Greetings and salutations, all you anime crack addicts anonymously looking for your next fix of deliciously, deviant, and decadent animated narcotic. Today I’m going to return a topic I talked to about in a previous post way back in September of last year; the Nintendo 3DS. However, this time I’m going to add in another element, the Playstation Vita now that its out. I’m going to be a comparison of the two on certain levels, but also an update of somethings I addressed last time and some extreme claims about the Vita.
Last time I discussed how a lot of people on the internet where predicting the doom of Nintendo and the 3DS because of the massive drop in sales about 5 months after the launch which was mishandled(if anyone can point to a really solid launch for a game console please mention it the comments). So time has shown that either is true, of course although I’m aware that the Nintendo prediction is kind of open ended because a company’s future is always up in the air, however the 3DS one has proved to be very wrong. Over the Holiday Season the 3DS sold almost 1.6 million units and the weeks following have been strong as well. Add that to the fact the 3DS sold more units in the first 8 months in the U.S. than the DS. One thing I was wrong about in the last article was my prediction of a possible redesign of the system which didn’t come about(yet) maybe because the sales have rebounded. I around thing I predicted was if a bunch of quality first party games would come out they the sales would go up; and that’s what has happened with the Mario and Mario Kart games. There are also some great three party stuff like the Monster Hunter game and more coming.
Ok on to Vita, and with its recent release in Japan on Dec.17th out of the way it looked pretty impressive with first weekend sales of 320,000. However, after that the sales have dropped off a lot and have been below the PSP. So now people predicting the end of Vita already. I really wish people would not make such wild and unfounded predictions about the future of a product that just came out. I think I Vita will pick up in the coming months, it might take a price cut, but I’m sure it will in the end. The launch library was kinda underwhelming even though there was an Uncharted game, but I think was better then the 3DS’s launch line up. Just give Vita some time.
Well Happy (LAAAAAAAAAAATE) New Years to you guys as I am going to kick off the 2012 year with even more drinking and losing track of time in front of my TV. So, after a few shots of strong whiskey and experiencing another lonely New Years Eve, only to watch Dick Clark “old as dirt” face on the tube, it was time to pop in another random anime tape. By the time I used my last bit of conscious to hit the “Play” button before being overtaken by the devils liquor, I soon found myself in the middle of the desert, with nothing in sight but some old piece of technology that has been rotting on this desolate place for centuries it seems. After investigating the wreckage, behold, a large white mechanical suit popped out from the sand, that looks like it was a defect Metal Gear unit that Kojima didn’t see a purpose to add in his Metal Gear series. The machine spoke to me, saying he has been buried in the sand for something of a thousand years, and waiting for a life form to become his new pilot. He told me his name was Shaian, and opened the cockpit like hatch on his right side of his mech chest unit. “Oh…great, this again…” as I told myself, because I already knew what was going to happen. So, let’s get this booze dream over and done with in this review of Dragon’s Heaven.
I am actually going to do this review a bit different. So, instead of me explaining half the story and saying “hey, screw you and go out there and find it yourself” (like I enjoy doing), I will do a brief review this time to make it easy on you guys, and on myself also. So, let’s dive into this world of robot loving women, 80’s mecha designs, and all around short (and enjoyable) OVA of Dragon’s Heaven.
The OVA starts out with a brief history lesson of a war long forgotten, back in the (or should I say way ahead in the future) year of 3195, where we got robots fighting other robots on the planet Earth (there is a Brazil in this anime, so I will have to use my gut instinct and say Earth). We then hear of the robot back story of Shaian, who cannot return to his home world due to his pilot dying on him in battle and decides to go into robot sleep till whenever. We cut to the current (WAY FUTURE) time and see a rider on some weird looking ostrich animal going through the barren desert, when they go to a wreckage site and see a relic of the past that catches the riders attention. Soon after checking out the wreckage, we see a computer screen appear on screen with the text “Life Form” written, and we see our robot protagonist appear, Shaian. Shaian states that he has been in “robot sleep” for around a millennium when he awakens, and we find out who our mysterious rider is, our human female protagonist Ikaru. From then on, the story takes them into Shaian past and to fight his old robot rival, El Madine.
This is a very short OVA, so your looking at 30 minutes of the actual show, then credits, then about 10 minutes of a documentary at the end. How the actual OVA starts out is there is a 5 minute live action scene at the beginning between animatronic robots that are featured in the anime itself, who look like they are about to throw down right when the anime starts. I have to give the people behind the live action opening some credit, seeing how this was 1988, and if not most of the money went to the animation production than making the animatronic robots, they used what they had to make garage kits of the mechs themselves to try something different. In its own way, it does look really cool. And we get to see the title of the anime that seemed to be made out of a block of steel, rather cool looking. Then ending is just more of a “behind the scenes” look at what they did to make the robots move in the opening, which was recorded at a garage somewhere in Japan. I would have to say the opening sequence and the robots themselves were probably done by the director of this anime, Makoto Kobayashi.
