Guest Spot: NTR Radio Episode 41 2Girls1Mecha

I was invited by the hosts of NTR radio to discuss the latest installment of the Strike Witches franchise as well as talk about mecha musume in general. You can find the episode here.

Secret Santa Review: Time of Eve

Another year is coming to an end and that means it's another edition of the Secret Santa anime review. Seems like I am on a long streak of reviewing science fiction anime and this year it's no different. Time of Eve is an original net animation (ONA) which streamed back in August 2008 through  September 2009. The first time I heard of it was actually when they screened it in New York City in 2010. During the subsequent year, the screened the film version of the series which has some added scenes. This review will only be of the ONA series. Time of Eve also had a kickstarter for funding the international dvd/bd release of the movie which made 10x the original proposed goal.

"Are you enjoying the time of eve?"

Time of Eve is about androids and their relationships with humans. It uses a very interesting vehicle to explore these relationship by using a cafe with a simple rule where humans and androids can't discriminate against each other. The main focus of the series is on the characters. The human characters slowly discover that androids are more than just robots, they might as well be very human as well with personality and even emotions. There is even a scene that tongue in cheek references to Blade Runner. All in all there are many snappy dialogues and unexpected twists that kept me interested despite the show having almost zero action...we except for...

sex robot, sex robot...sex robot, sex robot...

I am so sorry...

Where I found the show really shines is in its use of cinematography. Instead of jumping from shot to shot, it transitions the shots very well which is very unlike other anime I've seen. In addition, for an ONA, it has a very good soundtrack that even has an insert piano piece played by the protagonist. Overall the series is a very entertaining package it's really no wonder why it won so many awards. Thanks to my secret Santa for the recommendation.

Guest Spot: G-Nitro's Happy Hour Episode 3

I was featured on the 2014 Spring anime preview episode of G-Nitro's Happy Hour where the panel discussed ten of the best series this spring season. Check it out

Guest Spot: Otaku in Review Episode 188 & 189

The host of the Otaku in Review Podcast once again requested my presence for two more episodes. Episode 188 was a discussion about our attendance at Otakon Vegas. Then a week later, we presented a preview of 2014 Winter season anime. Check them out.

Secret Santa Review: Pale Cocoon

Oh dear, it's yet another secret Santa review organized by the Reverse Thieves.

Due to various commitments and somewhat limiting choices, I went with a one episode OVA as my review. While limited to a single episode and a run of about 23 minutes, my expectations were fairly low for Pale Cocoon. Nevertheless, I was still impressed by what these 23 minutes were able to accomplish.

With my luck, I didn't have to look for fansubs as the OVA is offered streaming for free on Crunchyroll. Unfortunately, the quality was kind of poor as this wide screen feature was formatted to a 4:3 letter box. As someone who's spoiled by 720p+ streams, I kind of grimaced at first, but continued to watch anyway.
The episode begins with the main character operating a visibly high tech touch interface, shown to be restoring some sort of historic archives of a golden past. This anime is clearly set in some dark and dreary future but it's not clear as to why.

Touch interfaces everywhere.

This OVA does a really good job expressing ideas through visual means rather through some sort of narration. While there are characters who interact, it feels like the real conflict is between the main character and the settings itself. Therefore, in a way, the setting is a character itself who's development is clearly the focus of this episode. The development is once again done through visuals and the main character's own investigations. The episode ends with a big reveal that pretty much explains everything that occurs leading up to the climax.

Setting development aside, there are other themes that are packed into this episode such as becoming disillusioned of the present while discovering the much more positive past and the theme of change versus status quo. It's quite remarkable that such a short OVA is able to express these themes while telling a somewhat unorthodox story.

The world of Pale Cocoon

In conclusion, I was very pleased with this pick even though I picked the shorter and easier review. Anyone who enjoys sci fi series that go beyond of the usual story lines will be delighted by this short OVA.

Guest Spot: Otaku in Review 183: Fall Anime Preview 2013

Once again I was invited by the awesome hosts of Otaku in Review to give a rundown of the anime that is currently broadcasted. We pretty much covered 90% of the series this season.
Check it out.

