We've moved! Go here now for all our new stuff. Since Blogger looks lame. Purely for the lulz, I might do something here since this blog has been around for a long time.

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Esperanto And The Galactic Railroad

It has been a while since I have seen the classic Nokto de la Galaksia Fervojo, better known as Milky Way Galaxy (Night on the Galactic Railroad). I did not know it at the time I saw the movie, but apparently Kenji Miyazawa had approved of the International language known as Esperanto and apparently Miyazawa is not the only great artist who approved of the language.

Latin and French used to dominate the world. English is currently the dominant language. Esperanto is different in being an International language. Latin, French and English are considered world languages and are used Internationally, however, the languages do not belong the world, they belong to their native lands. Esperanto has no home or nationality. Esperanto is meant to be the language of mankind.

I picture a world where man can get a long with his fellow man without the use of letters or metal but rather with their words. The word Espera means "hope" and that is where Esperanto derives its name.

Doktoro Esperanto (L.L. Zammenhof) lived in Bialystok and saw a world divided. It was this division between ethnic groups that made Zammenhof think that all the strife of living in such a multicultural community was caused by different languages. The language barrier created misunderstandings that created rifts between people. Being troubled by all this he set out to create a universal, International auxiliary language that let people keep their native tongue, yet let them be more apart of the broader community.

Knowing this I can see why great artists like Miyazawa would be in support of Esperanto.

Cxu vi parolas Esperanton?

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Everyone loves Space Nazi's

At this point Gundam 00 would probably be better off if it stopped pretending it knew anything about politics and science, and just became a fun show about robots shooting each other. That’s the conclusion I came to after watching episode 11.

When I was watching the first season of 00 it striked me as different from most Gundam series, since their really were no evil factions involved. Celestial Being was a terrorist organisation, and they’re methods couldn’t always be agreed with, but they did slowly appear to bring about peace. None of the supposedly antagonistic factions of earth were very evil either, they were just doing what was right, defending they’re countries from a hostile terrorist group. Its something we’ve seen before, Tomino’s gundam series are often praised for giving the series sympathetic enemies, but there was usually some figurehead in the series who was undoubtedly evil (Hell, in the original series Gihren was described by his own father as much like Hitler)

Unfortunately, this moral ambiguity in 00 didn’t last like I hoped it would. About half aways through the first season the Thrones are introduced, a group of insane Gundam Meisters who are almost undoubtedly evil, or at least extremely naive and have far too much power. So hurrah! Now we have a villain our heroes can fight with no shades or grey, and we’ll know their doing the right thing by shooting the enemies mobile suits into many different pieces!

Ok, admittedly this could be seen as a bit of a copout by the writers, to abandon whatever moral ambiguity there was in the plot and instead opt for the easy way out, but at this point in the series I didn’t really care. Looking back I think the show handled that plot pretty well, even if the show became quite a bit sillier from that point on.

With the second season we’re seeing something similar happening. If you’ve been keeping up with the show (and it’s likely none of the four people reading this have) you’ll know the second season has focused on an Authoritarian government which has arose in Celestial Beings absence, the Federation (like the united nations, but bigger with more mecha and nefarious plots) The big baddies of this season have been the A-Laws (really that’s an awful name, and not just because its far too similar to A-Holes) the feddies elite fighting squad who apparently like to use they’re powerful mobile suits to pick on people in the middle east, and set fire to there cities... Or something.

So basically, it’s those pesky Titans from Zeta Gundam again, except not. Really, I’m making this sound far worse than it is, because to be honest the show has handled this fairly well. Yes the A-Laws are quite a bit like the Titans, but the difference is that some of the A-Laws are actually sympathetic (well, slightly) While the Titans were really just walking ass holes, who lived to beat up those damn protestors, take away they’re rights and gas they’re colonies, I’ve actually started to take a liking to some of the A-Laws. In fact, I think most of my favourite characters in the series are a part of A-Laws.

Let’s see, the adorable Patrick, Graham Aker... And that awesome Russian guy is part of the feddie military (which is close enough to A-Laws, really) Yup, most of my favourite characters are A-Laws. (Patrick, Probably the best character in this whole show)

It’s a pity the series hasn’t explored the idea more that maybe what the A-Laws are doing isn’t so bad after all. We know from the first season (and from real life) that the middle-east is a hostile environment, where civil war is very likely. So, maybe it would be best if A-Laws did swoop down and take over Azadistan. In the long run they’re interventions would probably be the best thing for that country.

