February 27, 2012
Fortunately it is a leap year...
....so you have one extra day to order a lot of things from Colleen Doran.
The store is here...scroll down and buy,
You have till March 1st.
The up side of this is that this seems to be due to her career going into overdrive.
Due to a very high work load, we regret to announce that the shop will shut down all art and custom book orders on March 1st. A selection of signed books will remain available.
The store is here...scroll down and buy,
You have till March 1st.
The up side of this is that this seems to be due to her career going into overdrive.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
07:00 PM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 85 words, total size 1 kb.
February 21, 2012
Well This Looks Exciting
People keep telling me to look at this trailer, saying things like...
"Oh my! Yes please!"
"I am SO ready..I've got my Wave Motion Goggles and everything!"
It's in Hi-def so you can embigulate it!
"Oh my! Yes please!"
"It's...Squidtacular!"
"I am SO ready..I've got my Wave Motion Goggles and everything!"
So I figured I ought to at least look at it...
It's in Hi-def so you can embigulate it!
Oh my stars and garters! That looks really..really nice!
Yamato 2199 looks to be a straight-up remake of the 1974 series, and aside from the character designs and a few added female crewmembers, it looks astoundingly faithful. This is obviously a labor of love for Enagio.
Interestingly, although it will be a 26 episode series, it's going to be released in theaters as seven full length features!
I'm very curious as to whether this will be brought over eventually (given the state of the market) and if so if it will be released as SCY or Star Blazers. Star Blazers was actually quite successful and aside from "That Knox thing" was as faithful as 1979 Standards and practices would allow, in some ways improving on the original.
I'd be quite pleasantly surprised if there were to be a Star Blazers revival, but whatever form the US release takes (If it does so at all) I am seriously looking forward to this.
Yamato 2199 looks to be a straight-up remake of the 1974 series, and aside from the character designs and a few added female crewmembers, it looks astoundingly faithful. This is obviously a labor of love for Enagio.
Interestingly, although it will be a 26 episode series, it's going to be released in theaters as seven full length features!
I'm very curious as to whether this will be brought over eventually (given the state of the market) and if so if it will be released as SCY or Star Blazers. Star Blazers was actually quite successful and aside from "That Knox thing" was as faithful as 1979 Standards and practices would allow, in some ways improving on the original.
I'd be quite pleasantly surprised if there were to be a Star Blazers revival, but whatever form the US release takes (If it does so at all) I am seriously looking forward to this.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
10:27 PM
| Comments (2)
| Add Comment
Post contains 212 words, total size 2 kb.
February 09, 2012
Anyone in the DC Area From the 15th to the 25th of February
...might be interested in going to the Studio Theater which will be featuring the show Astro Boy and the God of Comics. It tells the fictional story of Astro Boy, and the historical tale of his creator Osamu Tezuka.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
08:53 PM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 52 words, total size 1 kb.
February 07, 2012
Is This a Thing?
.....I mean, a REAL thing?
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
01:47 PM
| Comments (6)
| Add Comment
Post contains 9 words, total size 1 kb.
February 05, 2012
Romance At the Crossroads of "Awww" and "Ewww"
A few days ago, I received in the mail a parcel from some place called Duckford. It contained about 5 feet of bubble wrap and this....
I've been quite sick lately and for a few days couldn't leave the house so...
umm...
I...
Well, I went ahead and played through all the paths.
I found the game to be quite uneven, but it's rather better than it ought to have been. In some places it was tedious or just aggravating, in other places it was absolutely superb.
More thoughts on this interesting fan work are below the fold, some that are slightly spoilerish, others that are behind spoiler tags.
Konata here approves of the packaging *
..which in turn contained 18 inches of bubble wrap and a flash drive loaded with the Mac version of Katawa Shoujo,... you know...THAT game: The dating-sim/visual novel in which the young ladies of interest posses
various disabilities. Put together by a group of US fans, it is based on
a joke
sketch by a Japanese Doujinshi artist. Despite the cringe worthy subject matter, I have, as mentioned previously, been looking forward to this, albeit with some trepidation. I've been quite sick lately and for a few days couldn't leave the house so...
umm...
