10.31.2007
All Hallow's Eve 2007
As I stand here in my room, rocking out to the new "Guitar Hero III" on the PS3, I thought I'd take a break and spew out some recommendations for anyone looking for something to do in between each wave of trick-or-treaters. Of course, what better thing to do than watch some good old anime? My favorites, especially during this time of year, include "Hellsing," "Vampire Hunter D," "Boogiepop Phantom," and "The Soultaker." However, I'm sure the movie of the night will be "SAW IV." And if you are into "Guild Wars," don't forget to visit Lion's Arch. This will be the last night of festivities. If you feel so inclined, be sure to check out Kotaku.com. For the past couple of days, they have been featuring pumpkin art of our favorite video game heroes and villains alike. Most importantly, don't forget to check out your usual anime sources. Vendors such as advfilms.com, animenation.com, discountanimedvd.com and many others are slashing prices for the main event. So anyways, enjoy. I leave you with my pumpkin creation for 2007. The front door beckons once more.
10.30.2007
BEE MOVIE
We arrived "early" only to find a long winding line, a huge "small" popcorn, a funky tasting mystery soda, and a packed theater with 3 entire rows ridiculously reserved for the press. After finding some of the only seats left, down in the front section, and some delay, the Dreamworks logo finally appears and finally the movie. I usually try to avoid sitting up front, but left with no other choice, I actually think it made the movie even more enjoyable. We were flying and zooming along side with the bees.
Meet Barry B. Benson (Jerry Seinfeld), a bee who has recently graduated from college and is getting ready to choose a career he'll keep for the rest of his life. Unable to conform to this "yellow and black" lifestyle, Barry seeks to adventure outside the hive where he meets a human florist named Vanessa (Renee Zellweger). Jam packed with big celebrity names, "BEE MOVIE" delivers a whopping help of laugh out loud moments, animation sequences to match, and has a little bit of everything - action, romance, drama, comedy, and a slice-of-life. You'll want to see it again and again.
10.29.2007
WIRED History of Manga
You can trace back to your roots and see what the status of the industry was at that point -- back to memory lane. I remember when Viz first joined the scene and was, for a good period of time, my only source of manga. How excited I was each time the newest issue of the DBZ manga arrived in my mailbox, and via an "unflopped" manner for that matter. Then there's the intertwining of manga and anime, collectibles, music, and video games. The availability of such goods were a hard commodity to locate in the early days. There's been a great jump over the last two decades, and interest has most certainly not hit a plateau and won't be anytime soon. We went from select comic book stores to entire rows and sections dedicated to the graphic novel.
It is nostalgic to sit back and look at how far we've come. I find myself saying, "damn, these younger kids have it easy, they can go to any bookstore and virtually any entertainment store to fulfill their manga and anime cravings. We early fans, with VHS and Laser discs didn't have that back in the day." But I guess, as is true with anything, it's just a matter of perspective.
If you are unable to pick up a copy, read the 11-page manga history here. WIRED has also produced a short video showing the step-by-step creation of the magazine's cover art.
10.27.2007
SAW IV meets X JAPAN
As SAW IV producer Oren Koules put it perfectly, "the band's dark sensibility makes X JAPAN a perfect creative complement to the 'SAW' series." As stated in the press release: I.V. is introduced by a few tense piano notes that quickly spawn a double-kick-drum-fueled rampage. Appropriately sinister verses give way to a gorgeous, dramatic chorus bearing the lyrics, “I’m calling you, dear/ Can’t you see me standing right here/ Life is bleeding from fear/ I’ll give it straight from my vein.” Simply perfection.
"I.V." will not be included in the SAW IV soundtrack, but in the meantime, you can enjoy a clip of X JAPAN's song, which can be found in the Official SAW IV Soundtrack website, or you can simply watch the movie again. One hopes an OST re-release or single release will be made.
10.26.2007
Kenji Ohtsuka and the N.H.K.
Kenji Ohtsuki (and Fumihiko Kitsutaka) provide the ending theme songs for NHK ni Youkoso (Welcome to the N.H.K.), an anime that is growing to become of my favorite series. The "hook" was the first ED theme song, "Odoru Akachan Ningen" (Dancing Baby Humans). While the corresponding graphics were rather perfect, it did not completely steal the show from the song itself. With great metal riffs transposed with piano melodies and awesome lyrics to match, it is hard to compare it to other works. The full version of the song is definitely worth listening to. Though I feel as though I should give some warning. This may not be everyone's cup of tea, but Its unusual traits and overall feel make it all the more appealing.