At this point however, it’s unlikely that this will happen, because of the MASSIVE thing which happened in ep 10. I’m about to let loose some MASSIVE spoilers, so only read on if you’ve already seen the episode in question, or you just don’t care (i.e. Tissuekins)

In ep 10 the A-Laws come to the realisation that everyone in every gundam series must inevitably come to. The best way to bring about peace is through weapons of mass destruction! Usually giant space lasers, or if you want to use a more imaginative technique, why don’t you just go ahead and crash a space colony into earth? (Char decided to be a bit more original, and actually sent a meteor crashing down to earth! That’s right, HE IS that awesome!)

A-Laws decided to be classy and go for the giant space laser technique and with it commit mass genoicde. So yeah, what this really means is Gundam has once again thrown moral ambiguity to wind and opted instead for some truly evil space Nazis.
But who doesn’t love some good ol’ Space Nazis?

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Sheryl loses her panties, Wackiness ensues!


We whine a lot about how anime is going down hill, and how much superior the stuff from the 80’s is, but we’ve had some good shows recently, especially in the mecha department. Gurren Lagann is one of the manliest mecha series I’ve ever seen, and Gundam 00’s one of the most original, and both of them came out last year. There were some great mecha series from the 80’s, like Votoms and Gundam, but there was plenty of crap too.

There’s plenty of crap now as well, and after watching episode 8 of Macross Frontier I’m beginning to think it fits that category. I gotta admit, when tissuekins rallied against Macross F(uck) I thought he was just whining for the sake of whining, but I’m beginning to see his point. When the series started I thought it would be awesome. The music is great, the animation (especially the mecha) is equally good, and the action scenes are some of the best I’ve seen.

But Episode 8 is pretty much the worst episode I’ve seen yet. I’m not gonna go too her far into what it entails, so I’ll leave it to one sentence. Sheryl panties are stolen, wackiness ensues!
It’s worth mentioning the episode before this one was a huge space battle filled with mecha, explosions, spaceships and space crabs! So these harem antics feel a little out of place, and unneeded.

And that’s the whole problem with this show, the mecha is all well and good, but there’s no character. The characters have no personality, there’s nothing about them to be attached too, cause’ they’re all just stereotypes. Each one covers a different otaku fetish, whether it be the zentraedi porn star who can turn into a loli, or the Valkryie pilot who’s also a shota. And I know tissuekins really wants to bone Ranka cause she sounds 12 years old or whatever, but she just gets annoying. She’s just there to act cute, sing a sad song and have doujinshi made out of her.

Ok, admittedly once you get past that the action scenes are bitching. I’m usually not a fan of CG in anime, but here it looks awesome, and it integrates excellently. The only problem is... There’s nothing behind it all. The fight scenes in Gundam 00 and Gurren Lagann might not be as jaw dropping as this, but at least in that show I care enough that I want the good guys to win, in Macross Frontier I don’t care that much either way, as long as things blow up good.

But hey, that’s why I’m gonna keep watching it. Things blow up good. Maybe Ranka might blow up too.

Lost, and why I'm tired of it

Lost is praised for it's "suspenseful" and "cliffhanging" writing. It's great character development and inventive storytelling. But you know what? GET ON WITH IT. We get it, this is awesome, but all those twists and turns, I just do not have the attentions span to keep up with such a long-going TV show. Now, I;m down with twists and turns and all this "flash forward"-ing. I think Lost would be better if it was a book. This is actually the same problem I have with LOGH. I;m a person who would rather read something long and spanning, than just sit there and be passive. I wanna be involved, and I think a book is more involving than a TV show. I'm not really ahting on Lost, but man, it;s just so confusing and drawn out, just tell my that evil black thing is killing things and why there's a polar bear. Doctor Who can pose the same mystery, but have it solved in an hour.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Classy Anime, and why it's never gonna be the face of anime

Ok, so quartears comes on one day and asks something about what classy anime is. and

I told him

Tezuka

Sure, I also dropped Kon and Otomo in there but let's face it, if you wanna be deep and high brow about your anime, Tezuka is where to start.

Tezuka is the reason Kon and Otomo are making their movies, he;s the reason why japan won't ever create war robots (well that and the nuclear bomb) and the reason why Japan thinks men with scars are sexy (or is that me?)
His works were large, expansive and epic, they were also thoughtful and very heartfelt. But one thing strikes me about Tezuka and his works, that is he can show you the many faces of humanity
When the man makes a manga he's not simply scribbling characters interacting to make a buck, but to tell you an idea, a concept or to show you something that should stir something deep within you. His work, for me, is reflective and very human. I also think it's the fact that he was a man of peace that he can also show human conflict in a sad yet interesting light. One of his works, Buddha, is a good example. It's like if someone were to take the story of jesus, add in realism, conflict and self reflection and that's Buddha. And Buddha is not exploitative, but reflective.