Guest Spot: Otaku in Review 176: 2013 Summer Anime Previews

Once again I was featured on the Otaku in Review podcast hosted by Scott Spaziani and Michael "Gnitro" Camacho in which we previewed the summer season anime for this year. Listen to it here!
Series that were discussed:

• Turning Girls
• Sunday Without God
• Eccentric Family
• Fate/kaleid Liner
• Blood Lad
• Fantasista Doll
• Free
• Chronicles of the Going Home Club
• Silver Spoon
• Rozen Maiden Zuruckspulen
• KINMOZA
• DanganRonpa
• Day Break Illusion
• Servent X Service
• Dog & Scissors
• Watamote
• Gatchaman Crowds
• Stella Women's Academy (C3)

Guest Spot: Otaku in Review 163: 2013 Spring Anime Preview

Once again I was invited to discuss the previews for the latest anime season on the Otaku in Review podcast, hosted by Scott Spaziani and Michael "GNitro" Camacho with guest (And third chair) Jon "FattyJanai" Ignoglia.

Check it out.

Guest Spot: Otaku in Review Episode 148 & 150

In the past month, I was invited once again to Otaku in Review for the wrap up show for 2012 where we discussed the best anime of the year and then again to preview the upcoming winter anime season. Click these for episode 148 and episode 150 of Otaku in Review.

Secret Santa Review: Texhnolyze

This is the third installment of the Secret Santa Reviews created by the Reverse Thieves. Enjoy.

Texhnolyze. With a trippy opening by Juno Reactor.

This time around, the person who was in charge of recommending me anime to review was actually good at knowing what I'd like and what are the type of anime I am most interested in. He or She figured out that I love deep (mind-fuck) sci-fi anime. So out of the recommendations, I chose the one I knew the least about and so purchased and watched Texhnolyze: A series released in 2004 by the same people who brought you Serial Experiments Lain.

As with my previous reviews, I dove into this anime knowing absolutely nothing about. I didn't even read the synopsis on the back of the DVD box. Therefore, my first impression was somewhat confused. The first episode has almost no dialogue or narration what's so ever and so it did all the explanations about the characters and settings through very dim visuals as though the series takes place in a very dark place. Later did I found out that the series takes place in an underground city. As the fist set of episodes progressed, I began putting all the pieces together and started figuring out where the series takes place and who the characters are. However, this was only one small layer of this fantastic series.

I can barely tell what's going on.

Texhnolyze is a form of cybernetic technology that provides a replacement for lost limbs. The user can command their new high tech prosthetics much like they would their regular limbs. But there are some mysteries of this technology that eventually the shows shines upon. The protagonist of this show, Ichise, is a down on his luck prize fighter who ends up losing his arm and leg as punishment. The doctor in charge of texhnolyzation in the city sort of forces a new prototype of prosthetics on him. Meanwhile, an outsider who's intent is unknown is visiting the city. On his way, he meets a mysterious young girl who apparently can see the future.The city itself is governed by a multitude of factions which have somewhat hostile relations which each other. Once small mistake can spark a war among the power hungry.

The flowers provide a contrast to this rocky, desolate world.

The series likes to take its time with presenting information to the viewer; building the world episode by episode. Every episode tells little by little about the characters, their ambitions, their virtues and especially their flaws. Meanwhile the story builds to an introductory climax that serves as more as a briefing about the world and then finally builds into a final grand climax where nothing is held back.

This series has so many mysteries.

Even though the series is from 2004, the visuals are still well crafted which is kind of a shame that it wasn't released on Blu-ray Disc. Even though there are some lighting issues (it's too dark) in the first few episodes, they eventually fix it. Though the visuals are somewhat bland due to the setting, the mechanical designs of the world are top notch. The soundtrack is also excellent as it sets the mood of every scene. The opening theme is by Juno Reactor and is quite futuristic.

When put everything together, the series is quite a thrilling story about not just a man's struggle of survival but perhaps even all of mankind. There are quite a lot of messages told to the audience mostly along the lines of fate, raison d'etre and death. So overall this is a must-watch series for people who enjoy deep thrilling sci-fi series that don't BS around. This is definitely now one of my favorites.

Guest Spot: Otaku in Review Episode 144

Once again, @ScottSpaziani and @Gnitro invited me onto the Otaku in Review podcast. This time to it was to discuss and review a fairly dated anime movie called They Were Eleven. Please check it out.

Guest Spot: NTR Radio: Mami's Magnificent Mammaries

Oh hi there Mami-san!

I was invited to yet another great anime podcast called NTR Radio where we talked about Puella Magi Madoka Magica and stuff. We didn't exactly go as in depth as I prepared for but the end results was still pretty good. With the new movies coming to the US, I figured this would be a good time to post this. Check it out!

