Anime Review: Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water

A long time ago, a young upstart animator named Hayao Miyazaki was hired by Toho to create a television series. Being a fan of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, he came up with an outline for a show called Around the World Under the Sea. The idea was that a pair of orphaned children got caught up in a conflict against a great evil and a rebel submarine crew. The idea was shelved and never developed, but Miyazaki would later take the concept and tweak it somewhat to make Castle in the Sky.



Jump to a few years later, where a new, flourishing animation studio called Gainax, known for having created the Daicon III and IV sci-fi promos, Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honneamise and Aim for the Top! Gunbuster (and later would make such hits as Neon Genesis Evangelion, FLCL and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann), was approached by Toho to make a TV show for Japan's public broadcaster, NHK. While digging around, the studio members found Miyazaki's concept and were captivated by it. Handing it off to Gunbuster director Hideaki Anno, they developed the series into one of the most popular anime of the early 90s, Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water.

Mirai Nikki

Hello folks boys and ghouls for todays review and since we are closing in on always awesome month of October I decided to do something awesome for the occasion. We going to look at a series that has everything, action, romance, horror, comedy, blood and gore, and a creepy stalker girl with a deadly obession. This is MIRAI NIKKI OR FUTURE DIARY as it has become to be known as in the English translation. I'm serious this series is the shit just check out the opening below!



NOTE: I do not own anything of the videos or images.

2009: The Internet Finally Takes Over

Feeling rather humbled by participating in the project, Raindrops (@) is a relatively new blogger from the UK who has been a fan since the early nineties. She spends most of her free time watching anime and speculating furiously about the future of the industry overseas. Choosing 2009 was originally a thinly-veiled excuse to mention her favorite show, and you can follow all those opinions on her blog, .As we draw closer to the fifty-year milestone for anime on television, we've seen the medium moving from monochrome to color and from cel animation to digital. Along the way, it's inspired a vast global audience and survived several new home video formats. 2009 ended up being a year bursting with the same rich innovation as anime continued to explore new approaches both on screen and behind the scenes. While I'm not sure whether any will end up as future classics, there were so many interesting projects on offer that I was forced to make some tough choices in selecting the series I wanted to introduce.



The first title on my list, however, should surprise nobody who was active in the fan community four years ago. Its sequels are still selling well today, its theme songs have become anthems and the script was often rumored to be "untranslatable" by fans trying to rationalize the length of time it took to appear in the US. The series I'm talking about is Shaft's BAKEMONOGATARI.

'S.H.I.E.L.D.' Premiere Best in Four Years in Demo

The Latest Top Pop Culture News



Tokyopop

Robin Williams likes Anime? Why, yes. Yes, he does.

When I was younger I felt a little embarrassed about liking anime. Specifically between my sixth and eighth grade years. Maybe if I had had internet access at the time and the ability to look up interesting facts about some famous people I looked up to then I probably wouldn't have been so embarrassed. I mean, if Robin Williams likes some anime then whatcha gonna do?

Robin Williams is one of my favorite actors. Sure, he hasn't been rolling on all cylinders lately, but he's been in some great movies and Mork is a personal hero of mine.

So while it might not really have been the biggest secret in the world before (MRS. DOUBTFIRE, JUMANJI, and MORK AND MINDY easily could have been anime considering their storylines if you think about), this tidbit of info actually came as news to me.

Big Man Japan

"I FEEL A SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY ABOUT THAT....I NEVER REALLY KNOW WHEN WORK WILL POP UP. I HAVE TO ALWAYS BE ON CALL.... I JUST ACCEPT THAT'S THE WAY THINGS ARE."-Masaru Daisato (a.k.a. Big Man Japan)



This is by no means PACIFIC RIM (2013) so lower your expectations.It may not even be your classic GODZILLA from TOHO, and it doesn't pretend to be. No, BIG MAN JAPAN (2007) takes an entirely different approach and delivers BIG in its own right.

UTR2 Ranma Evangelion

What's good guys!



Up from my seemingly unending list of anime's in my backlog, I have started watching this show calledRanma 1/2. Now, this is a show I actually watched as kid a long time ago and I hardly remember or even know if watched the entire series. All i knew was that it was about some dude that turns into a girl once cold water is put on him and turns back to a male with hot water. This show is pretty dated and unfortunately, i'm watching the dubbed version yet it is still quite funny and more comical than what I thought it would be; in short a pleasant surprise.

End Of Summer Editorial : Um...Blockbuster Filed Bankruptcy For A Reason.

Summertime is like the playoffs here at ACTIONAGOGO.COM. We track these big budget monsters from announcements, which are years ahead of release dates, all the way to opening night. Sometimes we even bet on opening weekend draws. Yeah, it's serious business 'round here. After the smoke from all the explosions and car chases has cleared it's become obvious that we have some problems that are being baked into every big budget action film that came out this year.