10.25.2007
GOW: Battle of Attica Demo
This demo was phenomenally sweet and definitely delivers, giving players a taste of the awesomeness that will arrive early next year. "Chains of Olympus" undoubtedly lives up to the franchise and gives us a whole lot of what we like best. The transition from the standalone console and the portable console is almost flawless. The PSP graphics are just a tad lower in degree of quality and the sound quality is just about he same. Nevertheless GOW: Chains of Olympus is sure to serve quite a punch.
The Battle of Attica demo includes two battle bosses reminiscent of what we are used to already. Movement and action, and the transition from cinematic sequences and gameplay is still fluid, but after pulling the same combos, it may start to feel a little repetitious. This will most likely be remedied for the full version.
10.24.2007
Guild Wars 2007 Halloween Event
Friday, October 26
Lion's Arch and Kamadan are decorated in the Halloween spirit. The new Costume Brawl opens.
Friday-Sunday, 26 - 28
Various NPCs and holiday characters begin appearing in Lion's Arch and Kamadan.
Wednesday, October 31
Mad King Thorn makes appearances every three hours throughout the day in Lion's Arch and Kamadan. His first appearance will take place at 12:01 a.m. Pacific time and his final appearance will begin on Thursday, November 1 at 12:01 a.m. Pacific time.
10.23.2007
Gundam Zaku Cell Phone
As the official site indicates, there are 20 more days until this sleek black and red phone goes up for pre-order. I'm not sure what the price tag is one this or what scope of availability this Zaku phone will have, but one thing is for sure, there is no other phone to compare!
10.22.2007
Winners of "I, Otaku" Contest Announced
As you may know, I entered in this contest myself, having quite a struggle at choosing only two views. Having now seen the winners' collection, I wouldn't be surprised if I would have grabbed the win had my whole collection been out. But hey, on the up side of things, I did win the runner-up prize, along with 8 other otaku!!! For your viewing pleasure, the pics I entered can be found below.
Check out the entire list of winners and pictures of the 3 "first prize" winners at gomanga.com.
GRAND PRIZE: Frank and Kim Bullock
SPECIAL 1st PRIZE: Lori Lancaster
RUNNER-UP: Matthew V. Arra; Alissa N. Babineau; Krystal Ditty; Shannon Gilstrap; Brian Hall Jr. ; Eric Mertz; Sabira Mohamed; Judi Weiershauser; Joshua Welker.
10.19.2007
Brave Story Movie
Referencing my previous review of the "Brave Story" novel (see 9/29/2007 post), we follow a story of a young boy who sets off on a journey in the hopes of changing his destiny and thereby eradicating his "false fate." While the novel doesn't hold back a thing, the movie does. But fortunate for us, it doesn't bring doom. The novel features mature undertones and delivers an incredibly in-depth story that any adult would appreciate. The movie, on the other hand, is definitely a one-size-fits-all movie. Very light-hearted and dream-like, your viewing experience depends greatly on whether or not you've read the original work. If you're going into this with no background whatsoever, you are, nevertheless, in for a delightful treat. If you are armed with "plot power," the movie is an excellent supplement to the novel.
And while we're on the subject, Kotobukiya has released a nice set of "Brave Story" PVC figures. Released figures include Wataru, Mitsuru, Kee Keema, Meena, and other fellow Highlanders.
10.18.2007
X JAPAN's Decade Debut
"SAW IV" premieres nationwide October 26, 2007.
10.17.2007
8 PS3's vs. 200 Supercomputers
A researcher is working to solve a celestial mystery involving gravitational waves and what happens when a super-massive black hole, about a million times the mass of our own sun, swallows up a star. He has replaced his 200 node supercomputers with a gravity grid made up of 8 interlinked PS3s to help measure these theoretical gravity waves.
The PS3's open platform attribute opens up infinite possibilities, on of which gives this researcher enough computational power of hundreds of supercomputers. PS3 owners already know the awesome heat behind the console's cell processor, so it was only a matter of time before the PS3 found a nice place in research. It seems that "Folding@home" was just the beginning of an untouched realm.