Guest Spot: Otaku in Review Episode 127: Summer Preview 2012

I joined Scott Spaziani and Michael Camacho to discuss all the new shows airing this summer. Recorded right before Otakon with a grouchy and anxious Scott. The shows we discussed:

Muv Luv Alternative Total Ecplise
Ambition of Oda Nobuna
La Storia Della Arcana Famiglia
Chitose Get You
Uta-koi
Campione
Binbougami
Nakaimo - My Sister Is Among Them
Joshiraku
Sword Arts Online
Koi to Snekyo to Chocolate
So, I Can't Play H!
Hagure Yuusha no Estetica
Kokoro Connect
Humanity has Declined
Natsuyuki Rendezvous
Tari Tari

You can find the podcast here

Guest Spot: Otaku in Review Episode 122

I join hosts, Scott Spaziani and Michael Camacho, on Otaku in Review episode 122 to review past season's supernatural drama anime: Inu X Boku SS or how Scott loving called Ino X Boku SS. The podcast isn't as high energy as usual when I am on, but it's still pretty good. 

You can find the podcast here.

2012 Winter Anime Reviews: Brave 10, Papakiki, Another

This time around I am trying something new. Check out this audio review that I entitled Short Bus Review. Expect more of these in the future. 

This time, I review the anime from this winter anime season: 

-Brave 10

-Papa no Iu Koto wo Kikinasai

-Another

This is also a chance for me to experiment some new audio settings and editing presets.

Direct Download

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.

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.

AnimeNEXT 2011

Summer's here which means the con season is about to start. What better way to start of the season than the 10th anniversary of AnimeNEXT in Somerset, New Jersey. This mid sized convention was held in the Garden State Exhibit Center and the nearby Double Tree and Holiday Inn hotels. This year the convention grew even bigger in size with crowds beginning to choke the convention even on a Friday. Despite the crowding, I've been pleased with the panel line-up, the constant presence of staff, and the overall atmosphere of everyone there.

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.

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.

A Very Merry Review

It's the week of Christmas and you know what this means: The unveiling of my secret Santa review. During late October my secret Santa has given me three options (which I originally planned to watch) and then select one for a review. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, I was unable to watch all three of them. Instead, I am going to review the one show I was the most intrigued with: Invincible Super Man Zambot 3.

When I began watching this anime I was not aware that it was co-created and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino who is well known for his Gundam fame. However, eventually it became clear to me that this was a Tomino show... but not just a Tomino show, a pre-Gundam Tomino show. Zambot 3 is where Tomino began building his particular storytelling reputation. It is apparent that many elements in Zambot 3 are later then seen in Gundam series.

Zambot 3 in action.

Invincible Super Man Zambot 3 was a super robot show that aired in Japan in 1977. The age of the series was very obvious to me as I began watching. The dated visuals and sound was at first, quite repulsive. In addition to that, the story started out somewhat childish as the show was aimed at a teenaged boy audience. Fortunately I endured the beginning of the series and was treated to a much darker, much more complicated story.

The heroes of the show.

It begins with Kappei Jin who is having a quarrel with a gang leader, Shingo Kouzuki. In a middle of a friendly little fight, a giant robot called a Mecha-Boost attacks the harbor which is where they live. At the same time, Kappei's grandfather is finishing excavating a large spaceship, and within, a human controlled transforming mecha called Zambot-Ace. While running away, Kappei ends up on top of this spaceship. His grandfather then instructs him to "shoot in" into the Zambot. Somehow he already knows how to pilot the robot. His grandfather explains to him that he has been teaching him how to pilot through sleep-learning. Unsurprisingly, Kappei manages to defeat the mecha-boost after finding its weak-point.

The first episode was very simple and quite frankly, somewhat boring. The following episodes introduce Uchuta Kamie and Keiko Kamikita who are also Zambot pilots and Kappei's cousins. To battle the mecha-boosts the three Zambots combine to form the Zambot 3. Eventually, we learn that the mecha-boosts come from an alien entity called the Gaizok who wants to destroy humanity and that the Jin family are actually descendants of aliens from planet Bael who settled on earth after their planet was destroyed by the Gaizok. Now that the characters and settings has been established, Tomino tells a story of fighting for acceptance. A colorful kids story turns into a dark story of death and constant struggle for war-zone survival. Without spoiling anything, the series beholds drastic events and an epic ending. The ending also throws in some philosophical consideration and emphasizes an overall moral of the series. What I really liked was that every relatively major character in the series underwent significant change. Kappei didn't just stay as a snotty rowdy kid, he turned into something a lot more grander. The story of this series is definitely its strongest asset and makes this old series worth watching even today.

Manly tears.

