Cobra the animation: The Psychogun vol 1

Realizing that nobody is ever going to fansub it, I broke down and watched the recent Cobra OVA in raw Japanese. I found it very enjoyable. All of Cobra's trademark James Bond gadgets and scantily clad ladies are present. Terasawa's unashamed 70s style chauvinism, as well as his eye for the absurd are well represented. My favorite things in the OVA are: Cyborg attack dog girls, and Superdimensional Pirate guild space submarines surfacing from subspace under an office building's bathroom.

Xam'd of the lost memories

In my recent article about how otaku culture was ruining the anime industry in Japan, I mentioned that things weren't all bad and that I'd soon be talking about some of the good. Xam'd of the Lost memories (Bounen no Zamudo) Is very good. Studio BONES has rarely if ever disappointed me and this show is them at the very top of their game.

Xam'd is set in a Fantasy world with an anachronistic mix of technologies, Very much in the vein of shows like Orguss 02 and Full metal Alchemist. The overall feeling of the show is similar to the latter though perhaps a bit less bleak.

The main character of the series is Akiyuki a laid-back high school boy living on a small and peaceful island. Unlike nearly all anime protagonists these days Akiyuki is quite likable. Unfortunately his easygoing attitude sets events in motion that change his life forever when he unwittingly helps a white haired immigrant girl sneak onto a bus.


Xam'd is a very character driven show with a great ensemble cast. The animation quality is fantastic. The action scenes are often breathtaking. This show has all the good qualities of BONES' previous show Eureka 7 without any of the annoying filler. It is rare in this day and age to be able to recommend a show from Japan without any caveats or reservations but this one I can.


My favorite character in Xam'd is Nakiami. If I were to describe Nakiami in 2 words it would be these "She's Nausicaa" She flies around on a powered glider that is very reminiscent of Nausicaa's gull. She is strong, determined and absolutely pure of heart. You might think that would be cheesy, but Just like Miyazaki's heroine, Nakiami is utterly charming. This is illustrated artistically in the beautiful closing credit sequence where every character is depicted in nighttime stills except Nakiami who suddenly appears flying in the clouds at daybreak. It's really breathtaking and makes me feel the sense of wonder I used to feel when I watched anime.


The only downside to Xam'd is the release strategy. The show was produced for Sony's Playstation network where they honestly expect you to spend $3.99 for a timed rental of a single episode. This is yet another sign that the Japanese have NO IDEA what they are doing over here. I will buy this show, but only when and if it comes out domestically on physical media. Watch Xam'd but don't give Sony the idea that this idiotic rental strategy is good. DO buy the show when and if it hits DVD though.

COMIC QUICKIE: World War Hulk

I quit reading Marvel superhero comics in the early 90s. At that point they were totally creatively bankrupt. Every issue was a super awesome collectors Item, and they kept pulling gimmicks out of their butt to sell issues, like killing professor X or completely ruining Wolverine. I quit reading super hero comics in general for a long time, but recently have been reading a lot of DC from the library and loving it.

Now that I have run out of Batman, Superman, and Nightwing books to read I thought I'd pick up the trade paperback of a recent crossover, involving an exiled Hulk returning to earth to get revenge and well Smash stuff.

Sadly not a lot has changed in terms of Marvel. Too much Angst, too many Gimmicks, and too much faux depth. I never read the Civil War crossover, or any other marvel superhero books in 14 or so years, but apparently it involves Tony Stark and Reed Richards turning into total dicks. It might have been Cathartic to watch Hulk beat the snot out of them if I cared. Oh and since when can Tony stark HACK THINGS WITH HIS MIND!?

The artwork is quite good, and Hulk looks pretty damn cool. I love Conan the Barbarian and was hoping for something in that vein, but Hulk's irrational single mindedness (He's smart again if ya didn't know) got old fast, and the inevitable plot twist just wasn't handled well.

I can't help but feel it's the same old crap, in a new wrapper. I loved Marvel superhero comics in the 70s and 80s, but I guess there is just no going home for me.

MEDIOCRE

COMIC REVIEW: Anita Blake Vampire Hunter: guilty pleasures

I am a voracious comic reader armed with a library card. That at times can be a dangerous combination. I quickly burn through the stuff I know I will like and I end up trying new things.

I do not particularly like vampires, especially not the overly romanticized Anne Rice variety. Then again I am not really the target audience so that isn't surprising. Even so I liked the cover on the first Trade paperback of Anita Blake Vampire Hunter enough that I decided to checked it out.

As I dug into the first few pages I found my suspicions that this would be a Romantic beefcake-fest verified but kept reading. As I got deeper I found I like the character of Anita very much. I wasn't as enamoured of the world she lives in, an Alternative version of my own home town of St Louis, where vampires, zombies and Lycanthropes not only exist, but everyone knows about them.

Anita is what is know in her world as an animator. She raises the dead as zombies for pay. Though out the story they address various practical reasons why someone would need a zombie raised so it's not as silly as it sounds. This is pretty mundane however compared to her sideline. Vampires have recently acquired civil rights, and go about their business side by side with the living. When a Vampire commits a crime in St Louis, the Authorities call on Anita to eliminate them, earning her the name "The Executioner" in vampire circles.

