Blossom of the Sakura

This Article Has Not Yet Been Rated

2012-02-14T14:42:00.001-07:00

Going forward I wanted to let you know of a change to reviews on the site, there is now an extra section on each one called Parental Advisory, being a parent now, I understand the concerns about what our kids see and hear, and even if its the parents doing the buying for themselves they need to be aware of the content that comes into their home. In addition there are a lot of folks who find certain content objectionable and I am concious of that fact so I decided to make this slight change.

Have a good one folks!

New Limited Items From Volks 2/18/2012

2012-02-10T09:32:00.000-07:00

For all of the Dollfie Dream fans out there, here are the latest limited edition items being made available by Volks later this month

http://www.volksusa.com/november-2011-collection.html

Of special interest to the Dollfie Dream fans would be the following dresses:

Dollfie Dream Care

2012-02-08T10:42:00.004-07:00

Dollfie Dream care is a pretty big issue, when you are spening $500+ on a "Doll" you definately want to take care of it, I was recently asked by a friend if there were any good resources for DD care, so I took a look around the net and found this really good article.

http://aquilla429.co.uk/all-about-bjd/all-about-dollfie-dreams/dollfie-dream-maintenancecare/

One For All

2012-02-02T14:16:00.002-07:00

I don't think that I will personally ever forget waking up and finding out a good portion of Japan had been wiped out by a Tsunami, let alone the images of the devastation, seeing all those people covered in dirt and ash, in a place that I have personally visited, brought tears to my eyes.

As we near the one year anniversary of the disaster, Japan is still rebuilding, and the process will still continue for many years to come yet, this is why I am encouraging all of my readers [especially the Dollfie Fans!] to go to Volks and get one of their buttons, all the proceeds got to the Japanese Red Cross.

You can find all the details on the Sumika Times blog.

Happy New Year: 2011 in Review

2012-01-01T12:12:00.002-07:00

First off I want to wish each and every one of you a happy and healthy New Year, hopefully whatever your entertainment last night you made it home safe and sound.

Now onto the year that was for the blog...

2011 was an interesting year here for me at the blog, I tried to be a bit better about keeping to a schedule and content creation, and that well, failed abysmally, it wasn't through lack of desire or trying, but after doing a lot of research and soul searching on my part I found that I got more stressed and frustrated trying to stick to a schedule and it made it much harder for me to develop content for the site, so consider that a lesson learned.

This past year also marked a milestone for the blog, monthly traffic is now averaging over 200 hits per month, I want to thank my readers out there who are making that possible, I know that this thing has tended to stay barren for long stretches of time and I want to be better about that, Dollfie posts still lead the way on traffic and I am still working out a way to provide more of that content for my readers so we will see what happens there.

2012 is going to be a blast, I am going to try to get to the point of smaller posts with fun content more often, little snippets here and there rather than great walls of text, hopefully that will keep my juices flowing and at the same time not burn me out trying to write a 3500 word article each week.

In short, thanks for sticking with me, I am looking forward to a lot of fun yet to come and getting to know you all better, thanks for the traffic and the time out of your lives!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T01:00:00.000-07:00

Just wanting to wish my readers a safe and happy Christmas weekend!

Wherever you are, remember to hug the people you care about and tell them you love them, you never know when it could be your last time.

Peace on earth and goodwill towards men.

I am away for the holidays should be back just before New Years.

Looking backwards and forwards...

2011-11-30T15:58:00.000-07:00

I always find it amusing to take a look back at blogs and see where they came from, what origianlly was intended versus what they became, you can see where an author started out with an idea and as traffic and interestes changed moved into a totally different direction, sometimes quite suddenly. Blogs are organic things and its amazing to see how they grow, sometimes completely out of control in ways that aren't expected.

This past week I did the same with my own humble piece of Cyberspace [do people even use that term anymore?] and found a fairly similar situation, what started out as an art blog with an anime influence, morphed into a full blown review and commentary site, and now is struggling to find its identity again with the advent of all the Dollfie traffic its been getting in recent months.

As I looked back I also realized all the FLUFF that I had posted, appologies for lack of updates, breaking schedules etc. and like a comment on a recent post pointed out, all that does is make the blog look bloated and me like a goof, so thats why in this last month there weren't any new updates, I was busy with a wedding, honeymoon and the holidays [although I am sorry for missing my Happy Thanksgiving post] so I didn't get any new content developed. But instead of posting about missing it, I just waited until I had something to post and insert a small appology.

The site content has been fascinating to revisit, from my early Manga and DVD reviews, to my most current VIZ Manga App review I saw the shft in the clarity of the writing into something more than just words, but it also brought forth the reality of writing reviews when you aren't on companies comp lists, it can be tough, you deal with your own budget and what you can gert your hands on at the time so it can be a bit sporadic. The shock is still the amount of traffic I get from the Dollfie articles, I am always scouring the net for new and exciting posts about this very niche hobby, sadly though there isn't always a lot out there that folks haven't yet seen.

So I am going to keep fighting the good fight, three years on the blog has changed formats and content but the passion is still there, I look forward to three more great [and productive] years!

Of Comments and Communication: Shout it Out!

2011-10-18T13:21:00.000-06:00

For every blogger out there that lauches a professional career from their hobby, there are probably 10,000 that write for the sheet pleasure of it, their only gratification being the hits they get on their sites and the feedback of the community, so where does that leave the reader, and is there a responsibility to post comments? Step past the cut for a discussoon on blogs, comments, communities, and keeping a blogger posting.

After three years of running this blog I am starting to wonder how many readers I actually have out there, I mean in three whole years I have never recieved a single comment on any post on this site. Kinda makes a guy want to give up. I mean I never started this thing with the intention of getting 2000 comments a day or something like that, but when you make the effort to write an article and you never see feedback, it does start wearing on you a bit.

Now, don't take that last paragraph as me saying that "Its F***ing over! I am never going to write for these Mother F***ers ever again!" Thats a level of nerd rage that I am not going to apply to something like this, I was told that it can take an established blog that posts everyday nearly three years before they see consistent comments, and as you are all well aware, I don't post even remotely that often, you are lucky to get five posts a month out of me [But thats something I do intend on changing, more on that in a later post today] so I am not going to sit here and say I have done everything I could have to get people more interested, and I am going to do more, but the larger question I have to the audience is this, if you like something why not say it?!

Take my original Dollfie article as an example, I have had more hits on that single article than all the others on this site combined, it was actually at the time a throw away article on something I had found on the web that I had never heard of before, and before I knew it the blog hits for that article exploded, but never one comment, never a "Hey this is cool could you write more?" or anything, its why even though I think that the Dollfie community is a pretty cool one that I haven't written a ton more, because I haven't actually been sure how popular the article is.

Readers take for granted that we know how much people love our articles, trust me when I say we don't, no matter how many hits there is no clear indication that someone loves something other than they punched in a search term and it came up as a result. We need to hear your feedback, even just a couple of lines is all!

Most bloggers that I am friends with write for a niche community, and when they don't get any support from that community it makes it hard for them to continue. Now I am not saying for a moment that the community is responsible if a blog goes under, there are a lot of poorly written nerd rage opinion sites out there that should never have gotten off the ground to begin with, but there are a lot of folks that just lose interest when they feel no one cares what they are writing about.

Shout it out to the world, let us know you love our articles, I guarantee you won't be disappointed if you do.

Dollfie: Dollfie Dream Gathering Oct. 2011

2011-10-18T08:37:00.002-06:00

Just a quick post this morning, but since this blog has taken more and more of a Dollfie bent I figured this was pretty important news...

http://www.volks.co.jp/en/dollfiedream/index.aspx#ddpj4

As you can see from the above pictures, the latest "Limited Release" Dollfie Dreams are on their way along with a bunch of new accessories [see the above link for a complete listing] along with the new accessories is the latest [4th I think?] iteration of Saber as a Dollfie Dream special edition.

Some beautiful new stuff there [along with beautiful prices] have fun, and if you get one of the new Sabers or outfits how about you drop a comment on the blog for all to see about your new purchase!

Back from vacation...

2011-09-22T09:45:00.000-06:00

Sorry I haven't posted any updates here recently, I was off on vacation to Canada for the better part of a week and then got busy when I got back with work and wedding preparations.

Give me a couple of more days and I will have some new content up and rolling for the site!

Talk you you soon

We shall never forget....

2011-09-10T23:01:00.000-06:00

On September 11th 2001 the United States was attacked in one of the most cowardly acts of violence possible, when four planes were hijacked, two destroying the World Trade Center's Twin Towers, one hitting the Pentagon, and a fourth crashing in the fields of Pennsylvania after the courageous acts of gallantry of the passengers onboard, preventing the final plane from reaching its intended target.

On that day nearly 3000 Americans and some foreigners lost their lives in the most brazen act of hatred this country has ever seen.

I remember it like it was yesterday, I was startled awake when a dear friend called and vomited information about what was going on, that we were "Under Attack" I went and turned on the TV to see the first footage of the towers being hit, less then an hour later they had both collapsed, the true magnitude of what was happening finally sank in, I felt sadness, anger, unmitigated rage at what had happened, I wanted revenge, to make any and all involved pay for these acts of wonton cowardice of attacking civilians.

Now, ten years later, Bin Laden, the cold mastermind of the attacks is dead, but the War on Terror rages on, with no end in sight, we must never forget the day the towers fell, and those who continue to sacrifice for our freedom.

"September 11th 2001, We Shall Never Forget"

Crunchyroll: As if I didn't have enough to do already!

2011-08-25T10:44:00.000-06:00

Well I have obviously lost my mind, if I didn't have enough on my plate already LOL!

For years I have taken the traditional route to getting my Anime fix, from things such as DVD, On Demand, and *gulp* even VHS back in the day. I never was a big one on the whole torrent thing, I felt that it did more harm than good to the industry, but that also meant that it was hard for me to review anything close to current material for the blog.

As of tonight that all changes, my wonderful Fiancee suggested that I go ahead and get a Crunchyroll subscription so I could watch more current content, and be able to provide my readers [all 5 of you LOL] with more up to date reviews.

So I am going to start embarking on this project over the weekend, I will also be reviewing the iPad app from Crunchyroll and see how it changes my day to day watching and enjoying of Anime.

See you soon!

Gundam Garage: Two SD Gundams a Project Log

2011-08-22T10:01:00.000-06:00

Well I promised eventualy to get this series going, it just took a lot longer than I thought it would! For the last number of years I have been picking up the odd Gundam kit here and there, never bought anything over a HGUC [High Grade Universal Century] though, the MG [Master Grades] scare the heck out of me and I would like to be able to use my airbrush better before attempting one.

But as the above picture shows, I have always had an affinity for the SD [Super Deformed] Gundam kits, both their fantasy ones, and their canon bretheren, so jump past the cut so see what I am going to be working on over the next few weeks.

The two kits that I chose couldn't have been much different! The first is the female Gundam Gerbera kit from the fantasy chinese line, while the second is the Shinanju from Gundam Unicorn, I will be working on the Gerbera first and then the Shinanju, with any luck I will fully aribrush and detail them fully including all decals and lining etc.

Look for more updates in the next few weeks!

SPECIAL REVIEW: Gashapon Shop

2011-08-03T16:01:00.000-06:00

Comic powered by Kidjutsu

Most of the time on here I stick to traditional Anime and Manga, but sometimes I go a little off the reservation, todays review is one of those times. Step on past the cut for my review of a small web comic that can be best described as a breath of fresh air.

Anyone who has been reading this blog for any length of time know that I am a bit of a web comicjunkie, having previously reviewed MegaTokyo and Star Crossed Destiny, I also was a huge fan of Applegeeks before it sadly just seemed to vanish into thin air, so it should come as no surprise then that when I was searching Gashapon one day and accidentally found a web comic called Gashapon Shop and decided to give it a go.

Since the first question I usually get is about the art let me be clear, its pretty basic, but honestly that isn't much of an issue, all the characters are easilly recognizable and convey a wonderful range of emotion and personality. Otherwise the art takes a back seat, there are points where the artist feels the need to use backgrounds for a certain mood or effect, but for the most part he lets the characters do the storytelling and not their surroundings.

Speaking of storytelling, thats where the comic shines above all else, Gashapon shop tells the story of Renee, Alex, Trevor and Elite, during what turns out to be the most important year of their lives. I won't go into a lot of details here, but I can read these 245 strips over and over and not get tired of them, it has to do with the wonderful humor, if you are a gamer, Anime/Manga fan, or just remember what it was like to be a teenager I guarantee you will have fun with this story.

However the one issue with the series is the ending, if it can be called that, I am still trying to reach the creator to find out what happened, but it ends on a heck of a cliffhanger, and a big one at that. I am not sure if that was the intention or not, or if he plans to revisit the characters again one day, if I hear anything back I will let you know, but just be warned in advance that there are a lot of loose ends at the end that need to be tied up that aren't.

That all being said, its still a wonderful read, I have embedded the digital version at the top of the review, give it a read and if you like it as much as I do make sure that you grab a copy for your own library.

You can buy the print version from http://www.wanderingpandacomics.com/

Post 100! - Dollfie Dream Sister News

2011-08-02T15:18:00.000-06:00

So todays post is a milestone for the Blog, we hit post 100, probably a little later than I honestly thought we would, but never late than never right? I would like to thank all of the folks who have come and visited over the months, I don't know how many of you consistently come back, but for those that do I am extremely thankful!

