If you have been following my website lately, or Facebook and Twitter for that matter, you should probably know that for the last month or so, I have been temporarily unable to do anything related to the website or even work on new reviews thanks to my computer's motherboard failing. Sometime in the middle of June, I noticed that my computer was refusing to boot up. I put my computer into maintenance mode and scanned it to reveal that my computer was having a difficult time recognizing my hard drive and that it was beginning to fail. I thought it was no big deal and that I could just buy a new hard drive and transfer all of my data to the new hard drive. It shouldn't set me back any more then 150 dollars. I originally thought it was a hard drive issue, but the mechanic at Best Buy told me it was not the case and that my motherboard was failing and needed to be replaced. He then told me that it would be better to go and buy a new computer rather then to just replace the motherboard. Upon hearing this, I had no choice but to put The American Anime Otaku on a temporary hiatus. So I ordered my new computer and by the time it arrived and all the software I needed to run the show was reinstalled, Anime Expo was literally days away and I had to spend most of my time preparing for that.
So here's where we stand currently. I am happy to announce that after approximately a month and a half of inactivity, The American Anime Otaku is officially back from hiatus. However, there are still a few problems that need to be resolved. One issue is the schedule. Since I have been unable to make new reviews, my release schedule is currently out of whack and is in need of being restructured. For instance, while I am still planning on releasing my review of Ghost in the Shell, my original plan was to release it on the weekend that Ghost in the Shell: Arise was released in theaters in Japan. Many reviews I have had planned however, have been canceled outright or will be released at an undetermined date. A good example would be Mawaru Penguin Drum and Bodacious Space Pirates of which I originally planned to review in August.
Second is my financial situation. Since I had to purchase a brand new computer, I am running out of the monthly funds needed to keep up with current releases. I plan on running a Kickstarter or Indiegogo campaign or selling some of the anime I have had autographed by the show's voice actors and crew on Ebay to offset the expenses of having to buy a new computer. But as of right now, let's just say there is a reason why that golden donate to Paypal button is sitting there on the left side of the page and right now, I would really appreciate your donations if you want me to continue reviewing more recent anime.
My plans for right now is to continue working on the most recent anime shows I planned on reviewing and then reset my schedule and continue on from there. I am also planning on adding some new material and segments to the website so I can have at least something new added to the site each week as opposed to every other week. I also plan on having at least one entry into this blog each month which will be used mostly for commentary and major news. However, the main show will continue to be released on a bi-weekly or semi-monthly basis.
So, thank you for your patience and I hope to have my next review up on the site as soon as possible. Until then, this is The American Anime Otaku signing out.
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Friday, December 14, 2012
My Plans For Next Year
Well folks, 2012 is almost behind us and therefore, I decided to make a list of my plans for the site and the show in general for next year. First off is my plans to conclude the Dark Otaku story arc and begin a new story arc involving a certain company called 4Kids Entertainment. As such, I am already planning for my review of the anime One Piece. However, it will take me a while to get there since I need to talk about other anime that have been butchered by 4Kids Entertainment in order to give you context on what that company is notorious for. This would eventually lead to a look at the 4Kids version of One Piece and why it was an unmitigated betrayal of it's original Japanese counterpart. As for presenting the show at conventions, I have mostly been attending conventions around the Southern California area where I live. As such, I plan to present at other venues across the country starting with Anime Milwaukee in Millwaukee, Wisconsin. Other conventions I am looking at attending and presenting at are Anime Central, Sakura Con, among others. This year I will also be working on a new anime review to present at anime conventions as well. I also plan to invite guest stars onto the show and interviews with anime legends as well. I also plan on doing parody dubs, Iriffs on rifftrax.com, parody shorts, industry insights, and other great content on the site for you to enjoy. So sit tight, 2013 will be the best year yet for The American Anime Otaku.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Top 10 Worlds I would Like to See in the Next Kingdom Hearts Game
When it comes to video games from the Disney corporation no game has intrigued me more then the Kingdom Hearts series. For those of you who don't know, let me fill you in. Kingdom Hearts was a collaboration project between the Disney corporation and game developer Square (now Square-Enix) in an attempt to find a way to get Mickey Mouse and friends to appeal to a slightly older audience. The games are a series of hack-and-slash adventure games akin to the God of War series where you play a young boy named Sora and travel from world to world, of which each are based off a corresponding Disney animated film. There, Sora meets the heroes from the film and helps them fight off their enemies as well as a species of dark beings known as heartless. This all culminates to a rather fun and interesting series. The only downside I find with the game is that rather then sticking to one gaming console, it has a tendency for console hopping. This means that in order to enjoy the latest installment of the series, you have to buy the corresponding system that comes with it. This makes being a fan of the series a very expensive proposition.
With the release of the much anticipated Kingdom Hearts III looming in the horizon, I developed a list of the top ten worlds based off of a film based from Disney's animated feature film library that I would love to see in the next installment of the series.
10. Enchanted Bayou (The Princess and the Frog)
A dastardly spell was put on Queen Minnie at the hands of Pete that erases all of her memory of King Mickey. Sora and company as well as Merlin are summoned by King Mickey to investigate the cause of her amnesia. Merlin suddenly realizes that the spell put on Queen Minnie was originally concocted by the Shadow Man a.k.a Dr. Facilier and that it can only be reversed by through help of Madam Odie. Sora and company arrive at the Enchanted Bayou and meet up with Prince Naveen and Tiana who are also searching for Madam Odie in order to reverse the spell put on them by Dr. Facilier. They eventually run afoul of Dr Facilier who now commands heartless instead of evil voodoo spirits and do battle with him. They then help Prince Naveen and Tiana break the spell put on them, seal up the keyhole, and return with an antidote to break the spell put on Queen Minnie.
