This week I am going to be introducing you to my first Japanese music group, and still my favorite, Dreams Come True.
The group was founded in 1988 by Nakamura Masato (arranger, producer, and bassist), and Yoshida Miwa (lead vocalist). The group composes songs that are influenced by pop, R&B, Jazz, Funk, Disco, Soul, Rock, Hip Hop, Latin and classical. The band has recorded for years in both Japanese and English, and are known to really love their English fans.
A nice DCT fact is that many girls who were growing up during the ‘90s may know a Dreams Come True some and not even realize it. I found out about his band when I was about 8 years old and my parents had bought me a copy of the film “The Swan Princess”, Dreams Come True had a song featured during the credits and the music video aired after the credits were finished.
The band made Japanese music history when their album “The Swinging Star” became the first album in Japanese history to sell more than 3 million copies.Dreams Come True Live
Now after 23 years of writing and performing music Dreams Come True is still going strong and are in fact about to head to the United States for 4 concert dates in October of this year.
Just a note, this will be my new series as all the other bloggers have something to fit them. So from now on this will be the OTHM. Feedback is a must, but it does not have to be positive. Enjoy
b: an assembly of persons met for a common purpose; especially: a meeting of the delegates of a political party for the purpose of formulating a platform and selecting candidates for office
c: the usually state or national organization of a religious denomination
So most serious anime fans have been to at least convention, whether it be a home town convention or a major state or national one. Truthfully they are one of the few times (besides being online) where I can really go headfirst into anime and truly talk about and make new friends (along with hitting on girls at the dance, surprisingly I am rather successful. Last year I got 5 phone numbers which I promptly misplaced on the bus ride home, oops.) Just to give you guys an idea my hometown con is Sakuracon and I have been attending for 3 years now ( one more long parenthesis before we begin, if you are in the area or are completely in love with me come out and visit I would love to hang out. Also AAA members you should at least hit up the West coast baby, and then I could go and hang), and so I began to wonder where anime cons started. Obviously Japan, but now let us junk in Folium’s OHTM (Otaku History Time Machine or anything else you pervs can think of) powered by sausage and go check out the past.
So probably the most famous otaku con would be Comiket, a Japan based con that originated in 1975. I you haven’t heard of comiket then shame on you, but I will explain it anyways. Comiket was (and still is) a convention that is based greatly on fans selling manga called Doujinshi which can be original manga or fanfiction of a favorite anime, manga or game, this is what Kimiko writes. As the convention grew in became a biyearly event with one taking place in Winter and the other in Summer. Now being the most famous otaku convention Comiket easily has over half a million guests a year, but when it began in 1975 it had only about 600 attendees and 32 doujinshi groups.
Now moving over to the Western frontier anime did not begin to show up at conventions till the 1980s where mecha and sci-fi anime would be aired at science fiction conventions or multigenre conventions. This is how many people became interested in anime as even though it was rarely subbed and never dubbed they could see amazing robot fights and laser guns. It also set anime into the convention world along with a crowd of already geeky sci-fi nerds who would be willing to pay $20.00 and there soul for a couple of raw anime tapes. And from this point conventions begin to pop up, often following the Japanese traditional anime convention of hosting it over a couple of days, having industry guests, cosplaying, and dealers. These larger conventions began to sprout in the early 1990s with appearances of such conventions as AnimeExpo, AnimeFest, and Project A-kon. At this same time Australia and Europe were also beginning to gain anime conventions.
And from there it began to spread… like a disease taking over the young who were free from their protected sheltered lives at home. Where the mother could hide the father and children when a loli girl or balloon breasted girl crossed the T.V. And so it was these college youths who helped to get conventions running through volunteer and also putting them together. Even today nearly all anime conventions are fan and volunteer run, and I must say I have total respect for all of you who do that. This will be my first year as a volunteer and I look forward to it.
And that is the spread of anime conventions, and now let me show you a list of the damage they have caused.
I review FMA: Brotherhood (spoiler, I liked it) and thank viewer FenrisWolffy for requesting “Fairy Tail” for me to review. It’ll take me a while to get through it, but I’ll get there.
Alternate Titles: Super Robot Wars: Original Generation – The Animation, 超級機器人大戰O.G.