I can sing praises about the story all day long, but now comes the more negative side of the series: The visuals. Unfortunately, this show was animated on a very low budget in 1977. The colors are muted. The whole presentation is grainy. There are lot of reused stock footage to cut costs and animation is somewhat sluggish.

Obviously, just like the visuals, the sound is just as dated. The soundtrack is of a cheesy 70s variety. The recording of voices is low fidelity in a single channel. The Japanese dub could use a bit more work as some of the minor characters were poorly casted. Despite all this, the ending theme is very powerful, especially near the end of the series.

If you can get through the dated visuals and cheesy late 70s sound, the series is worth watching. Unfortunately this series has never been licensed for an English release so picking up a physical copy is nearly impossible since the series is so old, and is more than likely, out of print. Fortunately, there is a readily available fan-sub of this series. I give this anime an 80/100

Con Report: AnimeNEXT 2010

I realized I haven't updated my blog in a while. Been kind of busy with life in general and didn't put any time into blogging. Fortunately, the summer con season is upon us with AnimeNEXT and I took this opportunity to write up a con report. Enjoy!

Thursday: Day 0

Thankfully, AnimeNEXT had pre-registration pick up on Thursday as well as regular registration. Picking up the badge on Thursday alleviates anxiety from having to deal with missing out on panels or programming while you wait on-line to pick up the badges. The pickup went pretty smooth and it only took me about an hour of waiting in line. Already, people there were upbeat about the con and some actually cosplayed even though it wasn't a convention day.

Friday: Day 1

I wish more conventions would do this: Open the con at 9 AM, but schedule panels a few hours later in the day. AnimeNEXT did just that. This allows people who didn't pick up badges on Thursday to not worry about missing out on an interesting panel. By the time the first panel started, most people already had their badges. AnimeNEXT changed up the convention layout this year. There were 10 rooms in the Doubletree hotel dedicated to panels and workshops. Artist alley was enlarged, and video games moved to the Holiday Inn hotel in across the street. Once again the video screenings were in the training center.

@TheDigitalBug: Always impressed by #anx2010 variety in the dealer’s room.

@TheDigitalBug:…but no touhou in sight…

Panels, Panels, and more Panels...

The majority of the time at cons, I spend attending interesting (or so I hope) panels. Today was no exception. I started out my day by attending the "Rando Me!" panel. It was a fan panel about random gag anime such as Excel Saga and Cromartie High School. Other than that, there was nothing note worthy to say about this panel.

I was very impressed by the panel I attended next: The "Inside the Lives of Congoing Otaku" panel focused on a discussion about: What is to be a congoer. How do others view congoers? General behavior of congoers. What is the past, present, and possibly the future of conventions? The panelist predicted that conventions are going to continue to grow and that many more are going to show up. Concurrently, new small conventions will appear that specialize in a genre of anime or a very large series like Gundam.

“You don’t want to be glomped by a 400 lbs slave leah.”

AniGamers and Uncle Yo presented a panel on "Fandom & Criticism: The Art of Active Viewing" which discussed techniques on critiquing Anime, Manga, and Video Games. This was a very useful guide for bloggers and writers who spend a good amount of time reviewing an object of interest.

"FAN-WANKING"

As any convention, AnimeNEXT has opening ceremonies. Unlike other conventions, AnimeNEXT attempts to introduce the convention to the attendees with a humorous skit. This year, they did a silly awards ceremony which although wasn't of the best execution, managed to keep everyone in the seats at least amused.

The Japanese guest of honor for AnimeNEXT this year, besides the musical guests, was Kenji Kamiyama: A high profile director and screenplay writer of Production I.G. Some of the shows he worked on was Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Seirei no Moribito, Jin-Roh, and most recently, Eden of the East. A usual, a Questions and Answers panel took place and everyone had the opportunity to ask Mr. Kamiyama questions about him and/or his works. The crowd managed to ask him some very interesting questions and Mr. Kamiyama was very open with answering most questions.

This year, the musical guest was a mostly-girl band from Japan titled "Stereopony" who are responsible for a few songs that appeared in Bleach, Mobile Suit Gundam 00, Darker than Black OAV, and Yatterman Movie. I was pleased by the fact that the concert ACTUALLY had standing space for a change as opposed to just seats. Stereopony's music is a colorful melodic rock and the crowd responded very lively. Their concert went very well despite the fact that press were hassled by the staff for taking pictures even though they're press!