I...
Well, I went ahead and played through all the paths.
I found the game to be quite uneven, but it's rather better than it ought to have been. In some places it was tedious or just aggravating, in other places it was absolutely superb.
Art by Wee (Raemz)
More thoughts on this interesting fan work are below the fold, some that are slightly spoilerish, others that are behind spoiler tags.
***
more...
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
07:58 PM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 638 words, total size 10 kb.
January 04, 2012
The Old Grey Lady Issues a Correction
This is an interesting piece on the travails faced by borderline autistics.
This is the associated correction:
Well....I'm glad they cleared THAT up.
This is an interesting piece on the travails faced by borderline autistics.
This is the associated correction:
An article on Monday about Jack Robison and Kirsten Lindsmith, two college students with Asperger syndrome who are navigating the perils of an intimate relationship, misidentified the character from the animated children’s TV show "My Little Pony†that Ms. Lindsmith said she visualized to cheer herself up. It is Twilight Sparkle, the nerdy intellectual, not Fluttershy, the kind animal lover.
Well....I'm glad they cleared THAT up.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
12:33 PM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 90 words, total size 1 kb.
December 24, 2011
Win
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
02:29 PM
| Comments (1)
| Add Comment
Post contains 2 words, total size 1 kb.
December 18, 2011
Squid Girl Volume 2
Saturday night I went to a friends house and watched the second volume of Media Blasters DVD release of Squid Girl. I'd been impressed
with the first volume and was curious as to whether this show would
maintain its quality or flounder...I felt that the fish puns alone were likely to
wear quite fin.
However, the second set is just as good if not better. Squid girl continues her career as a seaside noodle shop waitress while plotting (occasionally) to conquer the surface world and liberate the seas from pollution. Along the way she has to deal with making friends, creepy fan-girls, art appreciation and bears. The show is a schizoprenic mash-up of a sitcom, Looney Tunes sketch comedy and Mad Magazine, yet it all works surprisingly well. The show drifts between the sentimental and the hilarious. I laughed so hard at one point I nearly pulled a mussel.
One theme of the show really speaks to me. Even if one is stuck in a dead end service job and is stymied by the demands of provincial academics who look down at you, your beliefs and your goals like you are some sort of alien....
more...
However, the second set is just as good if not better. Squid girl continues her career as a seaside noodle shop waitress while plotting (occasionally) to conquer the surface world and liberate the seas from pollution. Along the way she has to deal with making friends, creepy fan-girls, art appreciation and bears. The show is a schizoprenic mash-up of a sitcom, Looney Tunes sketch comedy and Mad Magazine, yet it all works surprisingly well. The show drifts between the sentimental and the hilarious. I laughed so hard at one point I nearly pulled a mussel.
One theme of the show really speaks to me. Even if one is stuck in a dead end service job and is stymied by the demands of provincial academics who look down at you, your beliefs and your goals like you are some sort of alien....
"Help.Meeeee."
...you can still take what life gives you and make the best of it. I really enjoyed this show and I highly recommend it. Go out, buy it, gift it. As I type this you have six days till Christmas.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
02:56 PM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 240 words, total size 2 kb.
December 17, 2011
Does Looking Forward to This Make me a Bad Person?
Of course not.
Being a bad person makes me look forward to this.
Understanding cause and effect are important.
Being a bad person makes me look forward to this.
Understanding cause and effect are important.
Yes, the full version of Katawa Shoujo, better known as That Atrociously Atrocious Atrocity (with the really cool characterizations) is coming out on January 4th.
Why the cringing you ask? Well, this is a dating-sim visual novel in which all of the young ladies posses various disabilities. Put together by a group of US fans, it is based on a joke sketch by a Japanese Doujinshi artist. Given such dubious subject matter and provenance, the correct response would normally be NO FREAKKING WAI GTFO!
However...