Original Japanese Release Date: May 2005
Episode Length/Run-time: 3 Episodes
Summary:
A new model of super robot has come out and everyone’s excitement suddenly turns to fear and chaos as these new robots become the enemy and start attacking everyone and everything around their inaugural celebration. Upon thwarting the enemy there was a mysterious lack of casualties. The ATX and SRX teams must discover the reasoning behind the attack and what happened to their friends.
Review:
This anime delivers on its title, it has a lot of super robot wars. Wasting no time, as it shouldn’t being only 3 episodes long they quickly establish the world and characters with a few scenes and simple dialogue and move right into the initial attack. The fight scenes are pretty sweet, despite some of the characters corny lines and jokes to”lighten the mood.”
The mystery about the new robots is just enough to keep you, as the viewer, engaged in them. At the end of the first episode a rather graphic image of a naked woman suspended painfully with clips throughout her body in a strange fluid drops out and you learn of the perhaps sinister ODE system.
One thing I really have to tip my hat to in this OAV is how they give the information about the world and characters. Its on a need to know basis which works well. In three episodes they don’t have time to elaborate on everything or go into every last little thing and they don’t. They also don’t make the common mistake of bombarding you upfront with all the information either, which works well.
The animation is nothing impressive, given the animation look and style I actually thought it was about 5 years older than what it was. Now that’s not all bad, I like the look of the old style, but for 2005 its lacking in a few scenes I think, particularly the action scenes. The music is decent, nothing astounding either but they seemed to have a fair amount of pieces for such a short series and it fits the mood and fight scenes well to create the mood. Plus, the opening is pretty good!
Overall, for three episodes they do a good job of packing a story with some suspense and desperation along with some good action scenes in there. It wont change your life and the originality is nothing astounding, but I would say it’d be a good way for someone who isn’t sure about the mech genre to try things on and see if they like it. The time investment to enjoyment for this series I’d say is pretty high. Overall it is is pleasantly average series.
Yep, another Friday night, another mixed drink of booze and carbonated soda, and another long lost anime on VHS to jump into before the liquor hits me. When I came too, like many times before hand, I found myself on a hot item of interstellar travel, with radical fans of cyborg baseball hot on the trail as I look out the hatch window. I then notice off in the distance, rapidly approaching at near light speed, a intergalactic war ahead of me. The pilot, no more than a young teenage girl, was gunning through space like she jacked this interplanetary ride (which… she did). During the chaos that seemed to be going on around us, she started to tell me about her quest for a long lost love she would travel to the starts to get back. This is the galactic tale of Cosmos Pink Shock.
Cosmos Pink Shock is a short 35 minute OVA that is just really easy to watch and follow, no need to put a lot of brain power for it to make sense. The story is laid out before us, girl jacks space ship, flies through space and happens to causes chaos along the way, gets captured, all in the name of love. And like this short OVA, this is gonna be a short review, so sit back and enjoy. Well… maybe.
Cosmos Pink Shock starts off in the year 2206 with a red looking spaceship taking off that has apparently been stolen off a launch site as we see it go full force into space. The space patrol around the planet (I think its Earth actually) is telling the pilot of the “Hyper Rocket” to stop the ship, only to hear on the comm unit a female voice stating a good ol’ way of saying piss off as she knocks her rocket into overdrive into “supra lightspeed” mode.
LUDICROUS SUPRA LIGHTSPEED GO!!!!
We then cut to a intergalactic cyborg baseball game (I am guessing?) when the rocket, known as the “Pink Shock”, rips through the sky costing the game for the Tigers. The Tigers fans then hop on there space ships to go after the Pink Shock for continuing the losing streak for the Tigers team and chase after her. No more than 5 seconds later and probably a few planets a way, we get to some galactic war between a low budget Captain Avatar and some all female crew when the Pink Shock races through to tear more crap up. We then get to know who this reckless teen girl is, who goes by the name of Micchi, a 17 year old love stricken girl, dressed in her white hairband, black space spandex and can do spirit. She comes packed with her special catchphrase of “Pink Shock, No Stop, Power Up!” Up to this point shes been able to elude patrols in space, including the “Highway Patrol” (I didn’t see any highways in space, unless all highways in space are dark, or space is just one big highway). After getting the attention of space patrol, we get introduced to Captain Gatsby, a man who takes up the task of catching the Pink Shock once and for all.
