01.22.10
Posted in Anime, Manga, Ongoing Investigations, Toys, Video Games Tags: A Study in Murder Part 2, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, Kara no Kyōkai, Stolen Hearts, The World I Create, Yotsuba&!, ひぐらしのなく頃に, よつばと!, らっきょ, タチコマ, 小大熊大小熊, 幻燈師シリーズ ボクの創る世界, 空の境界 at 10:00 am by reversethieves
Ah, Tachikoma, how I longed to have you for my own for so long. Okay, so he is a little far from having the real deal, but I’ll take what I can get. He is die-cast metal, I was a bit worried there would be a balance issue what with that huge back end, but no problem! The articulation in his legs is good and his feet and hands are fully poseable. As you can see his crouching position is quite nice. However, his arms don’t fair as well. If I try to give him a sort of excited yatta Tachi pose, they don’t really reach high enough and tend to pop off. But overall he is a good size and detailed making him one of the best I’ve seen avaliable. He also comes with software that allows his to say phrases and light-up and move a little. Though the CD is for Japanese PC only (which of course you can get around).
I recently got a copy of Stolen Hearts by Miku Sakamoto from CMX. Shinobu Okuma is a super short girl who accidentally spills milk all over an expensive kimono that the frightening Koguma brought to school with him. He shames her into working at his grandmother’s kimono shop where she slowly sees that he’s a sensitive guy and not the wannabe Yakuza everyone thinks he is. It is a cute story. I was a bit surprised that by the end of the first chapter Shinobu and Koguma are a couple. Part of me wonders if this was supposed to just be a one shot story that was popular enough to get turned into a series. The first chapter could so easily be self-contained. The characters are solid and entertaining. Everything works really well when Shinobu and Koguma are interacting. My main problem is the story tends to lean on shojo tropes too much and whenever it does so it is at its weakest. The story really shines when its characters are doing something a little outside the mold. It’s a fun read but it is not going to win over any new fans to the genre. I did find the teen rating on the back quite curious. This manga is super chaste. Maybe it gets racier down the line but so far the most anyone does is some hand holding. The only fan service is traditional Japanese clothing service.
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12.28.09
Posted in Anime, Conventions, Fandom, Manga, Merchandise, Toys Tags: Akikan!, archetypes, Astro Boy, bad, Canaan, Eden of the East, Eureka Seven, fan community, fans on fans, Fist of the North Star, Guin Saga, Gundam, Hyakko, Kimi ni Todoke, Kyoto Animation, list, Macross Frontier, Mirai Nikki, Palette of 12 Secret Colors, Queen's Blade, Sengoku Basara, Shin Mazinger, Studio Shaft, Swan, Taisho Baseball Girls, Tanpenshu, Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, Tomino, Umineko, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, うみねこのなく頃に, アキカン!, カナン, クイーンズブレイド 流浪の戦士, グイン, グイン・サーガ, スワン, ヒャッコ, ファイブディーズ, マクロスF, 交響詩篇エウレカセブン, 京都アニメーション, 北斗の拳, 十二秘色のパレット, 右代宮 戦人, 君に届け, 大正野球娘, 富野 由悠季, 戦国BASARA, 有限会社シャフト, 未来日記, 東のエデン, 東京マグニチュード8.0, 真マジンガー 衝撃! Z編, 遊☆戯☆王5D's, 遠藤浩輝短編集, 鉄腕アトム, 黒沼 爽子 at 10:00 am by reversethieves
Narutaki & Hisui VS. 2009 is in part an award show, in part an exercise in humor and snark, in part a challenge, and in part a love letter to everything great this year. We picked several categories and each of us picked titles, characters, and people who we felt best summed up our feelings on the year. Take a peek into what we thought on the anime and manga of 2009 and the people who bring it to us. Feel free to suggest new categories and challenge our picks.
Would also love to hear other people’s picks for some of these categories as well! By the way, some of this stuff happens to have come out in years gone by but we first watched/read/whatnot this year so that’s why they’re here, I’ll hear no guff about it! I really enjoy this part of the year, all the posts seem to be more fun and this one is no exception.
Best Anime of 2009 or Show that Infuriates You to No End When Someone on MAL says “If you like this show you will love Dance in the Vampire Bund.”
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0
The noitaminA is your go to animation slot when you are looking for something that is simultaneously different, mature, well produced, and smart. Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 is no exception to this rule. An exceptional look at ordinary people involved in an extraordinary but still extremely feasible situation. It is a superb mixture of intense character study and survival drama. I know some people feel the end is weak but I thought it did well in capping off this powerful and thought provoking show.
Eden of the East
It is a little bit mystery, a little bit drama, and a little bit suspense wrapped around an intriguing concept. It’s a wonderful series to watch unfold and since Takizawa doesn’t remember what has happened there is a wonderful element of discovery that comes. Takizawa himself is a refreshing and mysterious guy but you always get the feeling, or I did, that he was a good guy even when things looked dubious. Also he loved dogs, can’t be bad. The game was able to engross and impress me from episode one and continued to do so throughout its broadcast.
