Happy 3rd Birthday Reverse Thieves Giveaway!

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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REPOST: Brief looks at The Color Trilogy.

Color of Earth by Kim Dong Hwa strikes me as the Oscar-bait of manhwa; it is a prestige release. You release this to win awards and gain great praise from reviewers and comic experts but never get more than a handful of mainstream sales. It is a historical, slice-of-life comic about a young Korean girl named Ehwa and her journey towards womanhood. It depicts Ehwa discovering her first feelings for a boy which parallels her widowed mother finding a new love. It is quite frank about the physical development and emotional changes of growing up. Overall, I found in enjoyable if very sedate. The characters were engaging and I was slightly amused by their constant use of metaphor during conversation. It was a stark contrast to the very base matters that are often the point of discussion. The character designs are simple but effective and have a traditional ink drawing feel to them. The backgrounds alternate between being very ornate, especially with some of the full-page spreads, to totally nonexistent during conversations. Most people are going to be captivated immediately or quickly turned off by either the slice-of-life nature or the earthy tone of the book. Still it is a good read for people who want their comics to have the weight of more award-winning prose.

Color of Earth touts itself as a unique work and I would agree. It easily pushes itself with its matter-of-factness of learning about one’s sexuality but at the same time tends toward metaphor and innuendo in people’s conversations. As we follow Ehwa she often finds herself at a loss because of the way people phrase things. It goes to show that even though she has to learn these things, it can be hard to get people to give you a straight answer. And unfortunately that is what Ehwa really needs. But like everyone else in life, you learn about things eventually and get it all straight in your head, sort of. The mother and daughter relationship is at the forefront and the most interesting development in this book. As we go along they become more like confidants rather than parent and child. This seems to happen for a number of reasons, not the least of which is they don’t have any men in the house. The art is very classic feeling. It fits the time period of the book and makes it seem more like fine art than sequential at times. I’d say this series is worth checking out just based on having never read anything else like it. I can’t say it is a story I would normally read, but it is has a charm that requires me to finish reading it.

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AnimeNEXT 2010: Kenji Kamiyama

A great guest elevates a convention. And a great guest at a smaller con is an opportunity not to be missed. Kenji Kamiyama is that type of guest. There is a level of intimacy present at AnimeNEXT between attendees and guests that you just can’t get with 20,000 more fans milling about the halls. With that in mind and a press badge to boot we got to hear a lot from Mr. Kamiyama over the weekend.

hisuiconThe multi-talented Kenji Kamiyama is a high caliber guest and I was extremely pleased to see him at the convention considering how much I have enjoyed his body of work. AnimeNEXT and Kenji Kamiyama were very accommodating in providing everyone an autograph and Q&A sessions on Friday and Saturday as well and a Press Conference. AnimeNEXT bent over backwards to make him as accessible, this is the real thrill of a well run mid-sized con; you still have the ability to interact with a Japanese guest.

Kenji Kamiyama has filled many roles in the animation industry from background artist to writer but he said the goal was always to direct. And direct he has. After studying under the famous Mamoru Oshii and still working with his mentor from time to time, he has created a modern, intelligent, and growing body of work which includes directing Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and Eden of the East. Production I.G’s great library, and place in my heart, is in no small part thanks to this man. I happily waited in line to wait for his autograph with a crowd that was content and dignified when they approached him. He acknowledged two people cosplaying Takizawa and Shiratori from Eden of the East happily and I saw him chuckle a bit when someone handed him a Tachikoma to sign (I then chastised myself for not doing the same). This open and light vibe was felt throughout the con.

hisuiconWhile he is most famous for his work on Stand Alone Complex and Eden of the East, his directorial work on Moribito – Guardian of the Spirit, Mini Pato, plus his various other scriptwriting and assorted jobs in the animation industry are equally remarkable. He is someone who slowly but surely worked his way to the top. I am curious to know if any of our readers could spot how his various roles in the industry have influenced his directorial style. I too regret not bringing something better to sign as I own all of Stand Alone Complex, Moribito, and a Stand Alone Complex shirt. Like Narutaki I got him to sign my program guide which was still a treat.

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