But you know why anime will always be commercial? Cause Tezuka will never come back from the dead and give meaning to anime again. That doesn't mean anime can be meaningful, but the face it'll show to our children and their children will be that of a whore, who will fulfill their disgusting dirty needs.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Macross Frontier; why it’s balls.(and why I am sucking those balls as I write this).

It’s been called macross F, and you know what that “F” stands for?
Fuck
This is what I was saying repeatedly in my head as I was watching this.
Do you know why?
Keep reading to find out more!
Ok, so I tried to rewatch the first episode of Macross F(uck) cause I thought “hey you know the mecha crowd seems to like it” (they also like geass and 00, which is also balls, maybe I don’t know). It’s actually not that bad of a show, it’s actually watchable, if they remove one thing.
ALTO
THE CHICK WHO DRESSES LIKE A DUDE.
I mean, she is a chick right, with her pretty long hair…oh wait, I’m being told, oh the fuck? She’s not a woman? She’s a dude? Oh my god, but he’s so pretty! Damn you Kawamori and your borderline faggotry! It seems kinda pointless to have him as the main character, cause he feels more like a gimmick rather than a character. To appeal to the female fan base, they have the main character as some flying pretty boy (emphasis on pretty). The part that gets me though is when his faggy ass friend calls him “princess” and he gets annoyed. I’m thinking “if you don’t want you ass buddy to call you that, don’t dress like a chick you fag, cut the dew and look like you hold some balls and a penis in your crotch”. I know they only do it twice, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this is some sort of awful running gag Kawamori or who ever directs this would pull cause they hate people like me. Now, I wanna like this, and it’s not super awful but it is just really really fruity. Like holy shit man when watching it I could smell mangoes, berries and oranges and strawberries form my laptop as I watched this. That’s how fruity it is. But you ask “well Senior fantastico del fuego, lord and saviour Charleston, what does keep you from watching?”
Ranka, fucking, Lee and Sheryl Norme (The Galactic Fairy slut)
I’m a pathetic loser, go kill me now please, as it seems I found a female anime character that is not (so far) just a gimmick to pull in creepy otaklue, but an honest to god fleshed out character I can actually like. She doesn’t sound like a five yr old girl and she’s not a cardboard cut out to project my masturbatory desires to (ngggfffhhhhh oh ranka lee you look like a ten yr old girl with your awesome loli body, let me wank nggfffffffhhh to you LOLZ). If I was a true loser and hated myself (which is evident since I’m pretty masochistic) I would say I am moe for Ranka Lee, but not in a creepy pedo way, but in a, as the people who stole this manly word put it, in a fashion to that of a friend. Here’s the reason why, she’s fleshed out and she’s quirky and a young dreamer, I can, surprisingly root for her. She also works in a Chinese restaurant and I fucking love Chinese food.
Sheryl, on the other hand seems kinda like an American pop idol, rather than the Japanese one. But she does seem strong and also fully fleshed out.
Now for the combat HOLY FUCK I was holy shit balls wanktacularly impressed, I mean dogfights combined with mech fighting, I fucking enjoyed it. I was satisfied and was happy. Also the Valkryies are kinda cool too, I guess. You know, not manly and gritty but hey, what the fuck.
My final verdict? Holy fuck?! I;m gonna watch episode two? Yeah, I enjoyed it, and I wanna see more of Sheryl and Ranka, I wanna see what happens to them because they interest me. The male characters are surprisingly boring but the female characters are highly developed and very very fleshed out (wink wink LOLZ, just kidding they really do interest me). Alto can still fuck off though, even though he pulled of a bad ass.

Yeah, I know, I’m fucking surprised too.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Turning MW into a Film

Been awhile hasn’t it?

Ok, I realise this is old news to most of you guys, but I only just found out. It appears that a film is being made of Osamu Tezuka’s MW and filming has already begun. MW is one of Tezuka’s darker works. It takes place after the leaking of an experimental gas which kills the inhabitants of a small island, and the only ones who survive are Yuki and Garai. A couple of decades later Garai is a priest and Yuki; a banker. But they both hold a secret; that since the accident Yuki has been murdering and raping left and right. To make matters worse since Yuki and Garai have been having a “romantic” relationship.

