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As per the title, I speak with Mike Dent for a bit about the new-ish first Gurren Lagann movie, and little on the properly new second movie. I should probably go through some kind of podcast training camp, because whenever I invite superstars on, I end up not saying much. Not that like that’s a bad thing–no one cares about my opinion, and Mr. Dent knows a lot about the robots, so it manages to be a pretty good show.

I should note that I am posting this in lieu of an Akiba centric episode with The Eroge Guy from Hen Da Ne, along with a trip to Nakano with kransom. These episodes would probably be fine if I could get around to editing them real well, but right now they just sound like cheap Hot Tears of Shame imitations, and why listen to that when the real thing is so much cooler? And less pedo.

Guests

• Mike Dent
  

Songs

• Opening Song– “Minna no Peace” by Afromania
• Ending Song– “Happily Ever After” by Nakagawa Shouko

The OVA is almost a dead art in the fast, 100MB-per-second world of today, but even so there were a few direct-to-video titles that hit shelves this year. Of course, they were either lame eroge adaptations, lackluster fanservice romps or straight up porn. However, despite these odds, an intrepid bunch of warriors came out on top, and wowed me with rape, psychoguns, and mad editing skills.

Sadly, my friends, this list will be free of porn. I did partake of a few ero titles this year, but I’ll leave commentary on them to the professional.

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Pictured:

• Gurren Lagann PART I w/ box and core drill
• Reading lamp
• Zero no Tsukaima
• Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
• Toki Wo Kakeru Shoujo SE
• Insignia MP3 player
• Yokai Attack! (review copy)
• Black Lagoon s2 vol 1 SE
• Karin vol 4

Not Pictured

• 190 US dollars in COLD HARD CASH
• Two pairs of pants

All of my Nanoha DVD cases are shattered, but the discs are fine. The cover slips are kind of torn, but it isn’t that bad. If I could just get my hands on new cases I’d be cool. Anyone know where they sell clear DVD cases?

The MP3 player doesn’t have enough room for my anison playlist, but I hardly listen to every single song on there anyways. I’m planning to just load it up with a bunch of OSTs along with some non-anime JP bands, and use what space is left over for the top 100 or so anison I’m currently into. Not like I get out and about much anyways, but at least I’ll be able to listen to AWO on long car rides.

Overall, a really good haul. I got everything I wanted…

…except for a new laptop, but that was just wishful thinking. I just forced my parents into buying me a new PC six months ago…

Shingo may be lost in the wild, exotic and dangerous lands of World of Warcraft, but that doesn’t mean the fine art of reviewing anime, manga and game figures is dead! Far from it! With him eternally lost in a land of wonder, we few, we happy few, we band of brothers must stand and pick up the slack. As such, I have four great reviews right here, coming towards you at the speed of a Rocket Punch!

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It’s that time of year again! Time to purchase giant books of poster-sized illustrations that are passed off as calendars simply because they have some numbers running down the side! Seriously, who actually uses these as calendars? I know I don’t! But yeah, preorders are going up, so it’s time to buy. In past years I’ve usually ended up with three to four of these hanging on my wall during the year, but this year I’m keeping it simple. I’m getting just one calendar. Reason for this is because I want to save money for, uh, something, so I’m trying to be as thrifty as possible. However, despite my best efforts, I only managed to narrow the selection down to four!

• First up is the annual Evangelion calendar. I got the 2007 Evangelion calendar which was pretty good. The art was trying so hard to look like Sadamoto, but wasn’t quite there. The guy gave it the good ol’ college try, though. The main thing that put me off about this one was its total lack of Misato anywhere! Shinji and Kaworu get a gay gay gayed up page and Misato gets nothing? What gives, mang?! Anyways, when I was about to get the 2008 one last year, it was sold out. I didn’t get too pissed since I figured it lacked Misato as well. Then the scans came in! I’ve already had an Evangelion calender once before, but the idea of potential Misato material and art from the new movies is enticing…
• Second up to bat is the usual Gundam option. Truth be told, the only Gundam calendars I’ve bought have been of Seed Destiny (yes, I admitted it, laugh) and just general Gundam. Since I’ve already had two Gundam calendars in the past, I’ll probably steer clear of this one. I do want the resulting scans, though!
• Gurren Lagann is up third, fighting the power as always. I have the 2008 GL calendar sitting next to me right now, and it’s pretty cool. But you know, while I appreciate them collecting all the great eyecatches together in one package, I really wanted more original art out of a GL calendar. From the looks of it, this one seems kind of different– more like a “traditional” anime calendar (but still pretty small from the description.) I’m not sure if I actually want this– I may just hold out for the scans.
• And last but not least are everyone’s favourite trio of Absolutely Lovely Children! This is the one I’ll probably end up buying, since there won’t be a Zettai Karen Children calendar next year, and the show itself is pretty alright. I’m not as mad over it as I am for Hayate (which is the current big boy calendar I have hanging up) but this calendar has potential to be filled with lots of yummy art of our cute little preteen espers.