Anyways, as the title says and the header picture shows, this update is all about the new Dollfie Dream Sisters from Volks, we have a bunch of pictures to show off, so step behind the cut to see more!

Late in 2010 Volks announced the latest addition to their Dollfie Dream line, the Dollfie Dream Sister, these new generation of the Dollfie Dream line are slightly shorter than their counterparts, and in addition have a much larger range of posability.

Currently they are only available as set dolls, the bodies have yet to hit the US online store at the very least.

These are the two current premade lottery dolls available in the DD Sister line

An example of the new level of posability with the DD Sisters, the other advantage is that they are apparently able to hold these poses without drooping for quite some time!

This picture shows the difference in the range of motion of the arms alone, I can only think of the wonderful new ideas that people will come up with once these become more commercially available.

Just a final shot of one of the new DD Sisters in full dress!

Updates and Dollfie Clothing: Yahoo Japan Auctions

2011-07-25T11:20:00.000-06:00

Ok, getting back into the swing of things, to all of those of you that came by for a visit these last two months, a huge thank you, these have been our higest visited months ever! As I said previously, I am not going to try and do a schedule anymore as I think it just causes more harm than good, rest assured I am still workin on new content though!

Speaking of new content, I thought I would add a short gallery of the Dollfie Dream clothing from Yahoo! Auctions Japan, now bear in mind these are older auctions and aren't available now, but it should give a good idea of whats out there for purchase, [if you have the cash!] or able to be made if thats your sort of thing.

Come on behind the cut to see more!

Not exactly the most traditional picture of a Kimono but the workmanship is beautiful...

Cosplay anyone?

A little more modern and formal, the detail in this outfit is particulary outstanding.

Another lovely Kimono example, it definately shows the loyalty to culture that often these Kimonos sell for as much as some of the more complicated outfits

Goth punk outfits are also often very popular

Another modern casual piece, I have seen pictures of those buttons in real life, they are absolutely tiny

The pattern on this Kimono is stunning, and the color really compliments her hair, it's still Anime after all!

Le Chat de Neige is one of the best in the business, and it shows in the workmanship, and final prices, many of their outfits easilly sell for $500+ USD!

My favorite of the bunch, there is just something absolutely elegantr about the piece and the attention to detail put into it.

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T08:56:00.000-06:00

Carrying the theme from earlier this week! Happy 4th of July to our American readers, may you, like me, have a safe, high explosive filled day of merriment!

Happy Canada Day!

2011-07-01T08:52:00.001-06:00

Happy Canada Day everyone! This is just me hearkening back to my Canadian roots :)

Please have a safe and happy holiday folks!

Calming down again...

2011-06-28T08:51:00.000-06:00

Well once again life kinda threw me for a loop, the good news is that I am back employed again full time at a great company, but being that company does technical support for tax software, the months of January - April get a little dicey, add into that a crazy busy personal life and you get left with a blog that doesn't get updated in months.

However all that is over now, and I am going to once again try and get this thing back and rolling, I have decided to not try and make and content promises or anything going forward, that only seems to land me in content development hell, and you guys with frustrations when I don't get something posted as promised.

This all being said I look forward to getting back in the swing of things and continuing our voyage into the world of Anime and Manga

Its been awhile...

2011-03-09T17:15:00.000-07:00

Hey there,

As usual I wish I had a better excuse, well I guess working like mad at the new job with the slim hope of making it permanent is a good excuse :)

So where do we go from here, right now I don't have any new reviews to go up since I haven't had a lot of disposable Manga/DVD income recently. I can continue to write commentary pieces but after awhile I am sure we will run out of material.

However there looks to be a new source of content, and thats the Dollfies, I have spoken with my Girlfriend who is actively trying to get one to start making clothes for, and she suggested focusing the blog more that direction for the time being, I will probably continue to try and do some Gundam content [First issue of Gundam Garage will come soon] but other than that we will be shying away from reviews and other stuff for awhile, we will see how this goes.

Cheers, and thanks for sticking with me!

Big Site News!

2011-01-11T19:36:00.000-07:00

Ok folks, as you can see there haven't been a lot of updates here recently, don't fret, there is a master plan in place, I am in the process of redesigning the site completely to have a better flow and nicer graphics, you can look forward to a new Dollhouse later this week, and with any luck Gundam Garage over the weekend.

Thanks for your patience!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T00:01:00.001-07:00

From the Blossom of the Sakura to you, wanting to wish all my readers a safe and happy New Years!

The Dollhouse: Issue 1: Finally!

2010-12-27T11:55:00.001-07:00

About 2 years ago I ran an article about the Dollfie hobby here on the site, I really didn't think a ton of it at the time, figured that maybe with any luck one day I might get my hands on one of the dolls to add to my Anime collectibles. When I went back and checked the stats for the site a few months later I was shocked at the volume of hits on that single article. So I did more research and found out how deep this hobby runs, since then my girlfriend and roomates have gotten interested in making clothes for the dolls, so I decided to start running a feature article for the hobby every other week.

Talking with other folks who have gotten into the Dollfie hobby there is definately a lot to learn, there are so many varieties of doll types, heads, eyes, wigs, hands, and not least bodies, it can get pretty boggling also since the entry point can easily be in the $600 range, you definately want to have a good idea of what you are looking for going in.

So for this first installment I have a series of links and articles for people looking to get started on the hobby, I am going to be focusing mostly on the Dollfie Dream line of dolls for this blog, simply because they are the most Anime like and thats where my interests fall, but many of the links will also be useful for those folks that are interested in the other types of dolls that Volks produces.

Websites

www.volksusa.com/ Should be obvious, this is the North American website for Volks, where you can get all sorts of parts and supplies for building your own custom "Daughter" Clothes are available here, as well as other accessories.

http://sumikatimes.volksusa.com/ This company run blog on Volks's US website is one of the best on the web, while obviously used to aid in the sale of their product, you can still find all manner of how to articles and product updates, plus all the information you will need for the famous "Doll's Party Lotteries" [We will be discussing those in a future article]

http://dollfiehome.com/ This is an excellent resource for fashion for your Dollfie Dream Dolls, the site can be a bit messy to navigate but once you get through that its an amazing place. If you thought people spent a fortune in the real world on their own clothing, wait until you see some of the prices commanded for the Dollfie outfits.

http://doll.fm/ This site is part of Danny Choo's network of Anime and Japanese culture sites, there is a lot of interesting information on here including lots of great photos of various members "Daughters" There is a lot of content that isn't in English, so be forewarned, YMMV [Your Milage May Vary]

Articles

http://www.figure.fm/post/en/17883/Get+your+first+Dollfie+Dream+in+5+Easy+Steps.html This is a great article about getting your first Dollfie Dream from Yahoo! Auctions in Japan, the article is mostly geared towards someone who wants to get their hands on one of the rarer limited edition Dolls, but there is useful information throughout the article on the process of buying through Yahoo! Auctions Japan.

http://tcwenterprise.com/wordpress/2010/09/01/where-to-buy-dollfie-dream-a-beginners-guide/ Another article about aquiring your first Dollfie, this article covers a little bit more with regards to purchasing direct from Volks themselves.

http://www.darkdollhouse.com/dolpa-for-dummies/ An interesting tale about one hobbyist's experience at one of the famous "Dolpa" events in Japan.

NEXT TIME: An introduction to Dollfie Dream!

Happy Holidays!

2010-12-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

Just wanting to wish all my readers a Happy Holidays! Please have a safe and wonderful time with your family and friends!

Life And Holidays

2010-12-23T11:57:00.002-07:00

Hey folks, sorry there hasn't been much new content here the last week or so, I have had sick roomates, girlfriend and toddler, and that has been making for a less than ideal posting schedule. Anyways that all being said, I am working on a pre Christmas surprise for the site, then we are kinda in hibernation until mid next week.

Thanks for your patience.

Preview for the week of 12/13/2010

2010-12-13T08:10:00.001-07:00

Ok, last week was a minor victory all things considered, I managed to get the VIZ Media Manga app review posted, given how crazy my life has been that was an accomplishment in of itself.

That all being said, here is the preview for the coming week:

Wed: Gundam Garage will finally make its debut with an introduction to SD Gundam, and my own project journal.

Thur: The Dollhouse kicks off with an article on getting started in the hobby, with some useful links and tips

You will see that the Friday figure news update isn't listed, I am having some issues with getting the informaton reliably in English at the moment, I am working on a resolution, until then we will just be going with the two feature posts a week.

REVIEW: iPad Manga App from VIZ Media

2010-12-06T14:18:00.001-07:00

When the iPad was announced one of the first things I thought was "Man this would be a nice way to read Manga on the go" not that it would ever replace my softbound collection, but having a mobile option I could just throw in a bag that could store a batch of volumes would make long trips that much easier.

So here comes VIZ Media with one of the first options for building your virtual Manga collection, so how does it stack up compared to owning the real thing, join me past the jump and find out!

First off the basics, the app is free, purchases are $4.99 a volume with selected free previews available. Pretty standard stuff as it goes with E-Reader type apps from the app store.

One of the things that makes or breaks any reading experience for me on the iPad is the interface, is it simple to use and uncluttered. When I first booted up the app I was greeted with a somewhat spartan but attractive front end interface for the store, showig all the latest volumes for sale, and any special promotions that they have going at the moment. Along the bottom are quick navigation buttons to your Manga collection, settings, and then one back to the store, I found the entire interface quick to use and navigate, I found my downloads with ease.

Setting up an account with VIZ was just a matter of going into the settings screen and getting signed up. Speaking of settings there is a neat option to be able to specify how much space on your iPad you are willing to devote to Manga, its a nice option for folks with the smaller capacity units. My one complaint with the settings is that there is an option for "Show Volumes Not On Disk" the problem is that it doesn't explain how or where it stores the volumes which would have been nice, other than that minor issue though the settings are as advertised and easy to use.

Reading is a simple affair with the pages taking up the majority of the real estate on the screen, in portrait mode a single page is shown, while in landscape you get two pages at a time. Using swipe gestures you change the pages, and the software supports the pinch gestures for zooming as well. Tapping anywhere on the image brings up the slider to quick select pages as well as close the current volume and take you back to the main screen, I would have liked to see some form of bookmarking ability, with any luck that will be added in a future update to the software. Overall the reading experience was enjoyable and issue free, a simple interface that gets the job done.

For purposes of this review I downloaded a preview of Ouran High School Host Club 1 and Dragon Ball 1 I wanted to see not only the quality of the reading experince, but source material variances as well. I am please to report that both Mangas that I downloaded were of the highest quality with deep true blacks and perfect detail levels, I had heard from other reports that there were noticeible differences betweeen older material and newer ones, I honestly couldn't see it, so either that was a one off issue, or VIZ cleaned up the older material, either way I am very happy with the quality.

Right now the biggest issue that I see facing the app is the lack of content, I don't see any of VIZ's older properties on here like Ranma 1/2 or Maison Ikkoku, it would be nice for some of these older series to see the light of day again and be readilly accessible for those who didn't mange to get them the first time round.

Overall I think its a great product by VIZ Media, very easy to use with wonderful output, it has some issues albeit minor that I would like to see worked out, but other than that its a great Manga reader. In the end it will live and die by its content, and hopefully VIZ will add more of that sooner than later.

Preview for the week of 11/29/2010

2010-12-01T10:12:00.001-07:00

Ok first off, yes I am aware that this is being posted on Wednesday, I was sick the last two days and wasn't able to look at the monitor without feeling sick sadly. That being said we still have a lot to cover this week:

Wed: As promised, a review of the iPad Manga reader from Viz.

Thur: Again the two new articles make their feature debut The Dollhouse with an article on getting started in the hobby, with some useful links and tips, and Gundam Garage takes a look at the world of SD Gundam kits, and I begin my first kit build journal!

Fri: We'll take a look at all the latest figure release news and notes.

An appology!

2010-11-27T13:29:00.000-07:00

Sorry folks, when I posted the preview I completely spaced Thanksgiving this week, with all the friends and family time needed I didn't get the other two articles ready, they will go up next week instead.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T01:00:00.002-07:00

Just want to wish all our American readers a happy US Thanksgiving, have fun and be safe!

Layout Changes

2010-11-24T08:03:00.000-07:00

Hey all!

You are probably going to notice that I am in the process of changing the layout and adding graphics, it does mean that it might be a bit strange looking for a few days, give me a few days and I will have it all together.

Thanks!

Where Danger Lurks

2010-11-24T01:00:00.000-07:00

This feature article is going to be a little more sobering than a lot of the ones that I normally write around here, but given recent events, I felt it was needed, no matter how uncomfortable it is to write.

Many of you out there may be aware of the situation that has recently come to light in the state of New Jersey, where the organizer of an after school Lego program has been charged with molesting four young girls, it's a terrible situation and one that has rocked the adult Lego fan community to its very core.

Past the cut we will discuss how adults with unique hobbies can protect both themselves and the young people we come into contact with on a regular basis.

As an adult I am accutely aware that a number of my hobbies cross age lines [Anime, Lego, Airsoft, and of course the SCA] and that there are times where I will find myself in the position of being involved either physically at events like conventions, or virtually with things likes forums and chats, with young people under the age of 18. These interactions can be great things, and lot of fun, but there is also always a voice in the back of my head telling me to be very careful how I act and how I go about my business so that in no way can anything that I do be misunderstood or put me in a dangerous position.

