Just a little reminder that today is the last day to make a comment and be entered to win a $50 gift certificate to J-Box. I’m glad to see people commenting, even though that means I can’t spend the fifty bucks myself. I’ll be randomly selecting a winner tomorrow. If you’ve made a comment then keep an eye on your e-mail.
That the word from Anime News Network. I might have to see this series just for that. Hikaru Utada has a beautiful voice. If there were a chance I’d import any music from Japan, Hikaru Utada would be at the top of the list. In case you haven’t heard her sing, here are a few clips of Simple and Clean. Simple and Clean is the theme to Kingdom Hearts, one of my favorite games. It’s an incredible song.
Simple and Clean Remix.
This is the opening to Kingdom Hearts. This is an AMV of the remix using visuals from the Kingdom Hearts games. This version is much more upbeat than he original song.
Simple and Clean Live.
Here’s an appearance by Hikaru Utada on a show that looks similar to VH1’s Storytellers.
Simple and Clean AMV
This is the regular English version set to visuals from the Kingdom Hearts games.
Anime, News, Hikaru Utada, music, Simple and Clean, Kingdom Hearts, Utada Hikaru, youtube, AMV
If you haven’t heard, the Sci Fi Channel has a new programming block for anime. Monday nights at 11:00 you can tune in for Ani-Monday. Should you? I was skeptical when I first heard the news. The anime they announced seemed like very odd choices. I’ve seen a couple Ani-Monday now so my opinion has evolved.
The choice of material isn’t as bad as I’d feared.
What’s more sci-fi than transforming fighter jets that can read your thoughts?
Macross Plus is a pretty good mech anime. What’s more sci-fi than transforming fighter jets that can read your thoughts? Not much I’d imagine. Noein is one of those alternate dimension time travelling stories that reveals what’s going on slowly. A little too slowly in this case. I lost interest about half way through the second one. Maybe it’ll pick up a bit later on when we find out what the heck is going on. Tokko is just weird. It started out like some ecchi cop show, took a left turn and became a House of the Dead cop show and then veered off into Highlander with helium huffing alien parasites. It could be good if it settles down and sticks to one concept long enough to fill an episode.
The bumps, the bumps, the lovely lady… wait, never mind.
The bumps are unbelievably lame. At least the bumps on [adult swim] have some pseudo-slacker intelligence to them. The bumps on Ani-Monday look like someone cornered the guy from MST3K and made him write dialog for anime clips, then threw out all the funny ones. Wouldn’t you know it, I missed the one that was slightly interesting. I believe they took a shot at [adult swim], but I’m not 100% sure. My brain switched to ignore mode when I saw it going to commercial, but I swear I heard someone say adult swim, and by the time I was able to focus on the TV it was gone. Anyone know what they said?
The verdict.
As long as they haven’t signed an exclusive deal with Starz, the people providing the shows, they may have a chance. If they drop the lame and often annoying bumps that is.
Sci Fi Channel, anime, Ani-Monday, opinion, Macross Plus, sci-fi, Noein, Tokko, bumps, [adult swim], TV, Starz
The first Special Edition of Lucky Star is flying off shelves in Japan according to Anime News Network in this report. This follows a number 2 spot on the charts for the CD single of the television show’s opening theme.
Looks like Lucky Star is on a roll. I’m not too surprised, it’s a good show. Nothing ground breaking about it. It’s just a show with simple humor that is done very well. With the popularity in Japan as well as it’s reach into streaming media sites like youtube, it can’t be too long before a licensing deal is made.
I can’t wait to buy the American release of the show. I hope the CD single is included.
Special Edition, Lucky Star, Japan, Anime, News, CD single, opening theme
You may have heard of kaiju in an anime or seen it on an anime site. There are plenty of anime and manga that fall into that catagory. Kaiju basically means “monster“. It’s often associated with giant monsters, a.k.a. daikaiju.
The most famous kaiju series would probably be Godzilla.
The most famous kaiju series would probably be Godzilla. If you like Godzilla you’re in luck. There are tons of kaiju movies you’d probably enjoy. A lot of other kaiju stars have appeared with Godzilla. Mothra, Gamera, and King Ghidorah to name a few.
