Anime!

This morning we sent out a press release announcing a partnership with 4Kids, the company responsible for the licensing of Yu-Gi-Oh!, Pokémon and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. We'll be working on development of a unique children’s entertainment property. 4Kids Entertainment will be the licensing agent for a future product for Microsoft Game Studios. The agreement will cover broadcast, home video, music and merchandise licensing rights.

The very much anticipated Hellsing OVA. Before I start, I’ve heard a few odd things about this release, in that it’s A) a 30 minutes trailer that Aired on TV, B) The OVA isn’t out till Feb 10th. C) The real first ep will be 50 minutes and D) This is a leak of the OVA’s first episode. For once, I have absolutely no idea what’s true and what’s not. But regardless of ALL of that, this episode was nothing short of kick ass. The characters have been re-designed this time to look much more like they appear in the manga, and those pesky human excess characters (Ferguson I’m looking at you) have been kept out, this is a near 100% accurate manga to anime transition. Everything looks great, top billing on the animation and artwork. The soundtracks quite the contrast from the eerie and low key blues that went exceptionally well with the TV series, this time around we’ve got more fast paced beats for the battles. Not sure, but judging by the first episode alone, I think I preferred the TV’s soundtrack.

Does Full Metal Alchemist have to do with Nazis? Because they have the fuhrer. And they kill people for like “the good of mankind”. Also, the Nazis were part robot. And had talking robot brothers. And also they were magic. And that’s a fact, Jack.

Hace dos semanas sucedió algo absolutamente increíble en Tarapoto: dos adolescentes aseguraron haber sido poseídos por los espíritus de Goku y Vegeta, los protagonistas de Dragon Ball Z, una violenta serie de animación japonesa. Pero, ¿fueron Goku y Vegeta los responsables del trance de estos adolescentes? Todo Tarapoto cree que sí.

Mizuki is a track and field star in her own right and she throws herself in to her new role as a boy with enthusiasm, as shown when she punches a boy in the face. I always think face-punching is an admirable quality for a shoujo heroine. Mizuki’s friendship with Sano grows, but how long will they be happy with a platonic relationship? And how long will she keep thinking that he thinks she’s a boy, when he knows she’s a girl? Hana Kimi also has a motley supporting cast that includes a womanizing RA, gay school doctor, menacing jock, pervy photographer, petulant pretty boy, and a cute doggie. Wacky hijinks ensue with almost every volume as Mizuki takes part in school life while trying to hide her secret. Although the plot of Hana Kimi is very typical, I enjoyed the character interaction and being able to see how Mizuki and Sano’s personalities change as the result of their friendship. The art is fairly standard, it serves the story but I don’t think it displays a very unique style. If you’re looking for a light and fluffy shoujo fix with plenty of cross-dressing, I don’t think you can go wrong with this series.

I'm the average anime fan out there. It's not that I don't like live-action movies, on the contrary, I enjoy a good movie - especially if it's slightly disturbing, deep or in some other way makes me think or react.

I admit, the character design isn’t the best in the world, but the front cover is just SO cute that you cant help but want to read this. I’m also disappointed in the lack of chibi, but it goes the Genshiken route by having the simply-drawn faces in instances where the character is embarrassed and such. As for the story, it feels like an average love story. Nothing in particular sticks out. If you want some fan service, you’re better off with Negima. If you want a cute love story, you’re better off with Love Roma. I’ll give the next volume a read, but there are better love stories out there.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4104414698313466751&q=pokemon

In happier, less dreary news, Lina and I finished the anime series Genshiken this morning. While the ending was a bit of an anti-climax, and a couple of episodes on the last disc had some severe pacing problems, I’d say the series as a whole was a great ride and I’d recommend it to everyone who’s even mildly interested in the “culture” of otaku (If such a thing can be considered to exist). I’ll post more info about Genshiken at a later date.

Usually I love gender-bender manga/manhwa (I loved HanaKimi) but there’s something about the art style and general story telling that doesn’t appeal here. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I’m not sure whether I’ll continue buying this series.

Started with my mom going to the hospital with some sort of seizure which completely freaked me out. Otherwise just prepared to go back to school. At school it turned out I had some cool freshman suitemates who actually liked to play videogames. If only I could get them more into anime they'd be even better. Though don't get me wrong, they are geeks just not anime geeks. One plays Magic (which we all call Yu-Gi-Oh to piss him off) and the other is a big music/movie geek. Plus I swear they look just like the guys from Penny Arcade.

I’m going to make this official, once this comes out, I will be reviewing every single episode with a passion. Hell, I will even try to be one of the first ones out there (not counting you Raw Bloggers).

My third Anime drawing ever done (though this is still in progress), I think it is pretty nice!

Rumors from sites in Japan are starting to leak into the states. It appears that in the spring of this year there may be a new edition of Full Metal Alchemist released in Japan.

A.scarywater.net is an unlicensed anime fansub BitTorrent tracker. What more can I say?

And now, as a tiny gift, and few pages from a manga I’m doing!