Look into past, Hideaki Anno with Daicon III and IV OP

Ah a blast from the past. I remember saw this at friend's house 10 years ago. It includes every reference of sci fi pop culture from 70s and 80s which also marked debut of GAINAX with its problem child, Hideaki Anno.

More can be seen from here.

Cheers.

What's with manga/anime heroes and arms?

When you hold a manga in your hands to read it, your thumbs hover at the edges of your vision while your eyes are focused on the page. But there are so many manga stories about people whose arms turn into monsters or machines that you might want to stop and check what your fingers are up to.

In the popular manga Parasyte, teenage protagonist Shinichi must come to grips with the fact that a shape-shifting space alien has taken over his right arm. A major character in The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service believes his arm to be inhabited by a space alien who speaks through an ever-present hand puppet. The title character of Vampire Hunter D has a mysterious entity living in his hand, with its face appearing in his palm. Relations between a person and a possessed limb are often antagonistic, and there is an episode in Jojo's Bizarre Adventure in which a demonically possessed arm actually tries to kill the man it is attached to.

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An interesting discussion why there is so many heroes in anime/manga stories have their arm missing or completely replaced. A humorous example from Midori no Hibi to more serious, gritty Gutts from Berserk.

I believe personally, it is the symbol of heroes willingness to fight for their beliefs, and they are hardcore enough to replace their own arms in expression of such determination. Gutts for revenge for example. When normal hands don't cut it anymore, a powerful replacement, an upgrade is in line to aid the hero in his quest. Interestingly, I haven't run across any main female character losing arms in this manner yet. Gender discrimination at work?

Cheers.

Muscle March Wii Game

Video Games | Muscle March | Japanese Debut Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

The gay feeling is overwhelming......I am...I am speechless....so many muscles.....ARGHHHHHHHH

Akira Live Action is dead

Argh crap, one of my favourite anime LA adaptation,"Akira" has crashed into wall of development hell of Hollywood. Apparently the director left the project which pretty much nailed its coffin. Sad indeed.

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2009 Summer Anime lineup

This is the upcoming anime for summer of 2009. Frankly speaking, I only interested in like 2-3 series out of the list; Canaan, Tokyo 8.0 and Spice and Wolf 2.

No good sci fi anime series though. :(

801 Tonari Chan "revived" by Yamamoto Yutaka.

Something got my interest today, Yamamoto Yutaka the former Kyoto Animation director picked up "dead" project, 801 Tonari Chan which is canceled few months ago. Interesting, considering the problematic relationship between the director and the famous studio due to Lucky Star direction disagreement. Yamamoto went off directing Kannagi with poached former A class staffers from Kyoto Animation and now he is directing 90 second short for former Kyoto Animation project. Coincidence? I dunno. The chances is too high for mere coincidence. It smells of good human drama here, IMHO.


Kannagi even featured an "anonymous" anime director that indirectly chiding Kyoto Animation. Here is summary of an interview with him in English. This interview also reveals his comments on current impasse of anime industry, he basically felt the anime creativity has stagnant since days of Evangelion of mid 90s. He is talks on why Kannagi is more superior and original than ToraDora! and Index in this interview. Interesting fellow!

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