So its me again, coming from the 5th layer of hell, the devil that survived the fieriest of games out there. Today I’m back with the first in a sub series about the thing everyone hates(except themselves) , that being trolls. Now I have heard lots of people talk about their experiences with trolls and there seems to me that there are many types and I’m going to set out to describe each type. In research methods terminology this is known as creating a typology; which is when a researcher studying a phenomenon divides the cases in their research to better present the data which has been collected.
1. The hit and run troll– these are trolls that leave one comment on a forum, message board, or a social network site and then don’t ever return to continue the conversation. An example if this was in episode 63 of the Gundamn podcast during one of their mailbag catch up shows when a troll posted a badly worded and very grammatically incorrect question and never post a another thing on that forum.
2.The fake debate troll– these are trolls who at first appear to want to have a real debate with you and then make no concrete arguments about the subject being disgusted and just throw insults at you. Too examples to cite a certain one, but check site with a comment section and you should find one.
3.The one word troll– these are trolls just leave one word on a comment section of a site. Usually its a hateful and homophobic comment, these are perhaps the saddest all of the troll types. Again check any site with comment section to find an example.
4.The hate on something and then buy it troll– These trolls are the curiousest type because they will be a huge fan boys of a certain franchise, and when a new product comes out from said franchise that is a little different they trashed it ,and say that they will never buy it, and they turn around and purchased it at the first opportunity.
5.The inner franchise troll– In many franchises in anime or video game fandom, there are different fractions that like one part of a franchise and decide anyone who likes another part is a moron and sets out to hate on the other fans of the franchise. A prime example of this is the Gundam franchise,and the universal century fans vs. the alternate century fans.
6. The video troll- This species of troll usually is found on video sharing sites like youtube. You find will find them making videos of rambling, incoherent, nonsensical rants about whatever ridiculous topic pops into their troll heads. Examples of this type is xbox or playstation fanboys making 3 to 4 videos in their parents basements about which system is better because it has all the best games and the other is for “insert homophobic slur” and losers.
7.The private message or email troll- The most cowardly of the troll types. Instead of commenting out in the open on a forum or message board, they troll someone in email or a private message. Any website administrator could probably tell you about an email or 100 they reached from a troll.
8.The out context or straw man troll- You will find this type on 4chan using the green text to twist a commentator’s words so far around it bears no resemblance to the original meaning of the comment. On the internet is frequent known “straw manning” someone in reference to the straw man argument which is when someone misrepresents the position of another person.
The Straight Dope on Trolls– Here is a good video about trolls and is a good definition of what one really is.
Its Been a while since I had a post on here so I decided to cop out and pull up a top 10 list everyone loves those right?
The thought actually occurred to me while I was in the shower (where all world changing ideas are born) I noticed that most of my favourite characters in anime were Otaku just like me, so I looked up my list and favourite characters and lo and behold I got the convenient number of 10 different Otaku. Without further ado and in no Particular order here they are.
Edward – Cowboy Bebop
She…umm He..wait umm. This person makes this list simply because of how epic she/he is (we will go with she for now) Introduced fairly late in the series Ed stuck with me as my favourite character from the show. she was funny, Intelligent, Quirky, always hungry and Funny. Her hacking skills made her an essential member of the Bebop I remember panicking in a few episodes because Ed just wouldn’t take certain situations seriously, she would always pull through in the end though. her character design was unique and I found her rather cute which is why I firmly stick by the opinion of her being female. Honestly speaking if Ed was not added to the Cowboy bebop cast Im certain I wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much.
Her character is not only put in the series for comedy, the last few episodes of her arc were very touching and are some of the highlights from Cowboy Bebop.
Erika & Walker – Durarara!!
ahh Durarara!! Why are your characters so Awesome? From the very first scene we see these two we know they are Otaku, their power levels are waaay to high to suppress. From the memorable scenes of them Packing a Life size Holo cut-out poster into their van to their Role playing with anime figures. All their scenes together are at-least packed with an anime reference or two. I especially loved the bonus episode 12.5 which was seen from the point of view of Walker. His narration rivaled Kyons’ from Haruhi Suzumiya, his monologues about reality and fiction are very funny and fun to listen to. I have to admit to having at-least said some of those things before.
