Mistakes of Youth: The Blog (Powered by EXCELLENCE!)

June 27th, 2009 certainly was a great day for our beloved Evangelion. In addition to the release of a spectacular new movie, that awesome Rei glass I’ve wanted for years also finally came in the mail…

While doing my grocery shopping, I tried my best to fine a suitably orange-coloured drink with which to fill this glass. Orange Qoo wasn’t going to cut it–too yellow. I had to shoot for something more expensive. Itoen Mango Mix Fruit Juice seemed just perfect.

The taste? Not that great, I guess. The drink was at that point not chilled for long enough, and some soap probably got in there since I had to wash the glass right before using it. But that’s not the glass’s fault, now is it! I plan to use this quite regularly. More so than my Witch Hunter Robin shot glass!

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Throughout most of these comics, Tina is the straight man, while Rets plays the fool, but every now and then I like to switch it around, resulting in Tina being even more ruined than Rets could ever hope to be. I personally haven’t seen grotesque BL (haven’t seen much BL at all, really) but I’m sure at least ONE BOOK must exist. Tina has alluded to having a violent personality beneath her cute clothes and smiles, but I think this is the first time she’s every really expressed an interest in guro.

I’m not really sure how I feel about the artwork. The lines looked fine on paper, but something got lost in translation. The sunset effect is fine, I guess. Oh, and I’d just like to mention that otaku girls in Japan do dress pretty similar to how Tina does, surprisingly enough. I guess she’s not all that unrealistic after all!

June 27th is now coming to an end in Japan, and by now a good part of the nation has seen Eva 2.0, and so have I! Here’s my review! I won’t write much about it here aside from the fact that it’s very, very, very good. Way better than the previous movie. Fly to Japan to watch it! I dare you!

The new Haruhi is finally under way. It made a pretty big splash with its one self-contained time-traveling adventure, and has now moved on to what will probably be a three episode story arc. I think this current story arc is fine, but not the best the series has to offer. I like it, but I hope it’s resolved in some awesome way. At least the outfits are awesome. Especially Mikuru’s! Ah, she’s so cute. Thank you, KyoAni. Thank you.

That was a little longer than previous weeks, but I’m all anime’d out after that Eva reivew. I was planning on even doing a Shin Mazinger post today, but that’ll have to wait. Until next time!

Yup. Spoilers. This list won’t be comprehensive or in order, I’m just going by whatever pops up in my mind first. Please keep in mind that my Japanese comprehension isn’t the best, so I may get some things wrong.

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When the Rebuild of Evangelion was first announced, series creator Anno Hideaki proudly proclaimed that this series of movies would be a bold re-imaging of his original 1995 television series. The first film, “Beginning” came and went, and it’s generally agreed that the first installment was simply the first six episodes of the TV show, just cut down to 90 minutes. There were some slight changes, but it was hardly a “bold re-imaging.” Fans put all their hopes on the sequel, “Division” to really blow their minds.

Having just seen this film on its opening day, I can quite happily say that Evangelion New Theatrical Version: Division, or Rebuild of Evangelion: You Can (Not) Advance does fully deliver on the promise Anno made back when he first announced this project.

The first film, Beginning, decided to open with familiar scenes, but right from its opening minutes, Division delivers something that was never a part of the original series beyond some expositional dialogue. To make it even better, it features the much advertised new character–Mari–showing off her skills. Beyond this spectacular opening scene, the movie establishes quite firmly that This Time It’s Going To Be Different. Events are clearly shuffled around, omitted, or changed. However, while movie 1 also changed and omitted things, it was obviously just for time purposes, or to plant seeds of interest for the following chapters. The changes this time around feel a lot more thought out, and work a lot better to make the movie feel more like a movie and less like a bunch of TV episodes cut together.

What also helps the movie flow better as a complete piece of work is the fact that very few scenes from the TV series are recycled. There are some spread throughout (they keep the famous elevator scene) but for the most part the movie is completely new. They do cover a lot of familiar events, but the execution is very different. One big difference is the Angels– there are some completely new ones, and existing Angels are modified in ways that make them extremely different from their TV counterparts–even more so than what was done in the first film. The Angles in this Evangelion take on a more abstract existence–they change, evolve, and are clearly very smart.

