I was excited to see Ponyo before, but after seeing this new Ponyo Trailer, I'm VERY excited to see Ponyo... in a dirty way.

I'm currently writing scenes for God(tm) and moving, so I apologize for not updating the comics in a while.

Labels: anime, music

One of my favorite new Animes is Time of Eve. I could best describe it as poetic sci-fi or poetic cyberpunk.

The story revolves around a cafe where the rule is you can't differentiate between humans and robots. Robots have to be treated like humans. Perhaps its a metaphor for the classist social structures in Japan.

One of the interesting things about this Anime is that its being distributed on the net as free webisodes. The creator of the series wanted to tell his story and avoid the politics of a big studio.

Unfortunately, it means every 15 minute episode comes out every three or four months.

But its worth it.

I don't see much of a point doing a lengthy review on it because its free. You could go to crunchyroll.com subtitled in English.

Labels: animation, anime

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
The series is about a high school girl who happens to be the center of the universe. She doesn't know this and is constantly bored with the world. She starts a high school club to find time travelers, aliens and ESPers. That and how the characters play off each other is pretty damn entertaining.

Labels: anime

Sigh.

[sauce]

Labels: anime, robots

Labels: animation, anime, video

I've colored some previously uncolored pages and added a few more pages. Hopefully we'll see a couple more pages this week.

And if you're new, start here.





And now ladies and gentleman, Miss Macross herself, Lynn Minmay:



And now, ladies and gentleman, Ms. Reba West:



And now ladies and gentleman, an exceptionally cute fobby girl with a video camera, a microphone and too much time on her hands:



I think I'll court her some day.

Labels: anime, comics, God(tm), music, my work, updates

At mangascreener.com, I've been keeping up with Naoki Urasawa's Pluto. Unfortunately, they're not translating it anymore.

The story was originally an Astro Boy (Tetsuwan Atom) story by Osamu Tezuka called "The World's Strongest Robot". As summarized by Amazon.com:

A wealthy sultan creates a giant robot to become the ruler of all other robots on Earth. But in order for that to happen, he must defeat the seven most powerful robots in the world, including Astro Boy, who must have his horsepower raised from 100,000 to 1,000,000 to face the challenge! And his sister, Uran, also flies in to lend a helping hand!

It's in the Astro Boy vol. 3 collection.

But Pluto takes those ideas and puts an adult spin on it. It deconstructs the Astro Boy world. Much like Watchmen, it took these childish ideas and made them mature. For example, the Sultan in the original story is now, basically, Saddam Hussein. The ideas of robot prejudice are further fleshed out by Uraswa. There's this great concept: robots don't forget, in fact they remember everything with precision. There are a lot of robot war veterans in this story, and their sense of regret is beyond human imagination.

There's a touching scene when the robot wife (she kind of reminded me of Rosie from the Jetsons) of a robot police officer is told that her husband has been killed on duty. Although her character design shows no emotion, the story and pacing is done so well that you can feel what this robot is thinking. You get a sense that she might not feel things like a human being, but she still mourns for her mechanical husband in her own way.

Also, there's a great scene where Dr Tenma's love/hate for Atom (Astro Boy) is sort of explained but in just a few pages. And the way Astro Boy was interpreted in this story is just brilliant! The concept of a robot having 1,000,000 horsepower is updated to robots having advanced Artificial Intelligence. This advanced AI makes them capable of mass destruction, but also near-human emotion. And, what was originally a minor character in "The World's Strongest Robot" is the main character. And he has a bad ass missile hand!

When I compare the original "The World's Strongest Robot" to its contemporary "Pluto" it's like I'm being told the same story, except one storyteller is ten-years-old and the other is forty. It's a good story, no matter who tells it, and I regret that I didn't grow up with Astro Boy as a kid (I had to settle for Garfield).

Fortunately, Viz Media will be translating this manga and it will be released in February 2009.

Labels: anime, comics, manga, Osamu Tezuka

This is one of my favorite Shiina Ringo songs, Spica, a cover from Spitz. And the Anime was from this dark and nonsensical comedy called Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei or "So Long Mr. Despair".



God bless the guy who snuck his camcorder into that club.



This video basically solidified my Shiina Ringo fandom.


Oh yes, and puppets:



This song has the word "robot" in the title.


But, it was a song originally written for a model/actress and her budding music career.


Also a Shiina Ringo song performed by the same model/actress. I love the song, but when I first heard it, a glowing stripper pole was something I never visualized. I imagined the girl in a sweater in a park or something.


And the same actress/model BUTCHERING Shiina Ringo songs-- this is when you need the stripper pole.

and I'll end this blog entry with this:

Labels: anime, j-pop, music, puppets, Shiina Ringo, video

Labels: animation, anime, found on the floor, video

This one is a bit abrasive with the translations. Although, I did see one of these toilets in the Philippines when I was..."in trouble" and thought "WTF?"


There must be a problem training children to use the restroom if you gotta make toys about it.


I really want to see the costumed version of this character show me how to use the bathroom.

Labels: animation, anime, found on the floor, video

MazingerZ vs Gundam!

Labels: anime, robots, video

From Wikipwedia: "Anime is occasionally referred to as Japanimation, but this term has fallen into disuse. Japanimation saw the most usage during the 1970s and 1980s, but was supplanted by anime in the mid-1990s as the material became more widely known in English-speaking countries."

There's a distinct difference between and Anime and Japanimation.

Labels: animation, anime, video

Shiina Ringo & Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra



It sort of has a Lupin 3rd feel.


Which Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra does a great a cover of.


Pizzicato 5 did a nice interpretation.


Though this guy did animated a pretty good version of Metal Gear Solid to Lupin 3rd.


If I ever do cosplay, I'd dress as Lupin 3rd and have a tiny speaker playing different versions of the Lupin theme. Or I'd have a live band play that theme and follow me around, like in "I'm Gonna Get You Sucka".

Labels: animation, anime, j-pop, Shiina Ringo, video