Kaiju even has it’s own fandom which overlaps somewhat with anime fandom. That’s no surprise. How many movies or tv shows have you seen with giant monsters? Probably a lot if you’re an anime fan. There are tons of ‘em. Quite a few of the giant robots in anime fight giant monsters. I watched Voltron as a kid and on almost every episode there was a giant Robeast. More recently the Power Rangers did pretty much the same thing. Most episodes have a monster that grows to gigantic size and the Rangers have to defeat it.
Kaiju is part of anime and manga. It’s also pretty popular all on it’s own. A lot of fans of Godzilla probably wouldn’t be interested in Love Hina in the least, and vice versa.
kaiju, anime, manga, monster, giant monsters, daikaiju, Godzilla, Mothra, Gamera, King Ghidorah, fandom, movies, tv, giant robots, Power Rangers
In this Otaku Lesson we’ll be getting into the world of AMVs. AMV stands for Anime Music Video. It’s one of the many creative ways fans express their love of anime. They range from a simple scene set to music, to complex stories told in song. They are as diverse as the people who make them. People put a lot of work into these musical tributes.
…as long as you can put clips together with audio you can make your own AMV.
With all the great video editing software available these days anyone can join the fun. If you have a CD burner in your computer it might have come with video editing software, if you have a DVD burner the chances are even higher. Sure, the software packaged with computer parts aren’t high end stuff, but as long as you can put clips together with audio you can make your own AMV.
Some conventions even feature AMVs and AMV contests. Yes, contests. Prizes range from the thrill of victory to some very cool stuff. It all depends on who’s running it. Animemusicvideos.org lists 8 contests in July of 2007 alone. Almost all of those look like contests run by anime conventions. Some anime fan sites run contests as well. Some are very specific in what they’re looking for. Some focus on one type anime, or even one particular show. Others are open to just about anything.
Youtube and other video sharing sites are filled with anime music videos. Just to give you some idea how many people are making them, a google video search returns over seven hundred thousand results for AMV. That’s a lot of AMV love.
If you like anime and you like music then check out a few anime music videos. You’re on the Internet, it’s not like you’re doing anything important.
Otaku Lesson, AMV, Anime Music Video, fans, anime, music, editing, software, video, conventions, contests, Prizes, anime conventions, fan sites, Youtube
In my previous post about fansubs I included very little information on the legality of it. Some of what I did include was mistaken. Some of the information I found didn’t take into account the improvement of fansubs thanks to advancing technology. In other words, some of it is out of date. It’s more suited to the days of VHS fansubs, days that are long past. I’ve looked into it a bit more from another point of view.
VHS fansubs were of a lower quality. They were really no competition to an officially licensed release. These days a fansub can be DVD quality. That means that distributors are competing with fansub groups. Many groups hold to the old school ethics to stop distribution when a show is licensed. That doesn’t mean that everyone does.
So far there haven’t been many law suites filed against fansub groups, though there have been a few. For anime fans we may be living in something similar to the pre-Napster days of the music industry. Publishers haven’t started suing long lists of fans the way the RIAA has, but it could. With huge companies like Disney getting into anime distribution it’s becoming more and more likely every day.
If you watch fansubs, I encourage you to think about it. You are breaking the law. The anime industry could target you at any time, the way the music industry targeted it’s fans. I hope that doesn’t happen. I’d hate to see the backlash from the fans. Music has suffered because of it. I don’t want anime to suffer the same way.
I found a very interesting article about fansubs, scanlations and copyright law. I’d suggest taking a look at it here.
fansubs, legal, technology, VHS, quality, licensed, DVD, ethics, RIAA, Disney, fans, scanlations, copyright
We meet Clare in the first episode as she comes to a town to take care of the yoma problem.
I haven’t read the manga, but I’m gonna have to look for it now that I’ve seen a few episodes of the anime. It’s good stuff. The world is filled with yoma, demons who feed on people and take human form to hide. Claymores kill them. Claymores are silver eyed half yoma, half human women who hunt yoma. They’re called Claymores because of the large swords they carry.
They work for a mysterious organization. I mean mysterious. When a village has a yoma problem they contact the organization and a little while later a Claymore shows up. When the yoma is dead the Claymore leaves. Someone dressed in black comes by later to pick up the payment.