Bosses:
First Visit:Dr. Facilier
Second Visit: Voodoo Mask Heartless
9. Ant Island (A Bug's Life)
You may notice quite a few worlds based on the Disney/Pixar movies in this list. Here, our heroes would shrink down to the size of insects and come across an ant named flick. After seeing them fight off a group of insect-like heartless, flick begs them to join him in fighting off a group of marauding grasshoppers.
Bosses:
First Visit: Hopper
Second Visit: Scarab Heartless
8. Hero City (The Incredibles)
Sora and company done super hero costumes as they help reunite a family of super heroes.
Bosses:
First Visit:Omnidroid, Syndrome
Second Visit: Gigantic Godzilla-like Heartless
7. Disney Town Slums (Who Framed Roger Rabbit)
Pete is organizing a group of miscreant weasels from the bad side of town to rise up against King Mickey and Queen Minnie and disrupt an important event. As such, Sora and company are assigned to protect King Mickey's informant, Roger Rabbit. Instead of dipping him like in the film, the weasels plan to capture him and turn him into a heartless!
6. Sugar Rush (Wreck-It Ralph)
I think it might be interesting to see how a world based off of a video game movie would do in an already video game environment. What I see is that Sora and company go inside a computer in Disney Castle to fix it and find that Ralph's game jumping is causing their computer problems. They find out later on that King Candy is responsible and team up with Ralph to set things right.
Bonus Game: Actually partake in a race from the movie.
If not, Ralph can always appear as a summon.
Bosses: King Candy
5. The Highlands (Brave)
Bosses:
First Visit:Mor'du
Second Visit: Unknown
4. Monstropolis (Monsters Inc.)
Bosses:
First Visit: Randel Boggs, Mr. Waternoose
3. Deep Jungle 2 (The Jungle Book)
Our heroes return to the Deep Jungle from the first Kingdom Hearts. This time around, they help a young boy named Mowgli gain up enough courage to fight off Shere Khan.
2. A world Based Off of the movie Tangled (Tangled)
1. Midgar (Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children)
One thing that has interested me was that many characters from the Final Fantasy series have made an appearance in the Kingdom Hearts games but we have yet to see a world from the Final Fantasy series make an appearance. Let's change that shall we? One question I might want to ask is, why haven't they done this sooner?
One thing I would like to see is a return to fighting the villains from said animated films rather then a generic heartless boss themed from that world.
With the release of the much anticipated Kingdom Hearts III looming in the horizon, I developed a list of the top ten worlds based off of a film based from Disney's animated feature film library that I would love to see in the next installment of the series.
10. Enchanted Bayou (The Princess and the Frog)
A dastardly spell was put on Queen Minnie at the hands of Pete that erases all of her memory of King Mickey. Sora and company as well as Merlin are summoned by King Mickey to investigate the cause of her amnesia. Merlin suddenly realizes that the spell put on Queen Minnie was originally concocted by the Shadow Man a.k.a Dr. Facilier and that it can only be reversed by through help of Madam Odie. Sora and company arrive at the Enchanted Bayou and meet up with Prince Naveen and Tiana who are also searching for Madam Odie in order to reverse the spell put on them by Dr. Facilier. They eventually run afoul of Dr Facilier who now commands heartless instead of evil voodoo spirits and do battle with him. They then help Prince Naveen and Tiana break the spell put on them, seal up the keyhole, and return with an antidote to break the spell put on Queen Minnie.
Bosses:
First Visit:Dr. Facilier
Second Visit: Voodoo Mask Heartless
9. Ant Island (A Bug's Life)
You may notice quite a few worlds based on the Disney/Pixar movies in this list. Here, our heroes would shrink down to the size of insects and come across an ant named flick. After seeing them fight off a group of insect-like heartless, flick begs them to join him in fighting off a group of marauding grasshoppers.
Bosses:
First Visit: Hopper
Second Visit: Scarab Heartless
8. Hero City (The Incredibles)
Sora and company done super hero costumes as they help reunite a family of super heroes.
Bosses:
First Visit:Omnidroid, Syndrome
Second Visit: Gigantic Godzilla-like Heartless
7. Disney Town Slums (Who Framed Roger Rabbit)
Pete is organizing a group of miscreant weasels from the bad side of town to rise up against King Mickey and Queen Minnie and disrupt an important event. As such, Sora and company are assigned to protect King Mickey's informant, Roger Rabbit. Instead of dipping him like in the film, the weasels plan to capture him and turn him into a heartless!
6. Sugar Rush (Wreck-It Ralph)
I think it might be interesting to see how a world based off of a video game movie would do in an already video game environment. What I see is that Sora and company go inside a computer in Disney Castle to fix it and find that Ralph's game jumping is causing their computer problems. They find out later on that King Candy is responsible and team up with Ralph to set things right.
Bonus Game: Actually partake in a race from the movie.
If not, Ralph can always appear as a summon.
Bosses: King Candy
5. The Highlands (Brave)
Bosses:
First Visit:Mor'du
Second Visit: Unknown
4. Monstropolis (Monsters Inc.)
Bosses:
First Visit: Randel Boggs, Mr. Waternoose
3. Deep Jungle 2 (The Jungle Book)
Our heroes return to the Deep Jungle from the first Kingdom Hearts. This time around, they help a young boy named Mowgli gain up enough courage to fight off Shere Khan.
2. A world Based Off of the movie Tangled (Tangled)
1. Midgar (Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children)
One thing that has interested me was that many characters from the Final Fantasy series have made an appearance in the Kingdom Hearts games but we have yet to see a world from the Final Fantasy series make an appearance. Let's change that shall we? One question I might want to ask is, why haven't they done this sooner?
One thing I would like to see is a return to fighting the villains from said animated films rather then a generic heartless boss themed from that world.
