Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 12:43 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Don has discovered all sorts of wondrous things, including this gem.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 01:50 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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   Pulpjunkie provided me with the first episode of this show, which I had high hopes for. It met and rather exceeded those expectations.

Daikichi Kawachi, a thirtysomething Japanese bachelor attends his grandfather funeral. To his astonishment he learns that his grandfather had, 4 years prior, sired Rin, an illegitimate child...a blonde illegitimate child...who he had been raising after the mother abandoned her.

The extended family is utterly appalled by the little girls existence and want nothing to do with her. Despite there being families with kids present, everyone refuses to take the girl and the family meeting quickly becomes an excersize to determine who will get rid of the little girl as quickly as possible. 

Daikichi is sickened by the rough treatment the girl is getting and cannot abide the child being disowned and sent to an orphanage. So he adopts his aunt...thus begins the series.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 01:33 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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John C. Wright has postulated it!

Logically, Catgirl Space Princesses require only a few more variables be added.

^{Asbobi Ni Iku...which for some reason will be called Cat Planet Cuties in the US}

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 05:21 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I had found the first 4 episodes of this show to be dry but cute and they had made me laugh. So last night, a friend and I popped in the second disc.

The show is still dry but the characters are developing quite well as the young ladies are hone their instrumental, singing and blackmail skills while dealing with the various speedbumps of life.  Unlike the shows earlier episodes the girls misadventures are not overwhelmingly failures. They do have quite a few successes: most notably in the blackmail department.

 Hearing Stephanie Shea and Christina Vee sing was...startling, but they did a pretty good job and the dub overall continues to be above average.


I actually like this show a lot more now. The faculty adviser is a surprisingly interesting character who really gets the show moving. As it is a show about a music club, one would expect there to be music, it does, and it has an awesome soundtrack.

The show is very cute, didn't bore me and made me laugh. It also teaches an important and sobering life lesson...madness can lurk in the most unexpected places.

^{Stark Raving Whackadoodle Win!}

Anyway, I can firmly recommend the show. I will be collecting this.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 08:42 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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...and that's only the tip of the iceberg.

Allow me to explain.

Some years ago, a fan from my neck of the woods (one Amy Player) convinced several members of the LOTR cast that she was Elijah Wood's nephew/cousin/brother/something'r'other and conned them (and a great many Lord of the Rings fans) into donating to and otherwise supporting a bogus charity that turned out to be the Amy Player enrichment fund.

It gets worse.
Much worse.

Now she/he* has gone and gotten people killed.

Colleen Doran has a long, well researched post on this.

Read the whole thing. It is incredible and it is all true.

 ^{I see Ritzu and Yui have read it.}

Be advised that, as one of her commenters points out, the story is like a TV tropes thread. This psychopath has cut an intricate, vast and nigh unbelievable swath of misery, theft and betrayal through several branches of fandom.

This has rather more urgency than it might because the person is still out there preying on people. Even now,  under the name Andrew Blake, this character is running...yet another charity. Appallingly, it is dedicated to the memories of those that this sick person helped get killed.

Warn your friends in fandom, especially those involved in cons. Put the word out. This louse is a crook and any charity said louse is involved in is likely to be a scam.

 There is a collection of photos of this parasite here.

There is an excellent written account of Amy Players Continent Spanning Lord of the Rings charity scam by Jeanine Renne. It can be bought here.

UPDATE:

This gets creepier still.

It seems that there is another Andrew Blake who is actually known and presumably respected in the charity/NGO community.

This bit of trivia might explain why this waste of skin got such high profile endorsements for his most recent venture (Which includes Starbucks).

UPDATE2:

Via Colleen Doran

Oh how nice, a little clarification just got posted at the completely superfluous "It’s About Power” non-event.

"We are NOT a charity. We do not and have never solicited monetary donations nor do we accept them.
Under any circumstances.
The hike team has, however, sold items in order to fund their emergency cash as this kind of hike can be dangerous.
The only sponsorship we are currently requesting is 78lbs. of bison (or lean red) meat.”

Isn’t that special. Never claimed to be a charity? Never solicited donations? Pull the other one.

Backpedal faster, Andrew.

Someone really ought to tell these nitwits that a gift of property is just as tangible as a gift of money, and soliciting property is still soliciting.

There is no reason for anyone to sponsor this nonsense at all. Not even to feed the animals.