This summer came and has left me feeling disappointed. Why? I went to three major Hollywood releases in a row and came out feeling like I'd somehow watched the same movie with the same problems. Those movies were Iron Man 3, Star Trek Into Darkness, and Man Of Steel. All three of these feature characters and franchises that I grew up with and, to an extent, cherish. For me, there was a lot of excitement going into this summer movie season, and why not? The directors list was a who's who of hot Hollywood talent at the top of their game. Shane Black, the edgy director of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005), was going to take a swing at a Marvel movie. J.J Abrams was going to bring the thunder for a second time to the Star Trek franchise he helped bring into a bold new cinematic era. And last, but certainly not least, Zack Snyder was bringing Superman back to the big screen. Of all the directors who've made comic book movies, Snyder is the one who has been able to bring a level of jaw dropping cinematic artistry that brings a level of dedication to the original story, proving he's actually read it and, more importantly, gets what makes it great.

Neon Genesis Evangelion: Battle Orchestra Review

TITLE: SHIN SEIKI EVANGELION: BATTLE ORCHESTRAPLATFORM: PLAYSTATION 2, PLAYSTATION PORTABLEDEVELOPER: GAINAXGENRE: 4-PLAYER FIGHTINGCERO: A



The Angels are invading, NERV is mankind's last hope! Suit up and pilot the evas, and stop these monstrosities from causing the 3rd impact and erasing mankind from existence!

Welp, Guess I am Full of Irony

Apparently, I am procrastinating on this English essay on the Scarlet Letter, since I am typing up this blog right now.

In other news that doesn't involve me dying to English, I am also devoting my time to Neon Genesis Evangelion.If you haven't watched it yet, it's basically a mecha anime that instead of focusing on action it deconstructs the whole genre by focusing on the psychological aspects of its characters.Instead of the main character developing and improving as the series progresses, his depression further continues as the plot reaches its climax.The original series is a bit unpolished without a real ending to the story.However the second movie gives the series a true ending that can be either significant or unwanted depending on one's preference. Overall the story itself is really good conceptually but the unpolished last two episodes bring down the show.

Back to school events now, friends and I made a Computer Club "to promote interest into usage of computer technology for the student body."In other words, my friends and I are bored and wants a club where we don't do much like most other clubs at school.The only major thing we are doing is making a movie and selling copies of it for club fair.It is going to be the "movie that's so bad it's good".

"Rebuild 1.0

"REBUILD 1.0 - YOU ARE (NOT) | YOU CAN (NOT)" ()

Beat used: Imagine Dragons "Radioactive"

