Why I’m Dropping K-On!

While K-On! have seemingly won over the much of the blogosphere with its characters gushing with overwhelming moe, it is this very same cuteness overload, among other things, that has turned me off this series.

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Old but cool cartoons

There were a number of old but cool cartoons back in the day that had me glued to my television set on Saturday mornings. I honestly don’t know what’s for kids on Saturday mornings these days since I usually spend my weekends either sleeping in or doing something more productive. However, judging by what’s available on the Internet, I find most American animated fare (at least the stuff geared for morning television) sadly lacking.

Back in the day, realistically rendered cartoons that didn’t look like an episode from your favorite Hanna Barbera show seemed exceedingly rare. The style of the Flintstones and Bugs Bunny pretty much dominated the animation landscape. Things are different now and American animation, from what I’ve noticed, has become much more diverse, adopting styles from anime and forging ahead with unique styles of their own. Read more

To Aru Majutsu Final Episode

Episode 24 of To Aru Majutsu no Index was pretty satisfying. Looking back at the anime, I’d give the series probably a B+, with a number of story arcs that would rate much higher. I enjoyed the initial arc best and any story arc that involved Touma fighting magical foes, which fortunately was the bulk of the episodes. The series did have some duds however. I didn’t find the two episode arc starring the Accelerator and the loli Biri Biri that interesting nor did I care much about the one where everyone switched bodies. However, like any good anime series, the series ended on a high note with some of the best coming in the last four episodes. Read more

Maria-sama 4 ep 11

I’ve hesitated blogging about episode 11 of Maria-sama ga Miteru largely because I’ve neglected blogging about episodes 7 through 10. Of the ones I mentioned, episode 7 with the Christmas Party was particularly dramatic and worthy of a blog post all on it’s own. Episode 8 was surprisingly a bit of a let down with the current Yamiyurikai visiting Sachiko’s house for a New Year’s celebration. Episode 9 picks up again with the Yamiyurikai elections, of which Touko is a surprise candidate. Finally, episode 10 focuses on the aftermath of the election, Suguru’s visit to Sachiko concerning Touko, and the planning of a new Valentine’s event featuring the upcoming Roses.

I decided to start blogging about Maria-sama again largely because I have been following the series and because the anime is quickly coming to its dramatic conclusion. I felt that the tensions about Touko had been steadily building since episode 6, culminating with this episode. While I do feel a little bad that I didn’t give the other episodes their just do, I do feel that  as a blogger, you have to focus on what interests you and not slavishly write something just because you feel obligated. The writing that comes out of such obligation tends not to be the best.

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Toradora Episode 24

What the heck happened to this series? As you’ve notice from my posts, I took a small break from blogging about anime lately largely because of some time issues and because there were more interesting things happening on the gaming side. So, I’ve been spending the last couple of days catching up.

So last night, I marathoned episodes 22 through 24, skipping the ski trip that was episode 21. When I left this series, the growing feelings between Taiga and Ryuji was become more apparent, leaving Minorin (and to a lesser extent, Ami) conflicted about their feelings about Ryuji. Read more

$317,200 for Superman comic

Action Comics No. 1, or the first comic book featuring Superman, was sold in New York recently at auction for $317, 200. The comic, of which, there are only around 100 known in existence, fetched one of the highest prices for an antique collectible. The high price was a testament to this particular item’s rarity and excellent condition. Stephen Fishler, co-owner of the auction site ComicConnect.com, stated that in a good economy, the comic book would have sold for perhaps a $100,000 more, possibly getting close to the half million dollar mark.

The comic book was acquired by an unknown bidder who is said to possess a small but very exclusive collection of comics. The previous owner of the comic bought it at a second hand store in early 1950s when he was nine years old. He paid 35 cents for it.

Via LA Times.

Banned Pokemon clips

Ten Exceptionally Inappropriate Pokemon Videos has been posted by Unreality. I wasn’t really that surprised to find that there were parts of Pokemon that were edited for the American audience. Japanese cultural sensitivities are quite different and what they allow in anime (which isn’t just for kids in Japan) would certainly shock many conservative American parents (while many Americans would just probably just laugh it off).  I cherry picked three of them, but for the rest, go see them on Unreality. Read more

New Dragonball movie screens

So new promotional stills from Dragonball: Evolution has been released for public consumption. Go find them here and here if you want to see the full set. I’m still completely uninterested in seeing the movie except as a video rental. That’s kind of odd for me, because I’m usually a sucker for any sci-fi, fantasy film. But this movie has fail written all over it. Yes, I’m getting ahead of myself. Yes, I reserve to change my mind if somehow the movie blows away expectations.

Selected stills are below. I just picked some of the ones with the attractive female stars. I noticed that all of the women are wearing spandex and tops revealing a lot of cleavage. Well, I guess that’s one way to attract an audience. Read more

Manga spotlight: Koukou Debut

Koukou Debut, also known as High School Debut, is a surprising shoujo manga that focuses on the romance of an unlikely couple and personal growth.  Haruna, an athletic girl who missed out her chance at romance during middle school, decides that for her high school debut she’ll concentrate as hard on romance as she did on softball in middle school. Unfortunately, the hopelessly unfashionable Haruna doesn’t quite understand that romance isn’t something you can easily acquire by brushing up on techniques and practicing hard. Her attempts to attract the opposite sex fail miserably. Read more

Danny Choo bingo

I’m a pretty big fan of DannyChoo.com. If you haven’t ever visited, I recommend it. His site is always interesting, especially some of his in depth articles which describe his day to day experiences. That content is not only unique to Danny but you get Danny’s unique perspective on blogging, business opportunities with CGM, otaku culture and Japan. As fan, I find myself visiting his site throughout the day, and always notice his site mascots, Mirai and her sister Haruka gracing his site. Read more

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