Found while searching (almost fruitlessly for Wonderful Days(aka Sky Blue) at CD Japan:Cowboy Bebop Extra Sessions Now if only I had a region 2 DVD player...
It's so easy to just post everything on My LiveJournal, so I apologize for the lack of updates (I seem to apologize for that a lot, don't I?) I'm sure by now all of you have pretty much given up on seeing anything new around here, but that is going to change.
First of all, I need to do some editing on this page right here. I don't read a lot of webcomics anymore, so the links are going to go. If you use this page as a portal (though I couldn't see why you would, really) to your favorite webcomics, bookmark them now or forever hold your peace.
This is, as I said before, going to be mainly for anime, manga and website-related items. Now that it appears that the site will be updated more and more regularly (thank you LMH and Chajo!), hopefully there'll be reasons for visiting our little corner of the Internet. Also in the works is a revamp of the local Anime Club (thank you, Jun!), so there might actually be some news soon.
I'd like to promise at least monthly, if not weekly updates to UM. It's not for a lack of material; there's been a million times in the past few months I've wanted to express an opinion or talk about something I've seen, and haven't taken the time out to log on and do it. It's laziness on my part, I know, and I apologize (there I go again).
Another part of it is work and school and church colliding. Updating UM is like anything else, I suppose--time must be made to do it, if it's important.
Which it is. Or more to the point, you--and I know you're out there, gentle readers--are what's important. Thanks for sticking around.
Either that or I'm sitting here talking to myself. Either way. ^_^
2:39 PM
Monday, September 06, 2004 One More Time
I just got an email in my inbox that the Interstella 5555 figures are now available! W00t!
Well, well. Am I shooting for one post a month or something? Eesh.
Another school year is upon us, and with that, Anime Club v2.0. Berserker, our esteemed summertime prez, has handed the reins over to none other than our librarian Jun. In her capable hands, hopefully this will be a year to remember--probably systematically watching the entire run of Urusei Yatsura, if Jun has her way! ^_^ Just kidding!
The other day, I was thinking to myself, "I wonder when Piro is coming out with book 3 for Megatokyo? That very day, I went to read the latest page, and voila! there was a big bunch of news about it in Piro's rant. Go check it out, as well as a preview of the cover image!
You know I'm always on the hunt for interesting webcomics to add to my collection, and through MT I found Alpha Shade, a richly detailed and colored comic about Laura, the young commander of an army engaged in a bitter struggle for survival. A cross between Red Star and Starship Troopers, Alpha Shade is set in an alternate universe where fearsome winged creatures dogfight with biplanes and men and women fight side by side in combat. Laura's chief advisor is a telepathic cat named Lord Gray, who despite his diminutive furry stature, commands such respect from the troops that they kneel when he passes!
Be warned: this is a gritty portrayal of war, complete with graphic violence and a moderate amount of blood, so anyone with kiddies younger than 13 may want to steer clear.
I just started 'flixing Martian Successor Nadesico, and already I'm loving it. Nadesico is a classic, and I can see why--it's just a heck of a lot of fun. Somewhat of a parody of other dramatic series such as Neon Genesis Evangelion and Spaceship Yamato(Star Blazers), Nadesico has comedy, romance, slapstick silliness, squeaky girls, angsty unwilling boy-pilots, over-the-top braggarts, mecha madness, and space opera all rolled into one colorful package. Top it all off with Ruri-chan, the dead-eyed science officer ('This is what Spock would be if he were a preteen girl' read the character notes), and you've got a crowd-pleaser. Vacillating between funny, sweet, and heart-tugging, Nadesico is one series where I went "AWW! That's the end of disc 1 already?!"
On a more serious note, please keep Bachan of Hero in the 21st Century in your thoughts. She is battling a long illness, and although her prognosis is good, it's a difficult time for her family. We wish her well and hope she can get back to her wonderful art and story soon!
That's all for now. I'll write when I've got more news.
Friday, July 16, 2004 Blue Light Special By way of Anime On Dvd, I found out about a great sale at Right Stuf on Bandai DVDs and CDs. It only lasts through 7/25, so head on over there. I got the Complete Collection of Big O(season 1) as a replacement set for the ones that, erm, got lent out...
The set is originally $46, but on Right Stuf they're about $40, and with the 40% coupon from the Bandai "Bonanza" sale, with S+H, I paid $31. No joke. 4 discs for just about the price of one. Very nice...
You can narrow down the search on the RS site to pull just Bandai items, which makes it easier; I originally tried to go through my mental catalogue of favorites and was going to have to visit each one to see if it was a Bandai title. I wish Saikano(Viz) and Last Exile(Gonzo) belonged to Bandai, just for a week...
See my LiveJournalfor my AX04 report. I promise to have the 3rd and final installment up soon!
Can't go to anime club tonight; it's finals week next week(and guess who put off all her homework to do until the last minute. Uh huh, that would be me). Boo.
Aw, crap! I just realized I didn't see if Evangelion was a Bandai title! Whew, no. I just remembered; it's from Gainax. @_@ Duhhh...bad anime fan, bad anime fan!
Okay, WHERE are the Interstella 5555 toys that were supposed to come out? I think Jun and Mr. Wizard and I deserve a preview. You know, just to make sure they aren't teh suck. Really.
I know, I know. Two updates in two days. Who would have thought? Enjoy it while it lasts.
I'm going to do some research on my own for this too, but does anyone have a copy of an anime parody trailer for Evil Dead, or know where I could download one? Asmodeus loves that movie and I thought he'd get a huge kick out of it. The parody trailer was absolutely hysterical. "Gimme some sugar, baby!"