* _{( its unclear to me if there was ever surgery involved, the person was a trap when going by the name Amy Player, or the person in question is just a misandrist moby pretending to be a guy)}

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 01:40 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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A few weeks ago Worlds Best Comics, the store run by my friend BOB!1!^tm was robbed. The thief made off with the register...on a Sunday night/Monday morning...This was a pretty bad hit for the store.

One of the more minor bits of fallout from this was only just realized this week: In the ensuing Chaos and confusion the Sentai Filmworks order for June was not placed...no HSotD on the 28th. This has been rectified....but there is no Zombie Cheesecake for Ken this weekend.

So I wait.

In the meantime I ponder spontaneous hydroponics.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 12:24 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 10:46 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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I really hope this release is successful. I'm actually pulling for ZOMBIE ADV Sentai Filmworks, but in a larger sense, I suspect that sales of this show (which given buzz and subject ought to be a runaway hit) are going to be very closely scrutinized with regards to the future viability of the R-1 Market. In other words, if this isn't a hit the viability of companies like  Sentai, Funimation and the others might be dubious indeed.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 01:08 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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June 28!

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 09:06 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Almost 40 years represented here.

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Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 11:37 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Dourakuoyadi(?) has added pics from two Japanese modeling conventions. The focus is mostly on the Yamato/Starblazers models but there are all types and they are gorgeous. See here and here.

^{This is not from Laputa...it is from a Fleischer Superman short that inspired Miyazaki.}

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 11:24 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I overslept by quite a bit.  I'm running hither and yon and can't get past the feeling I'm just some rat in a maze. Now I'm am having difficulties with a prism right now and I've  made a Faustian bargain with a potato who I'm convinced is plotting against me.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 03:49 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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1 It looks like someone managed to save much of his work here: http://66.90.103.241/album.php?id=11520

I've always liked his iPod girls.

-j

Posted by: J Greely at Fri May 20 19:37:28 2011 (fpXGN)

2 Seriously, ow, but still better than a heart attack.

And way to go turning misfortune into academic credit.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at Sat May 21 05:00:15 2011 (PiXy!)

3 Whoa!  That site is massively not safe for work.  Good thing I don't have an office-mate.

Posted by: Mitch H. at Mon May 23 16:20:47 2011 (jwKxK)

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  My midichlorean levels are embarrassingly low.

I had been completely unaware of Star Wars Day, until I saw a link to this post over at Ace of Spades. It is a good read actually, discussing the macroeconomic, political and diplomatic ramifications of blowing up Aderaan. No. Really. Read the whole thing.

Also... propaganda posters.

Heightists.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 05:27 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I had planned to watch Angelic Layer this evening, but this afternoon I happened into DVD#1 of K-ON!, bought it, went to a friends house and we watched it.

This is the show that dominated its time-slot in Japan and was such a phenomenon that the 13 episode series was brought back as a 26 episode show and a series of OVAs. This show is legendary. It is considered one of the crowning moments of awesome in anime...

All that plugging however,  means that this quiet little show is so oversold that it cannot help but disappoint if one has been following the buzz.

After all the hype, I was expecting, I dunno, Lucky Star + The Simpsons + Bacon.

4 episodes in there there is no bacon.
There is however, cake in abundance.

Once you get past the hype, K-ON! is a cute, rather dry, sitcom that revolves around three of the 4 members of a music club at a girls preparatory school who try to save their club and their dreams from the clubs weakest link. The characters thus far are mostly pretty engaging....mostly.


 Ritsu Tainaka is driven, ambitious, undisciplined and a little mad. She wants badly be a drummer and ends up president of the Light Music Club by default (when she joins, she is its only member).


Mio Akiyama has been best friends with Ritsu for many years. Despite this she seems more or less sane and well adjusted.  A competent bass guitarist, she nevertheless joins the club under protest. However, she quickly becomes quite determined to make the club a success.


Tsumugi Kotobuki is rich beyond the dreams of avarice and has had a quite sheltered life thus far. This prep school is in many ways her first real interaction with normal people. Having mastered the keyboard as a child she was initially intending to join the glee club. She changed her mind when she saw Mio and Ritsu arguing. She decided that these are the sorts of dysfunctional people that get into wacky situations like on TV. She is a superb cook, has impeccable manners and a kind personality, but it is unclear if she thinks of her friends as people...or pets.


Yui Hirasawa seems to be the result of a science experiment that successfully combined the traits of fingernails, a chalkboard and ADD. An utterly unfocused spaz, she joins the club despite the fact that she can only play the castanets. She is a valued asset to the club because a minimum of 4 members are required to maintain the club charter. To that end the other members provide her with much cake. They also persuade her to try and learn the guitar.

