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Wonder Festival may be long over, but our Beauty Memories live on… in the form of a podcast! The content of this show is true to the title for the first 10 or so minutes (believe it or not, there was even more of just me talking that was edited out) but after that there’s a good review of the event overall between me and lastarial. We learned quite quickly that it would be impossible to catch any audio at the event itself.

We actually talked about a bunch of fascinating things in line, but I never know when to switch on the recorder. Oops.

Some old photos.

Guests

• Lastarial

Songs

• Opening Song– “Mr. Noone Special (Reprise)” by Cymbals
• Ending Song– “Muzak Cycle” by Cymbals

Remember how back when Bakemonogatari was announced, there was news that the show was too long for its TV broadcast, and the remaining three episodes of the fifteen episode series had to be streamed online?

Well, I just got some SUPER SECRET INFO from my industry contact in Japan, and he told me I could spill the beans on the whole deal. See, SHAFT won’t be streaming anything. They’re going to be doing something better–each of the web episodes will be put up on their website free for download, with no DRM. Expect the file names to look something like this: [ＳＨＡＦＴ]化物語第十三話「つばさキャット其ノ参」.mkv

In addition to this, each of the episodes will be subbed into English–BY SHINBO HIMSELF. What this means is, Shinbo will simply be typing in all the English he knows into each of the episodes. By the last episode, the sub script will be composed entirely of misspelled quotes from American movies. I’ve seen these scripts, and they’re pretty awesome.

Anyway, look forward to it!

GODS, WHY MUST YOU FORSAKE ME!?

NYANTYPE!!! Why do you put THIS issue out just after I’ve left Japan?! Ok, the Nagato poster in the issue I actually bought was neat and all, but she’s not really my favourite, you know? Ugh. I guess I can find this used on my next trip over. Shouldn’t be too hard to find…

I am sad that I have no Mikuru posters gracing my walls. I guess another thing to do on the next Japan trip is along with picking up this issue of Nyantype, I’ll have to pick up Haruhi-era Megami issues.

Ok, man. It’s time to chill.

Background music.

(more…)

Ok guys, an NYAF report will come soon, with podcasts coming in like… probably a month or so, but for now I need to talk about something of an issue that’s often brought up in my neck of the internet, and was brought up while I was behind the Hen Da Ne table at NYAF, so it’s fresh in my mind.

That issue being, what’s with these fuckin’ moe shows that have NO STORY AT ALL, MAN. WHAT’S WITH THIS SHALLOW MODERN ANIME?!

When people talk about how much they fucking hate shows like Lucky Star, K-ON! or whatever, their first criticism is that these shows have no story. I don’t honestly think story is a requirement for most entertainment media. While story driven things are great, there’s nothing wrong with a show that relies solely on its characters.

The next thing that people fire at me–and this is specifically aimed at K-ON!, since it’s the show of the hour–is that THIS SHIT ISN’T FUNNY. And you know, in all honesty, I’m not too crazy about K-ON! I too don’t think it’s very funny. Actually, when I was flipping through the original manga back in Japan, it seemed the joke delivery in there was funnier than it was in the anime. I do, however, feel it is a good show. It’s really just about some girls hanging out and living life, and there’s nothing wrong with that. You can feel free to not like it, but don’t say that it’s bad because it’s doing exactly what it’s setting out to do.

The problem here is that people can’t really differentiate between their own tastes and what a show sets out to do. I have the same problem. But then again, there’s also people who just don’t approve of what a show sets out to do from the get go, but those people are probably just stuck in a time before 1989, so they’re impossible to help.

After all this, the finishing blow goes something like, “these moe shows are condemning otaku to a fake reality from which they are unable to escape, making them unable to function in the real world.” This is an awful, sweeping generalization. Then again, I can’t quite say my rebuttal to this is entirely in the right considering it’s based off of limited experience, but this experience is certainly more thorough than that of the people who haven’t even been to Japan to meet these otaku they just love to badmouth.

The stereotypical otaku still exists in Japan. You see them around, especially at events. I’ve spoken to some of them. They’re not bad guys, but they are pretty easy to look down upon. However, what you find to be more common these days is an otaku who is–quite honestly–kind of like these Yappies Matt Alt has been talking about lately. I mean, they’re not crazy and don’t carry around anime log books and shit, but if you were to walk into my manga club at Jouchi University, you’d be surprised at how fucking hip these people look. Part of it is because in Japan–generally–young people just tend to dress up nicer than American young people. This is also because as the years have gone by, being an otaku has slowly worked its way into the mainstream. It’s still niche as fuck, but I don’t think fandom today takes as much pride in putting on the wife-beater and headband just to be a cultural outlaw.