Greg from Real Life is celebrating his 23rd birthday (well, technically the date's passed but hey, better late than never) this week, so show him some love. Happy Birthday, Greg!
Per an announcement on their site, Asidian and Beanclam, the ladies of The Castings will be attending at Anime Expo this year! This will be their first time at AX. Although Beanclam didn't specify where they would be, logic says they'll be around the Artist's Alley (though it was in a weird place last year, under the escalator in the convention center if I'm not mistaken) so stop by and say howdy.
When I first browsed the live programming schedule for AX a few weeks ago, my eyes about fell out of my head when I saw "Megatokyo w/Fred Gallagher" on the list. Alas, it was not meant to be, and Fred is taking a much-needed break from convention going for a while. More's the pity, but I'm sure Sarah appreciates the fact that her hubby will be close to home. ^_^ So hopefully I'm (when I say 'I', I mean I will be dragging HotRod along too, heh heh) going to go to the Webcomics panel that they're having instead. Don't know exactly who's going to be there, though.
Speaking of webcomics and conventions, I found a nifty webcomic ABOUT conventions (I think I picked up a flyer for this site last year but just never got the chance to go there)! Courtesy of a webring on The Castings site, I found Is It Con Yet?, a tale of three friends--Trevor, Nathan, and 'Tember--who join in the fun of cosplay, catgirls, and J-pop cuties, all while battling transportation woes, annoying little sisters, and con security. Fun stuff! I think it's updated twice monthly, but don't quote me on that. The coloring job is very nicely done, and it gets extra kudos from me 'cause Trevor likes to cosplay as Breetai from Robotech. ^_^
I'm going to repost links to Dominic Deegan: Oracle for Hire, The Castings, and add one for Is It Con Yet? up at the top of this screen for easy reference. I had gone through some housecleaning before Easter and hadn't gone back and redone things.
Wednesday, June 23, 2004 Yet Another Thing I Don't Know How I Lived Without
Thank goodness for Anime on DVD. Like most otaku, I have a limited budget to spend on discs, and have fallen prey to the whole "Hey, this looks pretty good/uggh, why did I spend $20-$30 on a single volume I'll never watch again" thing in the past. However, the folks over at AODVD seem to take their job seriously (do they get paid for this?? I'm not really sure; do they get paid in swag? Interesting) and by their own admission, try to keep up as best they can with new releases. What I like is that (also by their own admission on the site) no matter if the companies send them review copies, the staff always goes out and buys their own discs, and the review copies go into a pile for contest giveaways and such.
The reviewers at AODVD seem to use a home theatre-like setup to review, with surround sound and a big TV (most of the on-staff reviewers list what equipment they viewed the title with), and their critiques of the discs sometimes go over my head when it comes to the technical bits. I sort of know what they're talking about though...
Other than that, the reviewers are honest with their opinions and aren't shy with how they feel about the disc, good or bad. If it's good, they'll tell you it's good, even if they don't particularly care for the subject matter (though I would assume that most of the reviewers choose discs to review that look interesting to them). If it's bad, they'll tell you why, rather than just "I hated it, it sux0r". I enjoyed reading the reviews for Big O (both seasons) just because I like seeing what other people's impressions are. For instance, it was nice to confirm that I wasn't crazy when I remarked to LMH that the look of the show had changed a little in Season 2! However, according to Mr. Bainbridge (the reviewer), the changes were positive and just added to his appreciation of the series. I can live with that.
I have a mixed opinion about Newtype USA giving out teaser discs in every issue. On one hand, it's a pretty cool thing to give out a DVD in a magazine. On the other, it's cruel because you see the first episode of something that looks interesting, but you're not really sure you'll like it (see my conundrum above) until you see more episodes. Granted, this is where anime club comes in, but still...
Anyway, my point is this: a while back, I bought an NTUSA and didn't realize until I got it home that someone had swiped the discs out of it. Asmodeus was kind enough to lend me his (figures that it had been a double-disc issue) and I spent a happy evening watching both. One of the series previewed was Figure 17, a sweet series about a Tsubasa, a little girl from Tokyo who moves to Hokkaido with her dad. The series takes a hard left into scifi when an alien crashes not far from her house, and Tsubasa gets swept up in the battle between the alien (who turns out to be an intergalactic policeman) and a truly scary enemy. Anyway, without giving too much away, I thought the series looked interesting, but I want to know if it's going to be worth my hard earned cash. I remembered AODVD! Mr. Bainbridge had also reviewed Figure 17 and gave it a good rating. Hmm. Guess I might think about buying it now...
In contrast, a series that follows a bit of the same line (as in little girl gets caught up in an intergalactic war) is Brigadoon, which is also a manga. AODVD panned this, saying that it was nice to look at but quickly devolved into a PWP (Plot? What Plot?). Hmm. Guess I won't think about buying it (or at least until I see a few eps anyway). Mao-Chan received a similar review: cute to look at but eh.
Not that I'll take AODVDs opinions as gospel truth. It's just a nice tool to use (as well as talking to other otaku) in making up one's mind. Obviously, one watches Happy Lesson and Excel Saga and Neon Genesis Evangelion in different moods and for different reasons. It's all a matter of taste and what you want at that moment. Can I get a witness, Amen?!
In other news, Kitty-chan (AKA Hello Kitty) is celebrating her 30th birthday this year! Yay! =^.^=
AX04 is looming large on the horizon. This time next week I'll be packing my suitcase and preparing to lose myself in complete and utter g33kdom. Ahh.