I’ll think about this over the next couple of days, but I’m really leaning towards the psychic kids. You guys should probably buy one of these things, too. Like, buy them through clicking these links. Doing so might give me money! ( ‘3′)

What’s notable is how they use a variation on ADTRW’s  “kick reason to the curb” line on the back.

Sadly, “Reject common sense to make the impossible possible” is used in the show proper, but it’s good to see that Bandai has some kind of idea about the pulse of the fandom.

I actually skimmed episode one a bit, and the translation seems pretty good. There’s a lot of liberties taken (Kamina at one point says “fugly”) but it works for something like Gurren Lagann. 110% and all that.

Original Post

For the 100th comic I decided to go full circle and refer back to the beginning of the comic to kind of pat myself on the back for getting this far. As far as art goes, I really like how this one turned out. Aside from a few mistakes, it came out just as planned, and looks good for a 100th comic. It even almost has 5-tone shading! And a pantyshot! I’ll be doing a comic on Nico Video soon, which should happen in the space of a couple of days. I want to get it out while the news is still kind of fresh.

In some other comic-relevant news, I finally updated the reference guide after some twenty weeks, and I’m also mentioned in the latest Anime World Order as Daryl’s Sith opposite. So, yay, I guess.

Honestly, I haven’t had time to really catch up with the new season due to work and other things, so right now I’m sitting on a bunch of new episodes of things and some last episodes of things. Once I see more new things I’ll do my short three-at-a-time season review posts like I did for spring. Watch for it! Or something.

I finally finished all of the Nurse Witch Komugi anime with Magikarte Z the other day. Magikarte Z was kind of weak– the first episode had bad animation the humour wasn’t really as spot on. The whole affair felt tacked on and rushed. That said, it wasn’t bad, just not as good as the first one. I guess the good thing is that it’s only 2 episodes, so it doesn’t overstay its welcome. Also, it has good opening and ending songs.

I’m liking Gurren Lagann Parallel Works. It’s good how the series is at a point in its popularity where it’s big enough for Gainax to make more things based off of it, but it’s not too popular that all Gainax has to do is push out a figure or two every couple of months (sup Eva) to keep the masses interested. The Parallel Works videos are very fun diversions, and I love how each of them have their own unique brand of creativity. The newest one is my favourite– need DVD quality!

Anyways, time to take off and watch anime and stuff.

Current
Chi’s Sweet Home: Good ol’ cartoons
Code Geass 2: Best part of my week.
Golgo 13: ….
Kyouran Kazoku Nikki: I’ve finally accepted the fact that this is not a comedy. It still works, but I like it less than I initially did.
Macross Frontier: Consistently entertaining. Though honestly, I just watch it for Ranka and space fights.
Telepathy Shoujo Ran: lol kids show. Like the psychedelic effects.
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann music videos: Entertaining little diversions.
To Love Ru: Wonderfully entertaining boobalicious fun.
Toshokan Sensou: Kind of badly written, but it’s a not-boring IG show.
Zettai Karen Children: It has faults, but it’s just too entertaining to not like.

Waiting for other things to start.

Manga
Read a bunch of stuff. Keroro Gunsou is great and I wish I read it 5 years ago and the Hayate manga is just the anime with more stylized art. Moving on to a vampire triple-play with Blood Alone, Karin and Tsukuyomi.

DOESN’T IT JUST MAKE YOU ALL HOT AND BOTHERED

Subbed only, first DVD hits in July. Dub release in 09.

Man, I wish I could’ve been there for this announcement. Not like I could’ve possibly been at the NYCC, but it would’ve been neat. I like how they’re doing a sub-only release just to get it out there as soon as possible. I wonder if there’ll be special editions, or if it’ll just be a no-frills priced down sub-only affair. Who knows!!

Anyway, I’m a bit too tired to get excited about this, so instead have this picture of Nia

Sources: ANN, Bandai, The Internet

Original Post

Here is the Anime Boston con comic, which puts a lid on my Anime Boston 2008 coverage. Like last year, most of this stuff only really made sense in context, but whatever. I should also note these kinds of comics aren’t really what people said word-for-word– if you want that, listen to the podcasts. Expect a comic about noses next week.

Lots of stuff from the TAF, which actually took me by surprise for some reason. Unfortunately, I can’t be all too excited about much of it since I’m not all that pumped about this next season, even after seeing these trailers. I guess I’ll just bullet-point this stuff.