The Pink Shock then crash lands on the planet Jupiter due to not ever filling up the tank, to put it simply (way to go Micchi), and pretty much lands in Gatsby backyard. She then gets captured and detained, but despite her situation, wants to get something to eat since she hasn’t put much thought into eating while zipping around through space. She has dinner (or lunch… whatever) with Gatsby and asks about his relationship status, which we see Gatsby other self, that he hates women. He explains to her why he hates women which to sum up, is things that women do that guys will never understand and what guys can’t stand either. He pretty much boils it down to as his mother cheated on his dad for another man and has scorned all women since then due to his mothers actions (well, this is something all human beings are guilty of regardless). Micchi explains her reasons of why shes been causing such a ruckes throughout the galaxy, and that’s for her “darling” childhood lover Hiro-chan. She tells him that during a festival when they were kids, aliens decided to randomly show up to abduct Hiro and only him out of AN ENTIRE CROWED OF PEOPLE, which has vowed Micchi to find him since that dreadful day.
Those girls be all up on my junk son!
It is then decided what will become of Micchi and her actions. Will Micchi get away from her captors and find Hiro-chan? Will Gatsby get over his hate for women? You’ll just have to find that out for yourself now.
I do wanna ad one little tidbit if I may: In Gatsby defense,I am pretty sure he’s not gay. Gatsby is just very particular of what kind of girl he wants, which to simply put, he doesn’t want one ditching out on him and ending up with a broken heart. You can simply state that the man has some pretty high standards, and maybe you could put it, to quote the 40 Year Old Virgin, that he is “putting the pussy on a pedestal.” Gatsby over the years, the way I see it, has put his hatred as a defense around his heart to avoid falling for someone who could turn around and break his heart later, since the girls he happens to see that fall for him, he believes that is exactly what they will do to him. And even though this is a short OVA with really no deeper story than what were seeing, I just happen to find Gatsby character interesting, and to an extent I have been in his position at one point in time.
But to sum up this is a really entertaining half hour OVA that is just there to sit back and enjoy. There are some parody moments in this if you happen to catch it, or if you happen to notice these things with a 1980’s anime fan mindset, or if your from that period with good memory. This can found at the Anime Classic Reviews site since it is fansubbed and easy to get to, so come on by and check it out.
So yea, another blog post for the books. And all you readers are welcome to check out my blog over at Anime of Yesteryear. Well, see you guys next time!!!
Oh thank you so much people at Nozomi entertainment! Not only have you managed to get the rights to the Utena series you’ve also managed to give me something great to write about!(I’ve been lacking inspiration.) Okay for those who don’t know, I am in love with this show. It was my cousin who introduced me to it so it also has some personal stuff behind but that’s not important. Also Chiaki will love this news(If she hasn’t heard about it already ^_^;) I have been waiting for these bad boys to come out for a while. It’s great that people can now own a show that uses symbolism the right way, odd yet loveable characters with questionable eccentricities and best of all. Lesbians!
Cue the final movement in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony(Ode to Joy for those who don’t know.)
Also more awesome news, the movie comes with the final DVD set! And it has bonus features! This is for a 90s show that isn’t Bebop or Evangelion as well! Oh this year is looking so much better 🙂 Next thing you know someone will announce that they’ve licensed the first Lupin III series…
Is it just me or is the whole DVD business getting more badass? I’ll let you be the judge. Sorry for the fanboy post but can you blame me? Also I was trying to hold back. Yeah this isn’t one of my better posts(Even though I should be writing tons more on this.) but still if you liked reading then rate it whatever you want. Right now, I gotta go save up some money.
Good morning, noon, and night AAA! So first of all let’s begin with my regular rants. Running five 800s at a pace of three minutes per in 80 degree weather… thank god I’m a masochist. Moving on now that the summer season is wrapping up I bring you the list of the Fall anime, OVAs, and movies we can expect, along with the anime that I am looking forward to the most, so here we go! Disclaimer, these are the views of an overly tired, slightly insane, perverted, high school student. Have fun :)!