Monday, November 5, 2012
How to Make a Video Game Based Movie and Actually Do It Justice
Boy has it been a while since I have written an article for this website. Well anyway, let's get to the punch. I just got out of seeing Wreck-It Ralph the other day and it sure was a lot of fun. The movie surprised me in many ways considering the abysmal track record that video game based movies have; especially if a film maker named Uwe Boll is involved in it. First off, I believe Disney took a huge risk in making a video game based movie considering the fact that those types of films almost always tend to suck. There have been a few exceptions where a video game based movie has done well for the most part, but so far none of them have been able to reach anywhere near critical acclaim, that is until Wreck-It Ralph showed up.
Wreck-It Ralph manages to show audiences that not only can a video game based movie work, it can also somehow manage to avoid all of the pitfalls that many of it's predecessors have fallen into before it. First off is exposition. Most video game based movies usually have to take it's time and stop progressing the story in order to explain the story's premise or explain story elements from the game to those who are unfamiliar to it. This leads to about ten minutes or so of explaining things from the game that people who have already played the game know. This tends to irritate gamers to no end and can result into leading the film into oblivion.
Another issue is the the view's of the game from the perspective of the director can be entirely different then those of the game's fans or it's developers. And that's where our friend Uwe Boll comes in. Sometimes the director will change crucial story elements in order to make it fit in his perspective. Little changes here and there to differentiate the film from it's source material is fine, but when you change a crucial story element from the game to add into the movie, it tends to alienate the game's fans. Those fans who are usually the first to see the movie get disappointed and tell their friends the movie is a piece of garbage. And before you know it, we suddenly get the cinematic equivalent of E.T. for the Atari 2600. And then you suddenly realize why they couldn't get the licensing rights to show Mario and Luigi in the film after what happened with the Super Mario Bros. movie.
The last issue is time. When you make a movie based on a video game, you are essentially squeezing fifteen to twenty hours of story and game-play into a two hour film. As such, a lot of information is going to be lost. The result is an audience that ends up confused rather than entertained if the story is not put together carefully. This rule is pretty much universal to any film that is an adaptation of another medium.
So how does Wreck-It Ralph succeed where many others have failed? Well, what keeps Wreck-It Ralph from becoming a literal wreck like all the other video game based movies out there is it's execution. Instead of being solely based on one particular game, it is actually a homage to video gaming in general, much like how Who Framed Roger Rabbit was to classic animation. Another thing that sets this film apart from the others is it's creativity. Rather then being bogged down by the continuity rules of an existing game, the filmmakers decided to base the movie around a game they made up on their own; those consisting of Fix-It Felix Jr., Heroes Duty, and Sugar Rush of which the majority of the film takes place.
Another thing that makes this film memorable is the heartfelt human emotion that we all come to expect from Disney as Ralph becomes sick of his job as a villain and goes off on a quest to show that he can be a hero. All the while he ends up meeting with Vanellope Von Schweetz and helps her to become a racer and save her game, all the while in a rush to get back home before the arcade re-opens.
Despite having some kind of dumb moments at times, Wreck-It Ralph was a lot of fun and something that other video game movies should take an example from. It's bright, it's colorful, and it's action packed. Not to mention, it's full of eye candy in the form of video game character cameos and references that will be a delight to fans of video games and fans of Disney animation alike. This is a true love letter to gamers and when it comes to video game based movies, Wreck-It Ralph scores above the rest!
Wreck-It Ralph manages to show audiences that not only can a video game based movie work, it can also somehow manage to avoid all of the pitfalls that many of it's predecessors have fallen into before it. First off is exposition. Most video game based movies usually have to take it's time and stop progressing the story in order to explain the story's premise or explain story elements from the game to those who are unfamiliar to it. This leads to about ten minutes or so of explaining things from the game that people who have already played the game know. This tends to irritate gamers to no end and can result into leading the film into oblivion.
Another issue is the the view's of the game from the perspective of the director can be entirely different then those of the game's fans or it's developers. And that's where our friend Uwe Boll comes in. Sometimes the director will change crucial story elements in order to make it fit in his perspective. Little changes here and there to differentiate the film from it's source material is fine, but when you change a crucial story element from the game to add into the movie, it tends to alienate the game's fans. Those fans who are usually the first to see the movie get disappointed and tell their friends the movie is a piece of garbage. And before you know it, we suddenly get the cinematic equivalent of E.T. for the Atari 2600. And then you suddenly realize why they couldn't get the licensing rights to show Mario and Luigi in the film after what happened with the Super Mario Bros. movie.
The last issue is time. When you make a movie based on a video game, you are essentially squeezing fifteen to twenty hours of story and game-play into a two hour film. As such, a lot of information is going to be lost. The result is an audience that ends up confused rather than entertained if the story is not put together carefully. This rule is pretty much universal to any film that is an adaptation of another medium.
So how does Wreck-It Ralph succeed where many others have failed? Well, what keeps Wreck-It Ralph from becoming a literal wreck like all the other video game based movies out there is it's execution. Instead of being solely based on one particular game, it is actually a homage to video gaming in general, much like how Who Framed Roger Rabbit was to classic animation. Another thing that sets this film apart from the others is it's creativity. Rather then being bogged down by the continuity rules of an existing game, the filmmakers decided to base the movie around a game they made up on their own; those consisting of Fix-It Felix Jr., Heroes Duty, and Sugar Rush of which the majority of the film takes place.
Another thing that makes this film memorable is the heartfelt human emotion that we all come to expect from Disney as Ralph becomes sick of his job as a villain and goes off on a quest to show that he can be a hero. All the while he ends up meeting with Vanellope Von Schweetz and helps her to become a racer and save her game, all the while in a rush to get back home before the arcade re-opens.