A Review of Neon Genesis Evangelion 3.0: You Can (not) Redo

At , I was lucky enough to get into the screening of the highly-anticipated third film in the Eva rebuild, You Can (not) Redo, and couldn't believe how much the film fell flat on its face. Though, in Gendo's case, there was a nice pair of new shades to fall flat on, which were probably highly anticipated in 1987. For those of you who don't know, Neon Genesis Evangelion, in its original incarnation was a TV series started in 1995, done by Hideaki Anno and studio Gainax. Both Anno and Gainax are known for highly influential film works, but also for just as much controversy, and Eva is the forefront of that, time and again. The first two Rebuild films were going well, but this one, for whatever reason, took a swift deviation from the plotted trajectory and, unfortunately, failed to deliver. Evangelion follows Shinji Ikari and several other fated young people who pilot bio-mechanical giant robots after a calamity called "Third Impact" destroyed all but a few main cities in the world. If you believe voice-actor-turned-scholar Crispin Freeman's interpretation, the three main characters represent an Ego, Id, and Superego all fighting against a certain force; in my assessment, that's Shinji's inferiority complex. In America, the show's either loved or hated by its viewers, and I take the liberty of assuming from my conversation with other fans that that's because they either feel the inferiority complex or don't. Still, the show continues to top "most influential anime" lists by fans and professionals alike. Yet, when the last few episodes of an otherwise solid series turned into a confusing, unsatisfying ending even for the fans that "got" the show, the studio addressed complaints by adding two films to the canon in 1997. These were Evangelion: Death and Rebirth and The End of Evangelion. Some viewers were still unsatisfied by the explanation and ending of these movies, which were, for the most part, a chop-shop-job retelling. For many years, that was where the issue lie, sleeping, outside of derivative and side-story manga. But the creator and studio are still going strong, and so in 2006 they began the "rebuild." The "Evangelion Rebuild" is what it says it is -- a "rebuilding," not a "retelling" or a "reboot." The story is told anew, using some old pieces of animation (that were truly impressive for the time period) and main plot points, while adding new characters and, up until now, making things clearer. I'm a fan of the previous two movies: they kept the best of the old animation and took the epic aims of the show full in hand, delivering well in story, animation, directing, acting, and sound score.In the third movie though, we get little of that innovation. Redo clearly had effort put into it, there's no denying that. But, it felt oddly empty, which is especially shocking given that it's been three years since the last film. Let's start with the basics: The animation in this one is solid; it's complicated and complex, and the coloring is good. The film has a few technically challenging camera angles and animation sequences, too. But, these were not close to the level or number of the previous films; they felt like an afterthought. CG graphics are over -- and poorly -- used: the colors don't match, and the shading is often plain. There's a lot of simple expanses in the backgrounds, too -- empty rooms and vast oceans and the like. While that is normal for Eva, it's not quite pulled off. You end up looking at how empty the scene is visually, rather than feeling a shiver of how appropriate the emptiness is for the scene's content. Still, the majority of construction issues lie within the story itself. Fourth Impact came at the end of the second movie, and it was a rapturous event in all senses of the word, both to the characters within film and to the viewers. But instead of starting from there, the third movie skips time -- lots of it. Eyepatch Asuka makes her appearance, and while that's amusingly swashbuckling (the film starts on a ship too), it's punctuation in a fragment sentence. In general, the more complex a movie is, the more scenes it has. This movie has four major scene segments -- the opening battle, Shinji and Misato arguing, Shinji and Kaworu's semi-captive montage, and Shinji and Kaworu trying to recover the spears out of Lilith. That's an incredibly small amount for a film an hour and half long, and it makes the film feel like a train of thought that wasn't properly explored. The opening battle is inordinately long; it's not even that fun in the grand scheme of Eva opening battles. Shinji and Misato argue for a long time, but they are completely detached from reality. The end just sort of ends, and the major issue -- the arrival of the 13th angel -- lacks any explanation and, when it is resolved, feels hollow. The character building is weak, to my great disappointment; it left a lot of the other people in the theater scratching their heads. The strongest part of the film in any respect is a hilarious but incredibly homoerotic sequence of scenes with Kaworu, him teaching Shinji about the value of life through meaningful interaction with others. And that sequence I will always love; I'm a sucker for a smooth operator and the film certainly benefited from the humor. But, that's about the extent of anything emotionally gripping. And even those scenes, often, move just a tad too fast for the emotional content to really hit you. For instance, we get the new girl, Mari Makinami, who at the end of 2.22 brought glasses, librarian-like women, and pink plug suits all to the fore for the first time, in the most promising of new characters Eva's seen in a decade. She proceeds to have no character development for the rest of the film. Neither does anyone else, though -- Shinji, Asuka, Rei, and Misato all end the film in the exact same mindset in which they began, with no new revelations, making the desolation at the end of the film feel more like a mid-way point than an ending with a conclusion. The whole movie feels like it was supposed to be one of Shinji's famous out-there dream sequences that showcase his fear and powerlessness, but it wasn't. In a phrase, this is a film that had a lot of promise and used little of it. Eva's up to its old tricks . . . but for what? With no slated release date yet, Part Four is our last part to finish this rebuild. The show will go on, but can we just forget this part happened?
Full Post

New Veidt alt cosplay heroine pics: Kat is big in Japan

Here's new alt cosplay pics featuring Kat in a set kind-of inspired by Rei Ayanami of the neo classic anime NEON GENESIS EVANGELION. I loved the Evangelion stuff i've seen, and hope the perceived under-performance of PACIFIC RIM hasn't killed any chance of a big, live-action adaptation.



It definitely shouldn't studio heads ought to understand PR's $400 million global return is just the floor for what a well done Eva movie could make. Add on top of that some % of THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST's $611 million haul (not adjusted for inflation), due to the series' heavy integration of Christian themes/memes/symbols, and you're looking at a fucking titanic money-spinner.

Stella Women's Academy, High School Division Class C3: Episode 10

Stella Women's Academy, High School Division Class C3 is an anime series set at Stella Women's Academy, and focuses on a new student named Yura Yamato. Yura is a new freshman at the school, and she's a timid girl with a rather vivid imagination. Yura ends up joining the C3-Bu Club, which is a club at the school that plays "survival games" with air guns.



At the beginning of episode 10, Yura officially joins the team at Meisei Women's Academy. During her first battle with Meisei, Yura is part of a two-man cell with Rin. Karila's brother's, Aila, team is at the match, and notices that Yura is with the Meisei team. He sends a picture to Karila, who shares it with the rest of Stella's team.

Interview with Animenz and theishter

So I had the privilege of being able to attend an anime music concert recently, titled "Attack On Piano". ()



At this concert, majority of the songs were performed by two popular pianists, theishter and Animenz, flown all the way across the world from Canada and Germany respectively!

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Wow....



(That's not a good wow)

GOODIES FROM JAPAN:(O-MIYAGE)

Good evening my dear readers,



I hope y'all've been doing good? I caught a cold some days ago and sit on the couch with a huge scarf wrapped around my neck. I also bought a huuuge box of menthol/eucalyptus noms since my throat is so dry I can't barely sleep @@ Well, I can't complain since my back gets better and better and I'm finally having something like a regular day again. I can even go out for drinks and have a night out! Well, not for hours ; I'm storing important university-related things inside at the moment ^^

The Beginner's Guide to Anime, No. 21

Last week we covered the mecha anime , and while it is a series of note, there are plenty of more respected and popular mecha anime around, so for the next few columns I am covering some of the more noteworthy anime of this genre.