Back in '09 I sent a link to the demo release to our EBP who provided a review here. I played through the abomination myself and was impressed. The demo was quite large and the characters were superbly realized. The demo was not exploitative or insulting in the least. It was actually engaging, thoughtful and even touching. This promises to be a quite entertaining visual novel. I find myself looking forward to it. Still, I feel funny posting this heads up on my blog since I'm pretty sure that...well...there's gonna be talk.
..you know...talk.
Why the cringing you ask? Well, this is a dating-sim visual novel in which all of the young ladies posses various disabilities. Put together by a group of US fans, it is based on a joke sketch by a Japanese Doujinshi artist. Given such dubious subject matter and provenance, the correct response would normally be NO FREAKKING WAI GTFO!
However...
Back in '09 I sent a link to the demo release to our EBP who provided a review here. I played through the abomination myself and was impressed. The demo was quite large and the characters were superbly realized. The demo was not exploitative or insulting in the least. It was actually engaging, thoughtful and even touching. This promises to be a quite entertaining visual novel. I find myself looking forward to it. Still, I feel funny posting this heads up on my blog since I'm pretty sure that...well...there's gonna be talk.
..you know...talk.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
11:33 PM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 208 words, total size 2 kb.
December 01, 2011
Completely Off Topic
Star Turtle Village needs NINJAS!
It's an AWESOME village!
It's got TONS of upgrades, which makes a beginning ninjas life much easier!
And now we are doing a membership drive....hence tacky retro mimeographed FLIERS!
Star Turtle Village needs NINJAS!
It's an AWESOME village!
It's got TONS of upgrades, which makes a beginning ninjas life much easier!
And now we are doing a membership drive....hence tacky retro mimeographed FLIERS!
UPDATE: One of the neat things about this particular time waster is that the stamina limit keeps one from wasting more than about 20 minutes of time a day.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
09:11 PM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 66 words, total size 1 kb.
November 17, 2011
Schemes to Annoy the Virtuous Fan
Ubu speculates and rants on what may (or may not) be a worrisome development.
His concern is that the Japanese companies are simply going to cut the US distributors off. Instead of going that route they might start providing subtitles on their Blu Ray discs like they have done with Dog Days which provided English, French, and Chinese subtitle tracks. Given the seemingly rather myopic and desperate business plan of much of the anime industry, this does not seem far fetched, especially given that the US and Japan share the same region in Blu Ray. One thing is curious about this example though....France and China do NOT have the same region coding as the US and Japan (though of course there are the Quebecois). France, however, is a lucrative anime market and China is just plain huge, so this may be a reflection on the accessibility of region free players. Still, I'd be more concerned about this particular development if the language tracks were Portuguese, Spanish and English. So don't go to pieces just yet...
If this DID happen it would be unfortunate. The US releases would almost certainly penetrate deeper into the US market. There is also the fact that companies that bring this stuff over would be nuked and their now quite talented cadre of Voice Actors dispersed.
Then there is cost...Japanese discs cost several times what the US disks do. The business plan for the Japanese companies seems to revolve around really exorbitant BD with lots of extras and steam removal. This has contributed to the narrowing of the market in Japan, where the merchandise is priced high which weeds out the less fanatical enthusiasts which results in a smaller, more intense market which demands more fan service, which appalls polite society, further shrinking the market which causes the companies to raise prices which shrinks the market yet more thereby increasing the percentage of maladroit fandom demanding panty shots which further marginalizes the market until you get hemlines halfway up the buttocks and plots revolving around bust size competitions (oh wait). Eventually the market will consist entirely of 47 rich trustfunder NEETS who will die out never having touched a woman thus ending the industry.
Only moderate BD prices and Josei can save us from this fate.
On a related note there is this.
This strange bit of corporatism could have interesting results...not necessarily good ones mind you. I do note that this seems to be a sop to the biggest media conglomerates and they are only going for really big ticket properties. Therefore, it most likely will not affect most anime releases and certainly won't have much affect on more obscure shows. Dan Kanimitsu has thoughts. I for one wonder why they dont just have Toho and Daiei hire international actors and a few directors for international adaptations.