I think the first thing we adults need to take into account are times when no matter how innocent, the situtation would look very bad, case in point: I teach medieval fencing as part of the SCA [Society for Creative Anachronism] I was approached by a young girl of 16 about coming to a private practice that I hold once a week, I was more than happy to have her join us, as long as her parents dropped her off, and we weren't the only ones there. Her Mother was fairly surprised at this, and even told me not to worry, they knew what she was there for, I explained that I felt that it was in both of ours best interests to make sure that nothing could ever be taken the wrong way.

The second thing would apply to virtual/online contacts, I have made friends through my Anime/Manga fandom that it has taken some time to find out were minors, always think about the discussions that you have with them once you know. Topics should be kept pretty high level, talking about the night at the bar carousing with some cute little blonde, probably not the best idea. Again, this isn't because we are TRYING anything, its because the appearance can be just as damaging, and dangerous.

These are only a couple of ways of protecting ones self against a situation that could get rapidly out of hand, I advise all those reading this, to think and tread very carefully when dealing with our minor aquaintances, no one wants to see more situations like the one in New Jersey where someone preyed upon those too young to know the difference.

iPad Manga App from VIZ Media

2010-11-23T11:01:00.001-07:00

As a proud iPad owner I have been longing for some time to have an app that might actually cater to the legitimate Manga scene, now it looks like VIZ Media has come through:

Official Press Release

VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced its long-awaited digital manga (graphic novel) application for the Apple® iPad™ mobile device, launching today for FREE download through the iTunes Store. With this launch, the VIZ MANGA APP instantly becomes the leading destination to read Japanese manga on the iPad, with a downloadable library of the most popular manga series in the world.

The VIZ MANGA APP will launch on its first day with five legendary manga series, BLEACH Vols. 1-2, DEATH NOTE Vols. 1-2, DRAGON BALL Vol. 1, NARUTO Vols. 1-2, and ONE PIECE Vols. 1-2, as well as the recently launched BAKUMAN。 Vol. 1. In Week 2, the shojo fan favorite OURAN HIGH SCHOOL HOST CLUB Vol. 1 joins the lineup. All volumes will be available for purchase and download directly within the application for $4.99 per volume. In addition, DEATH NOTE Vol. 1 will be available as a FREE download for a limited time only. Readers are encouraged to check the app regularly, as new additions to the store and free Chapter 1 previews of other forthcoming manga series for the iPad will also be featured and added on a frequent and regular basis.

“Fans have been clamoring for an official manga-dedicated app from the moment they heard of the iPad’s existence,” says Alvin Lu, Senior Vice President and General Manager of VIZ Media. “It’s easy to see how manga and the iPad make for a perfect and natural fit. The VIZ MANGA APP is a great start, and this is just the beginning of manga’s brave new world. Look for plenty more developments to come.”

For more information on the VIZ MANGA APP, please visit www.VIZ.com/apps/.

I will be doing a full review on the app in the next couple of days, it looks like its going to be pretty limited on titles right now, but knowing VIZ Media, they will be upping that sooner than later. The iPad is definately canging the way people view traditional books and media, and applications like this are just the beginning.

Preview for the week of 11/22/2010

2010-11-22T11:43:00.001-07:00

Ok so this is going to be a special week, as both the special features The Dollhouse and Gundam Garage will be published for the first time, after this week they will alternate each week, and as [hopefully] more features are added their schedules will shift again.

Anyways onto the preview!

Wed: This week we are going to take a look at how as adults we need to be careful with a hobby such as Anime/Manga fandom that crosses such a wide age range, we will talk about specific concerns, and give some tools to handle those situations should they arrise.

Thur: The Dollhouse makes its debut with an article on getting started in the hobby, with some useful links and tips. Gundam Garage takes a look at the world of SD Gundam kits, and I begin my first kit build journal!

Fri: We'll take a look at all the latest figure release news and notes.

UPDATES - 11/22/10 - New schedule and changes

2010-11-22T11:31:00.001-07:00

Ok, so here goes, this is the "Proposed" schedule for site updates for the forseeable future:

Mon: Preview the week ahead
Wed: Feature Article/DVD Manga Review
Thur: Gundam Garage/The Dollhouse
Fri: Figure News

So thats it, we have a 4 day a week update schedule, as always its subject to change as needed, but I am going to try to adhere to this as best as possible going forward.

New special feature Gundam Garage

2010-11-22T11:10:00.000-07:00

Well after adding the Dollhouse special feature [the first of which should be published this week] I am going to be adding a second figure/model related special feature, Gundam Garage this feature will focus on Gundam modelling in all its forms, and also where I will be keeping my own kit building journals.

The first installment will premiere later this work, with a look at the unique world of the SD Gundam model kits.

Forums update!

2010-11-22T11:01:00.000-07:00

Well given the number of hits that the note on forums has generated I have decided to go ahead and start getting those setup, it will be pretty basic to start with and will be hosted offsite.

They should be up and running in the next week, and I will do a post here when they are ready to go, thanks for your patience on all of this.

Term of the week updated!

2010-11-17T09:01:00.000-07:00

What better way to kick off again than with a new term of the week, this week we look at "Otaku"

UPDATES - 11/17/2010 - Welcome Back!

2010-11-17T08:58:00.000-07:00

Wow! I didn't realize it had been this long between updates, my life has gone through a lot of changes in the last year, I am divorced [again] involved with a wonderful new woman, learning what it is to raise a toddler, and finally started a new job!

So where does that leave the blog? Well thats a good question, I have been struggling with what to do with this site for some time, but then I came back and looked and you know what? I found that I was getting more hits than I ever did previously, and almost all of it had to do with the Dollfie articles that I ran! That leads me to believe there are far more people interested in the Dollfie stuff than I realized, so I am going to try and see if I can keep this going with more Dollfie content as I get it, and continue to do other reviews and articles as time allows.

Welcome back folks, its going to be a fun ride!

- Gryfon

New feature: The Dollhouse

2009-07-06T11:32:00.003-06:00

After the overwhelming success of the article on the Dollife dolls from Volks I decided to add a new weekly feature article highlighting some of the latest news from Volks, this section is being called The Dollhouse and will run once a week. Each week we will post news from the Volks website or other user submitted content, highlighting this especially fascinating aspect of Japanese culture.

This is also a great opportunity for you the reader, as I am just now beginning to learn more about this hobby. I would love to have input from members of the community on what to post and where to get additional news, pictures, etc. so please let me know what we can add and we will get this aspect of the site growing fast as well.

Back later today with the first *official* installment of The Dollhouse.

Until then!

Changes...

2009-07-05T23:14:00.002-06:00

Ok, so no matter how many plans I make it seems that something is always conspiring against me, especially when it comes to this blog. Life has been abysmal these last few months, and I have neglected this blog horribly, I honestly had been considering shutting it down for good, but then I looked at the hit numbers and something struck me, I am getting a lot of traffic, not sure why since this isn't the most content heavy Anime site on the net, but obviously someone out there is enjoying what I write.

So first the bad news, I am going to try to get as many reviews as I can done, but since I am only able to review what I am able to buy and right now that isn't much that is going to be a bit of an issue. I will do what I can, just bear with me on how sparse reviews are for the moment. If we can get a real rapport with readers and show how interested people are, then MAYBE we might be able to get on the comp lists for a few companies, will have to see how things go in that vein

The good news, you noticed the word "we" above, I am going to be brining on another member to the staff here soon, right now they are getting up to speed on what I expect and need, but rest assured that once they get going that you will see more and more content hit the site.

The Dollfie article proved to be a hit, apparently there is a huge interest in this, so we are going to be trying to cover that hobby in more detail. Keep watching this site for more and more Dollfie news as we can get it!

Other than that, look for some new content over the next couple of days, and once we have the staff up to speed we will get back on a permanent schedule.

Take care, and thanks for reading!

UPDATES - 5/19/09 - Life kicks

2009-05-19T20:28:00.003-06:00

Ok so the last month hasn't gone too good, my contract with the new company was terminated 6 weeks in, no real notice, actually no notice.

So needless to say I have been busy dealing with those issues, along with keeping my head above water. I am going to be busy on the job hunt front here pretty soon, but I am going to be maintaining the content of the site, so there will be new stuff coming through constantly.

Thanks for your support!

UPDATES - 04/23/09 - Schedule Update

2009-04-23T08:33:00.003-06:00

Ok, so its been awhile since I did an update on the Term of the Week, but FINALLY there is a new one posted!

With that out of the way be looking for a new feature article tommorow, and a new review on Tuesday next week.

Where do you get your Anime/Manga?

2009-04-20T08:47:00.002-06:00

I was busy over on AnimeNewsNetwork.com looking at some articles when I stumbled across a really interesting interview [http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/chicks-on-anime/2009-04-07] with the co-owner of a video store in Colorado and her experiences with renters, and some pretty harsh words directed towards users of services like Netflx and those that stream online [legally and otherwise] This evoked a lot of emotion in me and got me thinking about the changes that we have been going through in the community in the last few years, and where we are headed going forward.

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last few years you know that a lot has changed with regards to traditional media, streaming, piracy, scanning, e-books, and of course DVRs have changed how we look at much of what we watch, listen and read.

Anime and Manga has been a lighting rod for this issue, mostly due to the fact what was once a very small niche hobby has gone much more mainstream. For a little bit of backstory, lets do a bit of a retrospective to how we got where we are today.

My first encounter with Anime like many people was with Star Blazers as a child, it was one of the few cartoons that my parents supported me watching because they were impressed with the story and it wasn't a mass toy commercial, unlike most of the others at the time. After this I wandered away onto other more mundane affair, but my love of Star Blazers never ceased. [ask my father about desperately trying to get the antenna pointed in the right direction so I could still watch my favorite show when it was on]

When I was 13 I started playing the ROBOTECH: RPG from Palladium Books, which got me into watching the old show again. We started a ROBOTECH fan club in Jr. High, and one night we were at the local comic store and I picked up a copy of Protoculture Addicts and I saw all these articles on other shows that I had never heard of, there was this whole world of animation geared to the more mature person and I had no inclination it existed.

From here I spent the next two years trying to get access to anything I could of the Anime variety, it was at this point that Viz Comics was getting into stride and I got a hold of my first issue of Ranma 1/2, Crying Freeman [really glad the parentals didn't look at that too closely] I was in love. During this time my father [a commercial airline pilot] worked with a guy who knew of an Anime club near my house, my father at that time found the whole concept fascinating, probably due to the fact this stuff was geared to a much more mature audience, so he was willing to drive me to the club meetings once per month.

The Club meetings were the golden age for me in the mid 1990’s, here were all these series that I had never heard of, everything from giant robot drama's Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory to slice of life shows like Maison Ikkoku. to the magical girl genre of Sailor Moon. What also made this time so interesting was the fact that almost none of what we were watching was commercial releases over here, what we were watching were Anime that had been copied directly off Japanese tv then subtitled on an Amiga computer for fans.

This was an amazing time, Arctic Animation the parent of our club was an North American power when it came to fansubbing, they were one of the only games in town, since at the time the few VHS releases available cost a fortune, it wasn’t uncommon for tapes to cost in the $50+ range, and we certainly didn’t have DVD’s. There wasn’t Netflix, and video stores were terrified of it [I was there when they had to explain to an angry parent that they thought Akira was a childrens cartoon] there was so little in the range of sources it was scary at times.

But the seeds were planted, even though the tapes cost a fortune, Manga Entertainment, Viz, Animego, Central Park Media, US Manga Corps, Central Park Media were the pioneers, they saw the future and jumped on it.

Manga was a slightly different story Viz had been around for some time releasing a few select titles, along with Dark Horse Comics but there was even less selection on this front, and what was available was fairly expensive.
Fast forward to today, and the landscape is much different, we have companies dedicated to bringing out Manga in its original digest form, for far more palatable price, and one only needs to walk into their local Best Buy or FYE to see the selection of Anime available. Even the video stores are getting in on the act with Blockbuster and Hollywood Video renting large selections of Anime.

Going a step further are the legal online services such as Netflix and Crunchyroll [though their background is a little more than dubious] offering on demand streaming, or direct to mail rentals.

Times they have definitely changed…

So my question to you is this, where do you get your Anime/Manga? Tell me where you like to buy, and why, what makes for a great experience, and what makes for a bad one.

Ooops! Sorry our bad!

2009-04-16T12:25:00.002-06:00

Ok, sorry that we gaffed on the schedule the end of last week and the beginning of this one. We have some REALLY neat changes coming through in the next couple of weeks that are going to hopefully allow for a lot more content, and getting there is taking longer than expected.

There will be a feature article posted for tommorow, and there will likely be some extra content added over the weekend.

Again, sorry for the delays!

PS: The "WE" should give you a hint to the upcoming changes

NEWS: Bandai Streaming on Youtube!

2009-04-08T15:30:00.005-06:00

This might not be big news, but with Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion going on hiatus from Cartoon Network it might interest folks to know that Bandai is offering the episodes as streaming content through their Youtube! channel.

Currently they are offering 25 episodes with English subtitles, I have embedded the player here into the blog so that you readers can watch the series from the comfort of Blossom of the Sakura

NEWS: Mandalay Pictures Options Full Metal Panic Movie!