The best parts about this film are simply how it expands upon aspects of the TV series that were hinted at or not touched upon at all, re-writes events so that they flow well as a film, and how familiar events from the TV series are reproduced at a more epic scale. In short, this movie truly is the epic re-envisioning of Evangelion that Anno promised. In place of filler episodes like Magma Diver and Jet Alone (which are awesome, mind you) the movie takes time to expand upon the post Second Impact world. Other branches of NERV are shown to some degree, as opposed to being simply spoken about. The battles scenes have more tension, more urgency, and at times more obvious Daikon IV references than the original. Even the characterization is changed somewhat. The degree the which things are altered isn’t superficial. This stuff is clearly important.

Of course, the main selling point of this movie is simply how it ends. I wont go into it in any great detail right now, but while other changes in the movie are different and good in their own way, whether or not they one up the TV series is up for debate. However, once you reach the final 30 minutes of Division, you begin to see Anno’s bold new vision come into fruition. It is indeed a familiar scene from the TV series, but the degree to which it is changed, yet at the same time very much the same culminates in such a way that quite honestly drove me to tears, and really does well to separate itself from the original. It’s nothing short of amazing. Almost End of Evangelion amazing.

As far as technical aspects go, this movie looks just as good as the first one, if not better. Since this film features the introduction of Mari, it’s kind of interesting to see how her post-2000 character design (and personality) meshes with characters written and designed over a decade ago. As I keep mentioning over and over again, the battles are simply amazing, even if they are few and far between. The music is primarily re-done tracks from the TV series, but in addition to the new orchestral tracks, there are two quiet vocal songs which play at very pivotal moments and only serve to highlight those scenes a lot better than the TV series did with its over-the-top orchestral score.

There are some minor, nagging issues with this film, most of which lie in Asuka’s somewhat rushed characterization, but for the most part, this movie does well to make good on Anno’s promise. This truly is Evangelion for the 21st century. However, at its core, it’s still the same Evangelion we know and love, just one more time, with even more feeling.

I’m going to make an entry after this one with some spoilers. You can read it if you want.

WHAT I DIDN’T PAY 1200 DOLLARS JUST FOR TWO TICKETS I WANT MY MONEY BACKSL:KFLKSDJGNLKDJLVKDJBV<LSDLKVXBV<Dv,vdx

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I actually finished up Zettai Karen Children raw about three months ago on the flight over here to Japan, watched the sub about two months later, and am only getting around to writing about the show now. Yeah, it’s been busy.

However, I feel Zettai Karen Children is worth me taking about an hour or so of my free time to impart to you, the reader, how much of a fun, charming and crazy children’s cartoon Zettai Karen Children is.

Zettai Karen Children was originally a manga by Shiina Takahashi, with the anime version by Kawaguchi Keiichiro and the rest of the cool dudes down at Synergy SP. In other words, the dream team that made the better season of Hayate no Gotoku! The story takes place in a world where people who can use ESP–Espers–are common place. Our main characters three young esper girls, Akashi Kaoru, Nagomi Aoi and Sannomiya Shiho who are special, super powerful espers. Codenamed “The Children”, they do work for Babel, which is an organization of specially trained espers who fight crime around the world. Minamoto Koichi is the man in charge of these three espers, but he also functions as their surrogate father by looking after the girls’ day-to-day life, and even living with them. While episodes tend to be stand alone, the main plot focuses around Babel’s battle with P.A.N.D.R.A–a faction of espers who believe that they are superior to “normals”–people without special ablities–, and wish for a world in which only espers exist.

Zettai Karen Children didn’t really grab me with its initial episode, but I came to really like it as the weeks went by. The series from the get-go is kind of off-putting right down its more-’90s-than-’90s character designs, but once you give it a few episodes, it develops into a very fun show. As mentioned earlier, each episode is pretty stand alone, and the general routine goes something like this–something happens, be it a crime, a disaster, or just an accident; Babel is called, and somehow the problem gets resolved. There are however other more mellow episodes which focus around the girls’ school life, as well as the episodes that focus around secondary characters. The show is rather lengthy–52 episodes–so it has a lot of breathing room.