Now, if done correctly I think a MW film could be fantastic. The manga itself is very odd, but also very cinematic. When I was reading I could often picture it as a film or live action drama. Hell, I think it would suit itself well to an American or British production, but I don’t like what little we’ve seen of this adaptation, mainly the casting.



If I had to pick who I’d cast as the main characters it’d probably be Cillian Murphy as Yuki (he could probably do a good job of pulling off the androgyny while still being creepy.) But casting father Garai would be much more difficult. He’d have to be older (probably in his 40’s). In the case of the upcoming Japanese film I like the casting as Yuki, he’s good looking enough and could probably be quite creepy. But father garai just looks... Wrong. They’ve made him much younger, probably to make there relationship a little less creepy (for lack of a better word) But Father Garai also looks too attractice. He isn’t meant to be a pretty boy, he’s a gruff guy so I doubt he cares how his hair is gelled.

MW could be a great film, but live action Tezuka adaptations have never had that much luck (anyone remember that Phoenix film, or the black and white Astro Boy? Both were pretty nausea inducing) Lets hope they use the source material well and go beyond just another live action manga.

Friday, August 15, 2008

Lupin the 3rd, Sabertooth and Hidden Yuri

Daughter of Twenty Faces: First Impression

Of the new anime season very little has caught my interest. There seems to be a shortage of mecha titles and science fiction, and the only thing I’ve been vaguely interested in is Kaiba. Well, that and this series. Daughter of Twenty Faces.




Daughter of Twenty of Twenty Faces (or as some call it, Heiress of The Phantom Thief, or if your a weeabo Nijū Mensō no Musume. Really this series has so many names it’s not even funny) is a series loosely based of the works detective author Rampo Edogawa. But much like another anime, Giant Robo, the similarities end with the titular character, in this case 20-Faces. He’s a thief, stealing ancient artifacts along with his team of twenty thieves.


The thing which will strike you first of all about this series is it’s not at all that worried about petty things like logic, or making sense. In the first 3 episodes you already have a cannibal who looks and acts exactly like sabertooth, desperate to steal 20-Faces treasure, as well as a plane the size of a city. The character’s strike a good balance between stylish and cartoony. Theirs the extremely manly 20-faces, always one step ahead of the enemy. There’s his apprentice, the daughter of twenty faces, only 11 years old yet already pulling of heists and kicking yakuza in the crotch. The show initially pulled me in with the prospect of being a stylish and fun series, not taking itself too seriously and bound to follow a simple formula of a Lupin the 3rd style heist-of-the-week.


And then I watched episode 6.


From then on it’s apparent this series is not afraid to take risks. I don’t want to spoil what happens in that episode, but it puts the series on a completely different course, setting up mysteries and changing characters for the better.



SABERTOOTH?!?!?

The director of this series, Nobuo Tomizawa, certainly seems to be “DA BOMB”, when it comes to this kind of series. He has the crime/mystery format down having directed many episodes of Lupin the 3rd and Detective Conan, which this show shares many similarities with. That said, there are a few downsides. Some of the plot elements are perhaps too ridiculous for belief. If the idea of Zombies from WW11 makes your head explode, this may be not for you. Also, as the evil, evil man, Daryl Surat pointed out to me, there are some Yuri elements below the surface.


The series is only on episode 14 and anime has a tendency to go craptacular towards the end. But as it is right now, Daughter of Twenty Faces has exceeded my expectations. Any show with Lupin the 3rd style antics, featuring Sabertooth and with some Yuri mixed in is probably worth a look.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Zac Efron is Kira!


It isn't a wonder why I hate them both.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Toward The Terra DVD 1&2, or pretty boys in SPAAACE!



So, I had gone to the Anime Store intending to buy Gurren Lagann. But it was sold out, so instead of going home with a series of manliness, exhibiting Giant Robot drills, I instead found myself with the anime adaptation of a 70’s Shoujo series by Keiko Takemiya. Keiko Takemiya is somewhat of an Mangaka from what I’ve seen. I don’t think I’ve read anything by her which didn’t involve Boy Love, incest or worse. The last thing I saw from her, unfortunately, was the OAV Kaze to Ki no Uta, which involves the most disturbing rape scene EVER!