Just like all characters in Durarara!! these two are bad ass, asking you to pick what form of torture you would like to be inflicted on you from a moe magazine is simply diabolical. In other words, don’t piss them off.
Ika Musume – Squid girl
She came from the bottom of the sea to conquer the land and ends up becoming a waitress on restaurant by the sea side. BUT, don’t let that fool you that’s just the beginning of her great conquest. Ika Musume is a very unique character her speech- quirks and blue tentacled hair certainly make her stand out. Her power levels are slowly revealed to us as the series progresses. My favourite one being the episode where she wakes up in the middle of the night to have a good Video Gaming Session, Super Nintendo gaming no less! She also occasionally references movies and some games as the series progresses. It may not be blatant but the signs are there.
Squid Girl is an awesome comedy show and if I have ever had a Licence wish before this has got to be way up there with the best.
Yuki Nagato – The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
The silent member of the SOS Brigade joins the list and arguably has the highest power level among these. She’s primarily a bookworm and is the sole member of the Literature Club. She ditched her glasses after Kyon suggested that she looked cuter without them, I do not disagree. Her favourite kind of books are science fiction and when she gets into gaming she really really gets into it. My favourite episode is the Computer Club Duel episode because it showcased just how advanced this Humanoid Computer Interface really is. Right at the end she acknowledges that she enjoyed the entire experience, which is the first hint in the series that she actually has feeling. Nothing like gaming to loosen up an alien android.
In the Movie/sequel The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya her character growth is extremely immense and is quite shocking. Its an awesome movie and the fact that it currently sits at Number one on the ANN ratings is proof that I’m not the only that thinks this.
Konata Izumi – Lucky Star
Wow where to even start? She’s a high school Anime Otaku, loves manga, loves games, loves Visual Novels, collects some figures and is also a cosplayer. Yup the total package. Everytime i watch the show I find something new every.single.time. No kidding!! Konata is very very funny and is fun to watch and takes some of the common otaku traits to some extremes (or are they?) If I ever had a mascot Konata would probably be it.
Keima Katsuragi – The World god Only Knows
Nicknamed “The god of Conquest” because of his impeccable skills at dating sims or galge this maestro of a gamer even has his own website that acts as an online strategy guide for any decent Galge ever made. Yes people he IS the best if there ever was one. Spotting him without his “PFP” is stuff of legend something only very few eyewitnesses can attest to. He is not only confined to this hardware however he is known to have every console ever created to play at-least one dating sim, he has played them all ladies and gentlemen.
I really really love his monologues on reality and 2D vs 3D, the sad thing is I have said some of those things before and seeing someone else say them gives me mixed feeling. On one hand joy and satisfaction because im not the only soul who believes this on the other great shame because of how stupid and silly it is to say things like that. Here are a few quotes I can remember off the top of my head.
“Real girls has no flags to hit” “The game design for Real life is seriously flawed” “Life is just a crappy game” … and those are not even close to his best.
Ruri “Kuroneko” Gokou – Oreimo
We are introduced to her character in a cafe in Akihabara. Always clad in Gothic lolita cosplay in public, she will not be seen in any other way. Her favourite anime series is called “Maschera” which is clearly a parody of Code Geass. Her “argument” with Kirino (the main character of the series) on what type of anime is the best totally hooked me on the show. See Kirino loves magical girl/ moe anime and Kuroneko loves Fantasy/Mystery anime, these silly little arguments happen online ALL THE TIME so seeing it in an anime was really good fun. The fact that they become close friends because of this encounter was both funny and quite accurate.
She writes her own fantasy doujin light novels and role plays occasionally, she is also very good at video games this proven with one scene of her winning a tournament in one of the episodes. Oh yeah she can also create her own video games, beat that!
Hashida “Daru” Itaru – Steins; Gate
I tried not to include any characters from unfinished series but Daru stands out so much. He is a Computer Programmer that works for a self proclaimed Mad Scientist. Daru loves all things Akihabara especially maid cafes, He often references Geeky movies or shows to real life situations and loves too see him a good cosplayer bonus points if they are moe. His snarky remarks, perveted jokes and timely comebacks are what make him awesome though.
with the show still ongoing Im sure there is way more to come so check this space.