Despite having some kind of dumb moments at times, Wreck-It Ralph was a lot of fun and something that other video game movies should take an example from. It's bright, it's colorful, and it's action packed. Not to mention, it's full of eye candy in the form of video game character cameos and references that will be a delight to fans of video games and fans of Disney animation alike. This is a true love letter to gamers and when it comes to video game based movies, Wreck-It Ralph scores above the rest!
Saturday, March 31, 2012
The Hentai Creep: A Rather Disturbing Trend In Today's Anime
We are nearing the final stretches of 2-4-1 Month but since I haven't written an article on my website for a while, I decided to focus on a topic in today's anime that I find rather disturbing and that is the hentaification of today's mainstream anime. Simply put, uncensored nudity and very suggestive to explicit sexual material is starting to find it's way into mainstream anime titles.
I can guess why this is happening. for the last few years. anime producers have been scrambling to find an audience since kids are becoming harder to find in Japan these days. Simply put, people in Japan are not having as many kids as they used to and youth in Japan is rapidly disappearing at an alarming rate. As such, anime producers have been increasingly switching their attention from a child audience to a more adult audience for quite some time with shows like Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Gurren Lagann and the works. However, what I find disturbing is that material you could only show in hentai titles in the 1990's are starting to find their way into anime that is shown on Japanese television in a type of show that I like to call Borderline Hentai.
A good example would be Queen's Blade. The anime includes very strong sensitive sexual topics and gratuitous amounts of nudity. Although the anime ran on TV heavily censored, the anime ran on the AT-X cable channel and was released on Blu-ray and DVD completely uncensored.Then there was Yosuga no Sora which was complete with nudity and extremely suggestive sexual acts not to mention a incestuous relationship. Another good example would be B Gata H Kei where the story revolves around, and I'm not kidding here, a teenage girl aiming to have sex with multiple guys. Feel free to throw up watching this one. I may actually review it just to point out how incredibly absurd and tasteless this is. Other examples would include Sora no Otoshimono, Strike Witches, Girls Bravo, Kodomo no Jikan, oh, and does anybody remember my review of Eiken? Although it wasn't shown on TV as they could never get away with such material on Japanese TV back then as they could now.
It's not that I condone censorship, but I wish there were some way you could have an option to remove such material on the DVDs as such as like on the TV versions of these shows as not everybody wants to see such material in their anime. But whats more disturbing is that kids suffering from insomnia in Japan will see these kinds of anime on TV and think it's okay to emulate the characters on screen. Don't think for one second that this is strictly an American problem, people. I know I am probably nitpicking, but when I watch anime, I personally would rather not have a huge pair of ta-tas shoved into my face. Feel free to complain if you want to, but that's just my ten cents.
Oh, by the way, don't expect any pictures in this one since they are all way too graphic to show.
I can guess why this is happening. for the last few years. anime producers have been scrambling to find an audience since kids are becoming harder to find in Japan these days. Simply put, people in Japan are not having as many kids as they used to and youth in Japan is rapidly disappearing at an alarming rate. As such, anime producers have been increasingly switching their attention from a child audience to a more adult audience for quite some time with shows like Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Gurren Lagann and the works. However, what I find disturbing is that material you could only show in hentai titles in the 1990's are starting to find their way into anime that is shown on Japanese television in a type of show that I like to call Borderline Hentai.
A good example would be Queen's Blade. The anime includes very strong sensitive sexual topics and gratuitous amounts of nudity. Although the anime ran on TV heavily censored, the anime ran on the AT-X cable channel and was released on Blu-ray and DVD completely uncensored.Then there was Yosuga no Sora which was complete with nudity and extremely suggestive sexual acts not to mention a incestuous relationship. Another good example would be B Gata H Kei where the story revolves around, and I'm not kidding here, a teenage girl aiming to have sex with multiple guys. Feel free to throw up watching this one. I may actually review it just to point out how incredibly absurd and tasteless this is. Other examples would include Sora no Otoshimono, Strike Witches, Girls Bravo, Kodomo no Jikan, oh, and does anybody remember my review of Eiken? Although it wasn't shown on TV as they could never get away with such material on Japanese TV back then as they could now.
It's not that I condone censorship, but I wish there were some way you could have an option to remove such material on the DVDs as such as like on the TV versions of these shows as not everybody wants to see such material in their anime. But whats more disturbing is that kids suffering from insomnia in Japan will see these kinds of anime on TV and think it's okay to emulate the characters on screen. Don't think for one second that this is strictly an American problem, people. I know I am probably nitpicking, but when I watch anime, I personally would rather not have a huge pair of ta-tas shoved into my face. Feel free to complain if you want to, but that's just my ten cents.
Oh, by the way, don't expect any pictures in this one since they are all way too graphic to show.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Announcing Two-for-one Month!
As a part of the celebration of my 2-year anniversary and the build up to Episode 50, I declare the month of March 2012 to be 2-4-1 Month! That's right, two episodes for the price of one! The main reason of course is to fast track the story and build up towards Episode 50 so I can resume reviewing new releases as soon as possible.
Here is how it is going to work. The first episode will be posted up as soon as Friday and the second review will be up the following day. So essentially, two episodes will be posted every other week throughout the month of March!
Here is how it is going to work. The first episode will be posted up as soon as Friday and the second review will be up the following day. So essentially, two episodes will be posted every other week throughout the month of March!