We have already covered one of the most important mecha before, Mobile Suit Gundam (), broadcast between 1979-1980. Arguably the next mecha series to make such a big impact did not occur until 15 years later. Originally broadcast between 1995-1996 Neon Genesis Evangelion, more commonly just called Evangelion, was one of the most controversial anime made. It had deep philosophical and religious themes, plus the ending raised many eyebrows. It was made by Gainax, the anime company that made FLCL () and Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt ().

Blue Gender [Animated Series]

There is a soft nostalgic spot in my heart for this series. Mainly because it is one of the few giant bug series that is well executed. It feels like a mix between Starship Troopers and Neon Genesis Evangelion in some ways, but it remains something on its own entirely.

The world is overrun by these giant bugs called Blue and where they come from remains a mystery. Mankind has taken to living in space with occasional exploration squads to perform reconnaissance and learn what they can. Our protagonist is awakened in this nightmare and his reactions are fairly typical, but well executed in this anime. As he continues on he adapts to the harsh environment interacting with various factors you would expect in a apocalyptic setting.

The art style is consistent which is something I really appreciate and the story progresses at a balanced rate. There are very human moments which makes for a mature viewing much like Starship Troopers except with greater psychological moments. What really separates this from the previous mentioned is the seriousness and depressing nature which is felt more strongly in this series.

My BIG BAD review of Summer Films in 2013

I've watched so many films this summera moot point considering I like to - make films, but I don't actually go to the cinema that much these days. As you may know, I live in Japan, which doesn't tend to get all of the films I want to see - and if they do, it's either a case of them being released so late that I've lost interestor they are big, dumb movies that I don't want to see in the first place. Well, in an effort to be social (a difficult thing to be when you are a writer, perhaps)I've accepted invitations to watch films I would otherwise have not watched.



THE GREAT GATSBY (2013)

Homestuck: 8/6/13

After last week's zoomed in approach on a single character in what was essentially one scene, this week has Andrew Hussie zooming back out to visit a much wider variety of characters. As such, it's harder to pin down a single theme or tone that holds these updates together. These scatter shot weeks are inevitable in a work with as many moving parts and dangling threads as Homestuck. They also fly in the face of my hypothesis that Hussie actually plans his arcs in weeklong blocks. In a way, weeks like this one serve a similar function to a season finale of Game Of Thrones, repositioning chess pieces after a major event to push the story into it's next phase.

What makes this week difficult to dissect isn't the wide range of characters (all of the Beta kids and the majority of the living trolls) but the way that the tone and mood of the updates shifts wildly from section to section. We start with Kanaya, who barely got any lines in her last appearance. Though she gets more screen time this go around, it's really only to serve as a punch line in a recycled joke. While I like her character a lot, * Kanaya might be the most tricky member of the main cast to write. Because her dialogue is uniformly dry and matter-of-fact, she either works best as the voice of reason to a more unhinged character (see the majority of Act 5 Act 1) or in unambiguously dramatic situations (the bloodbath of Act 5 Act 2). But when paired with an equally terse and unexpressive character as ObeyJane the potential for both humor and plot progression gets pretty thin.

Kanaya's best moment this week comes from her brief interaction with Rose, a quick conversation that balances the humor of Kanaya's situation with the deep introspection of Rose's. This conversation serves as a cap on what is essentially Rose's equivalent of Dave's selfie-inspired breakdown early in the act. As she wanders through the luminous LOLAR, beautifully and surreally illustrated as always, Rose grapples with her past responsibilities and the distinct possibility that they no longer apply. Like Dave's former interest in artifacts from the past, and his subsequent time powers, Rose's musical skills and her denizen quest were something constructed out of her personality as a 13 year old. Hussie is putting forth an interesting question here, what happens to destiny when you grow up? In my view, much of Homestuck's power comes from taking traditional tropes of coming of age stories and the mythological elements of classic RPG's and ramming them into each other ludicrously high speeds. As we get closer to the conclusion, we'll start to see which elements of those genres come stumbling out of the wreckage.

Sushi is Delicious~ Saboten-con, Gate 7 & Jack O' Con!

Hello there! My beautiful laptop is poopin' out on me so it might take even longer to get new blog posts up -.- but thankfully I have another long post for you guys! If you read my earlier posts; I had a brain surgery about two months ago and was unfortunately unable to attend Saboten-con, but I have plenty of pictures that my brother took while he was there with Miguel.



Yes Miguel cosplayed Ichigo again for this con =) rockin' it with his katana!

Peeping Life Wonderland

The latest collection of Peeping Life () shorts are a collaboration between creator Ryoichi Mori (), Tetsuka Productions (), and Tatsunoko Productions ().



Founded by Osamu Tetsuka, the home of Astro Boy, Black Jack and a mountain of animation that has influenced Japanese children for generations.