2009-04-08T12:35:00.005-06:00

Ok I am REALLY hoping this was a very late April fools joke! From Anime News Network:

The Mandalay Pictures production studio has licensed the film rights to Shoji Gatoh's Full Metal Panic! high school action comedy light novels. The story centers around a brusque young sergeant named Sousuke Sagara who must protect an assertive high school girl named Chidori Kaname by masquerading (somewhat unsuccessfully) as a high school student himself. Actor Zac Efron (High School Musical, Hairspray, 17 Again) is reportedly discussing the project.

Shikidouji illustrated the original novels, and Retsu Tateo adapted them into manga form. Three television anime series, several spinoff manga, and a video special have since released. ADV Manga released both the first manga series and the Full Metal Panic: Overload! manga spinoff in North America. ADV Films and Funimation have split the North American DVD releases of the different anime series between the two of them.

This is more than a little scary, once again Hollywood gets an idea to remake a popular Anime series, and well, Speed Racer shows how that can go.

We will see what we shall see on this one I guess.

MANGA REVIEW: Tetragrammaton Labyrinth Vol: 1

2009-04-08T08:01:00.006-06:00

From the Back Cover:

When darkness falls on the foggy streets of London, demons and monsters emerge to prey on human life. But demons aren’t the only ones prowling the streets. Two women have picked up the fight as humanity’s front line defense against the darkness--a young gun-toting nun named Sister Meg and her mysterious, eternally youthful partner Angela. Together, they have made it their life’s work to spend their nights hunting the vile demons that stalk mankind.

Introduction

I am not going to lie here, I have a soft spot for occult/religious Manga, especially when it involves cute girls with guns, and even more so when they are nuns. So it should come as no shock that when I first saw Tetragrammaton Labyrinth that I immediately picked up a copy. The cover art alone had me giddy with anticipation, as did the description on the back of the book, if only the rest of it lived up to these expectations.

Story - 4/10

Tetragrammaton Labyrinth is the story of sister Meg, a nun, and her supernatural partner Angela. The story is based is London England during the first part of the 20th Century, where apparently demons are running rampant and the Catholic church is obviously needing to train their clergy in the use of high powered weapons.

During the first volume we see them take on a pair of cases relating to the underworld and what looks like it may be the beginning of a larger overriding story arc, that's about it, and therein lies the problem.

The story, is at the same time interesting and frustrating. There is no back story given until near the end of the first volume, and even then you are left with far more questions than answers, which wouldn't be a problem if the characters were more interesting, or more well fleshed out, but sadly they aren't. Meg is the Anime stereotype nun-with-guns nothing new here it seems in the first volume, Angela on the other hand, looks like she belongs at a Goth Lolita convention and runs around cutting demons to bit with a giant scythe, sadly they just aren't that interesting.

Another point of distaste is that to this point a lot of the story [and in one glaring case character design] seems to have been lifted directly from Chrono Crusade, I would like to see something a little more original and not so overtly plagiarized.

Story takes a bigger role near the end, where we get a hint that somehow the two protagonists are linked in some way, with Angela kept alive by Meg's need for her, and I can only hope that the slow and somewhat boring pace of this first volume, along with the main story arc pick up in volume 2.

Art - 7/10

The Art in the first volume fairs better than the story, with the characters being drawn very well. I have to say its nice to see a nun who is actually dressed like a nun for the most part, rather than with cleavage exposing clothing no clergy member would be caught wearing. I found Angela a bit oddly clothed in that she would stick out like a sore thumb in any society, let alone London of the early 20th century, but these are minor nit pickings on the character designs as a whole.

I do have an issue with some of the action scenes which are framed a bit oddly at times which can lead to a "what the heck is...Oh! Its a dismembered arm!" moments. Also I found that some of the backgrounds could have been better detailed, but these are minor nitpicks overall.

Parental warning, there is a substantial amount of blood and gore in this series so far, its definitely not one for the kiddies.

There isn't an exceptional level of innovation with the art in the series, its nice to look at, but nothing ground breaking either.

Final Conclusions overall - 6/10 [Not an average]
I want to like this series, it has a lot going for it in terms of setting and possible storyline, but as of volume one its hard to recommend it as anything above an average Manga release.

+ some nice artwork, interesting setting, and

- Story is more than a little flat, some of the artwork is oddly framed, story seems to have been lifted directly from Chrono Crusade

Publisher: Seven Seas/gomanga.com
Cost USD: $11.99
Rating: 16+

A couple of thoughts on Anime Blogs in general...

2009-04-07T10:57:00.002-06:00

During the last couple of days while I have been busy reinvigorating this blog I got to looking around the net at other Anime/Manga blogs out there, and I noticed one trend, almost all of them had the same information.

What I found was that they all had information about new releases in Japan and what was being picked up for release in the west, with very little variation. For me thats a bit of a downer, as much as I am looking for news, I am looking for opinions and articles as well, its making me realize how I want to make this blog different and cater to another side of fandom.

That begs the question, how will it be different?

I am going to try and focus more on reviews and articles, and opinion pieces than I am news. Of course I am going to get news out to my loyal readers, but there will be a greater emphasis on homegrown content than stuff that can be gleaned just anywhere. Its going to be a challenge, but I believe that in the long run its going to make for a better experience for my readers.

Have thoughts or comments? Please leave them below, I promise that I will try to repsond to as many as I can.

Later!

Haruhi Suzumiya Dollfie

2009-04-06T08:31:00.004-06:00

On the heels of the article yesterday about the Dollfie's, I thought I would post a picture of one of

the more sought after limited edition Dollfies that has been made.

Isn't she beautiful? Like all of the Dollfie Dream line, Haruhi is 60 cm tall, made of soft vinyl and is fully poseable.

UPDATES - 04/06/09 - Schedule Update

2009-04-06T08:13:00.002-06:00

Ok, I hope you all liked the Dollfie mini article last night, I am going to be striving for more of these types of articles going forward, short quick articles about something fun in fandom that I run across in my travels on the net.

I am back to work full time now, so I am going to try and get back to a regular posting schedule here on the blog. I am looking at the following going forward:

Monday: Term of the Week change
Weds: Review [DVD/Bluray/Manga]
Friday: Article

Other days I will be posting news and other stuff as it comes along, but those for right now are the scheduled posting days.

In addition I am going to be adding google adsense to the site, it has the potential to make this blog start paying for itself, and that can only be a good thing right? ^_~

Out for now!

Dollfie: Figure Collecting at its extreme

2009-04-05T19:49:00.007-06:00

So browsing around the net the other day and I stumbled upon http://www.dannychoo.com/ and noticed a section for something called Dollfie, they looked like regular anime figures with actual hair, so I figured I would take a quick peek to see what this was all about.

Dollfies are Japanese fashion dolls, not unlike Barbie's, that range in size from 22 - 60 cm and use ball joints that allow for an amazing level of articulation and posability. They are produced by Volks in Japan, and available through their USA site http://www.volksusa.com/

Dollfie dolls generally come blank, ie, their heads are not painted. When an artist paints a Dollfie, the technique is referred to as a "face-up" or "make-up". This is usually done using acrylic paints and special sealer to keep the color from coming off with play.

Volks has multiple lines, everything from realistic looking people to the far more stylized Anime inspired ones. Super Dollfies are also available, 60 cm tall and made of resin they are considered to be some of the most collectable.

Looking through their site you will see that the Dollfies don't come cheap, they are most definately a premium product! Volks from time to time does what they call Dolpa's [Doll Parties] where limited edition figures and accessories become available. I saw a limited edition Mikuru from the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya listed for $598! [I saw this same figure on the secondary market for nearly $1500!] Add into this the price of clothes and accessories that can rival the prices of major brand label clothing and its not impossible for a single Dollfie to cost over $1000!

I have to be honest, if one day I have the funds I am going to try and get my hands on one of these for a mascot for the site, they are wonderful pieces of art, and a definate crown jewel in any Anime/Manga collectors collection.

Starting up again

2009-03-17T21:59:00.002-06:00

So here I was sitting here wondering what to do with this blog, ironically, I have a lot of material that I could post reviews for, I just haven't wanted to do much with the computer for awhile.

I was laid off on the 9th of Feburary, and I just haven't had the passion for much recently, the thing that I have realized is that writing is one thing that I can do with joy still, I just need to do it...

Here goes, I am going to try and get this going again, it might be a challenge but it is one that I am up to I believe.

Give me some time, and you will see this back to how it started.

UPDATES - 12/05/08

2008-12-05T16:41:00.004-07:00

Ok so finally we have new content!

I have a review of He is My Master Vol: 1 that has just been published, and I am working on a feature article for next week as well, in addition I am pulling together some DVD reviews as well, so hopefully we are back on track.

MANGA REVIEW: He is My Master Vol: 1

2008-12-05T14:04:00.008-07:00

From the Back Cover:

Welcome to the day-to-day adventures of the richest most perverted kid on the block- Nakabayashi Yoshitaka. At 14 years old, he's already a master blackmailer, sports a major superiority complex, and has a uniform fetish to boot.

After inheriting the family fortune upon his parents' deaths, Yoshitaka decides to fire all the old staff and hire some new live-in maids to help him look after the estate. Unfortunately, he gets more than he bargained for when two hot girls and their pet Alligator Pochi shop up to fill the positions!

Initial Impressions

I can't say there is usually a lot of science to what I do when it comes to choosing items for review, usually I head to the local Barnes and Noble and just see whats available, and what catches my eye. Once in awhile though I go hunting for a series, I had stumbled upon He is My Master accidentally one evening while searching Anime online and thought that the premise might make for a fun read. I looked for Vol: 1 for quite some time, a couple of months, before I finally found my copy, in my opinion it was worth every second of the hunt.

Story - 8/10

I enjoy a good comedic light read sometimes when it comes to my manga, I don't always want something uber serious, or even with tones of uber seriousness, He is My Master definately falls on the lighter side.

Just a shred beyond preposterous comes the story of an extremely wealthy young man, Yoshitaka, with a uniform fetish who after losing his parents decides to hire an all new staff, so he can find a "young hot maid" he gets more than he bargained for with the arrival of Natsuki, and Izumi, two runaway teenagers, along with their pet Alligator Pochi.

The characters are extremely likeable, while the three leads generally fit into pretty tight Anime stereotypes, there is an undeniable charm to them, that only makes you want to read more. The star of the series though really is the Alligator Pochi who manages to steal almost every scene he is in.

I have to say I haven't laughed this hard in a long time, while some of the translation might feel a little off sometimes, and there seem to be a few gaps in storytelling [where did the Mitsuki-Chan Defence Force come from anyways?] there in an undeniable charm to the story and characters, there's a cute but cheeky humor to the writing that keeps you coming back for more.

Art - 8/10

As always art is a subjective thing, but I really love the classic lines in He is My Master, they harken back to a different time for Anime and Manga, and thats certainly not a bad thing. The characters are full of life and emotion, some of Izumi's emotions are an absolute riot, and Pochi looks wonderful in his cute, albeit atylized look. Backgrounds are equally well done with large amounts of detail, not overdone but not too lacking either.

Final Conclusions overall - 8/10

We all need some light hearted humor in our lives, He is My Master fits wonderfully into that category and should be a fan pleaser for many a volume to come, with its wonderful characters [GO POCH!] and cute refreshing artwork.

+ Good story, fun character, nice artwork

- Translation needs some work, some odd gaps in story

Publisher: Seven Seas

Cost USD: $9.99

Rating: 16+

Forgotten but not gone

2008-12-04T13:08:00.002-07:00

Ok, so life went a little nuts here in the last month or so and I just haven't been able to get this thing back on track, try as I might...

But I am going to try to change that.

I am dedicating an hour a day to writing/working for this blog, so there should be a lot more content heading your way here pretty soon.

Again sorry for how long I have been absent, I miss this blog and the joy it brings to me.

I'm bhack!!!!

2008-10-09T15:46:00.002-06:00

Ok, so I really haven't meant to abandon this blog, my life just got very hectic with moving across the country for a new job only to have to come all the way back due to some temporary changes, to my daughter being born...Its been a little nutty, I realize that I have totally neglected this site, but thats going to change...Starting right now!

I have got a bunch of new stuff to get reviews up on, I am also going to be doing a series of interviews with some of the convention crowd both locally here in Utah and nationally as well.

So look forward to the coming weeks and months, I am sure its going to be a blast, when I get a chance I will get a new posting schedule up!

Take care

Anime 10 Things I love/hate about you...

2008-08-29T11:58:00.002-06:00

Ok, so I got thinking about stuff the other night and realized that there are always going to be things we love or hate about a hobby, so without further ado...

Love	Hate
1. Amazingly cool stories	1. The same old stories
2. Fans having all sorts of fun	2. Fans having smells
3. New Gundam series	3. Gundam making no sense
4. New Manga being released	4. Manga being stopped midway
5. Shows that push boundaries	5. Ignoring boundaries of good taste
6. Cute new characters	6. Pokemon [nuff said]
7. Blu-ray releases	7. Costs of the Blu-ray releases
8. Japanese games in America	8. Games not brought out in English
9. Fans defending shows	9. Fans whining about shows
10. Haruhi Suzumiya	10. Naruto

Move done...

2008-08-22T14:26:00.002-06:00

Ok so here is the deal, I have gotten moved to Pit, not sure how long it will be before I get going with the blog again as far as reviews and stuff go, I anticipate it might take a couple of weeks still. But do bear with me, as I do have a lot of material to get up and get going on.

Talk to you soon!