I finished the day by attending a Hello! Project Idol Madness panel. Since I know very little about Hello! Project idols, I came mostly to see if I can learn more about this Japanese phenomenon. Even though I expected a discussion panel, it was mostly a game show that gauged your knowledge of Hello! Project idols....*sigh*.

Saturday: Day 2

@Thedigitalbug:

Crowd today is noticeably younger. #anx2010

I fired up my AnimeNEXT day with some Rock Band at the Holiday Inn hotel and checked out the video game rooms there. Basically, they took three rooms and took out the walls in between them. There was a large abundance of fighting games, only a little bit of first person shooters, some rhythm games and plenty of old school console games on SNES, Sega Genesis or Dreamcast. Rockband was in a room by itself as well as Dance Dance Revolution. As usual, there were plenty of tournaments going on throughout the whole weekend.

Just like any other anime convention, AnimeNEXT had anime screenings. But unlike most other conventions, the screenings were playing 24/7 and there were a total of 5 rooms just playing anime non-stop. Funimation also brought in Master of Martial Hearts to screen at AnimeNEXT so it was a good opportunity to get a preview of the whole show.

In attempt to master the art of spending money on a con, I attended the ConBudget panel which was loaded with tips and tricks for minimizing the expenditure of a convention trip such as how to travel, stay overnight, shop, etc. Following the ConBudget panel, I cought the better half of the Otaku: Through the Generations panel which featured more discussions on verious generations of Otaku.

Funimation was the only company that had an industry panel at AnimeNEXT. We had the opportunity to meet Josh, the new man that will be hosting most Funimation panels from now on since Adam Sheehan was promoted to a different position in the company. Unfortunately, Funimation had nothing new to announce at AnimeNEXT and so if you already saw the news from Anime Boston or Anime North, you pretty much knew everything that was going to be shown at the panel. Josh wasn't as lively as Adam, but once he gets the hang of his job, he'll get better.

A weathered veteran of the anime industry, Greg Aryes, mainly discussed the impact of piracy on the anime and manga industry as well as the recent scanlations shake-up. Greg Aryes has already talked in the past about how piracy and fansubs are ruining the anime industry hoping that his voice would at least inspire people to take a stand. He was questions whether his efforts are in vain or whether they actually cultivated fans to respect copyrighted works and perhaps stimulate the industry. He does not know, but I believe from what I seen, that his struggle did indeed sway fans toward a more legal approach to appreciating anime and manga.

Ever wondered why older anime has such different drawing style? How bishounen came to be? Evan Minto of AniGamers answered these questions and discussed the evolution of character design at The Changing Faces of Anime panel. He discussed all the styles that became building blocks for later styles in modern anime one time period at a time.

Uncle Yo provided an hour of nostalgia at the "As the Otaku Grows" panel where he discussed all the old shows and cartoons that most of us grew up with. As usual, the panel was filled with plenty of humor as well as revelations of cartoons that got away with some perverse stuff.

I wrapped up the day with a hentai panel...but unfortunately when I got out of a previous panel there was a long line of people waiting to get into a small room. Surely I wasn't going to get in, but I persevered and midway through the panel I was finally able to get in. The panel focused mainly on series that were not licensed (yet) . But they did show a good list of quality titles.

Sunday: Day 3

@hisuiRT: "Best" #anx2010 experience. Walking in on someone masturbating in the bathroom!

Sunday at three day conventions is always a day of relaxation. A day to cool down after two days of partying. For some people Sunday was the only day that they attended the con so the energy was still there. I didn't do much other than do some last bit of shopping and then sat in some interesting panels.

Every convention should have one of these: A panel on otaku by otaku for otaku. The discussion ranged from how otaku are potrayed by the media, how otaku are viewed by normals to what makes otaku tick.

I have not seen Legend of Galactic Heroes, but I was intrigued by it since I keep seeing and hearing people talking about it. So I took the plunge and watched the first movie of it along with fan commentary. Pretty good stuff.

Appearing for the second year, a Psychology and Anime by Charles Dunbar discusses philosophies in psychology and how they apply to anime and anime fandom. This was a very insightful and educational panel where we got to ponder the implications of how we perceive and interpret anime.

To close off, AnimeNEXT 2010 was a blast. Although a moderately sized con, AnimeNEXT is able to provide the congoers with plenty of things to do, and very interesting guests. Although there are still some issues that AnimeNEXT needs to iron out for future years, AnimeNEXT is going to continue to grow and bring quality entertainment for attendees for years to come. On a completely different note, here's my weekend spoils:

Other AnimeNEXT 2010 reports to check out:

Reverse Thieves

Anime Almanac

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