and my uncle is taller than you
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Secret Santa Review: Xam'd: Lost Memories
This is the second edition of the secret Santa review brought to you thanks to the efforts of the Reverse Thieves. Enjoy this review of Xam'd: Lost Memories by studio BONES.
At the height of the anime bubble in 2008, there were many anime titles getting produced. Many of these titles were visibly trying to cater to a Western audience. Xam'd: Lost Memories is one of these titles. Unfortunately, due to the bubble and the massive quantity of different shows released at that time, this impressive sci-fi show has flown under my radar. So when Sentai Filmworks licensed this series earlier this year, I was sort of confused as to what this show is and why was it licensed. I now know as to why it was licensed: It's effing awesome!
So I dove straight into this series knowing nothing about it. The first thing I noticed just how pretty it was in high definition. The characters that were first introduced seemed somewhat bland and didn't really grab me at first. Of course the first episode spent a lot of time introducing all the characters and sort of show what their relationships were. Furthermore, the show did not wait to start weaving a story and right away the audience are thrust into a conflict. It appears that there are factions who are still fighting a war but it's not clear as to who is who and what their intentions are. And of course the main character ends up being mixed up with all the fighting.
As I stated before, this animated series looks gorgeous in high definition. There are many painted environments as the series goes from place to place such as villages and towns. All the machinery is well detailed as well as attention is given to all the various rifles that are used throughout the series. The animation in the opening is fairly consistent with the animation in the series. As you can see the animation is smooth and there is a lot of action. The show has a lot of that and in addition there are quite spectacular animations of destruction. Overall this series is quite a visual feast.
As you probably have noticed, the openings and closings are entirely in English which is quite rare. The regular soundtrack does a good job setting the mood but doesn't really stand out and is fairly average in that respect. The Japanese voice cast was very competent at acting out all the characters and conveying their emotions. Unfortunately I did not try watching with the English dub, but from looking at the names of the cast they appear to be standard Sentai Filmworks talent.
So the series is mainly about a boy, Akiyuki Takehara, who gets caught up in an explosion that grants him powers that change him into a biological weapon much like The Hulk. However, he does not initially know how to fully control this power or what the actual purpose of it is. An enigmatic girl named Nakiami from a free lance postal air-ship flies over, and not only helps Akiyuki from being consumed by his new power, but also adopts him until he gains control. The first half of the series basically is his journey to master these new powers. Now there is a lot more going on than Akiyuki's journey and this makes the first half a bit hard to watch and impossible to marathon. Now the second part of the series is a bit easier to swallow since most facts were already presented to the viewer or are once again shown for clarity. Despite the initial confusion, the series did pull me in and I wanted to see more and more of the story. In short, the story is very dense which is somewhat hard to swallow for many people, but it is rewarding to keep watching as things become more clarified along the way.
Putting all this together it should be no surprise that Xam'D: Lost Memories is a must watch series. I would recommend this to anyone. If I were to give this series a number score, it would be an 89/100. Although a word of warning, this series should not be marathoned and I do recommend watching it twice as the second time around, the series is more enjoyable when everything makes sense.
 |
| What the hell is this thing?! |
At the height of the anime bubble in 2008, there were many anime titles getting produced. Many of these titles were visibly trying to cater to a Western audience. Xam'd: Lost Memories is one of these titles. Unfortunately, due to the bubble and the massive quantity of different shows released at that time, this impressive sci-fi show has flown under my radar. So when Sentai Filmworks licensed this series earlier this year, I was sort of confused as to what this show is and why was it licensed. I now know as to why it was licensed: It's effing awesome!
So I dove straight into this series knowing nothing about it. The first thing I noticed just how pretty it was in high definition. The characters that were first introduced seemed somewhat bland and didn't really grab me at first. Of course the first episode spent a lot of time introducing all the characters and sort of show what their relationships were. Furthermore, the show did not wait to start weaving a story and right away the audience are thrust into a conflict. It appears that there are factions who are still fighting a war but it's not clear as to who is who and what their intentions are. And of course the main character ends up being mixed up with all the fighting.
 |
| Details. Details everywhere. |
As I stated before, this animated series looks gorgeous in high definition. There are many painted environments as the series goes from place to place such as villages and towns. All the machinery is well detailed as well as attention is given to all the various rifles that are used throughout the series. The animation in the opening is fairly consistent with the animation in the series. As you can see the animation is smooth and there is a lot of action. The show has a lot of that and in addition there are quite spectacular animations of destruction. Overall this series is quite a visual feast.