UPDATES - 08/07/08

2008-08-07T14:32:00.002-06:00

Ok, so you really want to know whats been taking up all my time recently that I have free? Look for the review late tommorow ^_~

Anyways, so you know, I am going to be leaving Utah on next Thursday, and will likely be out of commission for the next 5 days following that, I might get a chance to post a note while on the road but there are no guarantees.

One thing the slight sabbatical is going to do for me is give me a chance to get caught up on my Manga reading and Anime viewing, which should allow for a lot more content to get put up on the site soon enough.

Talk to you tommorow with the review!

A picture is worth 1000 words...

2008-08-06T09:47:00.002-06:00

So I was in Barnes and Noble the other night doing a weekly Manga shop and I noticed this girl sitting on the ground with a stack of Manga reading away, since I had posted about this a couple of weeks back, I thought I would add the photo here for emphasis that this phenomenon is going on everywhere right now.

I need to go back...

2008-08-04T09:27:00.002-06:00

I don't write about my own life much if ever here, this was meant to be a light business endeavour in some ways, but since this topic merges with the blog so well I figured that it would be ok, and let you get to know me a bit better as well...

Japan, I need to go back...

These last few years have been pretty trying for me, not always in a bad way, but I have lost a lot of who I am in the process, everything became blurred between, marriage, love, divorce, the SCA I have sorted drifted away. Then my roomate got me into Megatokyo, and there for some reason it all came back, the love of Anime, the contrasts of Tokyo between old and new...I just realized that I missed it a lot.

I have been there a number of times before thanks to my father being an airline pilot, and I loved it, there was something special and serene about the place that appealed to me...I just need to get back and try to find some of what I have been missing again, to walk those streets alone again one more time...

UPDATES - 08/03/08

2008-08-03T15:00:00.001-06:00

Ok, so as I said things are a bit hectic around here right now, I want to post more and get more content up here and everytime something goes haywire and wrong. However I think I might be seeing some light at the end of the tunnel and will work towards that.

I have been working mostly on getting my house ready for sale at the moment, its ready to go almost, still cleaning out the garage and stuff like that. But its a rather long process...

Picked up a new Manga last night, the first volume of the prequel series to Fushugi Yugi published by Viz, and I will get a review up pretty soon. In addition I am working on reviews for the complete series of The Galaxy Railways and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Vol. 2

I am hoping to have these all published bef0re this weekend when I am going to be out at an SCA event then beginning the move to PA.

UPDATES - 7/21/08

2008-07-21T22:35:00.002-06:00

Ok, for the record I am not abandoning the blog, its just that right now I am having some issues with life and work that make it very hard for me to be doing constant content updates currently. So I am doing something that I really don't want to do, but this only going to be temporary. I am going to suspend the schedule for the next 8 weeks.

Now don't get me wrong, I am still going to be posting articles and reviews on as often a basis as I can, but to try and hold to a shcedule right now isn't particulary realistic, so keep looking each week and I will do what I can to get new reviews and material up, hopefully by this time in September I will be back into normal run, until my daughter comes along in October, then its anybodys guess.

This week I am going to have a new DVD review up and hopefully a feature article, thanks for sticking with me!

UPDATES - 07/16/08

2008-07-16T09:39:00.003-06:00

Whoops!

Ok, sorry about the Manga review not getting up yesterday, I wasn't able to complete it in time, due to some other...distractions...the iPhone Apps store is out and I spent far too much time playing with that monday, my bad sorry. Its really amazing what this phone is capable of, I just need to remember to get my scheduled stuff done first LOL!

Anyways as you know I am in the process of getting ready to move across the country, so things are going to be sporadic for awhile, I will get up what I can when I can, but just be patient, I am going to have a full blown office/studio in the new home which should make working on my art and this site a lot easier. Give it time, I promise not to disappoint [well not often ^_~]

Out for the moment, will try to get that Manga review posted, if not today I will shuffle it to next week.

Sign of the Times

2008-07-16T06:00:00.000-06:00

Anime Expo 2008 has come and gone and there is real reason for concern when it comes to the North American Anime/Manga market:

1) ADV Films is in serious financial trouble, they are in the process of restructuring and saying all the right things, but the reality is that they are selling off properties and right now and are in a state of flux with regards to their product offerings.

2) Geneon is now effectively gone, while their employees are completing a number of the properties for Funimation [the new liscensor] their existence as an independent studio is now basically over.

3) "Fansubbing" was a subject of an entire panel with studio execs and legal council, who while they understand the past need/history for fansubbing, are seeing larger and larger losses on products that have been fansubbed before they have ever been released commercially in the North American market. Not to mention the rampant sharing of commercial episodes via Torrents and P2P systems.

4) The Manga industry is having its own issues as well, with the reorganization of Tokyopop, and the well documented drop in sales in major chain booksellers, along with the continued presence of "Scanlations" the Manga industry is feeling the pinch as well.

Not exactly the rosiest picture in the world is it? With the downturn [some would say nosedive] of the US economy the situation isn't going t0 get better, and may in fact get worse, so what can we as fans do to help the industry survive these lean times? In short, we need to start paying for the hobby that we love so much.

I have been around since the early days, when "Fansubbing" was the only way to get any Anime other than the odd offerings of the then fledgling ADV, Viz, Animego, and Central Park Media/US Manga Corps. I understand that there is a lot that has never been/ never will be liscenced over here in Anime form, so I understand the downloading of stuff like that, however, if and when those series get picked up, we owe it to the commercial companies here to buy the DVDs and delete the fansubs. The same goes for Manga, its one thing downloading a "Scanlation" when a series isn't liscenced, but as soon as it becomes available commercially we should be buying it, thereby supporting the company going to the trouble of releasing it in this market.

Now I know that the economy is weak and everyone is trying to find ways to cut back and still enjoy their hobbies [trust me I know how that is] and people feel that Anime is overpriced [unless you used to pay $65 for a 30min VHS personally I dont't think you should cry too much, but thats me] but the reality is that this is still a niche market. What this means is that the costs are going to be higher, we need to be able to live with that if we want the domestic industry to survive!

What does this mean? It means buying your favourite shows on DVD, buying that Manga instead of downloading it, or even worse going into a store and reading without buying! We have all got to do our parts. If it isn't liscenced this isn't an issue, but as soon as it gets liscenced we owe it to the producers to pick up the commercial copies of the shows that we enjoy and makes sure that they are able to keep bringing more and more quality products to these shores.

With any luck the industry will manage to survive this down period and come back as strong as ever.

UPDATES - 07/14/08

2008-07-14T07:16:00.003-06:00

Ok, updating term of the week later today, and I should have the usual slate of content this week done, Manga review of Ragnarok feature article on the state of the Anime/Manga industry during the economic downturn in the USA [which isn't good btw.] and then the DVD review of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Vol.2

Take care and thanks for your support!

MANGA REVIEW: Onegai Teacher 1&2

2008-07-08T05:00:00.001-06:00

Initial Impressions - 6/10

NOTE: As of this writing it appears that these two volumes are out of print commercially, if you want your own copies check Amazon.com or eBay

I first saw Onegai Teacher [Please Teacher for those of us here in the west] about 3 years ago and fell in love with the story and artwork, while it was far too brief I felt that if it was given a longer more detailed treatment it would be much more enjoyable.

So it was with great anticipation that I ordered volumes 1 and 2 of the Manga, only to find out when they arrived that they were an adaptation of the series, and there were only two volumes total. In addition the artwork looked far different from that of the show, but I was willing to give it a chance to live up to the shows, heartwarming, if flawed story.

Story – 6.5/10

“That... Day I met my new teacher. It completely changed everything.” That line just about sums up the story of a 18 year old boy, who looks 15 [due to an illness where he effectively stops in time] who ends up marrying his 20 something half Alien homeroom teacher to keep her secret, definitely a mouthful, and a lot of stress.

Kei’s and Mizuho’s relationship is one of humor, tenderness, triumph and tradgedy, two people who are brought together under the most trying of circumstances that come to fall in love with one another.

Like all love comedies, other characters fitting into tight Anime stereotypes, the tom boyish girl with the crush on our lead, the somewhat perverted in laws, the very sweet but clueless female friend, all come to play in the story. Sadly the Manga does very little to try and make the supporting cast any more than simply cardboard cut outs for our leads to work around, its an all to familiar problem with romantic comedies, and one that sadly crops its head up again here.

Onegai Teacher the Manga, is an adaptation of the Anime series, so the story doesn’t deviate too far from the show, there are some minor alterations for the sake of brevity, but they don’t hurt the plot in any fashion.

The Manga does have the same flaw that the Anime does however, at only two volumes long there really isn’t a ton of room to develop the characters, this becomes a real issue in the latter volume as they are rushing to tidy everything up quickly, it feels forced and jarring. I had the same issue with the Anime as well, and the problem is only magnified here.

I love the story concept for the series, but its brevity, especially in the Manga format prevents it from jumping into the upper echelons of Manga available.

Art - 6/10

I loved the art direction in the Anime, the characters were fully realized and our heroine Mizuho was a breathtaking sight to behold, sadly the Manga doesn’t live up to this.

The artwork by Shizuru Hayashiya is a mixed bag that falls somewhere between the elongated, pointy look of “Clamp” and the more traditional Anime lines. I found the character design to be very inconsistent and even jarring at points when it seemed like the character was someone completely different two panels later, simply based off of a lack of continuity in the artwork. Backgrounds fair little better, since they are almost non existent through the entire two volume series.

Does the artwork work to tell the story? Yes, but in comparison to the Anime its so crude that it makes it much harder to enjoy the story, and see its true potential.

Final Conclusions overall – 6.25/10

With its even briefer storyline and crude artwork its nearly impossible to recommend this slightly above average two volume adaptation to anyone but pure fans and collectors.

+ Story is still very sweet and tender
Likable main characters

- To brief a space to convey the nuances of the relationships
Artwork is very crude
Completely forgettable supporting cast

Publisher: Comics One*
Cost USD: $9.99
Rating: 13+

*Out of business as of 2005

SPECIAL REVIEW Megatokyo

2008-07-04T06:00:00.001-06:00

When I came back to Anime/Manga again full force, it had nothing to do with some new amazing Japanese series believe it or not, I owe it all to a North American web comic called Megatokyo.

I had heard about the comic for sometime from my roommate, he told me that I really should check it out, I had run into it in passing before, but never stopped long enough to look, to me it had always sorta been the "Hip thing" "Cool thing" and I am usually the last person that will get involved with the latest craze when it comes to Anime/Manga fandom [part of the reason I have never gotten into Naruto I guess] But I figured that I would give it another try one day when I had a few spare minutes at work, it might be fun to see what a North Americans take on this art for is like, what the heck right? Well, I managed to completely read the whole series current [as of March] in two days!

When I started reading I laughed at all of the gaming industry jokes and the satiric humor between the lead characters, Piro and Largo [interestingly enough, neither one of them ever seems to have a last name] as they try to invade E3 [you can never have too many John Romero/Daikatana jokes], then all of a sudden *whoosh!* they are off to Japan, and that’s where the real fun begins.

Piro is the definition of an Otaku, right down to the complete lack of confidence when it comes to women. Largo on the other hand, he is gamer geek, who speaks almost entirely in “l33t” speak as the series goes on. The two of them couldn’t be more different, but their friendship is wonderful to watch as it evolves and matures, and in many ways goes completely the wrong direction. Into their midst comes Hyasaka Erika, and Nanasawa Kimiko, two female roommates that have known each other since highschool, Kimiko is an aspiring Seiryu [voice actress] while Erika works in a local gaming store, much to her own chagrin.

The love interests and coupling are introduced very early on, but it’s the development of those relationships that makes for some of the more wonderful moments in the series. I don’t want to give a lot away, but by the time you get caught up to the current comic, you will have seen every Anime/Manga stereotype thrown on its ear, but with an amazing amount of reverence and loving care. [watch for Genbu and you will see what I mean] Fred Gallagher has so much respect for the culture of Japan and Anime/Manga fandom that he is careful not to overstep his bounds, his storytelling is very well done, parts heartfelt and amusing all in one.

I have heard people criticize the artwork, one has to understand that Fred has been learning as he goes, he is an architect by training not a comic book artist, so for him, it has been all about learning how the human body moves and emotes, not to mention the process of creating 3 strips a week. The early comics were crude by comparison to the later ones, but I urge you to give it a chance, by the current strips the characters look unique, and full of life. Like any good artist Fred is able to capture the feelings of his characters and render them lovingly on the page.

Megatokyo is available on http://www.megatokyo.com on roughly a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule [though that can fluctuate] and you can read the archives there. But I do urge you to go the Megagear Store on the site, and purchase the in print graphic novel compilations of the series as that will help Fred out, as well as keep the series going for the long haul.

I can recommend this series whole heartedly, you will definitely laugh, you might even cry, its one of the true gems of the web coming scene.

4th of July! Happy Independence Day!

2008-07-04T05:00:00.000-06:00

Happy 4th of July to all of you living in the USA, or Americans living abroad...

May you enjoy a safe [preferably non alcohol and fireworks induced death] and happy holiday!

UPDATES - 07/03/08

2008-07-03T07:31:00.002-06:00

Ok first off, a sincere hearfelt appology, it seems that no matter what I have tried the last couple of weeks I haven't been able to get anything posted to the site.

But no matter, we are back to normal starting Monday, with a special review to be posted tommorow on the 4th of July.