That’s not to say that these guys don’t enjoy indulging in these “moe anime” (I hate saying that by the way, since “moe” isn’t a genre) and some of these cool dudes even snuggle up with their dakimakura–just like me! Remember this guy? Dude fucking loves dakimakura, figures and tapestries. However, in addition to writing about that stuff on his mixi, he also talks about shopping at high-end clothing stores, and let me tell you–the dude was sharply dressed whenever I saw him. In addition to that, he was very sociable with everyone and you probably wouldn’t even be able to tell he was an otaku unless he told you he bought that Fate dakimakura because he loves Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha so fucking much.

Most of the fans I met in Japan just–on the whole–just seemed a lot more socially adept than most American fandom. You know Shima Shima? Guy who draws lots of Cardcaptor Sakura doujinshi? The dude is chill as fuck. I’d go out for Hoppy with him. At this point, I think being an otaku has simply evolved into a lifestyle, and the requirement to be weird about it is slowly fading away. And these guys know how to poke fun at themselves, too. It’s not as if they’re shutting themselves in a fantasy world. They’re just living a different kind of lifestyle from most other people, and are cool about it.

So basically, all y’all are wrong.

How am I going to find time to read all these books in between sitting around and doing nothing, humping hug pillows and having delusions of grandeur about running a Shinbo panel at Anime Boston?

thanks bkub

Original Post

“It was said that on that day, one could hear the pained moans of a white man all through Akiba…”

“This was later dubbed as ‘The Moaning Phantom Gaijin of AKB’.”

I was going to end the comic like that, but in the end it clogged things up too much, so I got rid of it. You can see that version here and see how it flows for yourself. The store pictured in this comic is based upon a real one that I went into with a man who shall remain nameless.  They do actually have live events where the models come in and pose, but I’m not sure if they do so in bikinis. Either way, lots of scary sites were perused to acquire the sampled images in this comic, but I’m willing to sacrifice it all in the name of ART.

The more astute of you will notice that this comic is being posted somewhat early. The reason for this being is that I will be at the New York City Anime Festival this weekend, and as such will probably not have time to put up the comic. So you’re getting it early! Freak out!

Freak out!

Edit: I just realized this entry was still set as “Private”…oops.

Badass Gundam illustration by Naochika Morishita, because Gundam is always relevant. Also taken from a flagrantly ILLEGAL scan of his book. I’ll buy it one day!

As per the title, Mistakes of Youth will be going to The Anime Con, with the anime con in this case being New York Anime Festival. I tweeted about this on the Tweeter, and meant to drop a note on the blog earlier, but forgot. I was only really reminded by this guy, who is incidentally letting me crash at his place.

So yeah, I’ll be there in all my glory. Hopefully with cut hair. Look for the Strike Witches cap.

Dark and beautiful Tsukuyomi illustration by CHOCO. I actually have a printed collection of these Tsukuyomi end cards, so I feel less guilty posting this up. Also, Hazuki is–much like Gundam–always relevant.

But there’s still some pictures.

Ever since I’ve returned to the US I’ve developed something of a shopping list of US releases that need to get picked up at one point or another. However, since I’m already under a backlog of DVDs and manga, these purchases are not of any high priority. That said, there is one thing I’ve been looking to purchase with a great amount of anticipation, and that is the US release of the Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu novel. Unfortunately, I’ve been unable to find neither the normal people version nor the otakukusai version anywhere I’ve looked. Until today, that is. While killing time in Borders, for some mystical, cosmic reason both the normal version and the cool dude version were just sitting there on the shelf. I of course bought the cool dude version without a second thought.

Boston isn’t Tokyo, so I can’t just hop on the train and be in Akiba in 30 minutes. Can’t do that here. I do however make the rounds of local bookstores and such to scout what’s out on the market, and it would seem that Yen Press is trying its hardest to weasel its way into my wallet, along with companies like Seven Seas (well, I actually just want Dance In The Vampire Bund) and–for ultimate contrast–Dark Horse and Viz Signature.

However, fresh out of Japan, American manga is just too fucking expensive. I’m really not ready to drop 10 dollars per volume on a series that isn’t even finished running in Japan, let alone the US. I did however get to the end of Trigun Maximum though… more on that in a later post, maybe.

Despite that whining, however, I able to drop 15 bucks on that Haruhi book with little hesitation, but that’s mostly due to this 20 dollar rebate card I got after buying some RAM for my laptop…

also i just need to find these guys and be their friend

I’ve been visiting that site since high school.

Find some otaku guys who own a car and do this.

Actually I just need to be friends with these guys.

People always say, “Man, wildarms, you’re such a stick-in-the-mud! Why do you hate the anime blogs so much?” And it’s true–I do hate the anime blogs. I will not deny this claim. Anime blogs by and large are awful. However, there are and were some good ones, and it’s those happy few that I’d like to salute in what I hope becomes a series of posts about anime blogs that I like and liked. This is the first in that series.

Today we remember Lolitron.

abq over at Lolitron every now and again rises from his grave to claim that he’s not dead, but in all honesty, the site died near the beginning of 2006. There have been attempts at revival with his kind of yearly Loli Battles and attempts to blog about new series that are relevant to his interests, but it’s clear that these interests have become more mainstream, and you can bet he’s no longer blowing cash on R2 DVDs.