Check out this opening.
As you probably have noticed, the openings and closings are entirely in English which is quite rare. The regular soundtrack does a good job setting the mood but doesn't really stand out and is fairly average in that respect. The Japanese voice cast was very competent at acting out all the characters and conveying their emotions. Unfortunately I did not try watching with the English dub, but from looking at the names of the cast they appear to be standard Sentai Filmworks talent.
So the series is mainly about a boy, Akiyuki Takehara, who gets caught up in an explosion that grants him powers that change him into a biological weapon much like The Hulk. However, he does not initially know how to fully control this power or what the actual purpose of it is. An enigmatic girl named Nakiami from a free lance postal air-ship flies over, and not only helps Akiyuki from being consumed by his new power, but also adopts him until he gains control. The first half of the series basically is his journey to master these new powers. Now there is a lot more going on than Akiyuki's journey and this makes the first half a bit hard to watch and impossible to marathon. Now the second part of the series is a bit easier to swallow since most facts were already presented to the viewer or are once again shown for clarity. Despite the initial confusion, the series did pull me in and I wanted to see more and more of the story. In short, the story is very dense which is somewhat hard to swallow for many people, but it is rewarding to keep watching as things become more clarified along the way.
 |
| Can you recognize the gun on the left? |
Putting all this together it should be no surprise that Xam'D: Lost Memories is a must watch series. I would recommend this to anyone. If I were to give this series a number score, it would be an 89/100. Although a word of warning, this series should not be marathoned and I do recommend watching it twice as the second time around, the series is more enjoyable when everything makes sense.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Friday, November 4, 2011
New York Comic Con 2011
In the middle of October, I came back to the city to partake in the massive gathering that is the New York Comic Con. This was the fifth installment of the convention and it has grown considerably to the attendance of over 100,000 people. Once again, ReedPop reserved the entirety of the Javits Convention Center for the convention but this time, they had access the areas that were under construction in the previous year. Similarly, the New York Anime Festival had its own place on the convention center with a larger space but utilized completely different. What was new this year was that New York Comic Con expanded to a 4 day convention allowing people who purchased VIP, or 4-Day passes access to the showroom on Thursday. Overall, the convention was still a lot of fun, but still suffers from many problems.
I came in on Friday expecting smaller crowds due to Friday being a school and work day. However, I was quick to realize that those circumstances didn't stop the hordes of people that filled the convention center. Already I was in game-mode where I scheme in any way possible to avoid crowds or lines. With few exceptions, the layout of the convention was almost completely different than last year. Even the way the showroom was organized was changed drastically. The maps provided by the various guides were fairly inadequate as they didn't show how the con was connected nor did it show where the panel rooms were located. So therefore it was a good idea to walk through the whole convention center multiple times to see where everything was so that one doesn't get lost and I did just that.
The giant showroom is one of the few things this convention got right. The new layout seemed fairly random, but there was a good reason for that. Last year, the layout of the booths was neatly organized, placing comic shops together, anime shops together, etc. There was a big problem with this layout. There was massive crowding in the more popular sections and the sections few people cared for were nearly empty. Thus, the more random layout spread the crowding out. I was actually able to walk through most of the showroom on Saturday without any issues. As usual, the showroom provided with a ton of variety. There were booths where you can shop. There were booths that let you play games before they were released. They were booths that were showcasing various crafts. Also, in the corner section there was the usual artist alley. That said, the industry presence was fantastic. The New York Anime Ghetto was moved from the basement to the attic occupying a larger space. This space was used largely for the artist alley and a stage with cafeteria like seating. This I thought was very good for taking a break from all the hustle and bustle. NYCC also had a new floor where an enlarged table top gaming room was present. Also, on the same floor they put in a kids area and an area for autographs. With such a big convention, many distributors and publishers used this as an opportunity to announce new products or ventures. But was lining up for all these industry panels really worth it? With most panels and announcements also posted simultaneously online, I honestly think that seeing this announcements in person is of very added value.