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Plans For Season 3 Part 2
Just a quick announcement for everybody. Now that Season 3 is kicked into high gear, I thought I would go over my plans for the next month or so. First off, once the new version of the website is up and everything is running smoothly, I will be holding off reviewing new releases for a while as I prepare for the four part battle with Dark Otaku which ends in the climactic battle in Episode 50. After which, I want to focus on an anime I have been wanting to review for a very long time, a little anime known as Clannad. After that, I will start reviewing new releases again and I will also reopen for requests.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Plans for Season 3
Well, we have less than one week left before the premiere of Season 3 so I thought I would give you a heads up on what my plans are for this year. First, is that I am currently working on redesigning the website. The new version of the website will be optimized for 1920x1080 displays, but video presentations will still be displayed in 854x480 widescreen resolution and I am currently trying to find a way to display videos on my site at 1080x720 resolution for higher resolution displays. Secondly, I plan to work on more extra material to the site such as shorts and skits as well as audio commentaries, voice actor interviews, and much more so look forward to seeing more of those. Third, is the topic of video game reviews. As much as I would love to do reviews on anime based video games, I haven't figured out how to rip video game footage onto my computer yet. I heard that I need a capture card in order to do so, but I am holding off on one until I can find a good video capture card for a reasonable price. I plan to start reviewing anime based video games in the future and hopefully we will start seeing those sometime in Season 3. Finally, a convention announcement as I will be returning to Anime Conji in San Diego from March 16th through the 18th so I hope to see you there if you are in the area. Well that's everything I have to say for now about what I have planned for this year. Hang on tight because the start of Season 3 is right around the corner!
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
It's Official! The American Anime Market Is In Danger!
I decided to write this blog entry upon hearing the terrible news that Bandai Entertainment will no longer be releasing their anime titles in a physical format and give my honest thoughts on the subject. Granted, I would of loved to see this happen to 4Kids Entertainment in which eventually came to pass. Hallelujah! However, Bandai Entertainment was the last anime distributor in the U.S. I wanted to see quit and I never expected they would go. We now have four anime distributors that have gone belly up or quit in the U.S. anime market: Central Park Media, Geneon Entertainment, Bandai Entertainment and the only company to make it through restructuring: ADV Films aka Sentai Filmworks.This of course leaves us with only Sentai Filmworks, Funimation, Media Blasters and Viz Entertainment, the latter two more focus on manga then with anime.
So where does this lead for us anime fans? Well first off, expect much less choices for anime fans in the U.S. For example, if you were hoping for a Blu-Ray re-release of Cowboy Bebop or Gurren Laggan or perhaps a complete series box set of K-On, well, now you can write that off! This also leads to many new anime releases in Japan that may never see the light of day in the U.S. anime market. Poor Nichijo, I was looking forward to that anime! I was also praying for the day the Idolm@ster anime was going to be announced, but alas, it looks increasingly obvious it may never be brought over!
Also, less competition in the U.S. anime market naturally means that anime in the U.S. is going to become more expensive. Expect complete series box sets to go from the forty to fifty dollar range to sixty to seventy dollars or even more! In one extreme example, the Blu-Ray box set for Fate/ Zero has been announced to cost a whopping $500! Like hell I'm going to pay that much money for a thirteen episode box set! Pardon my language but, f*** that! I could buy a brand new TV for that much money!
And sadly, what this all comes down to is that it opens the door for more internet piracy of anime. Which of course means less money for the show's creators, less work for anime voice actors and much less for aspiring anime voice actors like me. It also means more lay offs and downsizing, and of course, may also lead to more anime distributors going bankrupt or quitting the U.S. anime business entirely and ultimately, less choices for anime fans in the U.S.; a continuing downward spiral.
What it all comes down to is that the U.S. anime industry has become a mere shadow of what it once was in the late 90's to the early 2000's and from what I have seen in these past few years, it may never fully recover. Bottom line, what a terrible, terrible way to start the year off!
So where does this lead for us anime fans? Well first off, expect much less choices for anime fans in the U.S. For example, if you were hoping for a Blu-Ray re-release of Cowboy Bebop or Gurren Laggan or perhaps a complete series box set of K-On, well, now you can write that off! This also leads to many new anime releases in Japan that may never see the light of day in the U.S. anime market. Poor Nichijo, I was looking forward to that anime! I was also praying for the day the Idolm@ster anime was going to be announced, but alas, it looks increasingly obvious it may never be brought over!
Also, less competition in the U.S. anime market naturally means that anime in the U.S. is going to become more expensive. Expect complete series box sets to go from the forty to fifty dollar range to sixty to seventy dollars or even more! In one extreme example, the Blu-Ray box set for Fate/ Zero has been announced to cost a whopping $500! Like hell I'm going to pay that much money for a thirteen episode box set! Pardon my language but, f*** that! I could buy a brand new TV for that much money!
And sadly, what this all comes down to is that it opens the door for more internet piracy of anime. Which of course means less money for the show's creators, less work for anime voice actors and much less for aspiring anime voice actors like me. It also means more lay offs and downsizing, and of course, may also lead to more anime distributors going bankrupt or quitting the U.S. anime business entirely and ultimately, less choices for anime fans in the U.S.; a continuing downward spiral.
What it all comes down to is that the U.S. anime industry has become a mere shadow of what it once was in the late 90's to the early 2000's and from what I have seen in these past few years, it may never fully recover. Bottom line, what a terrible, terrible way to start the year off!
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
End of Season 2 And One Month Hiatus
Well, as I have announced all over the website, my recent review of Chaos Head is the final episode of Season 2. As such, I will be taking a month long break from doing reviews in order to focus on other projects I plan on doing. I will continue to make short videos and a couple audio commentaries I have planned, but my next review won't be out until at least February 3. I will also take the time to be going to a couple anime conventions during that time. I will be heading for Anime LA at the Los Angeles Marriot from Jan. 6th through the 8th, so I hope to see you there! But in the meantime, this is the American Anime Otaku signing out for 2011!