This anime also has its amuzing moments where Shaian is embaressed by Ikaru being nude, and where Ikaru has the hots for Shaian rival when Shaian shows her the picture of the robot. Its like there is this underline theme of “chicks dig robots” in a minor way, for a comical effect that is amusing. The animation and mechanical designs are very unique for its time, which gives this OVA that genuine feel of 80’s nostalgia when you see this. Also to add is Ikaru body armor design when she goes against El Madine with its crazy design of clay looking spike high top boots, spiky knee guards and circular shoulders makes it more unique when it comes to the design work of this anime. There is much more to say when it comes to locations and what not, so keep your eyes peeled. The soundtrack has that 80’s synth pop to it also that kinda stays with you when you watch this.
I would say if you care to check this out, I will be worth your time. Its short, sweet and very too the point. It is available over at Anime Classic Reviews if you care to check it out. Well, I told you this would be shorter, so hope you enjoyed it.
Hello there everyone. I’m back again with more stuff. This one is more of a roundup of some of the stuff that I’ve watched as far as the new season is concerned. Look forward to more concrete reviews and maybe a top 5 list after this weekend. Until then, thanks for watching.
Hey again everyone. I’m keeping up with my New Years Resolution! Look at me go. Anyway, I had a request from YouTube watcher dephlection for Air Gear, which I had reviewed in the past. I decided that my original 1/5 score may have been a little harsh. Will I go back on my original score or will I remain steadfast? Tune in to find out!!
Hey everyone. It’s a new anime season, so I talk a little bit about the ones that have piqued my interest, and also give excuses as to why I haven’t finished Cowboy Bebop yet. WOOHOO!
Recently I was looking for news topics on anime for my next post when something caught my eye. A post by Shubhajit Roy over at India Express, although unassuming in nature, caught my eyes and my heart when I read the title. The post was entitled “Japan Pushes Anime for Indian Kids”[1] and being half Indian and an anime addict I was quick to jump on the post… 9 days after it was posted.
In his article, Roy speaks about how both the Japanese and Indian Prime Ministers were in talks to “strengthening of cooperation in creative industries… animation and manga.” Roy also writes that when addressing the good people of Delhi(no not a meat shop, the capital of India folks), Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Nado stated this:
“Adults may be unaware of it, but I understand that Japanese Anime is quite popular here.”
To me this was a surprise, as I have never actually met any Middle Eastern people who like manga or anime, except for the occasional Deviant Art artist. In fact, Roy cites that India is actually a growing market of anime and Japanese products, having 40 to 70 Japanese animations exported fromJapantoIndiaevery year! vice secretary general of the Association of Japanese Animation, Eiji Takahashi, has been working on relations with India as is working with companies such as Toei Animation to bring anime to India. Older readers may remember Toei Animation as the guys who brought us Sailor Moon and Dragonball Z, two shows that helped pave the way for many anime fans inAmerica. That said, having done this before, Toei Animation is the best choice if we want to see anime take root in India. Takahashi has also gone on record, saying that anime exported toIndiawill have good dubbing, a problem that turns off many viewers to this day. It is also should be noted that even though India has not put any restrictions up, Japanese companies will be exporting cleaned up versions of shows such as the removal of guns and sexual scenes. Being Indian myself I can see that this was a smart move for Japan as those things can and would be very offensive and cause many problems for anime in India.
Now, one of my complaints about anime is the representation of, or the lack thereof, races and religions that are not the standard set withinJapan. Of course, in my teenage mind this only pertains to Indians or really anyone from theMiddle East. I’ve seen “stereotypes” from the man with a grey beard, white clothes and a turban to a little girl with an accent, red don’t on her forehead and makes weird robotics or some sort of, what I guess is “Hindi voodoo.” I am however able to forgive these caricatures of people of my race since Japan isn’t Indi aand therefore really has no reason to insert individuals whom they do not necessarily understand into their media. Even so, I still yearn for good Indian characters in anime. That is why when I heard in a recent article thatJapanis working on a cricket anime for India based off of hit manga Koyjin no Hoshi I was ecstatic.