Of course, perspective is important. None of this is in any way the end of the world.
"Fandom...doomed...must..tweet EVERYBODY!"
...but of course your mileage may vary.
more...
His concern is that the Japanese companies are simply going to cut the US distributors off. Instead of going that route they might start providing subtitles on their Blu Ray discs like they have done with Dog Days which provided English, French, and Chinese subtitle tracks. Given the seemingly rather myopic and desperate business plan of much of the anime industry, this does not seem far fetched, especially given that the US and Japan share the same region in Blu Ray. One thing is curious about this example though....France and China do NOT have the same region coding as the US and Japan (though of course there are the Quebecois). France, however, is a lucrative anime market and China is just plain huge, so this may be a reflection on the accessibility of region free players. Still, I'd be more concerned about this particular development if the language tracks were Portuguese, Spanish and English. So don't go to pieces just yet...
Then there is cost...Japanese discs cost several times what the US disks do. The business plan for the Japanese companies seems to revolve around really exorbitant BD with lots of extras and steam removal. This has contributed to the narrowing of the market in Japan, where the merchandise is priced high which weeds out the less fanatical enthusiasts which results in a smaller, more intense market which demands more fan service, which appalls polite society, further shrinking the market which causes the companies to raise prices which shrinks the market yet more thereby increasing the percentage of maladroit fandom demanding panty shots which further marginalizes the market until you get hemlines halfway up the buttocks and plots revolving around bust size competitions (oh wait). Eventually the market will consist entirely of 47 rich trustfunder NEETS who will die out never having touched a woman thus ending the industry.
Only moderate BD prices and Josei can save us from this fate.
.....but I digress.
On a related note there is this.
A new company backed by the government will buy the rights to Japanese anime, toys and other creative products and tout them to Hollywood producers.
All Nippon Entertainment Works Co., which has received 6 billion yen (about $80 million) from the 90-percent government-sponsored Innovation Network Corp. of Japan (INCJ), will begin acquiring rights this month. It plans to invest 3 billion yen over the next three years to acquire the rights to 10 products and get movies made.
This strange bit of corporatism could have interesting results...not necessarily good ones mind you. I do note that this seems to be a sop to the biggest media conglomerates and they are only going for really big ticket properties. Therefore, it most likely will not affect most anime releases and certainly won't have much affect on more obscure shows. Dan Kanimitsu has thoughts. I for one wonder why they dont just have Toho and Daiei hire international actors and a few directors for international adaptations.
Of course, perspective is important. None of this is in any way the end of the world.
"Fandom...doomed...must..tweet EVERYBODY!"
more...
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
02:24 AM
| Comments (2)
| Add Comment
Post contains 585 words, total size 5 kb.
November 13, 2011
I Always Liked Pertwee
...so did these fans it would seem.
...so did these fans it would seem.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
03:53 PM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 11 words, total size 1 kb.
November 06, 2011
She's Come From the Sea to Pun-ish Us All
I laughed, I cried..I groaned, I wept, I cried, I laughed, I hurled, I laughed some more...
From the stygian depths of the Pacific, comes a being hell bent upon conquest and fueled by a thirst for vengeance upon all mankind. Spawned of rage at mankind's destruction of the marine ecosystem, the creature lumberers through the surf and slouches inexorably towards its unsuspecting victims. A beachfront noodleshop is the first to feel her wrath, after which...
...um...well...due to various and sundry complications tonight's program of bloody vengeance and world conquest has been delayed indefinitely.
But, there is shrimp fried rice..and the shop's signature ramen.
Thus begins Squid Girl , the tale of a girl from the sea with squid tentacles coming out of her head ,who, due to poor planning, ends up working as a waitress at a seaside noodle shop while she tries to devise various cunning plans to take over the world.