The story centers on Anita being blackmailed by the Head Vampire of St Louis into investigating a string of Vampire killings. Anita is tough, and very capable, but also full of insecurities and fear. The ebb and flow of these elements of her personality when faced with an increasingly dire situation kept me interested all the way through the first volume.

The Artwork is mostly gorgeous. I particularly like Anita's character design, as it gets across all of the facets of her personality very well. This is definitely a story aimed at women as the primary audience. There is an awful lot of pretty boy beefcake prancing around. I don't feel this in any way detracted in my enjoyment of the story though. It helps that Anita is easy on the eyes, horrendous scars and all.


This is a book I never would have picked up in a book store, but it was a good read. I may just purchase the second volume, but only if I can get it at a steep discount. I can only recommend this book to either those who like the Romantic goth/Vampire trappings, or those who can tolerate them.

Based on the first in a long running series of novels By Laurell K. Hamilton, Anita Blake vampire hunter: Guilty pleasures volume one is published by Marvel comics.

NOT BAD

Star Wars the Clone Wars TV series

The first 2 episodes of the new Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated TV series just aired on Cartoon network. As one of the seemingly few people who really enjoyed the theatrical movie (In my opinion, It's better than two of the three prequels), I am very satisfied with the first 2 episodes of SWtCW.

The animation quality isn't as good as the movie, but that is to be expected on a TV budget. It still looks very good. The action is exciting and the stories have the fun feel of the original Star Wars trilogy and Genndy Tartakovsky's Clone Wars shorts, from which this series borrows it's cartoony design aesthetic.

The first episode follows the story of Yoda travelling with 3 clone troopers behind enemy lines. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the characterization of Yoda was much more like the eccentric little creature he was in Empire Strikes Back than the uptight master of the prequels. The comedy with the droids can occasionally be slightly groan inducing, but this is a kid's show, and it's all in good fun. Nothing as bad as an Ewok or Jar Jar at least.

The second episode was just as good. featuring the Republic forces searching for a new secret weapon being developed by the separatists (one that Star Wars fans will recognize as being used by the rebellion in Empire strikes back!)

I really like this show and can't wait till next Friday.

Welcome Gwenster

My good friend Gwenster is going to contribute to the site. Welcome!

"I hate otaku"

That ironic line spoken by the Otaking himself, in the prologue to Studio Gainax's classic anime Otaku no video 1982: Graffiti of otaku generation, sums up my feelings as of late very well. Otaku, in particular anime otaku culture in Japan has become too influential lately, and it's destroying the very medium that spawned it.

I have been a fan of Japanese animation since I first saw Battle of the planets (Kagaku Ninjatai Gatchaman) in 1979 on US TV, but it wasn't till 1991 that I really got introduced to "fandom". I started going to conventions and immersed myself in it. When I saw Otaku no video, I, like many eager young fans saw it as a celebration of the excitement and youthful enthusiasm we had for Japanese cartoons and comics. I adopted the title of otaku, blissfully ignorant to the negative connotation of the word in Japan.

Japanese Otaku are often pathologically obsessed with whatever their interest is (The word can apply to any hobby that is taken to an extreme). Being a geek is not a crime, loving something so much that people around you don't understand it isn't either. Things only become bad when groups of people begin getting together and start reinforcing bad habits and patting one another on the back. a sense of entitlement and justification rises up. when enough of this happens they begin to have influence. That is where we are at now in Japan.

Most shows that are created today lack the creative spark of shows produced in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. It's gotten to the point where Anime studios in Japan are manufacturing series from the ground up to appeal to different vocal otaku subsets. Sometimes these "Manufactured" shows are good like Code Geass, sometimes they suffer badly for it, as with Macross Frontier.

DIE RANKA LEE, DIE AND BURN IN HELL

Which brings me to the Moe' problem, and the wide acceptance of Lolicon (Lolita Complex). Ranka Lee is supposed to be 16, the same age as Lynn Minmay in the original Cho jiku yousai Macross series. While Minmay looked like a young woman, Ranka looks 12 at the oldest. This is very intentional. It is to appeal to pedophiles pure and simple.

She is also an example of a Moe' character (at least through most of the series) That is basically a helpless usually VERY young female character that the audience of hopeless dorks will want to protect. This love of little girls exemplified in the Moe ideal is supposed to be non sexual, but I have known far too many fans who where almost exclusively into this crap... and what's on their hard drives... to buy that.

If I sound angry it's because I am. I take this and other characters such as the Zentradi character Klan very personally as a long time Macross fan.

ONE OF THESE THINGS IS NOT LIKE THE OTHER

Klan looks like a Lolita when Miclonized, and has Huge breasts when at her full Zentradi height, something that makes NO SENSE AT ALL in the Macross universe.Neither character design fits with the universe well, and only serve as wank material for 2 very different subsets of otaku culture. The thing is I kind of like the character of the mature Klan, she is pretty kick butt. I am not uptight about female characters being sexy (I love the Dirty Pair.) But This is just so blatant and unappealing, it turned me off what otherwise might have been a decent character.

So many other things about Macross Frontier where very good, but these cynical and shameless pandering elements almost completely ruined the show for me. I will write a full article on Macross Frontier in the near future. Hopefully it will be balanced, now that I have gotten out some of this vitriol.

The news isn't all bad. There are still really good shows being made, but it is a very small percentage of the huge amount of mediocre to terrible shows being produced in Japan. I will talk about some of the good stuff soon.