• The Golgo 13 trailer is good, but it has too many still images, which makes me worry for its budget.
• Crystal Blaze looked fine for the first minute, then in the last minute it took a nosedive– I’m afraid it’ll take itself seriously.
• DMC looks like it could be fun.
• Jigoku Shoujo is the same old thing, which means it should be moderately entertaining.
• Michiko to Hatchin is Manglobe’s new offering, and certainly looks more fun than Ergo Proxy. Approaching with some degree of caution, but I have high hopes for this one.
• I’m guessing this new Gurren Lagann footage is from the new music video project, and not from the new movie. Some of it looks quite interesting.
• I certainly hope the people in this video are cheering for something else going on in the hall, and not for Kanokon.

Reading that Ballad of a Shinigami novel that Seven Seas sent me. I’m about 1/3 of the way through, and should be done in a week or so. It’s a good light read, but doesn’t really have a distinct writing style that inspires me or anything. It’s not bad, but it kind of just makes me want to watch the anime again. Maybe I’m just not used to reading books that aren’t written by Patrick Macias.

So I guess Hayate is getting a second season, which is good news. It’s managed to keep my attention for 50 episodes, which is quite impressive. Let’s hope they don’t drop the ball with this next one!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand that’s a wrap.

Via pKjd

I must say, this is something of a surprise. I mean, I think there were rumours going about around when the series ended, but I figured nothing would come of them. I’m quite excited, though I have no idea what it’ll be about. Let’s hope it doesn’t suck!

edit: Putting hype aside for a moment, Shingo sez Mr. MoonPhase reckons it’ll be a recap sort of deal like Death & Rebirth and the new Top wo Nerae film. Thinking logically, he’s probably right, but the dreamer in me hopes for some original material.

Despite the title of this post, I’ll try my best to not make it totally inflammatory.

Pretentious fags are no newbies to anime fandom. Hell, they’ve probably been around since before Evangelion (this isn’t to say that Evangelion isn’t a brilliant show, just people approach it from the wrong direction all the time), pondering the meaning behind Kanashimi no Belladonna. These fans all share the same delusion in that they think they’re intelligent. This is one of the worst mistakes one can make, because if you consciously think you’re intelligent, chances are you’re probably dumb as shit. Anime studios sometimes exploit this failing in most people’s brains, and push out shows that stroke and wank their fragile egos to the point of orgasm. Thusly, we get your Code Geasses, your Gundam 00s, your Elfin Lieds, and so on. These same people with defective minds also put-down truly intelligent, and well thought-out works of art, such as Gurren Lagann.

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“Hey, are we really that depressing? Are we really that weird? Is it a crime to love anime or SFX movies? Why should it be a reason to set us apart? If you’re into playing tennis, that’s just fine and dandy, but if you watch anime, you’re weird? Why?!”

“Kubo…”

“Dammit… Dammit… Dammit… DAMMIT! Tanaka! I quit! No more job-hunting for me!”

“Huh?!”

“If Otaku are going to be discriminated against, then so be it! I’m gonna be a total Otaku!”

“What?”

“I’m not just gonna be an Otaku, but the Otaku of Otaku… THE OTAKING!”

“Otaking…? I like it! I like it! Alright, I quit, too!!”

“Let’s both become… OTAKINGS!”

So goes the end of the first Otaku no Video OVA. Possibly one of the most epic pieces of work ever made by Gainax, even more so than Evangelion and Gurren Lagann. I recently re-watched it a month or so ago, and that re-watch was the first time that I could really tap into its spirit. Viewings years prior weren’t bad, but the show made me feel alienated. I’m not sure if it’s because now I’ve seen more old anime, thusly I can get more of the references, or if it’s just because I’ve become more of an otaku. Probably both. Anyway, I thought I’d preface this post with that small bit of dialogue since it highlights a rather old and tired question, but one I’ve kept meaning to address: What does it mean to be normal?

This question hit me recently as I was laying down with the good Miyamoto-sensei. While staring into her adorable, flat, printed-on-100%-polyester eyes I wondered to myself, “wow, just how low have I sunk?” It struck me that I had spent $200 dollars out of my personal expenses last month on this pillow cover, another of a certain adorable spiral princess and a small figure. Then, it also struck me that rich kids spend roughly that much on Newberry Street weekly, so I felt a little better. But I guess it comes down to just what you spend your money on, right? Spending money on clothes is fine, but spending money on pillow covers with 2D pretreens on them is a touch perverse.

But it could be normal. If everyone was open minded enough. Having a 2D-complex isn’t that weird, right? RIGHT?

Yeah, just a small bit of rambling. Had to get it off my chest. Sorry Mom :(