Oh damn, I’m off topic again, where was I? Oh yeah pretty boys in space. Toward the Terra is a pretty straightforward remake of the original manga. The story is as follows. The earth , or terra, has become polluted and human life is no longer sustainable. Humanity has left for the stars and is ruled by a supercomputer called Mother. There are rebellions towards the supercomputer, mainly a group of physics who have been persecuted by humans. By today’s standards this is the kind of Sci-Fi we’ve seen done before, so the real question is – is it done well?

This anime is a fairly straightforward adaptation of the manga. But basing a 26 episode series of a three volume manga demands some that some things must be stretched out. In these 8 episodes I watched there were some liberties taken. New characters have been added, relationships have been fleshed out and some new events have been added. Compared to the earlier anime adaptation this version is far less rushed .If I had to criticise it, at points it does feel kinda slow, which makes me all the more glad Bandai is releasing this series in 8 episode sets. The animation also drops in quality considerably around episode 6 with some very jerky movements and off model shots.

To Terra is often accused of being Shounen-Ai. This isn’t exactly right. For the most part To Terra is straightforward Science Fiction. It’s easy to forgive people for thinking this, though. Keiko Takemiya is one of the pioneers of the BL genre and the implications are obviously there. Along with the pretty boy character designs, the BL implications are probably one of the main reasons this series is as popular as it is. But if you’re willing to look deeper this is a Sci-Fi series with some great drama and character designs. No it’s not manly, and it might be little slow for some, but if your looking for some hard sci-fi, this may be for you.



Whew, can’t wait to see how tissuekins reacts to this.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Fashionably Late

I'm here at last. Probably slightly behind Miss M. as the most sane of the group. Though AgentQ did describe me as perverse which is always good.

What I think Area Graruru is!

AG is the embodiment of our journey to enlightenment through manliness!

Friday, July 18, 2008

Sam, Mike and Mary: The Area Graruru Extravaganza!



While the reader may think that they were safe since the policy episode, things have changed! While nothing interesting happened in today's episode, listen to it anyways! It's mostly just stuff my band of bloggers already know. Actually it's mostly just a little something that was put together for the AG listener (a.k.a. the host). It's difficult to explain, so folks will just have to listen for themselves...

right click save as to download mp3.

right click save as to download ogg.




Anyways, the suit just came back from the dry cleaners. It will see some more action in the upcoming week. The dry cleaner will have a hell of a time getting all the blood out from the debaters! However, they'll probably spend more time getting a dead corpse out of it first.

The music featured in this episode are:

"Chocolate Rain" by Tay Zonday (never again!)
"Moon Strobe" by Tripudio
flippant from Marathon
And the Marathon 3: Infinity Theme

Go play Marathon!

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Huzzah? Area Graruru? Whuzzat?

I think Area Graruru's meaning is best summarized by this:

Miss M

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

what I think AG is

I think graruru is some crazy kid's podcast about stuff he thinks is important
but dioesn't have a form yet like water I've just compared you to bruce lee! ATA!

Resident evil 4- “why I hate this fucking game”