 I'd seen episode 1 in Japanese some years ago, and had thought it had potential. My biggest problem thus far is Yui who is initially such a cringeworthy exercise in fail that I find her painful to watch at times. Note that it is obvious by episode 3 that she has a genuine problem and is trying to deal with it.

However, 4 episodes in, I'm already seeing that there is actual character development going on, particularly in Mio and Yui (who seems to be becoming a slightly less central character).

It is a cute show and I did laugh. The interplay between the characters various flavors of awkwardness is developing a comedic synergy as it progresses.

All in all, I liked it. I'm going to pick up at least the second disc. After all, it's hard to go wrong with cute girls and cake.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 04:24 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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 Some time ago I picked up the box set of Angelic Layer and I recently watched the first disc. My curiosity was piqued by the fact that Chobits was sort of a sequel to this show, and while Chobits was not entirely my cup of tea, it WAS quite interesting.

Unlike Chobits, this seems very much to be a kids show, but at the end of the first disc it seems to be quite an engaging and thoughtful one. 

The place Tokyo:
The time, 20 minutes into the future (of 1999):
Misaki Suzuhara arrives at Tokyo station having come from her grandparents farm in utter sticksville prefecture.
While negotiating the multilevel maze that is the station her attention is drawn to what seems to be a female wrestling match with exquisite choreography. She is then set upon by a really creepy guy in a lab coat who explains that this is the newest sport in Japan:Angelic Layer.

It seems that a few years prior, someone carried the Tamagotchi concept to its next level. Instead of a virtual pet in an egg-shaped locket, the angels are little humanoid robots sold unformed in "Angel Eggs" and customized by their owners both physically and mentally. They can be maneuvered via a thought control interface on an appropriately equipped table and naturally  the first thing that occurred to girls all over the nation was to have cock-fights with their little humanoid robot pets. This is now a HUGE phenomenon throughout Japan, with national tournaments, prizes, and so forth.     Cyber-cafes are giving large amounts of space to Angelic Layer training arenas.

Misaki rather impulsively spends most of her money on an angel starter kit and promptly suffers a scissors mishap while styling her dolls hair. This results in it not having the flowing locks most Angels do. Still, she adores it, names it Hikaru and decides to learn how to operate it. In short order our heroine unwittingly finds herself in an official match, which she wins, and through the machinations of 'creepy lab coat guy' she is enrolled a tournament; thus begins the Angelic Layer career of Misaki and Hikaru.

This is over a decade old but it holds up well. There's a lot of depth here, both in the world and the characters. Misaki Suzuhara actually has a fairly dark back story. It is unclear if her grandfather died or is simply unable to care for her. What is clear is that her mother abandoned her to her grandparents some time ago, in any event she is now staying with her aunt. Her mother does not want to meet her daughter even though she now lives quite close to Misaki. There is also a side plot about something genuinely weird and not a little dark going on.  For all that, it is a upbeat, even inspiring show. The production values are pretty good and the world is exceedingly well imagined.

The details of the fights and their choreography are well thought out, and, this being CLAMP, there are a lot of nice touches like the fact that there is a high value placed on presentation (one is required to have a really spiffy opening monologue) The "sport" attracts a lot of young people, who, regardless of stature or physical ability, can be sports stars...vicariously...through their dolls. A lot of thought went into this.

There is a lot to like about this series 5 episodes in and while I'm not entirely sure where it is going I am very interested to find out where it ends up. I'm liking it.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 11:58 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 06:18 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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People from an imaginary future, talking about how viewers can get info on a real program that won't exist in the future.

Oh my!

Perhaps I should convert my dollars into quatloos.

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Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 08:40 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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1 Who's the one in the back with the green hair? I don't recognize her.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at Mon Apr 25 17:25:23 2011 (+rSRq)

2 I'm not sure.
I assume she is from 'season2' which is part of a large 'to do' pile for after exams.

I expect we'll have an answer here or at your site long before then though.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Mon Apr 25 18:44:05 2011 (EJaOX)

3 Her name is Emiri Kimidori.  She first appeared as the supposed-girlfriend of the President of the Computer Research Society ("Mysterique Sign", season 1), then later was the secretary of the Student Council. 

She's also (probably) a Human Interface, just like Nagato... in fact, she might be her superior.
In other words, she's a minor character... or not.

Posted by: Wonderduck at Tue Apr 26 19:53:00 2011 (EJaOX)

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