Anime Review: Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

GENRE: Sci-fi/Mech



STUDIO: Gainax

Sleep, Eat, Rinse and Repeat

For the past few weeks when I don't have to go to college anymore, my sleeping habits got messed up. My usual bed time is 2am, I always go to bed at this time, 3am being the latest. Usually I would wake up at 10am or 11am but as of now, I cannot wake up earlier than 1pm even when I set an alarm clock. I feel that things are getting worse when the other night I could not sleep at all. I was awake the whole night until 7am before falling asleep and waking up later at 2pm.



Now that I have nothing to do at all, I really don't do anything. My activities only start in the evening until night, the afternoon is when I spend some time playing with my cube puzzles, playing Pokemon or hanging around Facebook, doing nothing. I haven't been following my YouTube subscriptions and I haven't been reading manga. My mom told me to get a part time job the other day but I've already eased myself in this hermit life I'm living now.

Neon Genesis Evangelion Omnibus, Vols. 10-12

BY YOSHIYUKI SADAMOTO AND GAINAX. RELEASED IN JAPAN BY KADOKAWA SHOTEN, SERIALIZED IN THE MAGAZINES SHONEN ACE AND YOUNG ACE. RELEASED IN NORTH AMERICA BY VIZ MEDIA.



This fourth omnibus from Viz will be the last for a while, as Japan hasn't even announced when the final volume is coming out yet. I assume it will be released simultaneously here and Japan, as Vol. 13 was, and that there will be a gap between that any any 5th omnibus. That said, there's more than enough here to keep Evangelion fans busy. So much happens in this omnibus that it's a bit difficult to know where to begin. One thing is for certain, though, and that's the ongoing massacre of everyone Shinji loves and holds dear is still going to happen. Business as usual, folks.

Top 10: Japanese Car Commercials

10. Honda City Madness



Being one of the vehicles most popular in the entry-level market, the Honda has always strived to find a connection to its loyal buyers. In the 1980 s the automaker teamed up with then popular ska band "Madness" to help introduce their equally wild but smart vehicle the Honda City. Spanning over several iterations from standard to turbo trims, the multi-member band brought just the right amount of visual appeal to an already quirky vehicle.

Anime One: Who is the most unlikeable male character in your favorite anime?

You can't always have everything in life; sometimes even in the most perfect of anime shows, with a cast of loveable characters and a great story and plot and backdrops, there is just this one male character that you can't quite like, who spoils an otherwise perfect show.



It could be that the male character has no likeable traits, and yet finds himself in a harem situation - which makes him even harder to relate to. Or it could be that the character has stunning good looks, but the personality of a brick wall. Or perhaps this guy's the detestable dirty villain who, after he's been defeated, just won't stay defeated and keeps coming back to thwart the story's progression.

Evangelion 1.0: You are (Not) Alone.

Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone. is distributed by Funimation, Madman Entertainment and Manga Entertainment.



While Evangelion is one of the most popular anime titles for Otaku all around the world, but it's clear that it's a bit of a mess, production wise.

50 Great Series Finales

Every great story needs a great ending. A story should not keep going and going and going like the Energizer Bunny: it has to have a stopping point. A conclusion. Even the most open-ended endings possible are acceptable if they're done right. The quality of an ending can make or break how a story is perceived and remembered. TV series' do not always tell stories. They can be episodic or plotted and serialized depending on the content. But like stories, great TV shows should have great finales. Something to really cap off the experience and prove that it was all worthwhile. So in this entry, I've selected 50 TV shows I've seen that I feel had particularly great series finales. Most of them are animated 'cause I have not caught up with all the live action TV shows of my time yet. Please keep in mind that this is for TV series', not movies, books, or video games. Those are a similar but different matter. Without further delay, I'll cover 50 great series finales of my (mostly animated) TV experience!



Winnie The Pooh And Christmas Too (The New Adventures Of Pooh) - This show did the whole "ending on a Christmas special" thing better than "The Care Bears Family" did. This actually feels like a special episode of the series and was a worthy cap-off to a fun show.

YET MORE LICENSED NES GAMES THAT DON'T EXIST

Previously: Parts Has it really been well over a year since the last time I delved into the world of fake NES games based on movies and TV shows? Maybe I've been subconsciously avoiding licensed games after playing That kind of experience leaves a mark, you know? In the interests of healing and catharsis, then - here are some more NES games that don't exist, based on franchises that were (for the most part) never shoddily converted into a half-arsed side-scrolling action game by a company like Tose.

NEON GENESIS EVANGELION

"Heroes shouldn't have happy personal lives."

Before we begin, I just want to point something out: The reason the title to this article doesn't have a quote is because I honestly couldn't come up with a better title for this article beyond what Dan Didio, head of DC comics, actually said. It sums up exactly what is wrong with the major comics industry today in terms of an attitude towards its characters, their lives, and the editorial mandates made to change them. It highlights a terrible mentality within the industry and a problem which is progressively killing off interest with comics over time just as much as rising prices and a multitude of other problems.