This is actually a nostalgia show, pining for the experience of what going to the beach in Japan was like some years ago. It's also a comedy that is directed by lunatics with a wildly inconsistent style that ranges from slapstick to poignant to just plain silly. The show consists (mostly) of a series of skits. The timing of the sketches is excellent and the production values are top notch.
I've thoroughly enjoyed it.
However, it isn't something that one would think would translate well. For one thing, the shows particular brand of nostalgia's going to be lost on most people here, and then there is Squid Girl's speech tic...adding "degeseo" (which means squid tentacle) to the end of her sentences. This sort of tic is something of a trope in Japan but doesn't work in English, where the closest equivalent is probably "smurf". Bang Zoom, the dub studio, went a similar route...inventing a number of adverbs and adjectives sharing the root word squid...and some puns...occasionally quite a few... episode 4 packs them in like sardines. Some purists will be unable to fathom why they did this. I suspect it was just for the halibut. In any event I laughed.
This show has sole.
All that aside the translation is faithful in spirit and is quite good. Six episodes in I'm quite impressed. It is a cute little show with an upbeat message.
I laughed, I cried..I groaned, I wept, I cried, I laughed, I hurled, I laughed some more...
From the stygian depths of the Pacific, comes a being hell bent upon conquest and fueled by a thirst for vengeance upon all mankind. Spawned of rage at mankind's destruction of the marine ecosystem, the creature lumberers through the surf and slouches inexorably towards its unsuspecting victims. A beachfront noodleshop is the first to feel her wrath, after which...
...um...well...due to various and sundry complications tonight's program of bloody vengeance and world conquest has been delayed indefinitely.
But, there is shrimp fried rice..and the shop's signature ramen.
Thus begins Squid Girl , the tale of a girl from the sea with squid tentacles coming out of her head ,who, due to poor planning, ends up working as a waitress at a seaside noodle shop while she tries to devise various cunning plans to take over the world.
This is actually a nostalgia show, pining for the experience of what going to the beach in Japan was like some years ago. It's also a comedy that is directed by lunatics with a wildly inconsistent style that ranges from slapstick to poignant to just plain silly. The show consists (mostly) of a series of skits. The timing of the sketches is excellent and the production values are top notch.
I've thoroughly enjoyed it.
However, it isn't something that one would think would translate well. For one thing, the shows particular brand of nostalgia's going to be lost on most people here, and then there is Squid Girl's speech tic...adding "degeseo" (which means squid tentacle) to the end of her sentences. This sort of tic is something of a trope in Japan but doesn't work in English, where the closest equivalent is probably "smurf". Bang Zoom, the dub studio, went a similar route...inventing a number of adverbs and adjectives sharing the root word squid...and some puns...occasionally quite a few... episode 4 packs them in like sardines. Some purists will be unable to fathom why they did this. I suspect it was just for the halibut. In any event I laughed.
This show has sole.
All that aside the translation is faithful in spirit and is quite good. Six episodes in I'm quite impressed. It is a cute little show with an upbeat message.
I'm particularly surprised that something as gentle and wholesome as this show was picked up by Media Blasters, who did Queen's Blade, Ikkitousen, and K...KanoKon. I guess it was a fluke.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
07:50 PM
| Comments (1)
| Add Comment
Post contains 427 words, total size 3 kb.
October 29, 2011
The Thing (2011)
The local movie critic said it was "delightfully campy". In retrospect this is a bizarre way to describe this film. However it gave me confidence that I could take a friend without
fear of reprisal*. Both the Howard Hawks, and the John Carpenter versions are classics and this not only had big shoes to fill, it is a prequel to boot so we know how it's gonna end...pretty much.
The staff at a Norwegian research outpost in Antarctica discover someTHING buried in the ice.
The Carpenter version had a sequence set in the Norweigian base with the Americans finding really odd "clues" to the mayhem that transpired there. This film fastidiously explains every one of those shots. In that sense it almost feels like fan-fic, complete with a Mary Sue.
But it's good fan-fic. The film may not be on the same level as the other two but is a perfectly solid thriller. The suspense, paranoia and confusion are excacerbated by the language barriers in the international team, with people at one point literally having 2 different conversations with one another.