As the story progresses we learn a little bit about the organization and Claymores, one in particular. We meet Clare in the first episode as she comes to a town to take care of the yoma problem. it’s obvious that the people are almost as afraid of her as they are the yoma. One boy is very curious since he’s never seen one of these legendary people. He follows her around like a puppy. You just know he’s either going wind up dead or a sidekick. Clare saves him, so sidekick it is.
From there it takes the predictable path of wandering from village to village killing yoma at the direction of the organization. Sounds boring huh? Well, it’s not entirely. There’s plenty of action and you get to know the characters enough to want to know more. Information about the organization and the “silver eyed witches”, as most people call them behind their backs, comes slowly enough to keep you interested.
I’d say check it out. From what I’ve seen it’s a good demon slaying fantasy anime. I can’t wait to see it licensed.
manga, anime, Claymores, action, demon, slaying, fantasy, review
The city of Kobe is planning to build what could be the coolest memorial ever. The birthplace of Mitsuteru Yokoyama plans to honor the late manga-ka with an 18 meter statue of one of his creations. The 59 foot statue will be of Ironman #28, better known in the U.S.A. as Gigantor .
AnimeNewsNetwork has the details.
That’s a very impressive memorial. If anyone deserves it, it would be Mitsuteru Yokoyama. He created the giant robot genre with Gigantor, and helped to create the magical girl genre with Sally the Witch. His influence on anime and manga will be felt for a very long time.
Kobe, memorial, Mitsuteru Yokoyama, manga-ka, Ironman #28, Gigantor, Sally the Witch, anime, manga
My Dead Girlfriend Vol. 1 Cover.
The art looks like it’d be more at home on Nickelodeon …
I recently picked up the first volume of My Dead Girlfriend by Eric Wight. The concept sounded interesting. It’s kinda like the creepy/funny stuff Tim Burton does so well. Who could resist Tim Burton in manga form? Not me. I love that kind of stuff so I had to get it.
From the back cover.
Finney Bleak lives in a world of horror - literally. His family members are ghosts, his classmates are monsters, and Finney is the most normal kid in school. But within the halls of Mephisto Prep, normal is the new weird and Finney dangles from the lowest rung of the social evolutionary ladder.
Eh, sounds ok, but nothing spectacular. I kinda wonder if the person who wrote that read the book or not. It’s correct as far as it goes, but doesn’t really tell you anything about the personality of the manga. That’s one of it’s strong points. It has a lot of personality. We’ve seen schools filled with monsters, witches and aliens before. It’s kinda hard to bring something new to it. I have to say, I enjoyed the description of the different cliques. Here’s my favorite.
The Aberzombies — Undead kids who take non-conformity to such an extreme that they must conform to each other or be harshly ridiculed.
There are a lot of monsters in the cast. Being normal is what sets Finney apart from almost everyone else. It makes him the weird kid. He’d probably fit in better if he died. At least then he’d be just another ghost. Now we come to the big problem with the story. Death is no big deal. If someone dies, they just turn into a ghost.
Finney has a dream where he’s running from the Grim Reaper. I kept wondering why he was running. Almost everyone in his family is a ghost. He’d fit in better at school. So what’s to be afraid of? It really takes a lot of the impact out of the story. If death can’t be scary, what can? That’s not good. It cripples the potential of the story.
The art looks like it’d be more at home on Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network than in a manga, but I won’t hold that against it. It’s drawn well, and with the wide variety of styles in manga these days it’s being very nit picky to say something doesn’t belong. Don’t be surprised if you see commercials for this series on one of those channels. It’s just begging to be animated for one of ‘em. It would have to be toned down some, and probably re-titled. Other than that it’d fit perfectly following Ben Ten or Danny Phantom.
If you liked The Corpse Bride, give it a shot. Otherwise, wait for the cartoon it should have been to start with.
My Dead Girlfriend, creepy, funny, Tim Burton, manga, Finney Bleak, horror, ghosts, monsters, weird, school, witches, aliens, Aberzombies, Undead, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Ben Ten, Danny Phantom, The Corpse Bride
This post is a bit later than normal. I was playing around with graphics for the banner contest on WatchingHouse. I think it turned out pretty well, but I forgot the .com so it’s not likely to win.