To give a bit of context to this, the quote comes from Dan Didio's response to what the lead writers of Batwoman revealed. The duo consisting of W. Haden Blackman and J.H. Williams spoke out over the fact they had effectively been barred from putting their lead female characters in a serious relationship. DC editorial refused to allow them to tell the story they had been leading up to, of Kate Kane and Maggie Sawyer's marriage, and refused to let them continue. This has exploded around the internet with accusations ranging from homophobia or hatred of married couples, leading to Didio's response:

Sprite Patterns of Two Guys With Crazy Anime Hair and One Who May Have Actually Had His Hair Done On Earth

Hello! I thought that it had been a really long time since I last posted here, but when I actually looked at the blog, it turned out that it had actually been less than a week. I think that having gotten to school makes it seem like it's been longer than it really has been, even though I haven't actually taken any classes yet, but it doesn't really matter, because I'm posting here today anyway!



This post isn't going to be too out of the ordinary, since I'm just going to be posting sprite patterns. I've made a couple more of them, but haven't actually added anything else to the jar, so no new requests have been fulfilled. If you are one of the people that requested anything from a magical girl anime, though, I want to make some cross stitch patterns with bright colors and frills, so your requests, which there are a lot of, are most likely to be finished next. For today, though, I'm just hoping to pick one request out of the jar from the three patterns that are about to be posted.

NEW BOOKS ARRIVING THIS WED, SEPTEMBER 4th!!!

ART BOOKS*THIS WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS!*

- The 3rd collected edition of Hi-Fructose arrives with 300 pages of interviews,exposes and worldwide contemporary artwork from Carmilla D'Errico, Mark Ryden & Todd Schorr and more!

filmbore pick of the week

Paprika



Director: Satoshi KonScreenplay: Satoshi Kon, Seishi MinakamiStarring: Megumi Hayashibara, Akiotsuka, T ru EmoriYear: 2006Languages: Japanese (English dubbed)UK rental release: January 2008

Shinseiki Evangelion: Ikari Shinji Ikusei Keikaku ()

RELATED SERIES

(Adapted From)

Associated Names

Do We Want or Need a Sequel to Nausica ?

One of the stories that intrigues me most amongst the recent wave of Ghibli news - much of which I will be addressing, in one form or another, over the days to come - is talk of Hayao Miyazaki and/or Hideaki Anno revisiting Nausicaof the Valley of the Wind, the iconic 1984 film that launched Studio Ghibli, established Miyazaki as a great and popular filmmaker, and gave Anno's young career a rather spectacular kick-start. Various rumblings about a possible Nausicasequel have been heard over the past month, given that Miyazaki's latest (and final) film, Kaze Tachinu, serves as a reunion of sorts for him and Anno (who voices the film's main character, Jiro Horikoshi), but the issue was addressed most plainly late last month, when Miyazaki, asked point blank about making a Nausicasequel, :



"No, I don't. I don't really feel like doing it, but Anno keeps on saying, 'I want to do it! I want to do it!,' so I tell him now that I've come to think lately that if he wanted to do it, it would be fine for him to do it."

My Updated Top 12 Anime of All Time

Before I start I need to apologise. I should never promise a date for posts, as I rarely seem to deliver on these promises. I'll be honest, I simply couldn't be bothered to edit this post before uploading it. I'm sorry.



Also, I hope you have noticed the change in appearance the blog has received. Personally I think it looks much better than it did before, which looked a bit admittedly empty. This uses the screen more, and is better for it. But I'd like to hear what you think of the new look. Anyway, on to the post:

'Forever Evil' #1 And Other Comics Of Note, September 4th

DC follows up Trinity War with a blowout, and it's just the first issue. Reviews of all the DC villains one-shots, and books from Marvel, Image, Dark Horse, IDW and Boom! under the jump.



The Crime Society of America has shown up, and they drop some pretty nasty bombs right off the top in Forever Evil #1. The less said, the better, but a lot happens in this book, and it's Geoff Johns at his best. Johns enjoys mixing continuity with major surprises, and this delivers, to say the least.