Tatsuhiro Sato – Welcome to the NHK
The idea of watching a Hikikomori (shut in) go about his daily life may sound boring at first but add a little otaku culture in there and you get one of the best shows ever created. Sato starts out your normal average Hikikomori (whatever that is) and slowly starts to attain habits, some more dangerous than others but ill save that for another post. The one “habit” that Sato went through that I enjoyed and related to (the most LoL) was his online gaming. Sato spent hours upon hours on what was clearly Final Fantasy XI. The amazing thing about this little arc is that within a couple of weeks or so he went from utter complete “newb” to the ranks of Guild leader for lack of a better comparison. He was clearly addicted and the story centres around his efforts to try and cure himself from this dreadful dreadful diesease.
Sato is also the best candidate of what I call the Nerd recommendation syndrome (name subject to change and/or suggestions) This is the phenomenon that occurs when you recommend something new to fellow nerd and find out they have become an even bigger fan of the said thing than you. My favourite of these in the series is when Sato is introduced to the world of Dating sims and Akihabara. He spends a couple of nights playing borrowed games from his friend and within ended up buying model figures of his favourite characters. Im sure every one of you has a similar story….No?
This one is a little different, as the title suggests Tsukimi is a Jellyfish Otaku. That means she likes all things Jellyfish, yes she draws them in her spare time, she has books on them, she can name their scientific alias’ and can identify them by the color pallete alone. All this has nothing to do with anime or manga but its her passion that warrants her a place on this list. Because that is the one thing all these characters listed above have, Passion and Tsukimi is the best example of this.
Well there you have it? Wow looking at this list I only now realised there’s more females than males which is a far cry from reality. What are some of your favourite Otaku in anime and why lemme know.
If you are a fan of Dragon Ball Z, or any of the video games based around this amazing anime, then rejoice! Dragon Ball Z Ultimate Tenkaichi is set to come out October 25th, 2011 in America, October 28th, 2011 in Europe, and surprisingly November 1st, 2011 in Japan. The game will feature enhanced graphics of both the environment and characters, with the designs of the characters based off of their manga counterparts, and dynamic destruction of the environment, such as ki blasts cutting through the sky, or creating craters in the ground on impact. The game is also said to feature a character creation system! Meaning the ability to customize your own personal character’s looks, abilitys, and fighting style, which will be a nice change from the same old matches that always end up taking place. The character roster will feature more characters then Dragon Ball Z Raging Blast 2 ( including the return of large characters from Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3, such as giant Janemba, and saiyans in in ape form. It is also said to have GT characters, such as Omega Shenron. The combat seems like it will return a lot of the mini-game type fighting mechanics the older games included, and the camera tends to make the game look very cinematic. The game looks like it will feature a very good story mode, which the last game lacked in. Here is the North American trailer if you are interested http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPpQ6Pc5fwU
I have also heard that you can edit existing characters, I have not read this for a fact, but I don’t doubt it. I believe this game will be alot better then the previous entrys on the 360 and PS3, i’m hoping it will be like a next gen Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3. I am looking forward to this game later this year!
Usagi Tsukino and Maka Albarn – are their similarities?
Ok – so I remember when Sailor Moon first aired and I thought to myself – this is cool, I mean Usagi did whine but she was hot. And if you squinted just right when she transformed – woo hoo!!!!! Ok – everyone relax, I was in my mid twenties and according to Kimiko, you add 10 years so we were the same age! Geez! Where was I?
Oh yes – Usagi’s chest!
So Usagi wields the almighty Silver Chrystal to bringing forth peace and love into the world to protect everyone she cares about. Of course, there is a catch – if she does it like really correctly, she will summon a power never before seen and end her life. Wow – you need to read that fine print several times in the instruction manual before you fire that sucker up!