My only real complaint is the heavy use of CGI, to complement the excellent puppet work, but it is, all in all, quite well paced and creepy. I actually recommend this one.
A few random and spoilerish thoughts
*Red Planet and Hulk still have not been forgiven.
The staff at a Norwegian research outpost in Antarctica discover someTHING buried in the ice.
The Carpenter version had a sequence set in the Norweigian base with the Americans finding really odd "clues" to the mayhem that transpired there. This film fastidiously explains every one of those shots. In that sense it almost feels like fan-fic, complete with a Mary Sue.
But it's good fan-fic. The film may not be on the same level as the other two but is a perfectly solid thriller. The suspense, paranoia and confusion are excacerbated by the language barriers in the international team, with people at one point literally having 2 different conversations with one another.
My only real complaint is the heavy use of CGI, to complement the excellent puppet work, but it is, all in all, quite well paced and creepy. I actually recommend this one.
A few random and spoilerish thoughts
*Red Planet and Hulk still have not been forgiven.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
04:21 PM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 232 words, total size 4 kb.
October 20, 2011
Buy Cool Stuff...Help Out a Fan
One of life's calamities has hit an Otakuette who goes by the handle of "Arlnee". She is currently selling her collection on E-Bay to raise funds.
Ooohmygod she's got some of the most awesomest stuff ever!
Ooohmygod she's got some of the most awesomest stuff ever!
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
07:17 PM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 42 words, total size 1 kb.
September 12, 2011
Hidemari Sketch: Hoshimittsu
The third Hidemari Sketch series picks up the 'story' in the next semester and sees 2 more girls join the 4 previous characters. It continues with more of the same. The new season's animation's rather better, but increasing the core cast from 4 to 6 thins the available bandwidth for character development a bit. Still, its well paced. Those who liked the previous incarnations are likely to enjoy this one.
They seem a bit more chibi-fied on this cover.
For those unfamiliar with the franchise, it is based on a 4 panel comic strip and involves the antics of a group of young ladies going to a small but well regarded art school as they try to cope with living in a town extensively polluted by the detrius of an exploded zipatone factory,
( That last bit might not be canon)
Being about art students and written by creative types, it's sort of a Mary Sue strip for aspiring artists. The humor is generally pretty dry and revolves mainly around sketch comedy and character bits. The pacing reminds me a lot of Peanuts.
The art and direction is exceedingly quirky. This latter may grow out of the first series being a throwaway filler show with no budget. The production team seems to have compensated for their initial lack of resources with offbeat art and a LOT of screen-tone. The first series was a runaway hit and SHAFT seems to have responded by throwing money at the animation team, though the quirkiness remains.
They seem a bit more chibi-fied on this cover.
( That last bit might not be canon)
Being about art students and written by creative types, it's sort of a Mary Sue strip for aspiring artists. The humor is generally pretty dry and revolves mainly around sketch comedy and character bits. The pacing reminds me a lot of Peanuts.
The art and direction is exceedingly quirky. This latter may grow out of the first series being a throwaway filler show with no budget. The production team seems to have compensated for their initial lack of resources with offbeat art and a LOT of screen-tone. The first series was a runaway hit and SHAFT seems to have responded by throwing money at the animation team, though the quirkiness remains.
One thing I did find slightly dismaying:
The characters are all living in an apartment complex near the school and one of them is an established (and award winning) writer who has enrolled in the school to learn to draw so she can illustrate her light novels. So...I'd gotten it into my head that this was a college and that Sae was much older than the rest. That was certainly the vibe I got from the first two discs.
This show makes it much clearer that the art school is actually a high school. It just specializes in art.
The characters are all living in an apartment complex near the school and one of them is an established (and award winning) writer who has enrolled in the school to learn to draw so she can illustrate her light novels. So...I'd gotten it into my head that this was a college and that Sae was much older than the rest. That was certainly the vibe I got from the first two discs.
This show makes it much clearer that the art school is actually a high school. It just specializes in art.