Anime Man of the Year or You Must be Swift
as a Coursing River
Battler Ushiromiya
Have you ever wished Phoenix Wright could be the star of his own supernatural murder mystery anime? Well if so then someone heard your prayers. In Umineko no Naku Koro ni we have Battler Ushiromiya who is a clear homage to Phoenix Wright with dramatic finger pointing, manly crying, and split between having to do detective work and acting like a lawyer. He may have his flaws but no matter what he keeps marching forward despite numerous set backs and tragedies. Plus he is just plain cool whenever he is on the counterattack. His casual charm and iron clad will set the tone for the anime as much as they do the games it was based on.
Guin
After thinking this over way too much, I finally decided on Guin for a few reasons. First being that after more than 100 books about his quest on the bestseller list, Guin finally got an anime. Adding to that is that Guin may arguably be the most manly character animated in 2009. If you watch just the first episode, this will become obvious. I also read about Guin in novel formthe first time this year myself. And finally, and sadly, Guin’s creator Kaoru Kurimoto passed away in 2009, a woman who was still writing about her most popular creation.
Anime Woman of the Year or I am Woman Hear Me Roar
Canaan
Canaan is a competent kick arse girl with a gun. That is usually all that you need to sell me on a character. The fact that Canaan has her rather slick synesthesia ability which I thought was a very original superpower. She has a stoic and cool feel to her but it she still cares for the people she wishes to protect and gives her all to do so. I also think that her competence on the battlefield but her awkwardness in personal relationships gives her a good mixture of strength and weakness that make her a serious version of Sousuke Sagara. I also think makes her an interesting character to me.
Sawako
Picking a woman of the year became a lot easier the more I watched Kimi ni Todoke. Sawako has a special strength of character that uplifts you, just as she does to the many characters around her. She is humorous and endearing and you never doubt that she will succeed and grow in each new scenario she encounters. Sawako’s positive attitude, even after endearing so much isolation is a true testament to the human spirit and the ability to change.
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12.11.09
Posted in Anime, Cartoons, Fandom, Ongoing Investigations, Toys Tags: Animal Detectives Kiruminzoo, Anime3000, Cross Game, Exo-Squad, Gundam, Gunpla, Kannagi, Podcast, あにゃまる探偵 キルミンずぅ, かんなぎ, クロスゲーム, 機動戦士ガンダム at 10:00 am by reversethieves
So I decided to go a little crazy and try to put together a perfect grade RX-78-2 Gundam aka original Gundam kit a while back. I really wanted to either get a master grade RX-78-2 Gundam or a master grade RX-93 Nu Gundam. But when I saw the perfect grade RX-78-2 at AnimeNext I knew I had to have it. I also decided to splurge and get the extra weapons kit. I mean it comes with a Gundam Hammer on a real metal chain. What more could you ask for? When I initially opened up the box and saw pieces in sheets labeled from A to Z I was quite daunted by the task. But when I got into the swing of things I mostly found my previous Gunpla skills did not make it that much harder than anything else I had put together. When it came together it looks really nice. I would definitely not casually buy another perfect grade kit but I thought it was worth the extra money and effort.
The latest episode of Anime3000 features this very blog and the Otaku Diaries as its main topic of discussion! It was a bit unexpected but I think we did alright and it made us feel special. The podcast is a little more insight into the whole project and what our future plans are if you’re curious. There is a also a bonus segment where you can hear us go on and on about what shows we are sticking with from the new season and we even manage to throw Cross Game in as well.
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07.31.09
Posted in Manga, Novels, Ongoing Investigations, Toys Tags: Bamboo Blade, Gundam, Gundam X, Gunpla, Sugar Sugar Rune, The Battle of Genryu: Origin, The Great Adventure of the Dirty Pair, シュガシュガルーン, ダーティペア, バンブーブレード, 源流武闘伝 -ORIGIN- at 7:05 am by reversethieves
So I finally got around to building my Char Action Base over the weekend. I was quite surprised that it was in any way complex, I expected to just open up the package and be good to go. Not so. This is probably for maximum customability, there were more stickers in this kit than I think there were in the actual Zaku II Master Grade I built! Both stands can be put in many different positions as well as be lengthened and shortened easily. They are very thick so sturdiness seems in tact though trying to put the Zaku II at a 90 degree angle proved too much for it. In any case, the construction was rather quick and then came the ability to make Char’s Zaku look like it is flying through space! Watch out!
I don’t think that The Battle of Genryu: Origin is a bad manga though I am not sure it is a good one either. Our main character Jinnosuke has an unusual condition. Most of the time he is a normal clumsily high school student but every so often he get amazing bursts of athletic skill. We comes to find he has tremendous martial arts skill that lies dormant thanks to his family’s hypnotism. Jinnosuke’s older brother, Soichiro comes back determined to awaken this sleeping powerhouse. The fighting is fine and entertaining but not spectacular. Shoko Fukaki tends to use a lot of speed lines and the rest of the art work is serviceable but not outstanding. Jinnosuke is happy go lucky normally but his personality with the power is utterly ruthless. That dynamic is what will make or break this manga, but it is hard to tell which direction it is leaning here. I was somewhat saddened that even though Fusano, Jinnosuke’s girlfriend, is also a martial artist, she is really the utterly weak sauce love interest girl. The first book mostly set up Jinnosuke’s situation so how exactly the whole series is going to play out has yet to be determined so it’s hard to make a definitive statement. However, it’s not a series that is going to win over non-fighting manga fans but people who like martial arts might want to see how it develops.
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