Then we have adorable, antagonistic Maka Albarn. Not unlike Sailor – you are exposed to her passionate side early on but then you quickly learn that she carries a lot of baggage. She is Meister to her Weapon – Soul and what is her purpose? Well at first you think it is to turn Soul into a death scythe by capturing 99 corrupt souls and one witch’s soul but you begin to see that she is trying to fill a void in her heart and protect the one’s she loves. The problem is, for her to reach her full potential, the Demon Hunt Schythe, she will have to summon all of her soul perception which could end her life. And the problem is – nobody seems to bother to tell her this!
So Sailor Moon can be attributed to many things such as being one of the first Anime that appealed to a lot of girls including many who didn’t like Anime. It also had a guy following but um for possibly the wrong reasons! Where would Cosplay be without the Sailors? In fact, just last week AAA Podcast News announced that Hot Topic would be offering a Sailor Moon costume for Halloween!!!!! Wait a minute, I’m distracted with the costume thing – oh yeah. So Sailor Moon had a lot of female characters to choose from – every flavor imaginable.
Soul Eater also offers a lot of choices in female characters to enjoy. There is the patron Marie Majoiner, there is the feisty Tsubaki Nakatsukasa and one cannot forget the excellent Thompson Sisters. Soul Eater also boasts as a source for many the Cosplayer.
Both of these anime are great choices. One is readily available for your viewing pleasure. One is so rare that you truly need to know someone with a VHS – preferably stereophonic!
Check them out – they have great music as well.
One last note – in a taste test between the two – many respondents chose Soul Eater for its large amounts of Blair. Pum Pum Pumpkin Yummy!!!!!
Is he a creeper? Is he a perv? Perhaps he is just looking for sausage?
Good day everyone and please forgive my delay in starting. Perhaps in the forums I will list the cause of my strife but I must not dwell on such triviality as it could distract me.
My name is Noshgard but please call me Nosh. As my title suggests – I am one of the senior members here but I love anime. On top of this, I love AAA Podcast which is why I chose to throw my thoughts onto the screen and see where they land. My goal, and yours should you choose to accept it, is to help build a burning desire for you to give all Anime a chance regardless of its age. Ok – maybe not ALL Anime but you get what I mean.
There will be a common theme for the Anime I tend to watch I’ll leave it to you to determine what that is.
I love all things Japan and have since, well, the 60’s. Anime in the 60’s was very one dimensional in my mind but it was still unique compared to the C-R-A-P I could watch in the U.S.
Oops – a side note – I have focusing issues, I tend to ramble sometimes as there is a lot of information fighting to come out first so please stick with me when I drift. The important thing is that all of my thoughts are interrelated so you can find where I am headed – I hope. Where was I – oh yeah. So Trixie’s chest! No, not Chistina’s chest which has been great since like 1998 but the original Trixie. It was normal. I can honestly say that I didn’t pay it much of a mind. Now, compare this to say Canaan which is physically about the same size and yet she is much more accentuated. Is it a sign of the times? Is it a dialogue on how Anime has changed?
But Nosh, Trixie was a ditz and Cannan kicked serious butt! Yes, I agree – Cannan kicked serious butt yet Trixie was no slouch. She drove the Mach 5 many times when Speed petered out. She was a serious Helicopter Pilot and, not unlike the lovely Canaan, she was actually quite good with a handgun. Granted she didn’t have Alphard after her but she was quite handy with Assassin’s who were.
So if you are looking for thrills – give Canaan a try. And if you are looking for retrospective – give Trixie the respect she deserves!
Hey Guys! Z-ComiX here, how is your day going? So, I wanted to try out some new Blogs to see what sticks so I thought to my self: “Web comics are fun, and people love them, why not try something like that?” So out of it spawned the idea of Manga Modification!
So, Basically, MM is going to be a series where I take a page of a manga and alter the text so that it says something witty about anime/manga/Japanese stuff. I’m just testing the waters right now to get my niche so you probably gonna see a lot of blogs with ideas like this.
Enough of my blathering! ON TO MM!
Original Image From “Caramel Theater”
So Today’s comic is about something I will never understand… Yaoi. So many of the girls that I know who enjoy anime love yaoi for some reason. NOT SAYING I’M AGAINST IT! I just don’t personally enjoy it!