What makes the show good is just how well-written and entertaining each of the individual stories are. Each and every episode is simply very solidly written, and is complemented by very rapid-fire, fast moving direction that isn’t annoyingly crazy, but just crazy enough. The show is rather comedy-centric, with gags ranging from jokes based around character quirks, to full on parodies of shows you should have watched, but probably haven’t. It certainly does carry the parody show vibe of the first Hayate season (in fact, Hayate characters often make cameos), while at the same time delivering an entertaining plot episode after episode.

However, Zettai Karen Children addresses some serious issues. Sure, they’re presented in a very heavy-handed, kids show manner, but the fact that such ideas are even being presented to such an audience puts Zettai Karen Children a touch above your usual kids show. The issue of prejudice is a big one–espers aren’t normal people. They’re often separated from the rest of normal society, and there are even groups of people who actively display their hate for espers violently. There are often times scenes where our young, 10-year-old heroines confront this harsh reality, and try their best to just deal with it. Another rather mature-for-a-kids-show part of Zettai Karen Children is that P.A.N.D.R.A aren’t really portrayed as such bad guys. Much like Big Fire in Giant Robo, P.A.N.D.R.A doesn’t do what it does just to be evil–they’re simply fighting for their own idea of justice. The members of P.A.N.D.R.A are all fleshed out well enough so that you can really understand where they’re coming from. Especially their leader, Hyoubu Kyousuke. The rest of the issues the show addresses are kids show things like believing in yourself, but if you’re not a totally broken and cynical shell of a man, I still think such messages can be appreciated by adults.

Characters are the big thing that carry this show–all of them are painted with their own unique brand of insanity, but at the same time have multiple sides to them. The main characters, Kaoru, Aoi, and Shiho are of course very memorable for how adorably bratty they can be, but the show also has a rather strong set of side characters such as Umegae Naomi and her supervisor Tanizaki Ichiro, who has an unhealthy obsession with his subordinate, and always ends up with his face flat on concrete. Another amusing pair is “The Chief” and Kashiwagi Oboro, the former of which dotes on The Children like an overprotective parent, while the later has a sweet face, but a cold as ice interior. There’s also the hilariously perverted Dr. Sakaki, as well as the cheery welcome desk girls Tokiwa Natsuko and Nokawi Hotaru. Due to the show’s 52 episode length, all of the characters get a chance to shine.

The animation by Synergy SP is fine considering the length of the show–episodes never look especially terrible, and when they look good, they really look good. One note about the show’s visuals that I already mentioned is the character designs–they’re rather ’90s-styled, and will probably turn fans of more modern design work away. I will admit that they struck me as a bit odd as first, but I quickly came to love them. The only real problem with the character designs is that because they’re so detailed, some of the not-as-stellar looking episodes can kind of turn into slide shows–awesomely directed slide shows, mind you, but slide shows all the same.

Nakagawa Kotarou–one half of the musical talent behind Code Geass–provides a very swing, and at times big band inspired musical score that pays homage to 1970s spy movies for the show. Strangely enough, it complements everything perfectly. There are two opening themes–Over The Future, and My Wings, both by a group of young girls called Karen Girl’s, who made their debut with this show. There are four ending themes, and they’re all fun songs by the seiyuu.

Zettai Karen Children is simply a great time. While it is a kids show, it’s one of those kids shows that can appeal to adults, and clearly has certain portions aimed directly at adults. The jokes are all really good, the main story is rather interesting–even if it is unresolved by the end–and everything is presented in a solid, good looking, 52 episode package. While it may be something of an undertaking, I do recommend picking it up, even if you just want to watch it weekly. You’ll have fun with, I promise.

It took a while, but the posters have finally found their way onto my wall. I was hesitating at first, mostly because I wasn’t sure if the tape would stick well to the rather soft walls, but once that one poster went up, the rest kind of followed. While that Strike Witches poster has yet to fall, others have. I can’t say for sure, but I think I’ve finally found a way to keep the falling posters down the minimum. They wake me up at night, you know!

You may notice posters from older shows around–I bought a 2005 issue of Megami a while back for a Tsukuyomi poster, and it just happened that there were other posters that I liked, so I decided to stick them up as well.

Evangelion 2.0 YOU CAN(NOT) ADVANCE (ヱヴァンゲリヲン新劇場版: 破,) UCC coffee promotion. Set me back 700 yen. Bought in AsoBitCity Akiba.