10.12.2007
Ping Pong
The live action movie will be in Japanese with English Subtitles, 114 minutes. As always, this event is free and open to the public, but reservations are required.
10.11.2007
Guild Wars 2 Early Development
Play NC's dev corner features an in-depth look at the early development stages of the next GW installment care of ArenaNet's James Phinney. Among the many points of accomplishments, include:
- Creating an immense freedom of movement allowing players to explore their environment freely, while maintaining its status as a hack-proof game. Yes, that includes jumping and swimming!
- Giving more common opportunities to meet with other players.
- Giving players the option to choose from multiple playable races.
- Giving players deeper options for character advancement.
- Making everything about Guild Wars better - PvP, PvE, storage...you name it.
Improving graphics and gameplay to further maintain the beauty of GW is a must. With the hindrance of backward-compatibility with the original GW engine gone, we can definitely expect wonderful things. GW2 will maintain its gameplay easibility with streaming updates, instant map travel, character templates, account-wide storage, etc. allowing players to essentially continue to play the way they want. GW will continue it's no monthly fee decree. I'm sure we all enjoy actually owning a game after we've bought it, so that won't change.
The GW world has been built to accommodate the use of third-party applications for voice chat. No word yet if this will be maintained, or if GW2 will have a built-in chat with voice capability. In the end, either way works for me.
Good things are brewing beyond Tyria. I can't wait to play it.
10.10.2007
Xbox Gamer Paradise
10.09.2007
GW Mini-Mania
Click here to fill out the Mini Mania entry form. 125 entrants will be chosen each month, at random. Enter for a chance to own such miniatures like The Naga Raincaller, The Long-Haired Yeti, Vizu, and Zhed Shadowhoof.
10.08.2007
Project Origin Demo Video
10.07.2007
Exclusive Bleach Shoes
Viz Media's online store has been taking pre-orders since October 6th. These exclusive shoes, limited to only 360 pairs, will be released February 2008 with a retail price of 65 bucks.
10.04.2007
Freedom Vol. 2
Be that as it may, the 24 minutes of animation was spectacular for what it was. True to its high-def self, visual and sound quality is just as crisp as ever. The story of Takeru and the people of the Lunar Republic of Eden is unfolding and a potentially great story is being developed. There is still not enough there to review without spoiling the episode. A mysterious photograph, leads Takeru and crew on a mission that reveals the shocking truth. Before they know it, they are soon pursued by spherically transforming robots.
Whether or not they head back to safety, you'll have to wait for Volume 3. I felt the same emotions at the end of Volume 1 as I did this time around. They literally "cease transmission" at the apex of the series. If you are not already hooked with "Freedom" after Volume 1, Volume 2 probably won't be much incentive to continue the series. However, the same can be said for the opposite. If Volume 2 is sitting on your shelves right now, it is highly likely you'll see "Freedom" to the end. I know I will.
10.03.2007
I, OTAKU "Are you an Otaku?" Contest
All you have to do is take 2 incredible photos of your collection and send them off to iotakucontest@gomanga.com. The deadline is October 14th, so get going. Winners will be announced October 22nd and the prizes are pretty sweet.
1 winner will receive the grand prize which include a one-of-a-kind original full color "I, Otaku" illustration, drawn and signed by series creator Jiro Suzuki; and 10 of the latest Seven Seas manga, including "I, Otaku: Struggle in Akihabara, Volume 1." 10 runners up will receive their very own copy of the manga.
So let your collection do the talking. For other contest details, check out gomanga.com. An example pic from the site is included.
I think I will enter myself but doubt that I'm a shoe-in for the winning spot -- I'm sure there are others with incredible collections as well. It'll be tough to choose only 2 pictures that truly represent my collection, especially since more than half of my collection is stored away safe and sound. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
10.02.2007
Yotsubato Attack!
10.01.2007
Rei Ayanami 1:1 Scale Figure
And while we're on the topic, remember the huge 3 meter EVA-01 figure? The Official Eva Store is now selling a 1:1 scale, that's right, a 1:1 scale of Rei Ayanami dressed in her school uniform. I believe the figure has been displayed at several Tokyo events and at the Evangelion Store in Japan. Rei is set at approximately 380,000 yen.