"Oh god, I have rockets! Also, Japan and my dad don&squot;t love me!" We here at Anime Vice found ourselves able to enjoy the Astro Boy film even if we weren't part of its official target demographic (young kids), but that doesn't mean everyone did. In fact, the film, made by Hong Kong's Imagi Entertainment, outright bombed in Japan this weekend , pulling in a mere $328,457 USD across 200 screens. It didn't even make it onto the top ten list for the weekend, where Time Traveler's Wife, Kaiji, the Happy Science animated flick The Rebirth of Buddha, and Fast & Furious reside. Not good! So, why the issue? I mean, the movie is based on an original Japanese work, so wouldn't Japanese audiences be interested in it? Maybe, maybe not-- I found this 2ch thread from April of this year, and people seemed genuinely excited about the film, although at least one pointed out that those who hated Dragon Ball Evolution would probably feel despair at the Astro Boy movie. Another talked about Astro Boy ripoffs in the US after ABC aired the show here in the '60s, but interestingly, another commenter points out that Tezuka was inspired in part by Disney's 1940 Pinocchio film. So what do you think? Why isn't Japan embracing this film? It it just that the target market (kids) are too busy watching Pokemon and Bakugan Brawlers , and the older otaku just aren't into it? Or is it something else?
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Review of Matsuyama Ken'ichi's newest manga-based movie, Kaiji ~Jinsei Gyakuten Game~.
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<object width="560" height="340"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/2i5qkSxF60U&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;"> </param> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> </param> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/2i5qkSxF60U&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"> </embed> </param> </object> Become a Beautiful Anime Girl: Did you know anime noses are sharp and pointy? Kaiji know, and Michelle Phan knows it as well. Here she shows the world how to transform a normal ugly non-Sailor Moon face, into a beautiful Sailor Moon face. Looking for a quick Halloween costume? Let Michelle’s tips help you out. And thanks to the message at the end of the video, I can now walk out into the world dressed as Sailor Moon, and know that the world can not judge me for what I look like. <object width="425" height="344"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZSeVOU9jGD4&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;"> </param> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> </param> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZSeVOU9jGD4&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"> </embed> </param> </object> Nico Nico Chorus “Good (gay) Morning”: We in the business call this “nightmare fuel”, and if you don’t know what I’m talking about, take a look at this video. Though, I really wanted to call it, “ Gundam Wing in a nutshell”, but I know that would make someone angry. A must watch for anyone who is a connoisseur of music. <object width="560" height="340"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/VNZqPeqfBVk&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;"> </param> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> </param> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/VNZqPeqfBVk&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"> </embed> </param> </object> Crazy Mugen Nico Nico Meme Character: Basically this is a character for the Mugen, create your own fighter game, where all his attacks are from different internet memes from Nico Nico. Weird, to say the least, but I demand that they put this character in the next Street Fighter game. I don’t care if McDonalds will charge you an arm an a leg, I just don’t care. <object width="560" height="340"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/p6lfHkr8tDg&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;"> </param> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> </param> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/p6lfHkr8tDg&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"> </embed> </param> </object> Gintama X Black Lagoon: Ever wanted to see what Gintama would look like if it was super serious all the time? Well, then give this MAD a whirl. Also I totally recommend Gintama, it’s fantastic, and you can catch it all on Crunchyroll . <object width="425" height="344"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/bEzEUE08cHw&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;"> </param> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> </param> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/bEzEUE08cHw&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"> </embed> </param> </object> Nanoha StrikerS Epic Epicness of Epictoria: Here is a fun little MAD featuring everyone’s favorite magic girl Nanoha and friends (who just happen to be her enemies as well.) I have a theory that Nanoha is actually Kenshiro’s daughter, but I don’t have DNA tests to back up my hypothesis. <object width="425" height="344"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/djgjkjJilzE&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;"> </param> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> </param> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/djgjkjJilzE&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"> </embed> </param> </object> The Entire One Piece Storyline, in Four Minutes: Here is an AMV that FoxxFireArt introduced me to, so my thanks go to him. Basically, this AMV takes all that is awesome about the entire One Piece storyline, and makes it assessable in about four easy minutes. Now you don’t have to watch the 400 + episodes, you can thank me later! <object width="560" height="340"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/bGZunzrWeGg&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;"> </param> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> </param> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/bGZunzrWeGg&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"> </embed> </param> </object> Firefighters Are Awesome: Here is Go Go Rescue Fire’s second opening, sung by JAM Project of course. In Japan, each fire house has their own super robot that helps put out fires and the like. Also, according to this opening, each firefighter has his own sword as well.