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Oops, I forgot to update on time again. No matter, as it’s here now. I don’t have much to say here except for that the eyes turned out weird, but other than that I’m kind of happy with how this turned out.

I’ll do real rants again sometime.

I can’t keep it a secret for any longer. Those who have a keen eye kept on my Flickr feed, or those who have the unfortunate knowledge as to what my face looks like and have seen it in photos taken by others will know that yes, I did find my way into one of Danny Choo’s swanky blogger parties.

I’m going to be honest here–I haven’t been reading Mr. Choo’s blog lately. I’ve become a busy guy–I don’t have much time to read blogs. As such, much like most of the other blogs livebookmarked in my Firefox Bookmarks Toolbar Folder, I only click on things if a title on the RSS feed catches my eye. Because of this, I wasn’t really fully aware of the details of these parties Mr. Choo was holding beyond the fact that they existed until a friend of mine tipped me off. After some research, I came to the conclusion that an event like this could be fun, and summarily begged Danny for an invite.

CGM Night 5, held on the 15th of June was the first of these parties that I attended. Me, along with a friend went to see just how much trouble we could get into. Turns out there was a lot of trouble we could have gotten into, but we didn’t really get into it. We’re too good for that.

There was lots of geek-swank going on at this party. You couldn’t look anywhere without running into a Google or Firefox employee, along with a slew of other IT pros. The party was mostly a stage for networking and general socializing with other nerds, but there were some games and giveaways. I played janken for an eroge I’d never play, but it’s fine since I lost anyway. There was no one there that I really knew, but the atmosphere alone was interesting.

I did however know two people–Patrick “Son Goku” Galbriath, and–the man of the hour–Danny Choo. I exchanged some words with Patrick, and exchanged a bit more with Danny. They’re both cool guys, and probably better people to meet in real life than, say, me.

My friend and I came out rather satisfied with the experience, and both agreed that we wouldn’t mind going again. Of course, it’d probably be better if I could run into more people I know.

Once the party was done, we went out for Hoppy.

While I’ve done the odd event report and some bits of poor Gonzo journalism, during my–at this point–two and half months in japan, I’ve yet to lay down any solid opinions about this place on my–sadly neglected, as of late–weblog. I plan to change this now. Not the sadly neglected part, though.

So yeah, it’s been two months. The bright and clear shimmer of being in Japan has long since faded, and I have eased into a normal routine. The first thing I’d like to bring up is my distinct lack of culture shock. I mean sure, some things did take me by surprise–like just how crowded the “crowded Japanese train” can get, and the fact that men wear purses–but overall, nothing thus far as phased me too much, and forced me into hating this country. In fact, I like most of the things about this country that are different from America. To be quite honest, being in Japan has made me really not like America. I am not like one of those whiny, annoying, and absolutely stupid American kids who misses their pizza and hamburgers–I couldn’t care less for that shit. I love a lot the things here, and quite frankly I’ll miss them when I return to America. That said, I do kind of miss grapes, but that’s it.

As you can gather, I really like this place. When I first landed, I really liked this place. Some of that love was in part driven by the intense amount of Japanophile inside of me, but once everything balanced out, I still came out liking this place. The first couple of weeks are pretty rough though, especially if you’re a dumbass American whose image of Japan is painted entirely by Naruto and J-Rock bands, and your pristine image of this country is destroyed right when you realize that yes–you have to use fucking Japanese, here! Even if you’re not like that, and, say, like me, it’s still rough, but mostly because of jetlag, and just adjusting to the pace of the country.

One thing that probably really helped me settle into this country was that I already knew a good amount about it. In fact, I’ve probably collected too much information about Japan throughout that years that I’ve wanted to go, to the point that nothing phases me here. I actually wanted a bit more culture shock. I wanted stuff like, say, casual racism to blow my mind, but I went in fully expecting every single Japanese person to always, at all times, look at me with a strong look of disdain. In fact, my negative expectations were so high that the fact that they haven’t been met surprises me more than anything else. This isn’t to say that I wasn’t totally fucking excited about coming here, but I also came fully ready to despise this country. That hasn’t happened.