First will start with sequels that I’m watching. I enjoyed the first season of Shinraku! Ika Musume and so I will be tuning into the sequel Shinraku!? Ika Musume. However another sequel that I am planning on watching I feel like I might drop. Working!! Was an interesting and kind of cute anime, but never did I expect a sequel… well I expected wrong. Working’!! will be continuing the exact same story and I am not sure how it will pan out, for my viewing pleasure I cross my fingers. Shakugana no Shana III finale yay! The second season kinda killed my soul but I have to finish it… And finally Last Exile: Ginyoku no Fam, an original story set in the Last Exile universe with all new characters, definitely looking forward to this one.
There is only one prequel this season and that would be Fate/Zero. Truth be told I hated Fate/ Stay Night, absolutely hated it. Yet I will be fair and give Fate/Zero a chance to improve the position of its predecessor/future.
Now Hunter x Hunter, a remake from the beginning of series, holds a special place in my heart. Hunter x Hunter was the first manga and anime I ever indulged myself in. Therefore this remake is really important to me that it is done well, and so I will be following it very closely.
And finally those anime out there that you are stumbling into blind. Tamayura ~hitsose~ looks like a wonderful slice of life which will hopefully have some nice artwork as it is centered around a girl who loves photography but also has a father who just died. Pastel looks from Usagi Drop and Hourou Musukou would look amazing. Persona 4 the Animation is based of the game of the same name, and while I have never played the game the premise sounds interesting, my only fear is that it will be overdone action scenes or skimp on plot as it is based off of a videogame. UN-GO a mystery solving anime with a story based off the works of a post-World War II Japanese novelist and essayist sounds like it could be interesting and different mystery anime. Finally, two more I am shaky about. Mirai Nikki sounds interesting… but also sounds very basic shouneny, so we will watch carefully. Another one that falls into that trashy Shouneny category would be Phi Brain: Kami no Puzzle which sounds like it “could” be interesting depending on where they go.
So that is my watch list until someone recommends new anime or the ones I chose are horrible. So now lets take a look at the trash I will avoid forever.
Maken- Ki!… just looking as the cover there are balloons in shirts (oh wait, those are breasts) and black sexy underwear, and I idiot boy. Harem anime trash die forever. Now I’m not hating on harem, after all visual novels turned into anime can be amazing (Clannad, Kanon, Air, Ef- A tale of Memories) but can also be trash. I will I guess sample these harem visual novels simply because they are what opened me up and changed my anime experience (more in Winter on that when I celebrate the 5h anniversary of watching Ef). Yet the two anime based off of visual novels look like trash. Just trash. There are also many light novel works that I would rather die than watch such as C3 or Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon. And finally those damn franchise anime like Cross Fight B-Dama, based off a marble shooting toy… please don’t make these anime, for the sake of those outsiders who see them and think us fans are freaks. I mean we already are freaks but make them think we are even freakier.
One more note, I have heard rumor of a Lupin the III anime remake and also of a Black Rock Shooter anime coming out this season. If these are true I will be drooling in anticipation.
Well that is my raving and ranting, can’t wait for the next season!
Alrighty, addicts. I’ve been saying I’d do a review of FullMetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and by golly you’re going to get one! However, I feel that such a unique series that has, at this point, officially hooked me, a regular review is not in the equation. Instead, I would like to give you my honest opinions of the most prominent characters, whether they be good or bad. Let’s drop all the reviewer pretenses, addicts, and let our opinions shine though! (And when I say “we” I mean me. My apologies in advance for any offensive statements I may make.)
Edward Elric
Ed is hilarious. I’m a bit of a Vic Mignogna fan, but this really solidified my opinion of his voice acting. Ed has everything a good anime hero ought to have: brashness, energy, determination, and let’s not forget, that he’s a little insecure. There’s kind of a funny story about my first impression of him; when a close friend of mine was first telling me about the series, I was nodding and smiling but in my head all I was thinking was, Short? A unique arm? Main character? Is this the main character of FMA or Allen Walker?
Yes, I am probably the only fool in this world who has seen D Gray Man before FMA. Forgive me, I am not worthy of being a true anime addict.
In any case, Ed’s character captures my imagination, and his own journey with no return, to always look forward no matter what, is an inspiration to me and I hope, a few others. (Please do not burn down your house, though.)