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Just this past weekend, I finished the moe mahjong series Saki and if there was one thing that struck me about that show, it was how predictable it was. To illustrate that point, when a friend let me know that an individual tournament was about to begin and asked me to predict the winners, I [...]
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Seizon - Life © Fukumoto Nobuyuki and Kawaguchi Kaiji/Kodansha Aren't you glad you won't have to wait? Level is releasing the last two volumes of the Life Existence (Seizon - Life) in one, 21 October go. In volume 2 of Fukumoto Nobuyuki and Kawaguchi Kaiji's touching seinen manga, Takeda receives word on the car used by his daughter's murderer, only to find that the vehicle has already been
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This is easily one of my favorite themes in anime, right next to "Precocious kids with developmental issues."    The motif is plentiful, yet so often goes awry. As in say, a character whom everyone hates, but eventually shows everyone what a nice guy he is. I'm talking about the guy that right or wrong the cosmos wants to take a dump on. These are the people who save the world from destruction, only to be punched in the face.   This is, of course, bite sized for your enjoyment, so feel free to add your favorite nominations for part 2!   " Good Guys Whom Everyone Hated, pt. 1"   1. Vash (From Trigun)  Vash the Stampede... he could break you with a thought, yet he's just one adorable cuddle monster. Of course, all of his good intents haven't stopped him-related destruction as "an act of god," and thus uninsurable. Unrelated note: He totally loves doughnuts. Good guy rating: 5 out of 5   2. Clare (From Claymore)  So, the way I understand it... Humanity is defenseless against these super powerful "yoma." We develop one (and only one) way to fight them, which is to transform people into half human, half yoma hybrids, called claymores. Once more humanity has a chance of surviving, thanks to the Claymores, yet they totally hate and revile them just as much as the flesh eating demons. Good guy rating: 3 of 5   3. Celestial Being (From Gundam 00)  For being good guys, everyone did sure have it in for them. Celestial Being decided that the best way to end war was to take away all of the worlds toys. Using super-duper amazing suits, the team when from place to place turning every armed conflict into a double KO. Good guy rating: 5 out of 5   4. Casshern (From Casshern Sins)  He's all sort of confused. Not only did Casshern wake up in a post apocalyptic world, he was told it was his fault. The fact that he blanks out and turns into a murderbot doesn't really help his case. Good guy rating: 4 out of 5   5. Kaiji (From Kaiji)  Now, he's not really a good guy, as in a hero, but he tries really hard. What really sold me on him is that no matter how hard he tries, he "only" gets screwed. For every time he has a chance at success, his humanity gets the better of him... Yet, everyone in the world just loves hating him. Rich people pay to see him tortured, best friends sell him into slavery... things just don't work out in his favor. Good guy rating: 2 of 5
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After many recommendations and reading lots of hype, I watched Gambling Apocalypse Kaiji. The unsurprising part: it’s rather very good. I’ll get to that in a moment. The surprising part: I didn’t enjoy it as much as I intended. For such a thoroughly human work, I didn’t form any strong emotional connections with any of [...]
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After many recommendations and reading lots of hype, I watched Gambling Apocalypse Kaiji. The unsurprising part: it’s rather very good. I’ll get to that in a moment. The surprising part: I didn’t enjoy it as much as I intended. For such a thoroughly human work, I didn’t form any strong emotional connections with any of [...]