I look forward to getting this site back and rolling again, as there is a lot that I need to review and get up for your reading pleasure!

Take care!

How I came back from Anime burnout...

2008-06-18T06:00:00.000-06:00

I was sitting here the other day thinking about where my renewed love for Anime/Manga came from, and how I got through my burnout phase.

When I think back to my beginings in the early 90's I can't help but feel like a bit of a pioneer, at the time there was very little commercially available over here. Sure you had the staples of Robotech and Akira, but other than that it was slim pickings, Animego was just getting started as was US Manga Corps, ADV was barely a blip on the radar and Viz was still concerned mostly with over priced Manga translations separated into monthly comics. There wasn't much there...

I was a member of a local Anime club at the time, watching 3rd generation tapes sent over from Japan and then fansubbed using an Amiga computer. We would get together for 7 hours once a month and pour through the latest stuff. It was a good time to be alive, I ran a small fanzine at the time and had a lot of fun perusing BBS's for all things Anime related...Then something happened...

We started to see more commercial releases, not just regular Anime, but Hentai as well, there seemed to be a real march towards legitimacy, much of it was dubbed, and horribly at that, but the inroads were there. The problems for me began when it became more and more commercial and there seemed to be a movement to market towards the teenagers. Our monthly club meetings began to feel more like the local highschool social, and it wasn't in a good way, the kids were rude, disrespectful and all the wanted was the "new dubbed stuff" our older membership waned, I stayed for awhile and then went my own way. By this time I had been to Japan a number of times and started collecting, working on my own more anyways.

Then like all young people I ended up going to college and tried to help the Anime club there, but I found more of the same, and even worse as they would ban all sorts of stuff because people didn't like the content. Some I agreed with, but others I didn't. It was hard, I couldn't really afford to collect what I wanted as VHS tapes were costing a fortune, and what was being released was skewing more to the "Big breasted girls and giant robots" than anything with much substance. I saw Princess Mononoke in theaters and loved every moment, but still I felt that the industry had passed me by.

So I walked away...

My ex wife was into some of it, but not the way I once was, I would catch bits and pieces here and there collecting the odd bits, but the passion was gone. I spent the next few years lightly tracking the industry but for the most part not caring. I did start watching a few more series again Please! Teacher and Vampire Princess Miyu: The TV Series but I still felt more on the outside looking in. Then I started reading Megatokyo and found myself wanting to draw again, of course in an Anime style, which led me back online to see what I could find. I started purusing the stores again and found how much had changes and for the better at that, it was exciting again. Not only on the Anime front, but the ability to buy Manga the way it was intended and at a reasonable price was very cool as well.

What got me through the burnout was realizing that what I enjoyed was still there, and with the advent of DVD I could still enjoy it as it was meant in the original Japanese, but still have the ability to throw the dubs on for people that preferred it that way. There was so much new to be explored and amazing people to do it with, and it seemed that age didn't really matter, which is nice since I turned 30 this year, people don't really care, if anything they enjoy having someone around who has seen more of the hobby than they have.

Its good to be back!

Some new series...

2008-06-16T09:39:00.004-06:00

Ok, so I am getting back into the fansubbing side of things, I have a pair of shows downloaded right now to go through Mamotte Shugogetten [of which you saw a Manga review as an early post] and He is my Master! which seems to be a light hearted cosplay comedy.

Currently neither of these shows has been picked up for commercial release in the USA so I am comfortable downloading them, if that changes however I will remove them, as I feel it best to support the domestic publishers as much as possible.

To tide you over, here is an image from the He is my Master! Manga [which I will be reviewing shortly as well]

UPDATES - 06/16/08

2008-06-16T09:35:00.002-06:00

Ok, the "Term of the week" is now updated, first time I have gotten that done in the last couple of weeks, sorry about that.

Working on a Manga review for tommorow, after that I am not sure for the week, but I am going to do what I can before I leave for an extended camping trip.

Later!

UPDATES - 06/13/08

2008-06-13T16:00:00.002-06:00

Ok, this is going to be quick, haven't forgotten this place, I have been super busy with work, looks like everything is getting pushed back to the first part of next week.

Sorry folks, I hope to be back in order by then with expected content etc.

Take care!

Back in Utah...

2008-06-10T08:49:00.002-06:00

Ok, so I am back from my interview in Pittsburgh, no news yet, but we will see what happens, should know more in the next day or so hopefully.

I haven't gotten any new updates ready to roll yet this week, I am going to get the term of the week changed here this morning and will see about getting a DVD review ready for later in the week.

The site should be back to normal starting next week, so bear with me, still recovering from the trip plus getting back into the swing of things at work.

MANGA REVIEW: Chrono Crusade V1

2008-06-03T06:00:00.001-06:00

Initial Impressions - 9/10

I was first exposed to Chrono Crusade back in the winter of 2004, I was working in California at the time and read a review on the now defunct Animefringe website of the Anime, and was very intruiged. However as often happens in life, I got busy and did't find the show again until the end of my true dark period in 2005. But this time what I found was the Manga and grabbed the first volume on site.

The cover is beautiful was a full portrait of Rosette and Chrono, there is no synopsis on the back which is a bit of shame for first time lookers, but on the other hand its presented as it would have originally been published in Japan.

Story - 8/10

For some reason it seems that the Catholic church is always a point of interest for the Japanese when they do religously based occult stories. Chrono Crusade takes place in the "Roaring Twenties" right before the stock market crash, its a time of induglance and deccadence, people are wanting new highs, even if those highs involve the loss of their immortal souls. Brought into this tumultuous time is the duo of Chrono and Rosette, members of the Magdelanian order of demon hunting nuns/priests.

There is just one catch...Chrono is a demon, soul bound to Rosette by a contract, linked to a ornate watch worn around her neck, the more he uses his powers the quicker her life is drained, he cannot survive without her, she cannot survive without him. It makes for an beautiful dynamic, two people bound to each other for life, how little of it they may have left.

Never knowing exactly how much that time is, it weighs on Rosette and her childish "Live for the day" attitude is both heart warming and sobering at the same time, she knows her fate, and is at peace with it. Chrono will do anything to protect Rosette and make sure that her life lasts as long as possible, but he too knows the fate to which they are both bound, the contrast between him bound with the watch and when he is unleashed is a sight, and further underscores his devotion, dare I say love, for Rosette.

The inital volume has two unconnected stories in it that set the scene for further installments, this is definately the prologue to the story, as other than the ongoing situation with Rosette and Chrono there is no overiding story arc. This could sadly have the effect of people not picking up the second volume, when really the entire series is worth a read.

Art - 8/10

Daisuke Moriyama's artwork is lovely to behond, while at times it seems slightly crude [things like closeups on characters etc.] the overall lasting effect is pleasing and enjoyable. His flair for design when it comes to the Catholic church costumes is also quite amusing.

Where his art trully shines is in the combat scenes and action, his sense of movement is excellent and unlike many Manga artists he doesn't forget his backgrouds either. Its refreshing to see someone who takes the whole scene into account not just the characters, its the mark of a good action artist to be sure.

Final Conclusions overall - 8/10

Its not often that a first volume of anything manages to pull you in effectively, so often series will take a couple to get going properly, Chrono Crusade manages to avoid this pitfall and pulls you in immeadiately. The story and art do a magnificent job of drawing you into the time period, and the volume leaves just enough questions to make you ache to pick up the second one.

A wonderful start to the series, a must read for any fans of the Anime, and Manga in general.

+ Well done story and setting

Excellent action art

Characters are well drawn

- Story is very isolated, no real overiding arc

Art can be a little crude at times.

Publisher: ADV

Cost USD: $9.99

Rating: 13+

RANT: Community doesn't mean support group!

2008-06-02T16:00:00.000-06:00

WARNING INCOMING RANT!

Ok so I was perusing the forums over on Anime News Network and found the following post:

"I think there is a community with Anime, I have some problems and I don't fit in other groups, and people don't like me, but people here talk to me, it helps me feel better about myself, so there is a community"

Alright, first off, I totally can relate to not feeling accepted, I think that we all have been there to some extent at one time or another, and some of us more than others. I am glad that people have found a hobby that they love...

But...THAT DOESN'T MAKE US A SUPPORT GROUP!

Sorry, now I have that out let me explain, I was a member of a highschool Anime club, we met on weekends at a local rec center and kicked back and watched a lot of shows, had a great time [see my "Golden Age" article for more information] but as the years wore on I noticed a disturbing trend, more and more of the new members we were getting were people with some rather serious interpersonal issues. We would later find out that the local highschool counselors reccomended us as a place that kids could go to get support, from "People just like you"

What the heck? Ok here's the thing, while yes many of us had had outcast status pinned on our heads at some point we had never though of the club as a support group, it was just like any other group that met, people coming together who enjoyed the same things. Now all of a sudden were were being asked to make people feel welcome because they were told "They are just like you" not fair, not right to the members of the club.

As the years have passed and I have gotten older I have noticed this trend more and more, kids/adults that feel lost, seem to gravitate towards the Anime/Manga scene to try and fit in. The problem is that there are a lot of true hobbyists out there for whom this is more than a little annoying, they feel that this tarnishes what they love and lumps them into a more support grop role, one they don't always want let alone are qualified for.

I lurked a lot on the forum page for the Cherry Blossom Ball at Anime Boston last year [wonderous idea BTW, kudos to the event organizers] and watched as it slowly became a discussion of finding a date and being "unable to get a date is HS" or those still in HS trying to deal with the realities of teen life. I felt for the organizers because they tried and tried to keep the thread on topic, but it kept coming back to dates, and being outcasts. It was a shame, I get that people felt that they would be left out, even though the organizers kept stressing that dates weren't required, but honestly it started to make the thread hard to read as it became more and more about folks emotional states than about the actual ball itself.

Its a tough situation, people want to feel accepted and wanted, but at the same time, people want to feel what they are doing is a hobby and not as someone elses support group. I was recently yelled at in a comic store by a guy because I just wanted to check out and leave and he wanted to keep talking to me about how great Naruto is. I finally told him politely that I didn't want to argue, and he said "Well I have Apsbergers, so this is how it is for me" this was an employee that handled the Anime/Manga section...I didn't even know how to react, I want to be friendly but I am not about to be yelled at either.

I want people to feel welcome and free to share their opinions, but I also feel that we should be trying to enforce that we are a community [if one can call us that] of hobbyists and not a support group.

I have Tourettes, and serious depression, its something I will live with for the rest of my life, and I will defend ANYONE that gets slammed because of a disability, but I don't ask the members of my hobbies to be my support network, I have groups for that.

Anyways, thats about it, let me know what you think, what you think we have a responsibility to do, use the comments section on the blog I would really like to here the thoughts of anyone else on this subject.

Later!

UPDATES - 06/02/08

2008-06-02T14:21:00.003-06:00

Hey all!

Ok, so it looks like I might have gotten lucky, I was able to push myself and get the better part of a weeks content done before I leave on my trip. There will be a "Rant" posted today, a Manga review posted tommorow, and hopefully a DVD review on thursday.

I leave town thursday morning and will be out of contact until sunday, so expect an update on monday as to whats happening next week.

Take care!

Forums are coming!

2008-05-29T08:00:00.000-06:00

So...I have decided to add a forum to this site, still working on the bugs of how to get it setup, probably at least a month or more before they go live [in beta form at least] These will be full featured Anime/Manga forums, should be a lot of fun to meet new people and get to know them.

I will be looking for moderators probably pretty soon, I would like to have 2 of them, so if you are interested [Only those over the age of 18 please, some adult content will be present on the site]

Anyhow take care, hope to have some other small updates today and tommorow, then I will be off for most of next week with life returning to normal the following one.

UPDATES - 05/28/08 - IMPORTANT

2008-05-28T06:18:00.003-06:00

So I hope you all had a good holiday weekend, we were busy with the S.C.A. for a good chunk of it which meant no real updates to the site.

I am going to be very busy working on my house and getting ready for the main part of the job interview process next week in Pitssburgh, so artciles and content may be few and far between in that time. I will try to bank a bit of content that I can use the Blogger Scheduler to be able to post while I am gone, but realisticly it will likely be the week of June 9th before things get back to normal.

There will be mostly quick news updates, and a First Look posted this week, other than that I will be mostly gone.

Take care, I'll keep ya posted!

GAME REVIEW - Triggerheart Excelica

2008-05-23T13:38:00.007-06:00

One has to wonder sometimes what Microsoft is thinking with their XBOX Live Arcade for the 360, don't get me wrong I have gotten some really great games off the system, but I have also seen a lot of clunkers on there that cost an arm and a leg to own, It would be nice if Microsoft would apply some sort of quality control to what gets released on the system. Triggerheart Excelica falls somewhere in between the two categories, not being amazing, but not being totally horrible either.

Triggerheart Excelica is a rerelease of a Naomi system arcade game that was ported over to the Dreamcasst in 2007 [yes apparently there were still a few games coming out for that doomed system even after it was officially dead, who knew?] the premise is like most other curtain shooters "Kill them don't die" seems simple enough? The unique mechanic here in an "anchor button" that shoots out and latches onto opposing ships which you can then use like a mace to destroy other attackers with. You play one of two armored female Anime characters on a quest to save their home planet, game lasts five stages with end bosses for each.

Gameplay 6/10

Ok lets start right off by saying that five stages simply isn't long enough, especailly for a game that is priced in the premium category of 800 Microsoft Points [roughly $10 USD] there should have been more to the game for that price, certainly at least double the number of levels.