Alphonse Elric
I must disagree with the opinions of a certain AAA host and declare that I absolutely love Al. The juxtaposition of a younger brother who is the voice of reason, not to mention an 14-year old in a 7-foot suit of armor…what’s not to love? His original voice is probably better than his dub, but overall he is incredibly heartwarming. I enjoy watching him whenever he’s up to his little-kid antics, or accidentally showing up his older brother, and especially when he takes a stand against all the evil that surrounds him and Ed. His warm tendencies towards Mei and Xiao-Mei are very cute to watch, and I love the gags when people hide inside of his armor.
Winry Rockbell
I hate Winry. I hate her slutty clothes, I hate that fact that she shows up so often because Ed is such a klutz with his automail, and I hate her voice in Japanese and the dub. Also, when I was reading the manga, her eyes are WAAAAY too close together. I don’t even think I felt bad about what happened to her parents…just…she’s not pleasant to watch. Her GRANDMA Pinako is more interesting than her!
Roy Mustang
Is it just me, or can Roy never be in enough episodes? The only thing I dislike about him is that he does a lot of the killing/defeating/hard work, which is hilarious given he tries to avoid it. Also, the fact that Riza’s always there right beside him pisses me off (okay, two things, but that last one’s not really his fault).
Don’t get me wrong, I love Riza, she’s probably my favorite female character (I also like Olivier, she’s a boatload of fun. More on the Armstrongs later), she’s pretty, has a decent character and I love how she’s taking care of Hayate, but honestly, she’d be more badass if she weren’t so whipped by Roy. Okay, I suppose I’m being a little biased here because I do happen to ship Roy x Ed, but really now! Women shouldn’t act like this, ever!
Just a general note about relationships between the heroes and heroines: do they really have to be so annoying? Unlike most of the anime, the way it handles the so-called “relationships” between not just Roy and Riza, but Ed and Winry (or Al and Winry for that matter, or even Mei and Al) is incredibly cliche and not an entertaining aspect. At all. I really don’t enjoy watching anybody “in love” in the series except…
Jean Havoc
Probably one of the few comic-relief characters, but Havoc isn’t completely exempt from the drama. As such, he serves as a happy medium between the serious and filler episodes. I like the fact that he’s kind of a pervert, because it makes for plenty of hilarious gags throughout. Personally, I prefer his dubbed voice, it sounds a little more personable.
Ling Yao
Another great character. I like his duality, as it really comes into play later…*nudge nudge* For some reason, the Xing characters are more impressive to me. Kimblee’s another awesome fellow. I love his suit.
In any case, back to Ling. I like how he learns a valuable lesson, and his goofy demeanor and offhanded insults towards Ed are really fun to watch. Big fan of the “eat tons of food, put it on Ed’s tab” scheme. I’ll have to try it myself sometime.
Well, addicts, I think I’ve kept you waiting for a blog from me long enough, so I’ll stop right here, but expect more later on this week! Ja ne!!~
Sup guys! Are you guys ready for tonight’s, or if you read this years in the future (hello future people (reference if any of you know it)) the first of many Century anniversary episode of the AAAPodcast? The answer is of course yes, and if you don’t agree… why are you even here?
Today’s comic reference comes from Folium over at the AAA Forum! Dude, you are the best and I will be contacting you later about some project I thought of. Ohhh the suspense is just killing you, I know! How? Because, I’m right behind you. Boo.
Remember to Watch the 100th Episode over at the AAAPodcast UstreamTONIGHT at 8:00PM EST!
Also, drop me a page for the next comic on the forum, as a comment below, or by e-mail at ZDA@bigstring.com! I need more funny pages guys! If you like this, people comment and drop a star review!
Hello AAA Podcast, sorry to have been away but odd times here. I am back, and I am devouring Anime at a ravenous pace. I do believe that the hosts have succeeded in making my anime addiction worse!!!!!! Ok, so there is only one podcast that can claim the title – Best Anime Podcast Ever, and that is of course this podcast with its wonderful hosts and members. This being said, there are other podcasts I listen to and of the ones that I respect – a lot of buzz has gone on about Manyuu Hikenchou. To explain where I am going with this, I have to discuss a particular genre of anime and film for that matter and book for that matter that I enjoy. Did I say video game for that matter? You see, I suffer from Samurai Motte Oppai syndrome. Let’s take a trip back to a time far far away. Probably one of my first indications that I had developed this ailment would have been when I saw Conan the Barbarian or possibly Excalibur (FOOL!). I am laughing at this moment as you are thinking about the anime but I am talking about the movies. I am laughing at this moment because you are thinking of the new movies yet I am thinking of the original Conan with Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Earl Jones as well as John Boorman’s classic Excalibur (F-O-O-L!) with Nigel Terry and Helen Mirren.