Now, I’m not a big video game guy, I know what I like, I like things that explodes, women and gun fire (a perfect present would be a mine throwing gun-firing deathdroid that can also serve other “ahem” needs, but that’s beside the point). Now I actually like resident evil 4, it’s awesome, cause it asks you a question every true man comes across in his life “are you a bad enough dude to save the president’s totally hot daughter?” And the answer is a residing yes. That is, if you play normal mode, where you can basically knife some Spanish people in the face for half the game, shoot leather face rip-offs and knife more Spaniards in the face. Now, you ask ‘but my manly man bro tissuekins, why do you hate this game. There’s the pres’ daughter, you with a suitcase of weaponry, and a bunch of (Spanish) people to kill, shouldn’t you be glad? Thankful to the gods that Capcom has given you a chance to shoot some poor parasite infected farmer in the face with an antique gun? Or even a gun that shoots modified mine darts?” I say hither unto thee that yes, it is all good, IF YOU CAN FUCKING BEAT IT ON PREOFESSIONAL MODE. Now, there are two modes, normal, where you can knife people half the time (if you’re a manly man, man, man-man, like me). Then there’s professional mode, which is physically, emotionally and mentally draining. This made me feel like I was insignificant, like my balls weren’t made of super alloy z irradiated with getter beams. This game made me cry, and question my own self worth. The difficulty difference is so high, that let’s say, Kenshiro, was able to beat Shin, but then when he faced Souther, he couldn’t beat him, cause well, cause Souther’s a dick and his nerve points were all reversed (I know that makes no fucking sense, but it’s FOTNS, it’s like trying to find deeper meaning in Riki-Oh). An example would be when I go into this room, with a bunch of hooded zealot church people, they all come towards me and thankfully, the pres’ daughter is wearing armor (I unlocked the different costumes yo, it made the sting also much worse the fact that I didn’t even need to protect her). And I’d use her as bait, lure them and the shoot them in the face and kick them right? WRONG YOU SONS OF BITCHES, BECAUSE IF ONE GUY JUST FUUCKING HITS YOU, YOU AUTOMATICALLY BECOME SLOW BECAUSE YOU’RE SOME WEAK ASS ANEMIC FUCKER FOR SOME ODD REASON. THEN, YOU’RE SUSCEPTIBLE TO MORE ENEMY ATTACKS, AND THERE’S NO FUCKING HERBS MAN! NO MORE FUCKING HERBS! AND THEN THERE’S THESE FUCKERS WITH SHIELDS, OH JESUS CHRIST HAVE MERCY ON ME! So, basically, capcom expects you to be this awesome super player who doesn’t even get touched since you’re so fucking awesome and even playing professional mode feels more like a chore than a game. I grumble having to beat professional mode, and it makes me feel like I’m in school. It makes me cry and worst of all, it emasculates me. Oh jesus, please kill Shinji Murakami, cause he’s finally done something to me that everyone should’ve told hard-core modern moe loving otaku, that your games and your anime hates you just like everybody else in the real world! Fuck you Murakami. But like a beatened wife, I keep coming back to this game, wussing out and playing normal mode. I fucking love you resident evil 4, cause I’m a fucking masochist.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Lucky ☆ Star

Uh-oh. Here I go. Destroying the vibe of this blog with this show.
The girls of Lucky ☆ Star.
I'll give an honest opinion: this is not the best anime ever made. Yes, it is very charming and casts a magical, sugary spell over its viewer, sucking it in until the karaoke ending themes. The animation you will either hate, or hate to love it. The plot you will either despise or not really care about it. The characters will be annoying, fun, or genius. The first few episodes are weak. The episodes after it are glorious. Pick your poison.
Kyoto Animation hit it big again when Lucky ☆ Star aired Spring 2007. Still relishing in the huge hit of Haruhi Suzumiya, they shot at us again with another sure-fire. And, this time, the dance is in the opening theme.

Lucky ☆ Star's premise is like that of Azumanga Daioh. "Having fun in school, doing homework together, cooking and eating, playing videogames, watching anime. All those little things make up the daily life of the anime- and chocolate-loving Izumi Konata and her friends. Sometimes relaxing but more than often simply funny!" (Thank you, MAL.) But, unlike Azumanga, the main character is someone that, frighteningly, we all can relate to...

Izumi Konata

Konata is... an average otaku personality. She would much rather stay awake to the wee hours of the morning playing MMORPGs with her teacher (no joke) than study, or do homework. She works at a cosplay cafe. She is extremely passionate about Haruhi Suzumiya. (Kyoto Animation injected Haruhi into every crevice of this show. See the Mikuru figure on Konata's television?) She would much rather read manga, as too much text and not enough pictures hurt her eyes. A light novel has too much text for her, even! She is voiced by Aya Hirano, who also brought to life Haruhi Suzumiya. Her best friends are Miyuki Takara, Tsukasa Hiiragi, and Kagami Hiiragi.

(From left to right) Tsukasa Hiiragi, Izumi Konata, Kagami Hiiragi, and Miyuko Takara.

The Hiiragi twins remind me of several I actually known in real life. Each different, yet similar looking, with their own ideas and adorable, or annoying quirks. Kagami, however harsh her comment may be, she's quite the tsundere and loves her friends, even Konata, who really irritates and baffles her. Next to Konata, Kagami is the next favourite character of the show to many. Not mine... We'll get to that later.

Tsukasa and Miyuki and cute characters. (I dare not say the "M" word...) Miyuki is a rich individual from the city, with constant problems involving her teeth. Tsukasa is a little like Konata. She can't do her homework, has the same favourite manga as her ("Sgt. Frog!"), and possibly gets along the best with her. When it comes time to, she often forgets to switch into her summer uniform...

Let's move on to what really made this show special for me. It wasn't the "actual" show, but the show within the show. Let me introduce you all to Lucky Channel!

