to play it now!

An interesting article

A long but very erudite writing on influence of Asia cinema with a quite portion talking about Japanese animation industry.

The article.

Highlander Anime


Well, one of my old movie fave is coming, I only acknowledge the 1st Highlander feature movie. The sequels sucked donkey balls, but I wonder if the anime can patch the sorry followups that marred the famous franchise.

The trailer is here.

Done by the same people who gave us Ninja Scroll.

Sunday, January 14

Anime Essentials: Every Thing a Fan Needs to Know



By Gilles Poitras
Book excerpt.

Interesting book, worth to read but I am not too sure if I want to buy this book or not. It is bit generalist for my taste, and the author just skipping around, not really talk about the core principals on anime fandom.

Death Note creator speaks


Death Note artist interview.

A short article about the person who is behind massively popular and touted as intelligent anime, Death Note.

The second article talks about live action movie adaptation of the work.

More Sakura Wars?


I kinda like the franchise but this latest OVA is pushing it. I mean, how many times an all female sentai anti demonic force using mechas can many people tolerate? How many times it have to be rehashed?

Sakura Wars OVA 5 New York

Just my thoughts.

Wednesday, January 10

Animatrix Second Renaissance Part II



This images will forever burnt into my mind. Horrific yet appropiate, considering the foolishness of mankind and machine's single mindedness to exist.

Tuesday, January 9

Gender and cyborg


A very long and dry conversation on cyborg neutrality in gender. I have yet to finish it, but it has relevance to Ghost in the Shell universe so I having a good look at it.

Gender is not really an issue in cyborg technology, mostly it is there to please the fanboys and fangirls but sincerely, I don't think it has meaning to represented in cyborg technology. Why should we be concerned with gender identification when comes to robots?

Just my thoughts on this subject.

Link is here.

A short history of hentai

The concise spotlights is here

This word often met with snickers from well versed anime fans around the world have a simplified discussion here as to what is hentai and how it affect the popular culture of Japan presentation, in anime or manga perspective since World War 2.

Saturday, January 6

Shakugan no Shana Movie Trailer



Coming soon in April. I wonder what is the story going to be like.

Kara no Kyokai Trailer




Another version





Well, the movie is coming! Alrite! I can't wait for this.

The official site is here.

Thursday, January 4

Real life mecha engineering

This is an interesting website on attempting to create real life mecha in real world applications.Cool stuff eventhough they haven't ready for anything yet. I shall visit this site periodically just to see how they progressing. And yes, this is sort of mecha fan of Mecca. (pun intended)

The site.

Landwalker



This machine was build by a Japanese fan of mecha, it is however only able to shuffle instead of making a real walk. But hey, it is a start and cool to look at. But this video also shows why mecha in real life can't be a dominant war machine over traditional military assets such as main battle tanks or even a humble troop armed with AT weapons.

Old look into past, Zone of Enders.



My fave mecha game for PS2, I also loved the intro and sheer music accompanying this work. It is shame that however, there is limited plot they can use for Zone of Enders franchise, it is always about 2 machines built on mysterious power of minerals that amplifies the pilots personality and will plus a human-like combat AI in the machines.

I place this in my blog as my tribute to this fine work of art.

Manga getting big in USA.

US manga publishers getting very efficient in liscensing mangas and publishing it in USA, some of them are very notable titles like Mushishi which I considered as one of the better titles in 2006.

The article.

Language and why Japanese is popular

....
Over at College Canada, another Montreal-based private language school, the hot tongue of the moment is Japanese, according

to co-ordinator Daïnn Van Doorne Legris. Says Legris, "I think it's because of the manga, Japanese animation, there are many young adults who take that course, and yes they are fascinated by manga
.....

Link here

An article discusses why some people willing to do foreign language as difficult as Japanese.