So, Anyway if you like this idea and want to contribute a page from you favorite manga, send me a PM on the forums or e-mail me a link/file at ZDA@bigstring.com! Or, leave a comment below for the next parody! The funnier and over-the-top the image, the more likely I will use it! but please, no hentai guys, I wanna keep this to a PG-13 Rating at most.
Welcome fellow addicts, to your weekly dose of anime reviews! Let’s leap in headfirst to discuss an unusual title by the artist of D.N. Angel know as Lagoon Engine.
The title certainly sounds odd, doesn’t it? Well, fasten your seatbelts while I drop a shocker in your lap: as far as I can tell, “engines” don’t even come into play with this one. Okay, so it’s not a huge shock; anime titles are notorious for being non-sequitur at times. I just thought I’d let you know ahead of time that this manga isn’t a racing or mecha manga. As for the random word “Lagoon”, the protagonist’s family name is Ragun, so there ya go. Onto the plot!
Twelve year old Yen is the eldest brother in the Ragun household, and hes got quite the life. Every day he has to deal with his irresponsible, brash younger brother, Jin, a mother who’s a novelist and her crossdressing editor Shintaro. To top it all off, he and Jin are the family’s successors to hunt creatures known as Maga. Maga are ghosts and spirits under another name, and fight the brothers by trying to guess their true names. It’s a unique battle system, and the two boys are trying their hardest to become excellent hunters, but they learn along their adventures that not all Maga are evil.
For such a zippy, comedic shounen story, this manga is chock full of questions and scenarios based on the concepts of life and afterlife. Some plot twists are a bit ludicrous, but all in all, the supporting characters are solid and the plot has just enough intrigue to keep you wondering. Battles strategies, such as Yen being the translator for all their battles, and Jin possessing more brute force, are interesting to read and to see put into effect. I am personally interested in seeing how Yen and Jin’s enigmatic cousin comes into play in later volumes, because he seems to be hiding a great deal (not to mention how awkward Yen acts around). The art is very similar to D.N. Angel, but a tad cuter, and perfectly suited to the genre.
Just a short review this week, fellow addicts. I’ll be back with more reviews next week, along with a topic of relative interest to a majority of otaku out there: it’s all about the yuri/yaoi…or is it? When to draw the line at crack pairings, next week! Ja ne!!~
So I’m back on this again, as I happen to dig deeper in the past, as far back as my binge drinking and obscure anime vhs collection can take me. When I came too, I found myself looking at some punk kid, who reminding me of what all of us seem to be at one part of our lives, that part where we don’t know what and where to go in life. Enter the world of 17 year old Akihiko Nomura, or what we’d like to call him, Bobby.
Bobby’s Girl (or “Bobby’s in deep”) is one of Madhouse early works from the 80’s, and this kind of anime just has the right heart and soul to go with it. From the quality of animation, a very simple story to understand, and very talented people all make this anime stand out for its time, only to fall into obscurity later. But, lets dive into Bobby’s world a bit and find what makes this unique.
The anime starts off with Bobby on his bike, because Bobby is all about his bike. He cleans it, tunes it and lives for it. He takes pictures of his ride one day and sends it to a motorcycle hobby magazine, which in turn gets a letter from a girl. The girl sends detailed and often romantic letters to Bobby, which he responds to answers that can be summed in one sentence, such as “My bike is blue” to answer the girls question about when she wants to see him again on the road. Bobby is just a simple guy, and answers like that are part of the binary response that guys use most of the time when answered a question. He’s not doing it to be rude or he’s shy, but I would have to say that is just his personality.
But things at home and life are different for Bobby. His grades are dropping due to the simple fact of “not-giving-a-crap” about school, and his dad is hounding him to get his act together and get his butt in gear for life, which Bobby just doesn’t seem to understand if it has nothing to do with bikes (I am sure there is some tech college in Japan where he can work on bikes, even in the 80’s). This causes him to drop outta school and get kicked out of the house to live with a friend. He then gets a job from a biker bar owner (and by coincidence the bar is named “Bobby’s”) who shares his passion for bikes too, and his past as a racer.
