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Hisui’s picks:
- Just Accept that You Will Never be Ed Chavez
The Eeeper’s choice podcast is back from its recent hiatus. Philip teams up with Ed Sizemore to look at Kingyo Used Books after shooting the breeze about the manga industry in general.
- Random Fact: My Brother Keeps a Raise Dead and a Swamp in His Wallet at all Times
Chaos Theater talk about the most famous collectable card game of them all, Magic: The Gathering. So many memories, so many booster packs. What colors did you play back in the day? Heck, do you still play it today? - If you Kickstart Me Up I’ll Never Stop
The Manga Out Loud podcast looks at the use of Kickstarter to fund manga publishing and the community’s reaction to the Barbara project. I don’t agree with a lot that is said in the podcast but it is an interesting discussion. Ed also did an overview of the big events in manga during 2011 just before that. - We Might not Get a U.S. Release of Turn A But We Can Take Solace in This
If you were ever curious what Kunio Okawara designed Turn A Gundam would look like you don’t have to wonder anymore. - This Says so Much about Gundam Fandom
A diagram of the “winners” and “losers” involved in the romantic relationships of the various Gundam series. - Type-Moon News Roundup
Narutaki’s picks:
- Animation’s Annie Awards Streaming on February 4th
This is considered Oscar night for animation! - A Reasoned Opinion of Piracy’s Place in Comics
Illegal downloading has come back around to be a topic again what with SOPA/PIPA on people’s minds it is no surprise. This time its American comic fans talking about the industry. David’s response takes on the accusation that piracy is the main reason comics, particularly superhero comics, have taken a dive in profits. - ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION Album Coming Out in the U.S.
Their first ever stateside release will be a greatest hits album. They’ve contributed to plenty of anime series so expect those songs and more. - Self-Publishing Comics Through Amazon
Apparently it is working, and working big for one 16-year-old. Her comic was even out-selling major titles at the holidays. I haven’t gotten to read any comics yet, but her website shows of her artwork better than the interview article.
- Re-branding Logos for Video Game Characters
This is actually a double re-branding since he took already established logos but used them in a creative way for a myriad of characters. - Megaupload Closes, Toonzaki Sees Online Views Rise 20%
There isn’t a true way to equate these two occurrences but 4kids has made the connection.
Another look at something special from Turn A Gundam:
Sadly Tales from Earthsea was the train wreck that it has been made out to be. Part of me was hoping that people were unfairly trying judge Goro Miyazaki first efforts as a director in comparison to his father’s work. But the reason that this move gets panned so much is it is just riddled with major flaws. The plot is poorly paced, will often make inscrutable twists, and is often just uninteresting. Most of the characters were either banal or annoying. The dialog is clunky so that at points characters will drop a line that seems to come completely out of nowhere. 
Sparrowhawk and Tenar were fine for the most part but they never came close to being able to prop up the plot. The worst part in my opinion is Arren is an unsympathetic character. When you actively dislike the main character you should have an idea that the show is going nowhere very quickly. The dub did not help the film at all but you can tell that the source was terrible so the dub had little to work with. Tales from Earthsea certainly looked like a 