This means that ...ummm...Sae is a high school student....which for some reason makes me feel both dirty and old.
"Why would that make...?...!!...Oh God...I just threw up a little in my mouth."
"Why would that make...?...!!...Oh God...I just threw up a little in my mouth."
Despite that jarring realization It's still an enjoyable little franchise. A third of the way in this third installment is holding up very well.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
12:25 PM
| Comments (8)
| Add Comment
Post contains 410 words, total size 3 kb.
September 05, 2011
Legalities of the Reboot
Brian Wang at Next Big Future has an interesting post on some of the legal reasons behind the Superman Costume changes that are part of the upcoming DC Reboot.
Art by Rags Morales
Art by Rags Morales
It looks to be at least in part a legal gambit to deny the Siegel and Schuster estates ownership of the properties.
Most interesting to me is this bit from Brian Wang:
This could actually be interesting.
Most interesting to me is this bit from Brian Wang:
The interpretations also seem to be that the Siegel and Shuster families will be able to start developing movies and other projects with the portions of copyright that they control starting in 2013.
Their version of Superman would seem to be legally restricted from developing the powers of flight. They would be forced to stay at the power levels of Action #1 and the first two weeks of strips. Although both parties would be free to create new works based on these separate versions. I think it would be perfectly possible the 1938 Superman to be made very interesting and vibrant franchise.
This could actually be interesting.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
12:19 PM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 176 words, total size 2 kb.
August 27, 2011
Confession Time
With the storm almost upon me I feel the need to confess something I have been holding back for a couple of years.
I...
I liked Pani Poni Dash.
It is a terribly stupid, pointless show but every bonecrushingly inane episode made me laugh. Worse, as the jokes reference everything from Matango to Scott Pilgrim, the fact that I understood many of them is a damming condemnation of my wasted life.
Also: Taeko explains much about the world.
I...
I liked Pani Poni Dash.
It is a terribly stupid, pointless show but every bonecrushingly inane episode made me laugh. Worse, as the jokes reference everything from Matango to Scott Pilgrim, the fact that I understood many of them is a damming condemnation of my wasted life.
Also: Taeko explains much about the world.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
05:34 AM
| Comments (2)
| Add Comment
Post contains 80 words, total size 1 kb.
August 21, 2011
HIGH SCHOOL OF THE DEAD
Oh boy...another high school show.
Much like Hidemari Sketch, this show concerns cute girls in a high school who get stressed out over the little curveballs life throws at them.
HIGH SCHOOL OF THE DEAD differs in that the curveballs include flesh eating zombies.
more...
Much like Hidemari Sketch, this show concerns cute girls in a high school who get stressed out over the little curveballs life throws at them.
HIGH SCHOOL OF THE DEAD differs in that the curveballs include flesh eating zombies.
The whole zombie apocalypse idea has been done so often that it is a cliche' and this show breaks no new ground in overall concept. However, it is a very well executed example of the genre.
Now I have heard some complaints about the show and the most persistent one is that the fanservice is excessive.
There is some truth to this...
Not only are there lots of powertools...
Now I have heard some complaints about the show and the most persistent one is that the fanservice is excessive.
There is some truth to this...
Not only are there lots of powertools...
....but we get to see cute, snarky, intelligent girls using said power tools and doing so in a manner not consistent with manufacturer recommendations!
Oh golly willakers!
Oh..wait....yeah...the other fans.
Actually this show did come close to diminishing returns. as it is quite gratuitous in both its horror...
...and occasionally its cheesecake.
However, the show has superb pacing, likable characters and very good writing. The dub is one of the absolute best I have ever heard, with rapid-fire dialog that is fantastically delivered. The rewrite for the dub is faithful but a bit more engaging than the subs. This is one of 3 or four shows that I think are better in their US dubbed versions. The American VA's do a stellar job in bringing out the characters They really make this show work with character nuances the subs can't quite catch.
The show is an excersize in gratuity, but it never bored me and did not devolve into utter nihilism. I quite enjoyed it.