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Okay, I have no idea if the anime will be idiotic or not, but it made a nice headline, didn't it? Tetsu Adachi-- no relation to mangaka Mitsuru Adachi, as far as I can tell --started a little seinen comedy in '99 called Baka Kyoudai, or Idiot Siblings, about a pair of young twins who have..."heartwarming" adventures. And now it's going to be made into an anime! The new anime's title will be different from the manga's; the series will be called " Gokyoudai Monogatari" (Sibling Story). Yes, I'm pretty sure that's supposed to be the sister. Given the appearance of the manga, its publication in seinen anthology Young Magazine (see also Kaiji, Minamike, Ping Pong Club, etc), I doubt that they're going to be super-cute adventures. On the other hand, it's set to air Saturdays at 11:20am, a very kid-friendly time slot, so it can't be TOO grown-up....The little girl's hair weirds me out. I'm just gonna say that now.
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I thought I'd set this up to post yesterday but I forgot to check the 'published' button, oops! But here's the latest in our new feature, the Manga Watch-List. For more info on what this is all about, hit up last week's :) Hachi Wan Driver Creator: Yokusaru ShibataPublisher: ShueishaAnthology: Weekly Young Jump (Shounen)Genre: Tournament/ComedyVolumes: 7 (ongoing)Expected Licensor: VIZ MediaThe title is also sometimes written as "81diver" (hachi = eight, wan = katakana version of "one"). This manga revolves around a guy who wants to become a professional shogi player but fails their test, so he plays the game for a living at amateur shogi clubs. After a 182-win streak, he's defeated by a woman named Ukeshi, from Akihabara. When he investigates her he discovers that she also makes money as a part-time maid-- a full-on cosplay cleaning service. This popular manga has already been made into a live-action drama, which aired from May to July 2008. It seems like shogi, mah-jongg, and go have been popular with otaku in the last few years (see: Kaiji, Saki, Shion no Ou), so I wouldn't be surprised if it was made into an anime eventually, given the manga's popularity (volume 12 debuted at #13 on the Oricon charts). But will the manga get licensed in the US? Hikaru no Go was popular enough here, but I don't know about the others (in terms of sales). Berry Berry Creator: Banri Hidaka Publisher: HakusenshaAnthology: Hana to Yume (Shoujo)Genre: Supernatural/ComedyVolumes: 1 (ongoing)Expected Licensor: TOKYOPOP or VIZ MediaA pair of nearly (but not quite!) identical twins, Kurumi and Sasahime, share a psychic connection, a telepathic bond. Their adventures make up the story of this new manga by Banri Hidaka, the creator of the popular romantic drama V.B. Rose.TOKYOPOP has the license to V.B. Rose, so they seem like the obvious choice to license this popular new manga, whose first volume just debuted at #16-- not bad for a first volume. ADAMAS Creator: Ryouji MinagawaPublisher: KodanshaAnthology: Evening (Seinen)Genre: Supernatural/DramaVolumes: 3 (ongoing)Expected Licensor: Del Rey Manga or VIZ MediaThe daughter of a dead diamond collector, Yoshio Ryuzaki, becomes a jewel specialist herself...but the diamond world is no walk in the park. Reika Ryuuzaki fights with special knuckles known as "krishna" in order to punish baddies who steal or otherwise use gems for their own personal gain. And she can summon spirits from some jewels to support her battles.This unique seinen manga comes from mangaka Ryouji Minagawa, who you may know from the 1988 manga Spriggan (which VIZ had the license to, but it's now expired) and Project ARMS (which VIZ has released). Minagawa is known for series in a wide variety of settings and genres, overlapping only in being mature dramas. As for licensors, Del Rey picks up most of the Kodansha titles (I've elected not to place Kodansha as a popular licensor, since we still don't know anything about the company's plans to publish in the US), and both of the titles that have been licensed by VIZ Media were originally published by Shogakukan, so if anyone picks it up, I'd bank on Del Rey.And that's it for this week's Manga Watch. You interested in any of these?
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