New live action Blood

Yeap, the title says it all. I do enjoy the OVA and it has stupendous animation but the TV series lost its steam halfway in episode 38 and generally goes downhill from there. Anyway, it remains to be seen if the movie can deliver or will got stuck with horrible adaptation disease which plagued many conversion movies like Rayne or House of the Dead. Even Death Note the movie is awful. Are the gods gonna smile on this one?



Ji-hyun Jun will be the lead actress, I have to admit she is damn cute. But seeing her swinging sword in blood and butchering vampires? Maybe needs some adjustment for my part. Oh well.

Directed by Ronny Yu (Freddy vs Jason), Production I.G. (the original owner of the franchise) gave it's consent for a live action production by French Pathe.

Sources.
Sources no 2.

Japanology coverage on otaku itself

Part One, which discusses how vibrant the anime culture in Akibahara District which now turning into massive Mecca of Anime Culture.




Part Two, which discusses about other aspects of otakudom such as doujinshis, cosplays as narrated by quite a likable TV presenter.

Passionate about anime

By Alicia Doyle, Correspondent
October 18, 2006

An Agoura Hills 10th-grader's passion for anime led to her recently performing with the Los Angeles Philharmonic as Yuna Braska, a character who appears in the anime video game series "Final Fantasy."

Fourteen-year-old Ashley Parish was picked from among hundreds of entrants to perform at the Hollywood Bowl on Sept. 21 in a special event celebrating anime music, from movies to videos.

Thousands of fans cheered on Parish and other winners, who performed in elaborate costumes as popular anime characters from video games. Anime, a shortened form of "animation," popularly refers to animation originating in Japan.

Article here.

What attracts me to this article is participation of large scale musical group in conjunction with anime. It has come a long way.

Future Power Armour?

The main article is here.

The age of power armour is here, as an inventor in Japan ( what else) going to mass market this suit. Suddenly things that talked about in novels like Starship Trooper by Heinlein and featured in numerous anime mecha genre is taking shape in reality. Sooner or later, military and security application will find this suit irresistable and in this article, this very inventor refused a generous offer from Pentagon to build the suit for military application. US version known as BLEEX is noticeably bulkier and heavy than HAL-5.

Portents of future things to come?

BBC Otaku Test Quiz?

Otaku test from BBC's Japanorama. I scored 7/8 so I am officially an otaku.Hahahahhahahaah

Quiz is here.

Manga Cafes: short summary of history

I remembered these places back in Kuala Lumpur, it is cosy, easy on eye and stacks of mangas lining the wall waiting to be rented by patrons. The shops do not have facilities described like in the following article but they do have an almost similar concept to it. For otakus, it is also a place to check up and sometimes pick up girls, since they share the same passion for manga. I do wonder how well it will do, if something like this open in Western nations.

Tokyo's 'manga ' cafes serve a restless generation

TOKYO — Whether they be 200-year-old teahouses or modern-day coffee shops, "kissaten" (traditional cafes) hold a special place in Japan's national psyche. These are places where green tea greased the cogs for secret rendezvous between shogun and coup-plotting rebel leaders, and where kimono-clad girls doled out sexual favors over a brew of Vienna's finest. They are also where longhaired hippies could wig out all day on obscure free jazz records for the price of an American blend. A trip to a "kissaten" has long been about a whole lot more than just sipping on a hot beverage.

The latest incarnation of this noble trend, "manga kissa," can be found almost exclusively in metropolitan areas, hovering out of sight a few floors above or below ground level. They play host to a round-the-clock procession of no-nonsense businessmen, bashful teenage couples, students and parents who can leave the kids at the on-site nursery and indulge in a quick fix of manga and mocha.

Full article.


An old article.