It was at this point that movies started following comic books and providing the ultimate representation of the female warrior. Yes, the Amazonian Warrior Princess!!!!! (Angelic Choir Singing Erupts) While most of you are quite used to this concept – until then, women were usually rescued. They certainly didn’t wear armor and brandish broadswords to hack guy’s faces and other irritating parts off. Ok – there was Joan of Arc long before but do we really know anything about her chest?
Around this same time, Canada released what I will always feel is the closest thing North America has ever done to anime – Heavy Metal in 1981. Even though this movie had a very american story line, the artwork was anime in style and what came out of this film? The almighty jaw dropping Taarna. So, in a span of a couple of years we had: Valeria – the sword wielding amazonian goddess who stole Conan’s heart. We had Igrayne and the classic medieval armor scene when Uther tricks her (if you have seen this movie, you KNOW what scene I am talking about). Finally, we had the 90% naked Taarna who survives all odds to behead the barbarians after she is raped by all of them.
This was an amazing time for female characters and the syndrome was born. Think of other female characters who have spawned due to this syndrome – Xena for sure (although I prefer Gabrielle – who need I say it was an Amazonian Princess). How about Sparrow from Forbidden Kingdom? Zen from Chocolate or “Fury” (You should watch this if you haven’t). Yu Shu Lien from Crouching Tiger. The OMG hot Miho from Sin City. The totally desirable Selene from Underworld. Heck, even Mulan and Elizabeth Swann from the Disney’s movies. The list goes on and on and on and of course Anime and video games are filled with these types of characters. They are the lifeblood for anime watchers who suffer from Samurai Motte Oppai Syndrome.
Wow – I have been rambling, as I tend to do and I warned you in my first podcast that I would. What was I talking about? Oh yes, warriors with swords and breasts!!!! I was hearing all of the chatter about Manyuu Hickenchou and I thought to myself – “COOL!!!!!!!!! Huh Huh Huh Huh – they said its a show about boobs – Huh Huh Huh Huh”. It’s like all of the people got together in a room and said, “you know, we skirt around this issue a lot, um can’t we just state the obvious?” Wow, what a concept!!!!!! Really, what’s the big deal? How is this any different from an anime most feel guilty watching Rurou no Senshi or the more well know title Queen’s Blade? Yes, I must say that while I don’t plan to own it, Queen’s Blade was an entertaining romp through the anime world. In the first episode, I was subjected to more wrong ideas than should ever be indulged and the main villain of the episode, dare I say it, used her breasts as weapons to try and kill the beloved heroin Leina. My eyes burned, I wanted to turn away but alas I couldn’t! Heck, there were boobs and swords – what was I supposed to do????? “Nosh – its cool, we accept that you are a perv. We shall pity you and place you over there to watch out of the corner of our eye while we continue with our discussions.”
Well, now that I have 10 episodes behind me, I cannot believe what I am going to say. Manyuu Hikenchou makes Queen’s Blade look like Princess Mononoke! Ok, maybe that’s a little over the top but wow! At least Queen’s Blade had a plot! It had drama, it had Leina wanting to follow her own path and find her on way! In Manyuu, Chifusa is not unlike Leina in that she doesn’t agree with her family’s direction and she wants to change things. She is tragic in that she doesn’t want her huge boobs and hates it when they grow larger! This story could go places. Unfortunately, the story is about boobs – no really – that’s it. Taking them away and gaining them back. Grabbing them, swaying them, everything involving the chest of a female warrior. How could my syndrome betray me in such a cruel way? I find it a very very bitter pill to jam into my retina!
In closing, I have to say that in this case new is not better. If you suffer from Samurai Motte Oppai syndrome – first, you are not alone. Second, there are plenty of wonderful anime titles that can help you with your ailment. Heck, give Queen’s Blade a try – the ending is worth the wait. And if you crave something of more substance than Manyuu Hikenchou – there are always more wholesome titles such as Ikki Tousen or Master of Martial Hearts.
