Calling bloggers for Secret Santa!

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This cross-blogging game was a blast year, so it is back again!

Here: Just in case someone does not know what traditional Secret Santa is.

The idea of this project is for everyone who participates to be reviewing a show that they might not normally watch or might have overlooked. Everyone will get someone else in the project to review a series of their choice and in return review something picked by one of their fellow bloggers. The goal is threefold for everyone involved:

  1. Mixing up what you watch and review on your blog.
  2. Getting other people to watch things you feel deserve more attention.
  3. A way to interact with other bloggers thus creating possibilities for cross blog readership, also it fosters an environment to try other cross blog experiments.

Here is how this little experiment will work: If you want to participate send us your Name, Blog, and My Anime List (or some other equivalent listing) page via e-mail (reversethieves [at] gmail.com) subject: Secret Santa Participant. Due by Wednesday, October 13th. Make sure that your MAL is updated as much as possible before you submit it. Also, if you are uncomfortable with watching certain types of shows or will not watch fan-subs mention that in the e-mail, too.

We will then make a circular list of everyone involved in the project that only we will know the order of. The order of the list will be made completely at random. Everyone will then receive the name, blog, and My Anime List of the person they are the Secret Santa for. You will then suggested three shows for the person all of which must be 26 episodes or less (yes, you can suggest movies, too). The shows must be subtitled in some fashion. Remember that you are picking shows that you hope the other person will like and give an honest chance. Look over their My Anime List and their restrictions then try to pick out something good but unexpected.

Once we get everyone’s lists we will then pass on the shows to the recipients. No one except us will know the names of the person who gave you your choices. You then pick the show your are going to watch. Everyone is responsible for getting their own material for the review. If for some reason you absolutely cannot abide any of the shows you are given, we will allow 1 and only 1 mulligan.

You then have until late December to watch the show you were assigned and write a review. On the week of Christmas everyone will post their reviews for the Secret Santa Project. We would prefer you post your review on Christmas Eve but you can alter it as to the schedule of your blog. On the Christmas Day we will reveal the name of who had who as a Secret Santa along with a small post about the project.

Again: If you want to participate send us your Name, Blog, and My Anime List (or some other equivalent listing) page via e-mail (reversethieves [at] gmail.com) subject: Secret Santa Participant. Due by Wednesday, October 13th.

October’s Final Denouement: The Lies 90′s Anime Fans Told

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*I am aware that much of the anime we enjoyed in the 90’s was produced in the 80’s. But this is about what I thought anime was in 90’s, what was available in the 90’s that shaped that view, not what was produced at the time.

I started watching anime, at least what I knew to count among anime, in the summer of 1995 with the infamous Ninja Scroll. I followed that with Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Demon City Shinjuku, and more from the few local video places my friends and I frequented. If you had asked me back then, and people frequently did, just what was this anime we were gobbling up, I probably, no in fact I know, I would have said some thing about anime’s maturity, perhaps its dark or adult themes, and maybe some violence for good measure. And I probably would have thrown in some jabs at western works, too.

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Ongoing Investigations: Case #101

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hisuiconThe problem with webcomics is that if they have been running for a few years reading the back archives to catch up to the present can be insanely daunting. But if you start reading a good webcomic you will quickly notice a week has disappeared and you now have something new to read every week. One web comic that several people repeatedly told me I NEEDED to read is Girl Genius by Phil and Kaja Foglio. The series is a steampunk (I’m sorry gaslamp fantasy) adventure set in a war-torn Europe in which superpower mad scientists battle amongst themselves. Agatha Clay starts out as an average student at Transylvania Polygnostic University but after an eventful morning soon finds her awaking as a spark (aka a mad scientist) and embroiled in a madcap adventure all across Europe involving airships, a mysterious traveling circus, amazons, abominations (both living and mechanical), and everything and anything that makes for good swashbuckling adventure. The art is incredibility dense. There is always something going on in the foreground and usually at least 2 things going on in the background while never being cluttered. This distinctly rewards you for going back and reading chapters again. The story start off strong and only proceeds to pick up steam as it goes on and thankfully has been plotted out in advance. It has a large and extremely colorful cast and someone for almost anyone to latch onto. It is basically good in all the way that a webcomic could be good. I would have broken this review into smaller chunks but I read 9 years worth of comics in 1 week because it was so addictive. There are now 9 books of the collected series if you want to catch up offline. I might go back and review the books individually as I pick them up but I mainly just suggest you go and read any way you can.

I eagerly checked out the new Cartoon Network show Sym-Bionic Titan (eps. 1-2). It warms my heart to see more giant robot goodness this side of the Pacific. The series follows 3 aliens, strong-willed Princess Ilana, her newly appointed guardian the brooding Lance, and the faithful robot Octus who come to Earth fleeing a rebellion on their home planet. Ilana and Lance have the ability to transform into armored robots and they quickly find out that they along with Octus can combine. Of course monsters coming looking for them as they try to hide out, blend into Earth culture, and figure out the next step. There is plenty of action in the first episode, a little less in the second, but each has a good pace. The show takes little jibes at American culture, high school is all you can imagine, and it is amusing to watch our heroes try to adapt. I do hope to see Ilana be less rescued as the series continues. There is already some great plots arising as we learn about their home planet as well as an organization on Earth that already seems to know about our heroes. Great potential, great design, and great to see!

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