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Saturday, December 3, 2011
R.I.P Shingo Araki
I am sad to announce that another great animator and anime director has passed away. Shingo Araki, famous for such anime as Saint Seiya, Cutie Honey, Galaxy Express 999, and Captain Harlock among many others, has died on December 1, 2011 at the age of 72. He was also the animation director for many American cartoon shows such as Inspector Gadget, Heathcliff & the Catillac Cats, The Mighty Orbots and the animated G.I. Joe movie. Thank you for such memorable anime shows and may you rest in peace.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
End of Season 2 and Plans For Next Year
Well we are currently a few episodes away from the end of Season 2 and as such, I thought I should mention a few things going down the pike. Much like last year, I am going to take a prolonged break as I will most likely be very busy during the Christmas season. Afterwards, I will be spending about a month or so getting things ready for Season 3.
As hinted in my Fate/Stay Night Review, Season 3 will be more focused around an ongoing storyline as I review anime titles. Let's just say the figure in the black cloak will be back! I also want to start other types of reviews from top 10 lists to a new segment called Weird Japan!, an interactive segment of the show which invites viewers to vote for which video clip featured in the episode that you think is the weirdest. I have also been wanting to review video games for a long time but I still don't know how to rip gameplay footage into a video format. Hopefully, we will see more of these in upcoming episodes. I have a lot of plans for Season 3. Let's hope for another great year of The American Anime Otaku!
As hinted in my Fate/Stay Night Review, Season 3 will be more focused around an ongoing storyline as I review anime titles. Let's just say the figure in the black cloak will be back! I also want to start other types of reviews from top 10 lists to a new segment called Weird Japan!, an interactive segment of the show which invites viewers to vote for which video clip featured in the episode that you think is the weirdest. I have also been wanting to review video games for a long time but I still don't know how to rip gameplay footage into a video format. Hopefully, we will see more of these in upcoming episodes. I have a lot of plans for Season 3. Let's hope for another great year of The American Anime Otaku!
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Weird Japan!
After I am finished with my review of Death Note, I thought I would take a quick break at reviewing anime and do something I have been wanting to do for a while. Back in March of this year, I had the idea of taking a comical look at some videos showcasing some of the weirdest stuff to ever come out of Japan in a format somewhat similar to the Nostalgia Critic's commercial specials. I intended it to be the first installment of a regular segment of the show, but I decided to postpone it after the earthquake in Japan fearing it would be distasteful posting it so soon after the earthquake. Instead, I did a somewhat rushed and relatively short review of the anime To Heart which was going to follow afterwards. So rather than my review of Chobits, which I was originally going to do, I am thinking of setting some time aside to finish this project first. At least it gives me more time to plot out what my review of Chobits will be like.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
F**k Youtube!
I regret to announce that as of this week, I have left Youtube for good. Actually, no. I don't regret it. In fact, I say good riddance! I stopped posting my reviews to my Youtube account after getting two of my reviews removed over Youtube's paranoid copyright policy. After posting a couple of parody shorts here and there, I thought it would be okay to start posting trailers to my reviews on Youtube, but alas, they finally got around to removing my account entirely. Well I say, What the ****?! You give me a copyright complaint for under less then twenty seconds of copyrighted material, and yet you allow some kids to upload entire episodes of Spongebob Squarepants and not give a damn?! How hypocritical!
Second, what the hell happened to Fair Use? I did a ton of research on Fair Use Policy, both in the US as well as in Japan even before I posted my first episode. I read that it is okay to use copyrighted material in trans-formative works such as a review, parody, educational, or other works of that nature and my videos clearly fit within the boundaries of such works. Plus, if that were to be the case otherwise, then things like Let's Plays, video remixes, AMVs and certainly doujinshi would also be illegal. However, Japan is full of people selling doujinshi yet the producers of such original work the doujinshi is based off of could care less! Third, most of you who know me very well know that I will not review an anime series if I do not own a physical copy of that particular show to be fair to the people who made said anime. Plus, any money I make from this is from things I have made myself or from running advertisements on my site.
Finally, Youtube purposefully made it difficult to restore your account with them if it is removed and quite frankly, I don't have the time and energy to go through all the hoops and loopholes in order to get my account back on Youtube. And when Youtube removes a video or worse yet your account, they don't give you a full reason why they removed it nor do they give you any proof of such.
Now I know why the Nostalgia Critic decided to leave Youtube and I wholeheartedly agree with him. Bottom line, Youtube is overly paranoid with their copyright policy, hypocritical, and difficult to deal with to get your videos back online if removed. Screw em! I am done with Youtube!
Second, what the hell happened to Fair Use? I did a ton of research on Fair Use Policy, both in the US as well as in Japan even before I posted my first episode. I read that it is okay to use copyrighted material in trans-formative works such as a review, parody, educational, or other works of that nature and my videos clearly fit within the boundaries of such works. Plus, if that were to be the case otherwise, then things like Let's Plays, video remixes, AMVs and certainly doujinshi would also be illegal. However, Japan is full of people selling doujinshi yet the producers of such original work the doujinshi is based off of could care less! Third, most of you who know me very well know that I will not review an anime series if I do not own a physical copy of that particular show to be fair to the people who made said anime. Plus, any money I make from this is from things I have made myself or from running advertisements on my site.
Finally, Youtube purposefully made it difficult to restore your account with them if it is removed and quite frankly, I don't have the time and energy to go through all the hoops and loopholes in order to get my account back on Youtube. And when Youtube removes a video or worse yet your account, they don't give you a full reason why they removed it nor do they give you any proof of such.
Now I know why the Nostalgia Critic decided to leave Youtube and I wholeheartedly agree with him. Bottom line, Youtube is overly paranoid with their copyright policy, hypocritical, and difficult to deal with to get your videos back online if removed. Screw em! I am done with Youtube!