Apparently, as seen in Catherine Makino’s article “Anime Baseball Hero Transforms into Cricket Champion”[2] on Majirox News, Japan plans to release a 26 to 52 episode anime based on the hit manga in the form of cricket in the Fall season of this year. The following is an excerpt that explains the premise of the anime:
“The Indian version will be called Rising Star. The hero, who has tentatively been given the name of Salaji, is a young, left-handed southpaw cricketer who wants to follow in the footsteps of his cricket player father and make it in the big leagues.”
The success of this show, Makino points out, will be on how well they can reskin the manga’s ideas around cricket. Cricket is a very complex sport and is difficult to learn, let alone play. A game of cricket can take days to complete, as opposed to baseball where it is for 9 innings. Also, India has grown up on mostly American animation and comics, and not the newer kind. We’re talking Golden Age, CaptainAmericavs Nazis, Superman leaping over buildings in a single bound, Smiling Batman comics. The idea of a non-super-powered protagonist may not appeal to the Indian audience even if cricket does. It’s going to be tough to hook people, but I’m hopeful that his will be a gateway for more!
The export of anime toIndiais great for both sides as it opens a new frontier forJapanto make money and gives India new form of media that may be better than anythingAmericaputs out inIndia. I personally am looking forward to all this and will watch the first episode of Rising Star when it airs, although not in Hindi since I only know Urdu. Keep your eyes open because if What happened in America and in Japan when Anime was brought over happens to India we may see some awesome new animes that may even feature an Indian protagonist too!
Disclaimer: Today’s post is based on a true event. Arguments and point-of-view in this article should first and foremost be understood as political satire. The writers’ mask set is that of parody and does not necessarily represent Z-ComiX’s views on the topic at hand. Z-ComiX is a writer for AAAPocast, but this does not mean that his views are the same as those of AAAPodcast as a whole. All products, articles and images belong to their respective owners. Please understand this and enjoy this article for its satire.
Photoshopped image from the scene of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Characters from left to right: Tsugumi Aoba(Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens), Lelouch Vi Britannia (Code Geass), A Gundam (Gundam), Victorique de Blois (Gosick), and Sir Lancelot (Money Python and the Holy Grail).
Bandai has announced that they would no longer be localizing any of their products in North America. Products such as the anime Gosick, the manga Mobile Suit Gundam 00I, and the novel Code Geass: R2 will no longer be exported to North America.
What. The. Heck. Come on Bandai, what gives? You’re going to stop producing products for America? What about your fans? What about all the viewers who found you from watching your product online, or the rippers who scan your products in Japanese and then get translators and subbers to put them into English form and release to us for free? What about all the pirates who are taking your product and distributing it online? You callous and insensitive company.
At first I was going to forgive them because I though they were going out of business, but then I read this quote by a writer from Kotaku, Charles Maib.
“Bandai Entertainment isn’t going out of business. They’re a pretty big company and have a market far beyond that of the United States; but their actions do serve as a red flag as to what’s on the horizon unless the fan community stops it’s selfish and destructive behavior. If we examine the actions of the last 20 years, and put our own selfish desires to the side we can see that the only thing fan translated anime, manga, and games serve to advance is our own desire of want. It does not help the industry, it does not call positive attention to our hobbies, and while it may attract a small number of new consumers, more often than not these new faces will continue to feed on free pirated content because that’s how they were turned on to it in the first place”[1]
What took away from this is that Bandai doesn’t are that we, the fans, love their material so much we decided to distribute it for them! I mean, they are a large company and all so what is the problem if a few million people what their stuff for free online? Even though it is much more profitable to make the anime of other markets, North America needs it too. How else are we going to be able to put up good dubs for the viewers who hate to read?
What gets me even angrier is what the Bandai Representative Ken Iyadomi said on the issue in Justin Sevakis and Christopher Macdonald’s article over at Anime News Network.
“…the broader reasons are quite clear from the outside. The physical anime business in North America has shrunk substantially over the last five years, and shows no sign of returning to its former glory. “A couple of times we were hit with huge returns, and the financial result was pretty bad,” Iyadomi admits. Still, he believes the division might have been able to keep going for a few more years, had the SBU allowed it.”[2]
SEE?! IF they allowed it! Even if the industry isn’t growing because people are using the internet to view your product in its entirety before you even have time to decide to localize it is no reason to pull your products from North America. I feel bad for every fan who now can no longer buy the products that they could easily watch online for free.
Bandai is making a clear statement to its N.A. fans. “We can only provide a product for you if you go out and buy it.” But we the fans have found an easier way; we have the internet, the provider of a free version of everything. Its like druggies and drug dealers; why would they buy your product, when they can get it free from a shady alley? Bandai is doing what any drug king pin would do at this point; go to another location and sell their product to a better market.