Minoru Shiraishi and Akira Kogami!! <3

Lucky Channel is the best. More entertaining than the actual show itself, more awesome, more unique... And all in three minutes time. This is what made me go on and continue watching Lucky ☆ Star. I don't think I can fully describe how amazing these skits are. With Minoru Shiraishi doing the voice of... Minoru Shiraishi... and Hiromi Konno as Akira Kogami, who, in a flash can turn from a sweet, peppy idol character to a harsh, chain-smoker personality type. Lucky Channel is epic.

Then... the karaoke ending credits begin to roll. For a time, the voice actresses of the four main characters sing themes to popular anime shows (From Sazae-san to Dragon Ball). But, then, it really kicks up as Minoru Shiraishi takes the stage, singing it up with songs like "Dentistman", "The Minoru Legend of Love", and "Hare Hare Yukai". Hiromi Kanno even sings a song her character Akira has in the show, going from really high-pitched to low and growling. Absolutely hilarious in every way.

... I love Minoru Shiraishi. Go watch Lucky ☆ Star now. He'll steal your heart. And, if not him, then Lucky Channel will.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Hello manly reader men

Oh, hey dudes, my name is I'm the host of the WMP, a podcast filled with things of the masculine, but not homosexual, persuasion. I'm here to tell you that I'll be writing things for this blog, whilst blowing things up and playing rock music. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go and pilot giant robots while punching king kong in the face.

An Introduction, If I May?

Why, hello there! I'm a new writer for this little thingy-whatsit. You may call me Miss M. I am also known as "That Cool Chick with a LJ." I am quite cool, to pimp my collar for a moment. I will be posting anime news, reviews... or whatever I feel like.

To finish off this introduction, I would like to take offense to the description up in the right hand corner. I am not a gentleman, thank you.

I am a Fembot.

Monday, June 16, 2008

The Adult Empire's FIST!

With EXTREMELY enthusiasm I present you with this almost vapid review of Shin Chan. There's not much to say, or maybe that's so just because it's intellectually challenging. What more can I say, it's a good movie.

It's around a 11 minutes so it's a short one today.

Right click save as to download mp3 version.

Go here for the ogg version.




I have not planned anything for next week, watch this space for more info on next week's show.

Oh yeah, here's the link for that Reuters article I mentioned.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

The One About Paprika

Today I just jump right in and talk about Satoshi Kon's Paprika. A cool movie with things that are confusing and scary + a rape scene!

9

Paprika

Right Click save as to download mp3 version.

and go here for the ogg version.




I talk about Paprika until around 16 minutes, after that I go to the Dave and Joel's Promo and then I just talk about how much I LOVE Fist of the North Star.

Next time I will talk about Crayon Shin Chan: The Adult Empire Strikes Back.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

A Sick Episode with no Singing

I just talk about how I'm sick and how much I like New Getter Robo...


right click save as to download mp3.

and here is the ogg.

New Getter Robo rules!


Tuesday, May 27, 2008

An AMV

Mostly because I'm lazy and didn't record anything, this week will be out of the ordinary.

I made a Legend of the Galactic Heroes Video.

I basically summarized all of Overture to a New War. Which is essentially the first few episodes of LoGH.

I don't really care, I made it cause I like Legend of the Galactic Heroes and that is simply that.

Right Click Save As to Download.

Monday, May 19, 2008

Episode 7 Global Warming

Intro music

Today I talked about Ernest Hemingway and reading. Once again I managed to talk about debate.

At about 21 minutes in I began my short story section

This one is about how we need to kill the ozone layer because it is killing us. (the irony is that it was just gradual heating of the seasons)

Anyways, I don't feel like writing in-depth show notes. For some reason I feel organized, I'm not sure why. School is almost over for me. Now I'm staring at all these awards I half-heartedly earned through paying attention and doing homework. I suppose I'll be able to get shows out on a better time schedule. I don't feel that bad that I'm only on like episode 7. At least I feel better than those once a month podcasts out there.

I don't suppose I'll return to talking about the news, unless I really feel like it. I believe I have already made it clear that this show is about whatever the hell I want to talk about. Simple concept really. I mostly talk about whatever the hell I'm reading or watching. I should probably plan out my schedule, instead of just this podcast.

Since Summer is coming up and I'll have more free time than I have now, I may or may not release episodes on a more frequent basis.

The promos I played today were:
Dave and Joel's Fast Karate for the Gentlemen.

For the mp3 version, right click save as to download.

Here is the OGG version




Next week, I get excited about the non-fanservicy, non-gratuitous nudity/violence R-Rated film that is rated PG in Canada, Paprika!

Saturday, May 17, 2008

... New Licenses and...