The Reasons Why I Haven't Reviewed A Gundam Title
I'm writing this article guessing that you're wondering " It's been almost forty episodes in, and still he hasn't reviewed a Gundam Title." Well, here is why. First, is that the Gundam Series is a huge series with over fourteen TV shows and countless movies. It is intimidating just picking out which one of the Gundam shows that would be the best one for a review. Then there is the snowball effect. Just picking one Gundam title to review will have other people wanting me to review their favorite Gundam title and quite frankly, watching and reviewing all of them is a phenomenal task. Then there is the time it takes to watch and review a Gundam title since each of them usually consist of two seasons, each containing about 24+ episodes each which would possibly be stressful on my schedule. Since I release a new review about every couple of weeks, I would find trouble in watching shows that consist of more than thirty or so episodes. For instance, For me to review Gundam Seed would require twenty-two hours for me to watch in less than a week in order to fit the time needed to write the script, record the audio, select clips of the show I want to use in the review, film the necessary footage needed and edit them all together, which takes about another week to do. And that doesn't include other daily things I need to do! Last and not least, I just haven't gotten around to watching a Gundam title yet and if I decide to review a Gundam title would take a good deal of planning in oreder to give the review some justice. There is one Gundam title I am thinking of reviewing, but it's not a title that you would expect. If you want to know what it is, you'll just have to wait until the premiere of Season 3 to find out!
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Anime You Will Never See In The U.S.- Kodomo No Jikan
Oh my God! This thing should be illegal! I know I've made fun of pedophiles from time to time on my show and I know that this is the anime's intention as well, but this anime take's things way too far. If there was a mainstream anime title that was so inappropriate for distribution in North America, this thing not just takes the cake, it takes the entire bakery!
Kodomo No Jikan follows a young Third Grade girl named Kokonoe Rin who has a crush on her 23 year old teacher, Aoki Daisuke. No joke. And if that wasn't creepy enough, she constantly tries to find ways to seduce him! When she is not fawning over her teacher or spouting countless lines of innuendo, this little whore is usually threatening him with blackmail. The other characters are just as screwed up, from Rin's best friend to other characters that I don't exactly know who they are because I couldn't stand watching more than one episode.
So as you could imagine, this anime is rife with controversy. For example, two of the four television stations that were supposed to air this in Japan removed the show off their schedules prior to the show's air date. For the remaining stations that decided to air it, the show was heavily censored whenever it was broadcasted. If I had my way, the show should have never been aired at all let alone be made. The controversy surrounding Kodomo No Jikan wasn't just concentrated in Japan either. When the manga was picked up for publication in the US by Seven Seas Entertainment, it was soon dropped after the publishers discovered the relationship between the two characters in the story; namely an elementary school student and her adult teacher.
Kodomo No Jikan is just another entry in the long line of low-brow fan-service comedies. Except this time around, some sick f**k decided that children are free game to sexual objectification in the animated medium. As a result, this anime is practically suitable for no one and anybody caught with this should be hauled off and carded. No anime distributor in their right mind would ever be caught dead distributing this and that is why, quite thankfully, you will never see this licensed in the US anytime soon!
Kodomo No Jikan follows a young Third Grade girl named Kokonoe Rin who has a crush on her 23 year old teacher, Aoki Daisuke. No joke. And if that wasn't creepy enough, she constantly tries to find ways to seduce him! When she is not fawning over her teacher or spouting countless lines of innuendo, this little whore is usually threatening him with blackmail. The other characters are just as screwed up, from Rin's best friend to other characters that I don't exactly know who they are because I couldn't stand watching more than one episode.
So as you could imagine, this anime is rife with controversy. For example, two of the four television stations that were supposed to air this in Japan removed the show off their schedules prior to the show's air date. For the remaining stations that decided to air it, the show was heavily censored whenever it was broadcasted. If I had my way, the show should have never been aired at all let alone be made. The controversy surrounding Kodomo No Jikan wasn't just concentrated in Japan either. When the manga was picked up for publication in the US by Seven Seas Entertainment, it was soon dropped after the publishers discovered the relationship between the two characters in the story; namely an elementary school student and her adult teacher.
Kodomo No Jikan is just another entry in the long line of low-brow fan-service comedies. Except this time around, some sick f**k decided that children are free game to sexual objectification in the animated medium. As a result, this anime is practically suitable for no one and anybody caught with this should be hauled off and carded. No anime distributor in their right mind would ever be caught dead distributing this and that is why, quite thankfully, you will never see this licensed in the US anytime soon!
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Anime You Will Never See In The U.S.- Akikan
Welcome to my first installment of Anime You Will Never See In The U.S. So, how can you tell when an anime's plot is going to end up being rediculous? When it involves empty cans of soda turning into magical girls when someone drinks out of it, that's what. I knew from episode one this anime was going to turn out to be bottom of the barrel shlock, so let's just say there were no disappointments whatsoever. So, what is this anime ultimately about? Nothing but twelve episodes of trying to find out if steel cans are better than aluminum cans. That's pretty much it.
It turns out that Japan produces two types of cans, aluminum and steel. The Japanese government decides that it is too costly to produce both types, so they decide to pull out some magical pixy dust from God knows where, turn the cans into magical girls, and have them duke it out in some bizarre tournament to see which type of can they will continue to produce. I really wish I was making this up.
Enter Kakeru Daichi, your typical perverted high school student that no girl in her right mind would want to be around, except for his childhood friend Najimi Tenkuji. He ends up buying one of those cans, a melon flavored can of soda, from a vending machine to reveal a young girl aptly named Melon and the rest is pretty much history.
