Haridama is the story of a underdog ninja pirate magician who has the goal of becoming the next hokage pirate king most powerful magician in the world! Original!
While adding some Summer series to Anime Nano from Moetron’s seasonal list of awesomeness, I noticed this new “anime” called Akiba-chan. It’s slated for release in late July.
It’s basically a CG series using figures as the characters. Either that or it’s actually using stop-motion animation. I can’t really tell from the description. The process is called “Figumation” but I’m assuming it’d all be CG, kinda like that Hatsune Miku Nendoroid video.
Akiba-chan also looks like it’ll be a kid’s show. As I’ve learned from shows like Animal Yokocho, kid’s shows can be pretty entertaining (and easier to understand raw). Plus the figures just look really cute. It probably won’t get picked up, but if I can find some raws for Akiba-chan I might check out a few episodes to see what it’s all about.
Holding a special place in my heart for stuff that’s natsukashii, Honey and Clover is one of my favorite series. It’s the timeless story of a group of college kids figuring out how life works. Basically, Honey and Clover makes me want to stay in college forever.
I got this Blu-ray disc a while ago from Funimation but I was never able to watch it since I didn’t have a player. Recently I bought a Playstation 3, so I test drove its high definition video skills with this movie. Unfortunately, I forgot to set the display to 1080i! orz
A while back, I reviewed a movie called “Big Dreams Little Tokyo.” I liked it a lot, and I’m happy to announce that the film is actually on its way to a DVD release. I used to be a film (media arts) student, so I’m pretty psyched whenever an indie film gets some support behind it. This film is about a likeable weeaboo, so that’s gotta be double-support from me.
Anyway, the movie is available for pre-order on Amazon, so check out my review and if you want, pre-order it!
P.S. I wouldn’t really endorse this movie unless I liked it. Sure, there are some flaws in the acting and writing, but from what I recall, the movie was pretty entertaining to me from the perspective of an American who has an interest in Japanese culture.
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So… Funimation Sent Me a Loli
That’s right! To promote a new license, they sent me this sweet, sweet lollipop. Yeah, “Save Me! Lollipop!” Wait, isn’t the original title “Mamotte! Lollipop?” “Mamotte” translates to protect, not “save.” Maybe if the original was called “Tasukete! Lollipop!” Anyway, I guess “Save Me! Lollipop” is more catchy of a title than “Protect Me! Lollipop!”
There’s been some criticism of Funimation’s license choice recently. I guess if they have money for ludicrous marketing payola (in the form of lollipops) they have money for ludicrous licenses. If you’re curious as to what the text is on the letter they sent, it’s the same as what ANN got.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some lollipop to eat.
I don’t think we’re in Oz anymore, Toto!
I just got this press release in the mail about a new Del Rey and Marvel hookup. Wolverine!
The series will be written by Antony Johnston, author of the Alex Rider graphic novels Stormbreaker and Point Blanc. The manga will be illustrated by Wilson Tortosa, artist of Tomb Raider and Battle of the Planets.
The manga chronicles the history of Wolverine, a mutant best known for his adamantium claws. Logan, a rebellious teen training in a remote school in the Canadian wilderness, has no memory of his life prior to being found in the forest near the school. But that forgotten life is about to come after him with a vengeance in this shônen thriller. (Shônen manga is aimed at boys through their teens and focuses on action.)
Wait! Hold up! So it’s a manga if the story is written by a British guy and illustrated by a Filipino guy? Hmm. I think this is another case of a company trying to call their work manga when they might really mean “manga-inspired.” But who’s to really authoritatively say what qualifies as manga? Well, the press release also described manga:
Manga, the Japanese term for comics, is a Japanese cultural phenomenon that accounts for nearly half of all the books and magazines sold in Japan. Read by men and women of all ages, manga covers a wide variety of themes including adventure, romance, fantasy, and more. Manga has experienced incredible growth in the US and Canadian graphic novel market in the past few years. According to industry source ICv2 manga sales reached between $170 million and $200 million in 2006.
So under Del Rey’s description, manga is just the Japanese term for comics. I dunno if I buy it… This is just as bad as calling that one title “The Manga Bible.”
I’m probably somewhat biased for a Wolverine manga anyway, seeing as how I’m currently a student at the University of Michigan and our mascot is Wolverine. Well, ok, it’s the animal, not the X-Man, but I really think we should just adopt Wolverine as our official mascot. He’d totally pwn that wimp, Brutus.
It’s true that I had some initial misgivings about the Anime Blog Awards. But I think they’re probably on the right track to doing something good for the community. So here’s my me-too post about why I nominated the blogs that I nominated. Also, Impz, I think this is my official sponsorship announcement for BGB and Anime Nano for the ABA. I’m Hung Truong and I approve this message.