New Releases 9/3/2013

HARDCOVER AMI AND MARTIN by Yvonne Bouchard and Yvonne Bouchar CAIN'S BLOOD: A NOVEL by Geoffrey Girard DARK LYCAN (CARPATHIAN) by Christine Feehan HAPPY HOUR IN HELL (BOBBY DOLLAR) by Tad Williams INTO THAT FOREST by Louis Nowra ISAAC ASIMOV'S I ROBOT: TO OBEY by Mickey Zucker Reichert MADDADDAM: A NOVEL by Margaret Atwood MAGE'S BLOOD (THE MOONTIDE QUARTET) by David Hair MONSTERS OF THE EARTH (THE BOOKS OF THE ELEMENTS) by David Drake SACRIFICE by Sam Humphries, Daniel Chabon and Dalton Rose SHAMAN by Kim Stanley Robinson STAR TREK: THE ART OF JUAN ORTIZ by Juan Oritz STYXX (DARK-HUNTER) by Sherrilyn Kenyon THE BEAUTIFUL THING THAT AWAITS US ALL by Laird Barron THE GIVEN SACRIFICE: A NOVEL OF THE CHANGE (CHANGE SERIES) by S. M. Stirling THE GRIM COMPANY by Luke Scull THE LAST PRESIDENT (A NOVEL OF DAYBREAK) by John Barnes THE SHADOW LAMP (BRIGHT EMPIRES, QUEST THE 4TH) by Stephen R. Lawhead UNDER A GRAVEYARD SKY by John Ringo PAPERBACK A WICKED KIND OF DARK by Jonathan K. Benton BAD NIGHTS by Rebecca York BETWEEN TWO FIRES by Christopher Buehlman BORN TO BITE by Hannah Howell, Erica Ridley and Diana Cosby CAPTAIN VORPATRIL'S ALLIANCE (VORKOSIGAN SAGA) by Lois McMaster Bujold CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT: AN OCTOBER DAYE NOVEL by Seanan McGuire COLD DAYS: A NOVEL OF THE DRESDEN FILES by Jim Butcher DAMEK'S REDEMPTION (LEGACY) by NJ Walters DARK IN THE WOODS by Rosemary Laurey DAUGHTER OF THE SWORD: A NOVEL OF THE FATED BLADES by Steve Bein DAYBREAK (A DARK AGE DAWNING NOVEL) by Ellen Connor DEARLY, BELOVED (DEARLY, DEPARTED) by Lia Habel GEEK GIRLS DON'T DATE DUKES by Gina Lamm HALF A CROWN (SMALL CHANGE) by Jo Walton HALF BLIND (FREELANCE MAGIC) by Christine Price HAVE MONSTER, WILL TRAVEL (MONSTERS IN HOLLYWOOD) by Lila DuBois HEROES LOST AND FOUND (BLAZE OF GLORY) by Sheryl Nantus HOW TO DATE A DRAGON by Ashlyn Chase HUNTER'S HEART: AN ALPHA PACK NOVEL by J.D. Tyler LORD OF MOUNTAINS: A NOVEL OF THE CHANGE (CHANGE SERIES) by S. M. Stirling MADDADDAM: A NOVEL (RANDOM HOUSE LARGE PRINT) by Margaret Atwood MAIDEN FLIGHT (DRAGON KNIGHTS (SAMHAIN)) by Bianca D'Arc MAN WHO SOLD THE MOON / ORPHANS OF THE SKY by Robert A. Heinlein 5 MY REGELENCE RAKE (SCI-REGENCY) by J L Langley PATHFINDERRUINS by Orson Scott Card PRIESTS OF MARS (WARHAMMER 40,000) by Graham McNeill REALM OF SHADOWS (THE ALLIANCE VAMPIRES) by Heather Graham REANIMATORS by Peter Rawlik REVENANT EVE by Sherwood Smith RITUAL MAGIC by Eileen Wilks RUINS (PATHFINDER) by Orson Scott Card SEX AND THE SINGLE PRINCESS (FAIRYTALE FANTASIES) by Bonnie Dee and Marie Treanor SOUL KISSED (SHADOW KISSED) by Erin Kellison STORIES OF TERROR AND THE SUPERNATURAL by Herman Graf THE ANGEL STONE: BOOK THREE OF THE FAIRWICK TRILOGY (THE FAIRWICK TRILOGY) by Juliet Dark THE BEST HORROR OF THE YEAR VOLUME FIVE by Lucy Taylor, Ramsey Campbell, Margo Lanagan and Laird Barron THE CLOCKWORK MAN (THE RADIUM AGE SCIENCE FICTION SERIES) by Edwin Vincent Odle and Annalee Newitz THE DEATH OF INTEGRITY (SPACE MARINE BATTLES) by Guy Haley THE ETERNAL HIGHLANDER by Hannah Howell and Lynsay Sands THE LAST THRESHOLD: NEVERWINTER SAGA, BOOK IV (DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: FORGOTTEN REALMS: NEVERWINTER SAGA) by R. A. Salvatore THE LEGEND OF DRIZZT 25TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION, BOOK I by R. A. Salvatore THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF TIME TRAVEL SF by Mike Ashley THE PROTECTED (FBI PSYCHICS) by Shiloh Walker THE SAVAGE DEAD by Joe McKinney THE SUICIDE SHOP by Jean Teule and Sue Dyson THE UNDEAD HORDES OF KANGUL (SHADOW WARRIOR SAGA) by Jon F. Merz THE VIRUS by Steven Spellman VAMPIRES NEED NOT...APPLY?: AN ACCIDENTALLY YOURS NOVEL by Mimi Jean Pamfiloff VORACIOUS (CLARE POINT VAMPIRES) by V.K. Forrest WOULD-BE WITCH (A SOUTHERN WITCH NOVEL) by Kimberly Frost ZERO POINT (THE OWNER) by Neal Asher GRAPHIC NOVELS/MANGA ADVENTURES INTO THE UNKNOWN! ARCHIVES VOLUME 3 HC AGE OF ULTRON HC AMERICAN VAMPIRE TPB VOL. 04 ANIMAL MAN TPB VOL. 3 ROTWORLD THE RED KINGDOM BATMAN LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT TPB VOL. 01 BIONIC MAN TPB VOL. 02 BIGFOOT BLOOD BLOCKADE BATTLEFRONT VOLUME 4 TPB BOMB QUEEN DELUXE ED HC VOL. 03 CLASSIC SPACE 1999 SC EVERYTHING THAT WAS CONAN RED NAILS ORIGINAL ART ARCHIVES HC DANGER GIRL ARMY OF DARKNESS TPB DAN THE UNHARMABLE TPB VOL. 02 ENDERS GAME GRAPHIC NOVEL TPB FANBOYS VS. ZOMBIES TPB VOL. 03 G.I. JOE COBRA FILES TPB VOL. 01 GREEN LANTERN HC RISE OF THE THIRD ARMY HELLRAISER DARK WATCH TPB VOL. 01 INFINITY GAUNTLET AFTERMATH TPB INHUMANS BY PAUL JENKINS AND JAE LEE HC IRON MAN BY KURT BUSIEK AND SEAN CHEN OMNIBUS HC KORAK, SON OF TARZAN ARCHIVES VOL. 2 HC LEGEND OF LUTHER STRODE TPB VOL. 02 LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT JIM APARO HC VOL. 2 LENORE PURPLE NURPLES HC COLOR ED LONE RANGER TPB VOL. 06 NATIVE GROUND LORD OF THE JUNGLE TPB VOL. 02 MERCILESS RISE OF MING TPB MORNING GLORIES TPB VOL. 05 NECESSARY EVIL THE VILLAINS OF THE DC UNIVERSE TPB NEON GENESIS EVANGELION: THE SHINJI IKARI DETECTIVE DIARY VOLUME 1 TPB ONCE UPON A TIME PREM HC PANTHA TPB VOL. 01 GODDESS & DANGEROUS GAME PENNY FOR YOUR SOUL JOAN OF ARC TPB REGGIE 12 HC ROY THOMAS PRESENTS PHANTOM LADY COLL WORKS HC VOL. 02 SIMPSONS COMICS COLOSSAL COMPENDIUM TPB VOL. 01 SKIPPY HC VOL. 02 COMPLETE DAILIES 1928-1930 SNOOPY COWABUNGA TPB SONIC THE HEDGEHOG SELECT TPB VOL. 08 SUNDAY NIGHT MOVIES SC SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN HC VOL. 01 SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN HC VOL. 01 DM DITKO VARIANT ED UNCANNY X-MEN OMNIBUS HC VOL. 01 NEW PRINTING WALKING DEAD HC VOL. 09 VIDEO GAMES DIABLO 3 IN THEATERS RIDDICK
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The 20 Greatest Giant Robots Ever: Part 1