The two main characters are virtually the same, one has a spread weapon the other uses a direct fire gun, but honestly the gameplay doesn't vary much for either, why is that? Because the anchor gun is virtually the only way to survive long term in the game and rack up the needed points for any of the achievements, its a shame that the game is so reliant on one mechanic as to reduce all others to window dressing.

As said above the game consists of only 5 levels, with end bosses for each, other than the final boss there really isn't much creativity when it comes to the bosses and their design. The game supposedly has a system built in that the more powerful you are when you get to a boss the stronger it is, I can't say I really have noticed a difference, since their attacks are so cheap its nearly impossible to stay alive.

Enemy design has the same flaw, with very little variety between the different levels, lots of palette changes, but not much else.

You aren't also going to be really powering anything up either, which takes some of the fun out of a curtain shooter, you do get to power up your main gun some, but I'll be damned if I actually saw any form of difference. You do get the requisite big bombs and they are quite effective, but other than that, don't expect many spectacular weapon attacks.

Its a fun game that feels more like a puzzle game than a shooter, the problem with that is that the anchor gun is anything but reliable and controlling it can be a royal pain, you never feel completely in control of the system, which makes it problematic to control and use effectively.

Graphics 6/10

Very little makeover has gone into this game since its release on the Dreamcast, the Anime character portraits that you see in the menus and closing credits are lovely, but other than that the in game graphics are pretty bland, nothing certainly to write home about in this day and age of HD television.

Sound 6/10

The music in this game is pretty standard fare for a shooter using lots of techno to make its point, its nothing special and won't be memorable for very long. The voice effects are pretty limited and the screams of the girls as they get killed...well...they sound like something else to be completely honest.

Nothing horrible, but nothing amazing in the audio department either.

Overall 6/10

For a little simple curtain shooter Triggerheart Excelica works, but since you end up paying nearly $10 for a game that can be finished in 30 minutes I can't help but rate the game just above average, if it ever goes on sale it might be worth looking into, but for 800 Points, it is far from a reasonable offer.

Platform: XBOX 360

Cost: 800 Microsoft Points [roughly $10]

Something fun...

2008-05-23T08:57:00.008-06:00

Ok, so on the heels of yesterdays review of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya I found the most beautiful prepainted resin statue on eBay. I thought I would share!

Its a lovely piece of her in a Loli-Goth type look playing here guitar, seems to run around $60 USD shipped! Little expensive, but I would love to get my hands on one.
Anyways, I am working on a game review of Triggerheart Excelica for the XBOX 360 which I hope to post later today or first thing in the morning, so be on the lookout for that.
I will be gone most of saturday and sunday, so I won't be on much, also with monday being Memorial Day here in the US I am going to likely take my gal to the local waterpark, so I might not get the regular monday updates done, we will see though...
Take care, talk at you later!

DVD Review - The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Vol 1

2008-05-22T12:00:00.001-06:00

Initial Impressions - 10/10

Few shows have had as much hype as this one going into is North American release, ever since its release in Japan The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya has and almost cult like following [if you don't believe me, look the title up on YouTube] so I had a good idea going in what to expect. The DVD is nicely packaged and from its front cover alone you can tell that the show is going to be something special indeed. 4 Episodes [5 if you count "Episode 0"] are included on the disk with the usual Japanese language with subtitles, and English Dub.

Story - 9/10

Wow, where to begin, it seems like a simple premise, the main character is a freshman highschool student, Haruhi Suzumiya, who on the first day of class stands up and announces that she wants to only deal with "Interesting people" Time Travellers, Aliens, Espers. Her classmates seem to think she is basically insane, and ignore her, only one Kyon, has the guts to engage her. He finds a somewhat cute, spunky, girl that gets no enjoyment out of any of the school clubs, since she already joined them all and left almost immeadiately.

It is fr0m this that Haruhi litterally kidnaps Kyon into forming their own club, the S.O.S brigade [Save our world by Overloading it with fun Suzumiya Haruhi's Brigade], which's mission statement is "To find Aliens, Time Travellers, and Espers and PLAY WITH THEM!" needless to say hijinks ensue a plenty. She recruits [kidnaps in one case] others into the club and through a rash of autocratic, morally questionable decisons, manages to form some semblance of a club.

A couple of things stand out about the show, Kyon is the one telling the story from his perspective which makes for a lot of laughs mostly due to his sardonic humor, seeing how he views Haruhi through his own eyes is amusing in of itself. Also the show takes so many Anime sterotypes, the Moe [Cute girl] fetish along with so many others and pulls them all together into what could be termed either an Otaku's nightmare, or greatest joy, the fan service, is rarely sexual and makes fun of itself when it is, its nice to see the standards flipped on their head once in awhile and this show delivers that in spades.

In addition to those who might have seen this fansubbed, be aware the episodes run chronologically in the DVD realease as opposed to the scrambled order of the original TV release, this makes for a more organized [maybe a little less unique] viewing experience.

WARNING SPOILERS: What Haruhi doesn't realize is that all of her club members other than Kyon are actually what she is seeking, Alien, Time Traveller, and Esper. They have been sent by their various organizations because there are a lot theories that Haruhi could be a threat to space and time itself. Kyon handles all this with a remarkable amount of resolve and understanding, while simultaneously trying to make sure that Haruhi doesn't get them all suspended or expelled with her antics.

Art - 9/10

For a show that has a pretty normal setting, the art is wonderful, the characters are each unique, from the cheerfully demonic Haruhi, through the wide eyed Mikuru to the sardonic Kyon they each have their own wonderful mannerisms and traits that brings the whole series to life.

The colors here are bright and cheerful, I was especially thrilled with the clarity on my Plasma TV with the DVD transfer, the series is an absolute joy to watch indeed.

Extras - 8/10

Textless openings and closings, along with the infamous "Episode 0" highlight the bonus materials on the disc.

While the former are pretty obvious "Episode 0" is something quite different, its done in a documentary style about the life of Asahina Mikuru [Haruhi's usual abuse target] and was done as a sci-fi entry into their schools film festival. I would advise NOT watching this until you have seen the other episodes on the disk as a lot of the material is more humorous after seeing the inital set of episodes, a great additon to be sure though.

Final Conclusions overall - 9/10

I haven't anticpated getting my hands on a series in quite some time, and I can tell you that I wasn't disappointed, it is a lovely light hearted show, with remarkable depth, that is absolutely Japanese in its tone and structure. I loved every minute of it, and cannot wait to get the rest of the volumes, for enjoyment and review.

+ Wonferful characters and story

Great artwork

- Would have loved more than 4[5] episodes.

Studio: Bandai Entertainment

Price: $9.99 [Got it on special at FYE, usually retails in the $24.95 range]
Rating: 13+

A note about reviews

2008-05-22T10:35:00.003-06:00

Just a side note about my reviews, specifically DVD reviews, you will note that I usually don't talk about the Audio, I will be adding a sound track section soon, but I don't speak about the dubbing.

The reason is that I usally only watch my Anime subtitled, this comes from years in the fansubbing world, I just prefer it that way. If there is interest I will start talking about the dubbing and the English voices, its just that up til now I haven't felt the need.

Anyways enjoy todays DVD review, and I will talk at you again later today or tommorow!

Gashapon - The new collectible drug

2008-05-21T15:00:00.000-06:00

Figure collecting and building have always been staples of the Anime/Manga scene, from the garage kits of old [see feature article next weds for their history] to the PVC figurines of the last few years. However probably the biggest change in the figure scene have been the collectible Gashapon figures of the last 6 years or so.

Gashapon figures are similar to the vending machine toys over here in the USA except for the fact that unlinke here where we spend .25 for a piece of junk they will spend anywhere from $3 - $7 for a wonderful collectible figure.

These figures have become the latest Otaku craze in Japan and overseas, primarily due to the advancements in PVC casting and painting the figures are realistic looking and of sufficent detail to make them deisrable collectibles. Some of them have been known to fetch quite a decent amount on the secondary market, where limited edition "Secret figures" go for quite a premium.

I personally have a small number of them, mostly from the series The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya they are wonderful little figures and I am supremely happy with them, here is a picture of one them that should be arriving any day now.

I am more than impressed with their quality, you do pay a fair chunk for them, about $10 US shipped for the most part [based off of eBay] there are places selling them new in the capsules, but they are harder to find.

If you fancy getting into Gashapon collecting I would try looking on eBay, and put in "Gashapon, Figure" and see what shows up, you might even find something from a series you have never heard of but think look cool none the less.

There are a few collector sites out there as well, they are a bit hit and miss, one that I found to be somewhat useful is http://www.gashaponcollector.com/ they have a nice selection to show what has been/is available and a news section as well.

Have fun collecting!

UPDATES - 04/21/08

2008-05-21T11:04:00.003-06:00

Sorry about the lack of the Manga review for yesterday, things have been a little hectic with people sick around the house and stuff, so I got a bit side tracked.

I am working on a feature article that will be posted later today, then I should have the DVD review ready to roll for tommorow. With any luck I am going to get a substitute quicky game review up here in the next few hours, so watch for that.

Again, sorry about issues with updating, its a crazy time in my life right now. But I promise I am going to get back to normal here soon.

Talk at you later!

Crazy schedule

2008-05-19T17:11:00.002-06:00

Ok so for the next few weeks my life is going to be VERY hectic, I have a job interview that is going to be taking me out of the state for a little while, plus with S.C.A. [Society for Creative Anachronism] events coming up the posting schedule might be a little off.

I am going to try to keep to the regular schedule but there is no guarantee, I will keep you posted as to the plans as they happen.

Cya!

UPDATES - 05/16/08

2008-05-16T06:25:00.002-06:00

Ok so I am seeing more and more traffic to the site, which is a good thing indeed! I am going to start adding some game reviews as well, as always this stuff is going to be slow coming, its based off what I can aquire as until I get this more established, its pretty unlikely that the game companies are going to send me free copies ;)

I am working on something special for this afternoon, hopefully it will be up before I leave for home for the night. Keep your eyes peeled!

Gotta run!

UPDATES - 05/15/08

2008-05-15T06:53:00.006-06:00

Ok so we are getting better here, I got all the promised stuff for the week posted [Term of the Week, Manga Review, Feature article] and this weeks DVD review ended up being a film review. So all things considered its getting better.

Assuming that I get the chance I may post an extra feature article this week as a thank you for hanging in there with me while I got myself on schedule better. Keep watching for it.

Gotta run right now, see you later!

MOVIE REVIEW - Speed Racer

2008-05-15T05:00:00.000-06:00

Speed Racer has been hyped ever since it was announced that the Wachowskis [of Matrix and V for Vendetta fame] were helming the adaptation of this classic Anime. So was the result worth the hype? Equal parts yes and no.

I have to say that I am mixed on the work of the Wachowskis, I loved the original Matrix, but the sequels felt more like an attempt to cash in on their original success than realy furthering the story, and in many ways felt like a regression. V for Vendetta was a masterpiece, they stuck to the original source material and created a compelling, haunting vision of what the future could hold. So it was with a slight trepidation that I went and saw Speed Racer on opening night.

The story follows the one in the Anime to a large extent, Speed Racer [Emile Hirsch], is a young boy who can dream of nothing else than racing cars and being like his older brother Rex, who is tragically killed in a mysterious racing accident after leaving the family racing team to go his own way. When Speed grows up he eventually asscends in the family team run by his father "Pops" [John Goodman] and begins to carve his own path, when an unusual racing Tycoon, Royalton [played masterfully by Rex Allam] comes into the scene Speed must decide between doing whats best for his family, and fame and fortune.

The visual presentation screams Anime, the colors are bright, vibrant and oversaturated, the cars are every bit as crazy as they were in the TV show, and the characters and environments have that wonderful larger than life feel [when you see Royalton industries you will understand] There are also some wonderful touches to the show that harken back to its Japanese roots, you will see row upon row of cherry trees in full bloom and the writing is almost all in Japanese, its a lovely touch that shows the Wachowskis reverance for the material.

The action scenes are second to none, while obviously computer generated its hard not to get caught up in the environments and their majesty, from the rally race to the main race tracks their is an over the top insanity that manages to still stay realatively grounded in reality. You will laugh at the absurdity at the weapons used, but find the scenes draw you in and not let go. The sense of speed is amazing, and I don't doubt that some will get motion sick watching this film.

So if you add that all together, then what was my issue that left me thinking this was anything less than perfect? My problem comes down to the casting, primarily the use of all the Australian and British actors, for a story that is supposed to be set in Japan you see very little of the Japanese, the actors they hired are amazing, but the film felt jarring with them in it, I wasn't prepared for the constant barrage of British and Aussie accents, it felt out of place.

Those thematic issues aside the cast did a very good job headlined by Rex Allam as Royalton and Matthew Fox as Racer X, those two along with John Goodman as Pops, Susan Sarrandon as Mom, and Emile Hirsch as Speed Racer gave convincing performances as both family and foe, the journey was fun to watch for all of them, each playing off the other with the delicateness that the script required. The comedic performances by John Goodman and Christina Ricci [Who honestly looks like an Anime character given life] were price of admission alone.

Crowds have been mixed, as opening weekend numbers show, its certainly not the Matrix, but it wasn't meant to be, it was meant to be a fun family film harkening back to a simpler time, and it does that in spades. While the true Anime fan is going to have some niggles, even they won't be able to resist it charms and have a great time.