So it would be an understatement to say that the convention center was crowded on Saturday. Most places inside were packed wall-to-wall with people. Although I am fairly experienced in avoiding crowds, on Saturday, this was an impossible task. On top of that, there was quite a bit of confusion as to how people are supposed to line up for panels and events. Line up places were poorly marked and the staff were too overwhelmed to properly control the crowds. At times the lines simply turned into mobs who rushed the entrances of rooms. Even though the presence of the industry allowed for some great sneak peaks and announcements, it completely stifled any fan presence. Fan presence was almost non existent at this convention even on the anime side where fan presence dominates most anime conventions. On Sunday, the con funk was out of control. You can smell it everywhere. During most conventions, con funk is either isolated to a certain big room or neutralized by the staff. However, at NYCC, the con funk was completely out of control and the staff took no steps in making sure the con is funk free. Of course, the last issue is the remoteness of the Javits Convention Center. Hopefully in the future, the subway extension will make this a non-issue, but as things stand, you have to walk for quite a bit in either reach the convention center or leave to get decent food at a decent price. However, what will still attract me to attend New York Comic Con in the future years is the great guests that ReedPop can afford to bring to the show. If Makoto Shinkai and the screenings of his movies were missing this year, I don't think I would have attended.
As things stand, NYCC is growing faster than ReedPop can manage. The crowds are reaching San Diego Comic Con levels but at the same time, and with that the industry presence is at such a high level such that it is slowly pushing all of fandom out of the convention. New York Anime Fest continues to simply becoming an anime track at NYCC which is unfortunate because it basically means that NYAF practically dead. But not all is gloom and doom. Although I still see this convention becoming a massive trade show for geeks, there is still a lot of room for improvement. There is still a lot of space on the convention center that is either not properly utilized or not utilized at all. This space can be used to further expand the convention to include perhaps rooms for fan panels and such.
The presence of the crane reminds everyone that JCC is still under construction.
Friday's showroom. Fairly crowded.
Makoto Shinkai's Q&A panel with Roland Kelts
The NYAF stage with chairs and tables.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Eroge Bus Episode 3
Join me for this month's episode of the Eroge Bus with guest blogger/podcaster @HisuiRT from The Reverse Thieves while we review Innocent Grey's Kara no Shoujo released by Mangagamer
Show Notes:
00:00 Intro - Skydive - Freefall
02:22 Opening words and introductions
10:41 Break - Internet Dramu
11:20 News:
August 24th: A TL patch for Sono Hanabira ni Kuchizuke wo – Anata wo Suki na Shiawase was released
August 25th: Analysis of Japanese sales of visual novels to date:
September 1st: Mangagamer releases a retranslation of Edelweiss
September 5th: Some drama, Amaterasu releases TL patch to MuvLuv Alternative and Shikkoku no Sharnoth despite Mangagamer’s talks about licensing MuvLuv.
September 6th: Fate/Extra CCC RPG planned for PSP release next spring
September 16th: TL patch for Rin ga Utau, Mirai no Neiro was released
September 16th: Professor Layton vs Ace Attorney game cast revealed
September 17th: TL patch for galaxy angel the end of enternel love is released.
September 21st: Aselia the Eternal goes Golden Master to ship in October
28:47 Break - Kara no Shojo OP
31:17 Kara no Shoujo review spoiler free
Preview picture of Kara no Shoujo 2:
51:18 Break
52:01 Kara no Shoujo discussion FULL OF SPOILERS
76:12 Break - Mayushii Dubstep
77:01 September Japanese game releases:
89:14 Outro - School Days - Kanashimi no Mokou e
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Eroge Bus Episode 2
Join me for this month's episode of the Eroge Bus as I talk with Kouryuu and Exedore of Mangagamer about Mangagamer. I apologize in advance for some of the noisy audio that occurs midway through.
Show Notes:
00:00 Intro - Freefall - Skydive
03:35 stuff no one cares about.
05:25 Break - Uguu!
05:37 News:
July 30th
August 11th
August 11th
August 13th
August 13th
08:32 Break - opening to Koihime Musou
10:28 Discussion about MangaGamer with Kouryuu and Exedore
43:04 Break - opening to DearDrops
44:33 August Japanese releases:
47:37 Closing - School Days OST - Kanashimi no Mukou e
Monday, August 1, 2011
Thank You: Otakon 2011
It's that time of the year where tens of thousands of anime fans gather in downtown Baltimore. Of course, this gathering is Otakon, the second largest anime convention in the US. Last year, I made a fairly critical look at the failings of Otakon. However, I am pleased to say that this year, most of my complaints have been addressed. So without further delay, let's get into the details.