All right. Time for the main event of Giant Robot Month. Title says it all so without further ado...



The 20 Greatest Giant Robots Ever

The Anime Music Tournament 2013 Bracket Hanyuu

Innocent Starter, guys? Really? Innocent Starter?!? Hau hau indeed (though I hate that catchphrase)



Every bracket so far has had interesting results (by "interesting", I mean results that make me shake my head when I read them again and again). Let's see what's cooking in the in this group.

Devil Survivor 2 The Animation

I thought that the anime industry was basically done with making Neon Genesis Evangelion rip-offs about 10 to 15 years ago, but here we are in 2013 with Devil Survivor 2 The Animation.



It starts with a high-school boy and his friend enjoying their time after a practice exam, whereupon they get murdered by a train. That's not a spoiler by the way, that's like the first 10 minutes. After that, demons appear, god has apparently said "fuck the world", and he's sent angels Septentriones to destroy everyone. A white-haired pretty boy named Kaworu Alcor gets awfully close to our main character (and isn't all that he seems!) and Gendou another white-haired pretty boy named Yamato also says "fuck the world" in pursuit of his own selfish ideal. There's also a giant weapon kinda hanging out. Daichi can be Asuka or something, who even cares.

Scotland Loves Animation 2013 Festival Line-Up

On the day that , I report about this year's takes place in GLASGOW (OCTOBER 11TH-13TH) and EDINBURGH (OCTOBER 14TH-20TH). If the former bit of news is sad for the loss tat the film and anime world will suffer then the line-up offers positivity because these titles have so much imagination and originality that, even with the Miyazaki-sized hole in anime, great works will still be made.



The line-up features a lot of the biggest anime films released in Japan over the last two years. There are some genuinely lovely surprises like Fuse: A Gun Girl's Detective Story, Garden of Words, and Gusko Budori and some great surprises like Hal and Patema Inverted. Some of these films already have UK distribution deals and some are classics that are getting re-released.

Siege Spots

Hi, I'm Siege, and I'm a poor college student. I can't even afford to buy real people food like eggs and caviar. So I've been thinking: I should find a way to make money. I see the kids these days talking about how much they like anime. I could make an anime, I think.



How hard can it be? That Miyazaki dude does it all the time and makes loads of dough, and he's only 72 years old.