Month: June 2011

AGE of Despair

10 Comments

There have been a lot of Gundam announcements of late, but it seems like no matter what the internet lights up with as many negative nancys as can be mustered. Perhaps the classic case of people not actually knowing what they want? If they want to do something new, if they want to broaden the audience, if they want to remake the classic, or if they want to add to the continuity, it seems nothing will satisfy the established fanbase.

It was a perfect storm of announcements recently. On June 13 Bandai announced that the newest Gundam series would be Mobile Suit Gundam AGE. Almost immediately after the announcement there was an overwhelmingly negative outcry from the Gundam fan community. The show was instantly panned for being immature and nothing more than a toy and game tie in for children. It was clearly too far from the franchise’s legacy. Then on the 22nd they announced that they were also adapting the Gundam: The Origin manga as well. This lead to an equal but opposite outcry from the fan base that they were just rehashing the original series and that Gundam had nothing new left in it. I noticed quite a few outsiders on Twitter questioning what did the Gundam fanbase want as it seemed that absolutely nothing made them happy. As someone who considers himself part of the Gundam fandom it is still puzzling to me. It almost seems that no one hates Gundam more than Gundam fans. What do you have to do to make them happy? Is there anything you can give them that does not cause a hissy fit?

Continue reading →

Ongoing Investigations: Case #128

1 Comment

Blade of the Immortal 23 finally came into my hands, every time one of these comes out it seems cause for celebration. It takes far too long. This volume is still a transitional book as everyone starts to get in to position, and much traveling occurs for each group, for the final act to commence. This book actually doesn’t feature Manji and Rin all that much, despite their very recent reunion, instead putting the focus on the Itto-Ryu and Habaki’s deathrow Rokki. Since Anotsu and gang are fleeing, they set a number of traps for their pursuers. It is nice to see Magatsu around again, though I had to laugh when Soma attempts to take him on solo, better luck next time lady. There are also some tender and powerful moments between Maki and Anotsu. A good volume, as usual, but mostly a set-up for things to come.

If anyone was ever curious the person who does most of the links on the blog is me. In doing so I often stumble upon little bits of information like the existence of the  Slayers – The Hourglass of Falces manga. A complete 4-chapter story that is unusual in the fact that it has the standard Slayers crew we all know and love plus Luke and Milina from the later novels that were never translated. Lina and company are shipwrecked on a tranquil little island that has an idyllic town of friendly people. Due to the strange currents around the island they cannot causally leave. As they look for a way off the island a busty pirate shows  them there is something more sinister going on behind this utopia. Oh and there is one other major difference between this and the normal Slayers stories people are used to: Massive amounts of T&A. I don’t know much about Milina but Amelia’s breasts are definitely increased to be Naga sized and there are frequent panty shots. So the fan-service is distinctly on display in the manga. The story is a nice little story that is reminiscent of some of the better filler arcs in a regular Slayers TV series. It even manages to tie together the first and second series of Slayers novels. I just wish they toned down the gratuitous fan service.

Continue reading →

A Bite of Sushi: The Crunchyroll iPod App

3 Comments

I normally don’t own anything as fancy as an iPod touch but I have recently had the opportunity to borrow one for a few days. Of course me being me I had to see how well you can watch anime on it. So the first application I downloaded for it was the Crunchyroll app. I did that mostly so I could watch Pretty Cure at my parent’s house but I decided to give the program a full once over with several shows. So how well does this let you legitimately watch anime on a small screen?

Continue reading →