But let’s not focus on what Lolitron is, and more on what it was. I first discovered Lolitron (and a wealth of other blogs which are no longer updated) in highschool–almost four years ago–and it did well to fill those dark days with spots of inspired dirty humour that cheered me up.

At face value, Lolitron may not have seemed like anything special. It looks like just another episodic anime blog with a bunch of screencaps. And that’s what it was, really. But what set it apart was abq’s pedophile shtick. He didn’t summarize episodes. Instead, he gave a couple of dirty one liners paired with links to screencaps taken out of context, and then posted a bunch of other screencaps at the end. Every now and again he would leave a paragraph or so of honest thoughts about the series, but most of the time it was just perverted jokes.

And it was awesome.

While in a perfect world all anime blogs would be well-written reviews and analysis of anime both new and old, this take on the generic anime blog setup was refreshing. Instead of writing a boring summary I don’t care about (because I would have presumably already watched the episode) abq provided a funny commentary that worked along with the episode, instead of simply retelling it. I personally found this to be a nice change of pace, since honestly, most anime bloggers are fucking prudes, and it was nice to see a fellow unashamed pervert out there keeping it real. Aside from his episode posts, every now and then he’d post about his hurting wallet with loot for his readership to salivate over.

abq himself is a mysterious existence. He never really made it clear as to how old he actually was, except for the fact that he had a job and was in school. In fact, according to his Twitter, it seems he’s still in school, so he may well be close to my age, considering how long I’ve been keeping up with him. He never posted any sort of photos of himself, and his about page has been left incomplete since the inception of the blog. I’m pretty sure he’s just a normal guy, but the air of mystery around him is somewhat compelling.

What is also worth noting is how loyal his readership is. Even if the blog was only really actively updated for about a year and a bit, each time he updates–even if it’s just with one image–it draws a lot of response. People clearly want him to get back on the bandwagon, but at this point I think it’s no use.

Even if Lolitron is simply a shell of its former self, it’s still worth saluting for what it was, what it did, and how it really creeped out Fred Gallagher. abq is a cool dude, and even if his life on the internet is more or less gone, I hope he’s still doing well, wherever he is in Sweden.

I certainly hope he isn’t in jail.

Original Comic

There will be people that accuse Mistakes of Youth of being a self-insert, wish fulfillment comic. And I’ve had every right to deny such claims–until now. As of now, I have stepped knee-deep into awful webcomic territory and have given my drawn avatar (who has actually appeared in previous comics) a speaking role. To make it even worse, I am realizing one of my greatest dreams through this comic. That dream being, meeting Shinbo Akiyuki.

I only actually went to Iogi a couple of times, and for some godforsaken reason did not take many pictures. That opening panel is a (Photoshoppped) photo of my own, but the rest of the backgrounds were traced from Google street view. It’s really sad that of all the photos I took of Japan (all of which have still not been uploaded) I forgot to take photos of the best places–those places being my guesthouse, my campus and fucking Iogi, the neighborhood in which SHAFT resides. Oh well, it’s not as if those places are going anywhere.

And yes, the last panel is a reference to the first Lupin III ending sequence. I bet everyone got that one, right!?

I guess there will be a comic next week? Who knows!

I’m not sure if you guys are aware of this, but there was a good episode of Hayate no Gotoku!! (the two exclamation marks mean season 2, remember?) Actually, there were a few good episodes, but this one was the funniest.

If we were to compare this episode to any given episode of season one, it’d fair pretty strongly. The direction is fast paced, and the references are all strong. I’d probably have more to say about this episode if I wrote about it right after it aired, but Japan was busy, ok? I’ll see what I can do, though.

The first half is an advertisement for the Hayate no Gotoku!! trading cardgame. That’s cool. I watch cartoons made to sell toys all the time. But what makes it even better is that it’s strung into an awesome Yu-Gi-Oh! reference. Actually, I think it’s more a reference to the Nicodou meme that sprung up as a result of that Yu-Gi-Oh! episode, but either way it’s awesome. I laughed outloud at 1am in the morning in my little guesthouse room with thin walls in Japan when Nagi said ずっと私のターンだ！

BUT THEN B-PART CAME.

B-part isn’t as good as A-part, but it’s still quite powerful. There’s lots of fun sitcom hi-jinx, but the best part is Maria humming Top Wo Nerae ~Fly High~ while WAKAMOTO NORIO narrates about how when two flames (火) come together they become blazing (炎) to make Maria invincible. If you don’t get what’s funny about that, then you’re The Problem. Why haven’t you watched Gunbuster?

That’s all. I thought that after this episode at least the last couple episodes of the show would be good, but I was wrong. Oh well!

At least by that point they got a KOTOKO opening and a good ending sequence, but it was too little too late!