The best badge!
It's Friday morning and I made sure to line up at around 7 AM to get into the convention center. I was quickly reminded that it's the summer and this year has been especially hot and humid. Needless to say, when the doors opened at around 8:20 AM, I was drenched in my sweat. That said, not only did they let people in the convention center on time, but also 10 minutes early! Holy cow! All along my goal was to be one of the first people to get into the dealer's room. This is the first time in 7 years that I decided to do that. My motivation was the Puella Magi Madoka Magica charity poster. We had no idea how many Otakon was selling. Their website implied that there were limited quantities. Noon came and the doors finally opened. With few people around, I was able to get a good look of the dealer's room this year. The quantity and variety of exhibitors was quite an improvement. I think most notable additions were probably the Bandai Entertainment and Sentai Filmworks booths in the industry section. Very little space was wasted on large and lavish displays. The usual dealers were in attendance plus a few new ones. Overall, I spent a good chunk of my time at the dealer's room.
Last year, Otakon's guest line-up was fairly lack-luster. This year, Otakon stepped up their game and offered a plethora of Japanese guests. Unfortunately, there was really too much to do and too much to see and I only managed to check out Atsuhiro Iwakami who was responsible for producing many Aniplex series such as Kara no Kyoukai, Bekemonogatari, Ore no Imouto Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga nai and most importantly the new Puella Magi Madoka Magica. He was a pretty cool dude and introduced Madoka to many people who never seen it. On Saturday, I managed to get his autograph on the limited edition Madoka poster. For a better coverage of Japanese guests, I recommend you check out Reverse Thieves' post on this matter.
Scout beat everyone to the front of the line. Must have used Bonk!
Last year, Otakon's guest line-up was fairly lack-luster. This year, Otakon stepped up their game and offered a plethora of Japanese guests. Unfortunately, there was really too much to do and too much to see and I only managed to check out Atsuhiro Iwakami who was responsible for producing many Aniplex series such as Kara no Kyoukai, Bekemonogatari, Ore no Imouto Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga nai and most importantly the new Puella Magi Madoka Magica. He was a pretty cool dude and introduced Madoka to many people who never seen it. On Saturday, I managed to get his autograph on the limited edition Madoka poster. For a better coverage of Japanese guests, I recommend you check out Reverse Thieves' post on this matter.
Atsuhiro Iwakami just signed my poster.
What would a convention be without major industry panels? There was fairly a good number of industry panels which is a good reflection of the recovery of the anime industry. The Funimation panel was fairly straightforward as usual. There was a Sunrise panel that showcased some of their newest and upcoming shows. Most suprisingly though, Bandai Entertainment threw a hell of a presentation with the voice actresses of K-On! singing fuwa fuwa time. A violinist and composer who was responsible for the soundtrack to Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya played one of the tracks from the soundtrack while on stage. As fun as the panels were, however, most of them were fairly disappointing in terms of announcements. Surprisingly, the best announcements came from the Bandai Industry panel who announced the acquisition of Nichijou and Gosick. Aniplex USA announced Oreimo. ...and Funimation picked up the Sora no Otoshimono movie.
Typical Bandai Entertainment panel.
Despite the guest and industry heavy schedule, I managed to attend some fan panels. On Friday night, there was a Let's Play Eroge panel. It was a fairly entertaining panel. It was run by trio of girls so yaoi content was inevitable, and as an eroge panel it was quite mediocre. On Saturday, I attended the excellent Investigating Detective Anime panel which was presented by the Reverse Thieves. On Sunday, it was proven to me that the Touhou fandom is insane when I attended a Touhou panel. Finally, I wrapped up the convention with a Puella Magi Madoka Magica panel that went fairly in-depth into Madoka and was quite full of delicious spoilers.
There was also this Anime Amazons panel about strong female characters.
Every year of Otakon is remembered by something. For example, 2004 was known for Larc ~en~ Ciel's concert. 2010 was of course known for the massive fire alarm. And this year is known for the ice cold water man. His enthusiastic approach to selling water has turned him into an internet meme. His "I've got that ice cold water" jingle could be heard repeatedly during the weekend in the hallway repeated by con-goers. Hopefully this will replace the buttscratcher and marco-polos that are growing increasingly tiring.
