Ongoing Investigations: Case #112

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I happily finished up Jellyfish Princess right on schedule, it was a nice way to end 2010. All the things I loved in the first episodes, the humor, the understand of female geeks, and the budding relationships, were kept intact throughout its run. However, things like fashion and business being major plot threads were surprises. Perhaps the most unexpected part of all was how much the story became about Kuranosuke, and him actually having the most growth in its short time span. Tsukimi was not relegated to the side, and she certainly had forward movement of her own, but Kuranosuke seemed changed the most by their encounters. Their relationship, budding into romance or no, had a nice coming together in the final test of getting on stage. This is by no means the end of course, as the manga continues to run, however it was a good stopping point if not truly satisfying.

hisuicon This week is mostly me reflecting on anime that ended really well from last season. As predicted Kuragehime was another great show that proves that the Noitamina block is always the show to watch any season. Kuragehime just like House of Five Leaves was based on an ongoing manga series and they both picked a solid place to end in overall story. With fate of the Amamizukan apartment building resolved and everyone one having gone through a solid bit of character development you would be hard pressed to currently find a better place to end. All of the relationships are still up in the air and somethings are unresolved but if it ended here I would not be utterly frustrated. Tsukimi and Kuranosuke are sort of interacting  something closer to normally by the end of the series which I think is major progress for both of them. It was always surprised to see female nerds in a non-fetishistic light in anime. I know that Melissa Tanaka found the girls a bit too over the top for her tastes but I thought it was a major step forward in presenting female nerds as more than male nerds with breasts. It is a fun series and I hope to see its exposure through streaming get someone to license the manga so we can read the ending.

 

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Genericon 2011: Now featuring us (plus some other people)!

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Hear ye Hear ye. It has been declared that on the month of Februarius on the days of the solar calendar from the eleventh to the thirteenth in the year of our lord two thousand eleven that the royal bards known throughout the lands as the Reverse Thieves will be noted, learned scholars and orators at the festival of nerdy revelry that is Ye Olde Genericon XXIV.

Or in simpler terms we will be featured panelists, our first time as such, at Genericon 2011 which takes place at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY on February 11th to the 13th. We’re presenting three panels and barring schedule changes should be giving one panel on each day of the convention. We will be unveiling the newly revised version of our stalwart classic the Anime Recruitment panel or as Hisui likes to call it Anime Recruitment PTX-007-3C Weissritter edition. We will also be debuting our One Piece: A Portrait of Pirates and Investigating Detective Anime panels. We swear that the Detective Anime panel will be much more than just an hour about Detective Conan (although we could easily talk that long about Detective Conan). We will post information about our panels and our general schedule for the convention when everything is a bit more finalized.

Genericon will also have the deadliest married couple in all of anime and manga fandom, Erin and Noah from the Ninja Consultants, The Star of the Giants of the manga world Ed Chavez, rear-admiral of the Lohengramm Empire Walter Amos, plus Scott Fermeglia, Sushma Chandran, Daniel Condaxis, and Brendan Flaherty as featured panelists alongside us. On top of all that, Genericon will have For Tax Reasons of Ronin Dojo Community College DX fame, Uncle Yo the otaku comedian, voice actor Vic Mignogna, all three of the super star podcasters from Anime World Order, and web comic artist Jenny Blanchard of Enjuhneer as guests. A good friend of the blog Evan Minto will also be not only staff at Genericon but also he will be running several panels including a Satoshi Kon Tribute. And last but not least, the Japanese punk rockers Uzuhi are the featured band. It is all shaping up to be a fun weekend, if you are in the area we hope you can stop on by!

Investigating Detective Anime – Friday, 6:00PM
One Piece: A Portrait of Pirates – Saturday, 8:30PM
Anime Recruitment – Sunday, 12:00PM

The Speakeasy #013: Gin and Tonic, The Ebb and Flow of American Taste

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Anime 3000 presents The Speakeasy Podcast:
Drink #013: Gin and Tonic, The Ebb and Flow of American Taste

The anime version of Bartender mentions that the most popular cocktail among men is the simple and timeless classic: Gin and Tonic. In many ways the American taste in anime has that same simple immutable nature. We look at the origins of American taste, how they have grown and changed, and how they compare to the Japanese and their preferences. Also Hisui goes on a rant about people’s viewing habits like an aggressive self-help book.

We are also starting a mail bag segment so feel free to send in your question and comments  so we can discuss them on the next podcast!

(Listen) (Show Notes)

And now your helpful bartenders at The Speakeasy present your drink:

Gin and Tonic

2 oz gin
5 oz tonic water
1 lime wedge

Pour the gin and the tonic water into a highball glass almost filled with ice cubes. Stir well. Garnish with the lime wedge.