Final Conclusion 8/10

The Golden Era [From a matter of perspective]

2008-05-14T05:00:00.002-06:00

This article goes hand in hand with my one from last week, trying to explain in more detail what I mean about "Golden Era"

You hear people talk about "Golden Era's" all the time in history, the Rennaisance is the big one, the Roaring 20's being another. So what do some people consider the "Golden Era"of Anime/Manga fandom? The result may surprise you.

For ME and a lot of old timers the "Golden Era" was when there was very little commercially available on the Anime/Manga front, yes the prices were astronomical on stuff released over here and we were watching 8th generation tapes poorly subtitled, but there was something special at the same time, blazing a trail, opening a new frontier.

I was a member of the Vancouver Japanese Animation Club [VJAC for short] that was responsible for a group called Arctic Animation, this is the same Arctic Animation that would go on to do the complete fan sub of Maison Ikkoku, Patlabor, Record of Lodoss War and others. If you were a fan back then, chances are you saw a lot of our clubs work. This was a really neat time to be in fandom, we would get new series all the time and see them sometimes completely without subtitles [let me tell you The Five Star Stories basically make no sense without them, but it was fun anyways] but we loved it all because we thought there was something really special about what we were doing.

Trying to aquire merchandise was also a nightmare, really the only major places that you could get them were in California here in the USA and then from overseas, quite often in the UK, it was insane. But we loved getting each and every little piece that we could aquire, they were treasures to us.

There wasn't activism then about certain series, in fact it was precisely the opposite people were excited about anything new and unique that came down the pipe. There wasn't the whole "My series is better than yours" it didn't exist because we were thrilled with anything that came out.

We hung on every new release, hunted down Gundam kits like they were going out of style, these were great times to be a fan, maybe one day we will get back to them...

UPDATES - 05/13/08

2008-05-13T06:37:00.002-06:00

Ok, Term of the Week has been changed, and the latest review [My HiME V1] has been posted, on schedule no less! We will see if I can keep this up for the week, but so far so good right?

I just preorderd Vexille so I hope to have a review of that up pretty close to release date.

Also I am planning on adding a "Series/Episode Review" and a "First Look" sections. "Series/Episode Review" will cover a look at individual episodes or sometimes a full series, "First Look" will be a preview of upcoming releases here in North America, as well as sometimes a quick peek at a series before a complete review can be done.

Talk to you later!

MANGA REVIEW: My - HiME V1

2008-05-13T06:16:00.004-06:00

When Fuuka Academy is attacked by strange creatures called Oprphans, the school sets up a special task force of its female members---called HiMEs---who must team up with a unique “Key” to battle these invaders! Yuuichi Tate is the new boy in town, thrilled to be at a new school. But he soon discovers that he’s the key for not just one but TWO HiMEs!

Two highly competitive, rival schoolgirls. One overzealous boy. And that’s just the start of the trouble!

Initial Impressions - 8/10

NOTE: This title comes with a Parental Advisory warning. This title may not be suitable for those under 18 years of age.

So I decided to go ahead and do something different this time round with my latest Manga purchase, I decided that instead of buying something I knew something about I would grab something off the shelf I hadn’t heard of. I took a look at covers and read the back synopsis, and ended up setting on My-HiME.

First off the cover has a really nice portrait of one of the female leads from the series, even if she is a bit on the ridiculously endowed side. I appreciate the parental warning very clearly displayed on the book, makes it very clear that this title isn’t intended for those under 18 years of age.

The story from the read on the back cover sounded interesting, so the initial impression is very good.

Story - 6/10

I haven’t seen the Anime of the same name that people say is markedly so very different. So I am basing my story judgement based only on the Manga, I hope to get some of the Anime at some point to judge better.

So theoretically this sounds to be a bit of a harem comic with a Magical Girl twist to it, the problem is that it never seems to be either. It’s a spastic story at best, I got lost 10 pages in as to who was supposed to be in charge of what, it gets started fast which is good, but there are a lot of details left out. Such as how does an apparent 8 year old end up running a school?! There are also a number of jarring flashbacks of our hero that don’t help as much as they hinder.

Another problem is the translation, he holds a Kendo sword and talks about being in the Fencing Club?! What the heck? Also he goes on to speak about having fateful encounters at one point when referencing girls? There seems to have been a huge disconnect with translators and quality control on this one.

Once you get a little deeper into the story one can see there might be some promise, I will probably grab volume 2 to see if there is an improvement.

Art - 7/10

The art in the volume is nice, the action scenes are very well done and the character designs work well if a bit generic. There is a total lack of details in the backgrounds at points which some people might find off putting, I don’t mind as it really keeps the focus on the characters.

There is a ton of Fan Service in the volume if that is your type of thing, but for the most part it isn’t explicit, but after awhile you question if they just ran out of story ideas. It’s almost jarring the amount of times the girls clothes seem to explode into nothingness.

Final Conclusions overall - 7/10

I really wanted to enjoy this volume more, it looked to have a fun premise and from what I could see the artwork looked decent. But the story is really what’s holding it back, it just leaps around with no sense of direction or clarity.

Hopefully future volumes will improve on this.

NOTE: For the most part the story and art in this volume doesn’t seem to warrant the 18+ warning, however the last few pages definitely take an adult twist…Parents, you have been warned.

+ Decent artwork

- Storyline is a mishmash
Little background detail
Large volumes of Fan Service [bordering on the pornographic]

Publisher: Tokyopop
Cost: $9.99
Rating: Explicit Content 18+

A bit of writers block

2008-05-12T06:34:00.003-06:00

Ok so last week was a disaster, good news was I got an article posted and the "Term of the Week" changed. Bad news was that everything else didn't get completed.

I am not going to make excuses for why things aren't getting done, honestly I could come up with a thousand reasons and it wouldn't matter. What really does matter is that I am promising content that I am currently not delivering. There is a bunch of new stuff in the pipeline that I should be able to get finished today or tommorow, which will cover me through the next week or so then we will go from there.

With any luck [yes I know that I have said that before] I should be able to get a enough content created that I am really only worrying about the articles and the news and will be able to keep pace with that.

Thanks for the understanding!

Quick updates...

2008-05-07T11:17:00.004-06:00

Ok so I got the first article up and posted on time, along with this weeks term of the week, the Manga review is a few days late, sorry about that, I am working on getting it all sorted out. I am hoping to go on a binge this weekend and write a half dozen or so reviews to try and make sure that I keep on track for the next few weeks.

I removed the poll, no one voted LOL, if anyone out there is even reading this, I might only be writing to myself, I really hope not but you never know ;) I will revisit the issue in a couple of months to see where this is then.

I am also going to be using some more of the "Blogger in Draft" features, so be aware some things may look strange while I get the kinks worked out.

Gotta run, at work as usual, will try to get the Manga review posted tonight.

Community in Anime/Manga fandom

2008-05-07T05:00:00.007-06:00

NOTE: This was a response to the Answerman question "Do you feel a sense of community with fellow Anime fans?" over on Anime News Network, they published it so I thought I would share it as this weeks article...

Enjoy, and give me your thoughts...

You know, when I got started in Anime fandom some 15 years ago there was a real sense of community, we were a bunch of people dedicated to a very niche hobby trading tapes and stories, honestly for me and many others that was a golden age. Now, the times have changed…

Commercialization of Anime has brought about some wonderful advances [go to your local DVD store of note FYE, Fry's and you will see] but at the same time its caused the soul of the community to vanish.

One first has to understand what made the community what it was back 15 years ago, we were people that were interested in Japanese culture as much as we were the animation, there was an understanding that we were watching things that were as much a cultural window as entertainment. The problem with now is that the fans really don't have a clue where its all come from, they complain about the $30 DVD with 4 episodes, I remember paying twice that for VHS tapes with one episode on them! We never would run around calling each other “Chan” and “Sama” honestly, we would have felt that to be an insult to the culture not the least making fools of ourselves. For us it wasn't a fad so much as it was a hobby that we really didn't care if it was understood or not. Now, all you hear is people calling themselves Japanese names and glorifying series as the greatest ever without even looking at what came from the past.

I recently saw it first hand when I was in our local comic shop, one of the employees was there and I looked up at the screen and saw an AMV playing of Oh! My Goddess The Movie. He proceeded to tell me how amazing this show is and how it's the pinnacle of modern Anime, and wanted to know if I was interested in coming to the store's Anime night. I asked him what they would be showing and he listed the episodes of Naruto and Bleach along with Bubblegum Crisis. I politely declined, he asked why, I explained that for me, when I used to go to club meetings, it was to see something new, not the same stuff from the TV. He looked at me and said “How can you call yourself an Anime fan and not love Naruto?!” I couldn't believe my ears. It underscored to me how today there is far more activism in Anime than there is community, I shouldn't have to defend not liking Naruto to be a fan, but its more of a “Look at me I'm an Anime fan!” than anything else anymore. Call me old and jaded, but being told by a couple of kids how everything prior to Bleach sucked is more than a little annoying.

There is community to be found, but its in the smaller niche groups, Cosplayer's, Fansubbers etc. honestly I would love to see the community go back to smaller more focused groups without all the commercialization. Where true fans could really enjoy themselves and not be lumped in with the kids who don't know what fandom really is.

I would love to see community rise again, truly I would, I just don't see it happening anytime soon.

SPECIAL REVIEW Star Crossed Destiny

2008-05-02T08:54:00.007-06:00

I know I said that I wouldn't be getting any new content up until next week, but I just got permission to post this review, and I really wanted to get this up. This is going to be more stream of conciousness than my normal reviews, but there is a reason for it, this review is as much about the process and the courage of the creator as it is about the final product...

So I present to you my readers... Star Crossed Destiny

I came across this web comic by accident, I was over on the Megatokyo fourms and found someone that had a link to it in their signature, for the heck of it I clicked away...I found the page and started reading, I finished 2 days later, reading as much as I could on breaks between calls at work, I was pulled in, and it never let go...

The story that the author Juno has created is absolutely amazing, she has a wonderful sense for character and storytelling that you rarely find in this day and age. So often authors get caught into standard Anime/Manga/Comic stereotypes that they don't have the guts or creativity to carve new ground out for themselves. Thats where this piece is different, the author had the guts to take her characters in a vastly different direction, people caught out of their own world, changed forever, its a beautiful story and don't want to ruin it here.

Artwork is simply breathtaking, I know that the author has at times complained in her own blog about its quality, but honestly her sense of movement and color are wonderful, as it her job of characterization, its a wonderful blending of Anime/Manga style and North American Comics, she is to be commended for bringing two totally diverse styles together with such skill. Again where others are willing to stick to a standard formula, the artist is willing to branch out and try something different and risky, I give all the credit in the world to people willing to do that.

As I said from the outset, there is more to this than simply a review of the comic, as seems to be customary these days the author provides a sort of commentary along with her pieces of work. I have actually found myself equally drawn to the story of the artist who created the comic.

This is her life's work, she is a talented young woman that is trying to make her way at something that few people even remotely suceed at, she deserves so much credit for that alone, I have read all the posts she has written about squeaking by financially because she is trying to make this dream real, I could never fault someone for that. Dreams are meant to be chased, and if possible caught. Juno's work to overcome all that she has to get this far is a testament to her strength as a person and an artist.

She is an inspiration to me, I have my own dreams when it comes to comic writing and the web, I have designs and ideas floating around in my head that I am just trying to figure out how to get on paper. Her site inspired me to keep chasing the dream of the story I have to tell...Thank you...

I am going to post links to the comic here on the blog, I encourage you to go read it, enjoy it, above all, if you do like it, support it!

I told you this wouldn't be a normal review, but I hope that it can show the passion one woman has for her work and the passion she has engendered in others. I only hope to make this site and my dream just as successful one day.

Ok...So me and scheduling have some kinks to work out..

2008-05-01T13:01:00.004-06:00

Ok, folks, sorry, this actual "Schedule" I am trying to be on has been harder than I thought it would be. I have half completed reviews and articles, but nothing ready...So I am going to ahead and get all the content done and ready for posting for next week...Hopefully if I have a full week of stuff under the belt I might get ahead and then be able to work on articles and stuff for the future weeks...So thats the plan...LOL...

The comic? Well I got my art pad yesterday for my new laptop [thats a whole post it itself about assumptions we make about shoppers] and I am really liking it so far, I have some stuff in the works right now, the style is very different than what I have posted so far but I think you will like it!

Anyhow, I am out right now, I am going to get the computer story typed up so I can post it later tonight or tommorow...

Weekend insanity and more...

2008-04-29T11:28:00.004-06:00

Ok first off, sorry that the term change only happened this morning, I have been a bit on the sick side and didn't get a chance to update the blog til later than expected. Also I am sorry if the writing in the last Manga review was a little off, I rushed to finish it, and thats a no no, so I will post an edited version soon.

I am going to try to get the review for the second volume of th Gunslinger Girl Manga posted this afternoon then hopefully we are back on schedule.

In other news, I have gotten back into my passion for Gundam model kits again, I will post some shots as I get them done, will also add a few kit reviews as time goes on...Until then, heres a box shot of what I am working on right now, its an SD Sazabi that has been modified into one of the characters from Dynasty Warriors

I am not sure right now if I am going to keep the color scheme on the box or do it as the more traditional scheme from Char's Counterattack we will have to see, I will post progress shots when I have them.
Talk to you later!