Category: Contests

Giveaway + Otaku no Video: Messages from the Past

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hisuiconEvery year Otaku no Video is used to kick off Otakon. It has had that spot on the programming schedule ever year since 1994 because it was one of the first and most well know anime that looks into the heart of otaku culture. It encapsulates the spirit of any anime convention and the otaku lifestyle. It simultaneously sings the praises of the otaku while hanging its head in shame at the same time. Otaku no Video does this dichotomy in storytelling with two different narratives taking place. One story is told with animation and one story is told through a live action mockumentary. Each path takes its own look at anime fandom and pushes past is logical extreme for comedic effect. In between these two extremes is where Gainax and maybe even anime fandom’s true opinion of itself lies.

Otaku no Video is a show that I remember from my early fandom. I don’t know how it is exactly, probably just the internet, but it seems as soon as you start watching anime, as soon as you enter fandom, you find out about the word “otaku.” It is like magically you just know this word and whether you use it right or wrong, and who says what the right and wrong is, becomes a part of your fandom. Nowadays you can find any number of shows featuring otaku, but when Otaku no Video hit the streets it wasn’t often otaku were main characters. But despite the prevalence of such things now, Otaku no Video is still a unique work without equal.

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Happy 3rd Birthday Reverse Thieves Giveaway!

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And so our 4th year of blogging begins! It is a bit hard to believe, it has gone by in a flash, and there are no plans to slow down. And instead of expecting gifts, we are giving a big pile of stuff away in celebration of our birthday! The site got a bit of a update to its look and layout, nothing too drastic but I wanted to do make it spiffy for the coming year.

hisuiconThe third year for the Reverse Thieves comes to a close which is apparently some sort of a milestone in the anime blogging community, the three year mark is a stabilizer. I’m always a little relieved whenever I cross one of those threshold dates. I use our birthday post as a chance to reflect on what we have done over the course of the year. The most significant project we accomplished was without a doubt the Otaku Diaries, 11 posts over the course of the year that were very well received by people in the community and I hope gave the some insight. We also also changed where we were hosted so the site is much more stable than it was before. The upside is we don’t have to worry about the site going down once a week. The downside is that I can’t install cute little WordPress plug-ins anymore. At the beginning of 2010, we started the Speakeasy podcast which now not only makes us anime and manga blogger but also anime and manga podcasters. That is like twice the otaku capital. All that is left is for one of us to get some sort of paid writing position for us to complete the hat trick. Another new addition in 2010 was putting manga of the month on hiatus which was apparently a slightly unpopular decision despite the fact that I never received any feedback on it until it was gone but our rants as part of the Final Denouement have gone over well enough to make up for that loss. I am glad to see the site continually changing for the better. I have enjoyed writing for the site more and more as the months have gone on and I hope you have all enjoyed reading it as much. Just remember people only with YOUR support can this become the #1 Saber and Galaxy Angel themed blog on the Internet.

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Contest + Trigun, The Sixty-Billion Double Dollar Review

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hisuiconWe have been meaning to review Trigun for some time but now the stars have aligned in a way to make this extremely relevant. Funimation has recently license rescued Trigun and is putting it out on Blu-Ray and DVD. Madhouse released a Trigun movie on April 4th and Yasuhiro Nightow is writing a new chapter of the manga in celebration. Since Trigun first appeared on Adult Swim it has a solid fan following in the U.S. despite not being that popular back in Japan. We will be looking at what made the Trigun so enticing to English speaking fans and how is the manga different from the anime that was such a hit in the US.

I remember Trigun fondly, the DVD was given to me at random and little did I know a little while later it would appear on the afore mentioned Adult Swim to then go on to be one of those shows that defined anime for new U.S. fans in the early-2000s. And seriously did any of us really think the Trigun movie was going to happen? More than 10 years after the television series ended a movie comes out for a franchise that seemed to be rather ignored in Japan. I don’t know how or why it all finally came together, but I am super happy about it. But anyway, this post isn’t about the movie but the manga!

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