One day down on the contest I’m running, and no comments at all. That’s disapointing, but I guess it’ll save me $50 if no one leaves a comment. What am I talking about? I’d probably spend the money on J-Box myself. There are a few things over there I’ve had my eye on.
I was going to write up my impressions of a couple of manga I’d read recently, but since it’s so late I’m just going to post a couple of classic AMV. An AMV is where someone edits together some anime to make a music video. I’ll cover AMVs in a future Otaku Lesson. On to the youtube goodness.
AMV Hell 1 Time:05:16
AMV Hell 2: Son of AMV Hell Time:05:00
AMV Hell 3 Time:01:08:52
Yes, this one is over an hour long. Might want to go to the restroom and grab a snack before you start watching it. You could also go to youtube and watch it in parts.
I’m running a contest. To win all you have to do is leave comments on the blog. The prize is a $50 gift certificate to J-Box.
J-Box has a huge assortment of items from Japan including bento boxes, school uniforms, traditional items and things that are just plain strange. I’d suggest spending a little of your winnings on the snacks. Miyazaki fans might want to check out Sakuma Drops Candy seen in Grave of the Fireflies or Kompeito ~ Five Colors seen in Spirited Away.
Here are the details.
contest, win, comments, prize, gift certificate, J-Box, bento, uniform, traditional items, winning, snacks, Miyazaki, fans, Sakuma Drops Candy, Kompeito, random drawing, Grave of the Fireflies, Spirited Away
Beck is gonna be old news to some, but I have to post about this anime. It’s incredible. The first episode started kinda slow, but halfway through the second one I was hooked. Beck tells the story of Tanaka Yukio, known as Koyuki, who discovers the world of music. Not that background noise some like to call music. Real music. Songs that crawl into your skull and call it home. Kinda like the theme to the show, which I have conveniently placed below.
Seeing Koyuki falling in love with music can make you fall in love with it too. His love is infectious.(Ewww) As his passion blooms he seeks out others who feel the same way. Not always successfully. Eventually he finds himself a few friends he can talk music with. It all leads to learning to play guitar. His life focuses on learning, becoming the best he can be. He dedicates his life to six strings.
What’s a young man with newfound guitar skills to do? Join a band of course. Lucky for Koyuki that his friend Ryusuke has bee putting one together during the last few episodes. The other members aren’t really convinced until they hear Koyuki sing. Turns out his real talent is vocals, even though his instrumental abilities are pretty darn good.
I haven’t seen the whole thing yet, so I can’t give you a full account of the story. I’m trying not to do that anyway. You need to check this one out for yourself. It’s no action flick, so don’t expect a fast pace. It is worth watching though.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go watch the opening theme 15 or 20 more times.
Beck, anime, music, band, opening, theme, youtube, mongolian chop squad
I was shopping for manga at the bookstore the other day and saw a new anime magazine. OtakuUSA looked pretty good, and a free DVD never hurts, so I picked it up along with Newtype USA. It’s very similar to Newtype. Large size and plenty of pictures. It has sections on anime, manga, conventions, games and interviews. It also comes with a DVD with a few full episodes of anime and some trailers. I love that. I’ve found some anime I love thanks to the DVD previews inserted into magazines.
Thanks to OtakuUSA I’ve gotten the lowdown on the Highlander anime coming to the SciFi channel, learned more than I ever wanted to know about plastic Gundams and reinforced my desire to attend an anime convention in Japan. I’ve also signed up to win free stuff. They’re giving away some of the stuff sent to them by their sponsors. Lucky s.o.b.s, I wish I got free stuff to give away. Shoot, I just wish I got free stuff, it doesn’t even need to be the collector’s edition. You hear that ADV? Review copies accepted here.
What do I think of OtakuUSA? I like it. I’ll probably pick it up again.
You can find OtakuUSA on the web at www.otakuusamagazine.com. Check it out, and sign up to win free stuff.
manga, anime, magazine, OtakuUSA, free DVD, convention, games, full episode, trailer, Highlander, Gundam, free stuff
Anime Fans Online isn't just about anime and manga. It's about the culture that surrounds it. Fansites, cosplay, conventions and even food. Being an anime fan isn't just about watching cartoons, it takes you much deeper. AFO would like to go with you.
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