Hello ya'll, long time no post. A few shows got licensed and I just felt like posting it. That's all.


D.Gray Man, a show I used to watch got licensed by Funimation.
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Romeo X Juliet, a show made from a play I strongly dislike got licensed by Funimation.
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I don't really care about those shows, well I care for D.Gray Man a little bit, but not that much. I just felt like posting that since it was the first thing I saw in my Google Reader (which I think is awesome!)

the only thing relevant, is that Funimation seems to be the only anime company not doing horribly. I can assume that is because their releases are fairly good and that they have Dragon Ball Z. They seem to be least affected, not I said least not 'unaffected', by the Geneon crash. ADV and Bandai Visual seem to be in hell. Bandai Visual must be going down for other reasons. (mostly cause they make decisions about as well as a jackass)

I still need to better understand the marketplace before I go on making assumptions. I had a terrible Economics teacher and whatever bit I know is simply from various sources.

Oh well, now I'll change from that to that Glober Warming issue. Some kid is going around changing the world or something.

Anyways, what the hell was I gonna talk about now? Oh yeah, the new episode. Don't worry you 12 subscribers out there, an episode will be coming out.

I will still be talking about Hemingway and why ... I don't read contemporary literature. It's a stupid reason, don't worry.

The next week after that I will talk about Paprika. Graduation and Awards ceremonies are coming up very soon. Well, no, Graduation ceremonies has already happened. Damn, where is that planner? Oh yeah, sitting on my the shelf above my anime collection.

Anyways yeah, I am currently watching Paprika the awesome way, once a day in each different language on this DVD, not Blu-ray cause I'm not American rich. I wish I could see it on Blu-Ray and watch it in Thai, oh well.

The Hemingway episode will be mostly to get an episode out, but don't worry, I do talk about literature and how Mill fried my brain.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Episode 6: Just to pass the time... (I scream at the end)

The speech at the beginning is from the national archives. Nixon was totally cool.

I talk mostly about tornadoes...

right click save as to download mp3 version

here for the OGG version.




I didn't talk about much...

But next time!

Photobucket

Monday, April 28, 2008

Episode 5: I think... It's just random jabbering

All right, here is the very delayed in coming episode 5! All right there are more than five things in the feed, but you shut up.




right click save as for mp3

and also in ogg.

I talk about:

Golgo 13

Code Geass R2

and xxxHolic Kei!

I also made children cry




I played promos for:

Destroy All Podcasts DX

and World's Manliest Podcast

Friday, April 11, 2008

Angel's Egg Episode: What Did You Say about China??

A well delayed episode. The first move has been made Regan! I reviewed Angel's Egg horrifically. Regan Stronghold will do this show justice better than I can! I don't really have much to say other than I really need organization...

Nothing but pain if you listen...

I'll tell Brad I used his idea later...

right click save as to download.




For Linux Users, here it is in OGG.

Anyways, enjoy the episode. If you can!

Anime Talk Angel's Egg Review:
part one
part two

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Singing #1

The terror that raided my YouTube, strikes my podcast!

I sang the fourth opening to Legend of the Galactic Heroes.

I'm just tired and I need something up. I really need to do some research for debate that I found out will happen in 2 days counting today!

Right click save as to download mp3

Because I support Linux users, here is OGG format.

So just for the hell of it I put this up. Don't kill me Reinhard!


Thursday, March 6, 2008

It's not ALL DOLPHIN propaganda

Just to have something up here... another episode of Dolphin Haters. I am still trying to soak in everything from Angel's Egg... Regan, you'll just have to wait for my incompetent review. Then we'll see who's shortcomings are worse.

right click save as to download




Anyways... the promo in this is from Weekly Anime Review Podcast... well now WARP... Aaron you rule! If it wasn't for WARP I would have never listened to AWO. Check his out here.

the song during the weird story from my friend TehRizzle is:
Duet by Dylly downloaded from podsafeaudio.com

I am currently working on my promo... everything I've made are just sorry attempts at making promos...

Monday, February 18, 2008

Episode #3 El Spriggan

Hey guys, check me out I am back!

Right Click Save As to Download.

Thanks for listening!

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Dolphin Haters Launch, plus a name change!

All right, It's the New Year.

Right click save us to download


Finally, 2007 is over, that was a pretty bad year for me. Let's hope this year is better. To start off, with a new name. It will now be known as Area Graruru. A take off Area 51. This episode will be my longest to date. I threw in Zombie Plan in full!

Look for more maybe later.