UPDATE: The dubiously researched fluid dynamics animation above is from one particular episode that is...excessively...excessive in that regard. However, switching gears did serve as a welcome respite from the horror. As gruesome and silly as the show can be, it was actually that episode which made it clear that the show is ultimately about people who looked into that dark pit and determined that they will not abandon their humanity.
Shorter version...HSOTD is a sucking chest wound of awesome.
Slightly spoileriffic character sketches below the fold.
Actually this show did come close to diminishing returns. as it is quite gratuitous in both its horror...
Just think. Men who have never seen real boobs move were paid money to animate this.
However, the show has superb pacing, likable characters and very good writing. The dub is one of the absolute best I have ever heard, with rapid-fire dialog that is fantastically delivered. The rewrite for the dub is faithful but a bit more engaging than the subs. This is one of 3 or four shows that I think are better in their US dubbed versions. The American VA's do a stellar job in bringing out the characters They really make this show work with character nuances the subs can't quite catch.
The show is an excersize in gratuity, but it never bored me and did not devolve into utter nihilism. I quite enjoyed it.
UPDATE: The dubiously researched fluid dynamics animation above is from one particular episode that is...excessively...excessive in that regard. However, switching gears did serve as a welcome respite from the horror. As gruesome and silly as the show can be, it was actually that episode which made it clear that the show is ultimately about people who looked into that dark pit and determined that they will not abandon their humanity.
Shorter version...HSOTD is a sucking chest wound of awesome.
Slightly spoileriffic character sketches below the fold.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
10:40 PM
| Comments (3)
| Add Comment
Post contains 898 words, total size 9 kb.
August 10, 2011
Ga-Rei-Zero Very First Impressions
I've worked down my "to watch" pile to Ga-Rei-Zero.
The set is encased in a very hefty box, over an inch thick. It is being sold only in DVD blue-ray combo packs which gives Funimation an excuse to jack up the price. There is a thin layer of plastic surrounding the box upon which is affixed a sticker that says $44.99. This is a point of some consternation as the price plummeted days after I bought this set. The plastic around the set breaks easily. The box with disc 2 is not individually wrapped, but the one containing the first disc is. It requires a knife to open. Despite the weight and size of the packaging there are no fannish extras in the box whatsoever (aside from a Funimation subscription card but that hardly counts). The only thing accounting for the extra weight and bulk is the presence of 2 discs in a format I did not want. They are packaged with 1 BD and 1DVD in each volume-specific case so I can't even sell the Blueray discs.
Well...those are my first impressions. Sometime this week I'll have to watch it, but first I need to do Queens Blade and Hidemari Sketch reviews...the combination of which I fear might give me whiplash.
The set is encased in a very hefty box, over an inch thick. It is being sold only in DVD blue-ray combo packs which gives Funimation an excuse to jack up the price. There is a thin layer of plastic surrounding the box upon which is affixed a sticker that says $44.99. This is a point of some consternation as the price plummeted days after I bought this set. The plastic around the set breaks easily. The box with disc 2 is not individually wrapped, but the one containing the first disc is. It requires a knife to open. Despite the weight and size of the packaging there are no fannish extras in the box whatsoever (aside from a Funimation subscription card but that hardly counts). The only thing accounting for the extra weight and bulk is the presence of 2 discs in a format I did not want. They are packaged with 1 BD and 1DVD in each volume-specific case so I can't even sell the Blueray discs.
Well...those are my first impressions. Sometime this week I'll have to watch it, but first I need to do Queens Blade and Hidemari Sketch reviews...the combination of which I fear might give me whiplash.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
11:54 PM
| Comments (2)
| Add Comment
Post contains 216 words, total size 1 kb.
95kb generated in CPU 0.0169, elapsed 0.0465 seconds.
36 queries taking 0.035 seconds, 138 records returned.
Powered by Minx 1.1.6c-pink.
36 queries taking 0.035 seconds, 138 records returned.
Powered by Minx 1.1.6c-pink.