The show is primarily a fanservice comedy, however they also try to throw in some romantic drama element about the cans becoming romantically attached to their owners and vice versa. You know, if this is some contrived message about recycling, I think I would rather dump my trash into the nearest storm drain thank you very much. On top of that, the humor in this show ranges from occasionally funny to absolutely tasteless with scene after scene full of cringe-worthy innuendo.
Atop of that, we also got a mix of characters that range from incredibly bland to absolutely disgusting; complete with a government official who is an admitted homosexual pedophile who fantasizes about doing his thing with high school age boys. There is also one character who is so bland, he literally fades in and out of existence! Now that takes talent!
Akikan literally means "empty can" and boy does it live up to it's name! The characters are forgettable, the humor is extremely low brow, and the story, what ever little there is, is boring and uninteresting. I don't know anybody who would be stupid enough to purchase a license to this anime and quite frankly, this is one anime title you will never see in the U.S.!
It turns out that Japan produces two types of cans, aluminum and steel. The Japanese government decides that it is too costly to produce both types, so they decide to pull out some magical pixy dust from God knows where, turn the cans into magical girls, and have them duke it out in some bizarre tournament to see which type of can they will continue to produce. I really wish I was making this up.
Enter Kakeru Daichi, your typical perverted high school student that no girl in her right mind would want to be around, except for his childhood friend Najimi Tenkuji. He ends up buying one of those cans, a melon flavored can of soda, from a vending machine to reveal a young girl aptly named Melon and the rest is pretty much history.
The show is primarily a fanservice comedy, however they also try to throw in some romantic drama element about the cans becoming romantically attached to their owners and vice versa. You know, if this is some contrived message about recycling, I think I would rather dump my trash into the nearest storm drain thank you very much. On top of that, the humor in this show ranges from occasionally funny to absolutely tasteless with scene after scene full of cringe-worthy innuendo.
Atop of that, we also got a mix of characters that range from incredibly bland to absolutely disgusting; complete with a government official who is an admitted homosexual pedophile who fantasizes about doing his thing with high school age boys. There is also one character who is so bland, he literally fades in and out of existence! Now that takes talent!
Akikan literally means "empty can" and boy does it live up to it's name! The characters are forgettable, the humor is extremely low brow, and the story, what ever little there is, is boring and uninteresting. I don't know anybody who would be stupid enough to purchase a license to this anime and quite frankly, this is one anime title you will never see in the U.S.!
Monday, August 29, 2011
Idolatry 101: The Idolm@ster review
Finally, we get an Idolm@ster anime that's true to the game and doesn't involve giant robots! Oh happy day! Well anyway, This week we are going to take a look at the Idolmaster. I have been waiting for an anime adaptation of this game for a long time and I was really disappointed on what happened with Xenoglossia. Long story short; I think I'll stick with Strike Witches thank you very much.
Unlike Idolm@ster Xenoglossia, the recently released Idolm@ster anime is based off of the original game. Well actually, it is based off of the second game in the series. For those of you who are not familiar with the game, I'll bring you up to speed. The Idolm@ster is a arcade game in which you play as the manager for a group of girls aiming to be the next AKB48. From what I have seen of the game, the game is all about scheduling and the player can customize their idols in many ways and have them perform in dance routines.
Going back to the anime, this anime has a very large cast of characters that are introduced in a rather neat and organized way. However, because of the large cast of characters, I won't have enough time to talk about them all. The characters in this show have very diverse personalities and it is incredibly funny to watch the way they interact with each other. I often found myself laughing at some of the many ways the characters react to certain scenarios.
I may have only seen a couple of episodes of this anime, but so far, I like what I saw. After watching this, I am definitely looking forward to seeing this anime (and the game for that matter) being brought over here to the United States. If this anime gets enough attention, maybe Bandai Namco will bring both the anime and the games over here. It's your call, Bandai Entertaiment!
Unlike Idolm@ster Xenoglossia, the recently released Idolm@ster anime is based off of the original game. Well actually, it is based off of the second game in the series. For those of you who are not familiar with the game, I'll bring you up to speed. The Idolm@ster is a arcade game in which you play as the manager for a group of girls aiming to be the next AKB48. From what I have seen of the game, the game is all about scheduling and the player can customize their idols in many ways and have them perform in dance routines.
Going back to the anime, this anime has a very large cast of characters that are introduced in a rather neat and organized way. However, because of the large cast of characters, I won't have enough time to talk about them all. The characters in this show have very diverse personalities and it is incredibly funny to watch the way they interact with each other. I often found myself laughing at some of the many ways the characters react to certain scenarios.
I may have only seen a couple of episodes of this anime, but so far, I like what I saw. After watching this, I am definitely looking forward to seeing this anime (and the game for that matter) being brought over here to the United States. If this anime gets enough attention, maybe Bandai Namco will bring both the anime and the games over here. It's your call, Bandai Entertaiment!
Monday, August 8, 2011
Upcoming Anime Shows I Hope To Voice In
Favorite Characters: Solemn down to earth type characters as well as loud and sarcastic characters to show my more humorous side. Examples would include Ioryogi and Kiyokazu Fujimoto from Kobato. Well anyway Let's start.
1. The Producer from The Idolmaster. Hey who would'nt want to voice a character surronded by tons of pretty girls?
2. Gekkou Kurenai from A Dark Rabbit Has Nine Lives
3. Keima Katsuragi from The World God Only Knows
4. Makoto Niwa from Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko
5.Ioryogi from Kobato as mentioned above
1. The Producer from The Idolmaster. Hey who would'nt want to voice a character surronded by tons of pretty girls?
2. Gekkou Kurenai from A Dark Rabbit Has Nine Lives
3. Keima Katsuragi from The World God Only Knows
4. Makoto Niwa from Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko
5.Ioryogi from Kobato as mentioned above
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)