In conclusion, Otakon really got their shit together for this year. They managed to finally get people in on time; managed to get a hold of interesting Japanese guests; made crowding seem like a non issue; got rid of the staggered schedule. Even the convention center improved. They put in new carpeting; put in new maps and signs; painted the doors and walls; and even opened up a food court in the dealer's room. Overall, Otakon 2011 has been very good.
I spent too much money.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Friday, June 17, 2011
AnimeNEXT 2011
Damn those trees!
First Impressions.
This is my 3rd time at AnimeNEXT and not much has changed since last year. Coming in on Friday I noticed that there were quite a bit more people than usual. Picked up my badge pretty quickly and had plenty of time before the first set of panels. Usually Fridays are more laid back, but this year almost every good panel was scheduled on Friday and felt like I had fun non-stop the entire day. Lining up for popular panels seems to have become a norm at animenext.
This is justice!
Panels and Guests.
Although AnimeNEXT is only mid-sized con, it is able to attract some big names in the Japanese anime industry. Studio I.G.'s animator, Satoru Nakamura, and episode director, Koudai Kakimoto, were the guests of honor this year around which was quite awesome as they are responsible for working on Moribito and Eden of the East. There were no big name musical guests this year which was somewhat disappointing but the ones that were featured were still very cool.
I attended many panels which were mostly hosted either by the Reverse Thieves, Anigamers, or Charles Dunbar who run many high quality panels. Whenever you see their panels listed in the con guide, make sure you attend them. I've noticed that panels were not scheduled until after 11 AM which is pretty good for most people. But there were still some problems with panel rooms being too small for popular panels. In addition, they put panels in workshop rooms that had no projectors which caused problems to panelists that depended on powerpoint for their presentation. I noticed that AnimeNEXT seemed to have a shortage of panels, with a few of them being programmed for all three days to fill in time. If you have a great idea for a panel, now would be a great time to think about submitting it for next year's AnimeNEXT.
@hisuiRT, @Poetic_Ink, and @VamptVo presenting a panel
Dealers Room, Artist Alley, etc.
Since the convention is in the same location, the dealer's room is the same size as it was, crowding near the entrance was somewhat of an issue but once you leave the area it was pretty smooth to navigate. The variety of dealers wasn't as good as last year mainly due to the fact that AnimeNEXT was scheduled at the same time as another bigger convention. There were noticeably more booths for guests and such than before and Funimation, who's usually at AnimeNEXT, was completely absent.
They located the artist alley in a completely different place than last year. Last year the artist alley was in the double tree hotel. This year they moved it to right across the dealer's room next to the main events stage. This was a good decision as it enlarged the artist alley and allowed for more walking space.
Once again, the anime screenings and the video games were in the training center and the holiday inn hotel as last year. Unfortunately, this will always be the issue of the venue. Fortunately, I was not troubled by the detachment of screenings and video games as I never really had time to check them out.
I scored her at the con. She now protects my anime.
Closing words.
In short, AnimeNEXT continues to be one of the best anime conventions to attend in the North East US. This year, there was a significant increase in attendance and the convention will continue to grow. Although the convention will still take place in the same venue next year, I can foresee AnimeNEXT to outgrow the convention center and eventually move once more to a bigger venue. Hopefully, next year, the convention won't be scheduled on the same weekend as another bigger convention.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
They Sure Grow Up Fast: Zenkaikon 2011
Although I have only been to Zenkaikon for 2 years, even in a year's time it has grown a lot bigger. This year it was Zenkaikon's 5th year running and it grew from being in a small room to 2 floors of the Valley Forge Convention Center.
Unfortunately, the massive growth wasn't without some growing pains. Last year when the convention took place inside the Radisson Hotel next to the Valley Forge Convention Center, it was very crowded. The crowding made the small con experience feel like a big con despite having small con guests and events. Fortunately, the change of venue to the convention center solved the crowding problem and allowed the convention to grow comfortably to several thousand attendees. In addition, the convention is still in it's sophomore stage as the staff are still unable to work the A/V well enough to allow for panels to start on time.
The high growth can be attributed mostly to the location. This is the only anime convention in the Philadelphia / East Pennsylvania area. In addition, it also attracts con goers from New Jersey and even New York. Another anime convention was being organized to take place nearby, but these plans were eventually scrapped.
Of course I have to mention the earthquake/tsunami that ravaged North-East Japan because Zenkaikon did their part in raising money to help those in need.
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