Anyway, I think I’ll dispense you all from the intense amounts of elitism and take on a more humble tone. While I do love this place, the language barrier is an issue. Yes–I know basic Japanese–but listening and speaking can still be a challenge. For one, I can’t really effectively communicate with my peers. I do have conversations with a lot of the people in my manga club, but they slow down their speech when talking to me, and even then I sometimes misunderstand. I’ve slowly been improving, but it is something an annoyance. I came in knowing all I’d be able to use with people was Japanese, and I knew my Japanese was bad, but I didn’t realize it was this bad. Practice in the field does help, though. I can now have pretty casual–albeit slow–conversations.

In the previous paragraphs I’ve mentioned that I really liked this place, but I haven’t expanded upon the whys. There are many whys, so I’ll just cover a few of them. One of them is something really simple, but I love the design work in this country. By that I mean, I love the way buildings look, and the way towns are arranged. I love how close together everything is, and how small the living space is. I suppose most Americans would hate this, but I can’t help but love it. I also love being swept away with the waves of people in the hot spots in Tokyo. Once again, I can’t explain why, but I just like it. Another thing I like are the service people–they’re just so nice! Except at hole in the wall places–in those places, they’re charmingly grumpy, and make some damn good food.

One big thing that surprised me was that I actually care about the real culture here. I love the otaku culture, yeah, but the fact that I actually like the real culture is quite surprising. Before I came I had little interest in Japanese culture, but when one’s surrounded by it–especially as an American–you kind of get the feeling of, “Ah, so this it what it feels like to be in a country that actually has culture.”

When all is said and done, I really don’t want to leave this country. In fact, I’d be happy living here forever, never to return to America. I love the people here, I love the food, and I love the life style. This place is great.

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Here’s all of the photos I’ve taken so far. There’s about 2000, but they’re all not that interesting. One may notice that I didn’t really cover otaku things here–I plan to do that in forthcoming posts, which may or may not happen. I’m sorry for the snooty tone of this post, but one develops a lot of pent up anger when around some of the stupider not-Japanese people.

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This is probably the most photo-sourced thing I’ve done–the first panel is a trace over a photo, the last panel’s background is a blurred photo, and I used a photo of myself in Brad’s pose in the last panel to help me draw said pose. It’s fine, though. Pros do this all the time, so I feel I am entitled to such liberties.

This comic is a pretty typical “Brad gets angry” comic, but I really wanted to drive home just how crazy he’s going being surrounded by the kind of clientèle that collects at Tora no Ana. I think panel three does that. The last panel not so much, but I think he looks crazed enough.

That’s all, again. I just don’t feel like writing much lately–focusing more on improving my artwork. I do have some blog posts in the works though, so look out for those! See you next week!

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As you can tell from the date, this was meant to go up yesterday, but it’s been a little busy here at MoY HQ. I’m in the middle of some midterms (ending tomorrow) and I’m currently staking out on Yahoo Auctions for something Very Special. But here it is, a day late. It’s just a quick, one panel affair. Took no more than an hour or so to make, hence why I’m posting it in the middle of the week. I simply just felt a burning desire to turn this sentiment into a comic, with that sentiment being the HAYATE SECOND SEASON ENDING THEME IS STUPID.

As per usual this is going to end rather quickly, but not before I share with all of you a most incredible tale.

I am a member at my university’s manga circle. It’s mostly Japanese people, but there are a few gaijin. Of those few, there is one (I believe Chinese) guy who is both very good at Japanese and English. I’m in the club room today, drawing next week’s comic, and this guy walks in and sits next to me. After a few minutes he questions me.

“Your style looks very familiar” he says.

It is at this point that I begin to wonder, “Could this person be a reader?” Then again, my style is quite generic so it could be anyone.

He then goes on to say, “Is that… Mistakes of Youth?”

I nod. “Yes.”

“You’re the creator?” he says.

“Yes.”

And it simply went on from there. This sort of thing has happened once before, but not nearly on the same scale. No one from my same university in my same club has ever sat down next to me, looked at what I was drawing then recognized me from the internet. I kind of thought something like this may happen, but the fact that it actually did blows my fucking mind. The guy hasn’t read the comic in a few weeks, but given what just happened he may check up on the site tonight. You know who you are!!!

And that’s all for today. See ya’ll on Saturday.