At one point Bobby’s “girl” stated she will call him on a specific date/time and wanted to make sure he is by the phone to talk to him, which has Bobby excited and waiting for the day. On that same day, Bobby’s boss takes him on a ride along the country side of Japan to a motocross track which it seems to give Bobby some options to his outlook on life, at least that’s how I looked at it. But then Bobby realizes that his phone call is coming soon and hops on his bike in a race against time. Can he make it back in time to talk to his mystery girl? You’ll just have to find out.
I’d have to give this OVA credit, despite its flaws. To sum up this OVA, its just a fun anime to sit back and watch, with no effort to put in any thought into trying to interpret the story or to look for anything further than what is provided. Its a simple cut and dry story about a boy who likes his bike and the events that unfold from there. What makes this OVA so special to me is the fact that it can relate to anyone. Everyone has been at a position like Bobby at one point in time, or multiple times. That is just how life is, even if it is unfair to us, and all we can do is learn and move on.
What steals the show on this is the animation by a long shot. This was Madhouse early works in the 80’s before they hit it big, and this was during the period that near infinite money was thrown into the booming OVA market where it seemed a lot of creative talent came from that we see today, both good and bad. The final scene to this anime can only be compared to breathtaking as the animation goes to stencil style as Bobby is riding on his bike to get to the phone in time with every detail to backgrounds, the bike, gear changing, you name it all. Its something out of a A-ha “Take on me” music video, minus the 80’s mullets sadly. There is also the attention to signs, logos and just American products in this show from cars to cigarettes.
I first heard about this anime from Gerald review of it on Anime World Order over a year ago along with his story on how he tracked this down, and I would recommend checking out that review. His review had me looking into this, which I’m glad I did. The anime is now online and finding a copy from those “sites” and the fansub group ToY-RC are the only accessible ways at this time. Your best bet to getting a physical copy is either by yahoo or amazon japan sites and to see if someone has it available.
All in all, if this is something you wanna look into, by all means please check it out. Its not perfect, but its definitely unique to see. But all in all, I wanna be Bobby’s Girl, because that is the most important thing to me: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xajs92_bobby-s-in-deep-ed_shortfilms
As I sit in front of my computer with a big smile on my face, I think to myself “I’m a blogger for the A.A.A Podcast.” And as such I reckon I should get cracking on writing my first blog post. However inspiration isn’t hitting me like a brick. Not that there isn’t anything to write about it’s the fact that there is a LOT to write about. Just like a fanatic who has discovered his(or her) first streaming site, I’m spoiled for choice. There is almost too much to write about. I’ve been stumbling around ANN trying to find something epic for my first post. And then. I saw it. The 2012 Berserk Film Trilogy’s main cast and staff listed.
Perfect 🙂
For those who don’t know, Berserk is the tale of Guts, an orphan mercenary, and Griffith, Leader of a mercenary group, and is set in medieval Europe. At least that’s my understanding of it anyway. Ask anyone what they think of the anime and they will tell you it’s one of the closest things to a masterpiece. The only thing in it’s way of that achievement: The ending. Although personally I can see where the creators were coming from. They pretty much followed the manga up until that point and the manga hadn’t finished so why go against canon? Although we’re not here for that. We’re here for the Berserk films.
Here’s the cast list. Original voice actors for the anime will go after in italics.
Guts – Hiroaki Iwanaga: Nobutoshi Canna.
Griffith – Takahiro Sakurai: Toshiyuki Morikawa.
Casca – Toa Yukinari: Yuko Miyamura.
Now I can already see the fanboys raging. The fanboy rage will be even worse when they see that the crew will be people who have worked on shows that are completely different to Berserk. Seriously. Some dude even complained that it looks to fresh and modern…Well we all know who’s an idiot in that case. All I’ll say is this, before you rage watch the trailer. *Link at the end of this post.*
The only thing I’m expecting from this movie is:
I expect an accurate re-telling of the manga.
I expect the characters to be more or less the same.
I expect a proper ending.
I expect “Forces” to be somewhere in one of the three movies. Even if it’s only for like 3 seconds. We need it!
What about all of you? What are you expecting from the Berserk movies? Are you for the movies? Against them? Just comment. It makes me feel popular.
Sorry this has been a short blog post as well. Can’t help it. Inspiration hasn’t been hitting me hard.
