December 7, 2009 : Flee Clee!!!
Here’s a cool independent anime short from Japan. Unfortunately, it is in Japanese and doesn’t have any subtitles, but it’s still impressive.
According to one of the comments, the dialogue is:
Please be my steady, Takashi.
Sorry, I’d like to concentrate on baseball club.
You bastard! (She begins to run)
I will make miso-soup for you every morning.
Sorry, I’d like to …
It’s design and animation has a cool FLCL feel to it. Plus, it also uses a song from the series – “Comedian’s Gallop” by Dmitri Kabalevsky.
Personally, I don’t know how anybody could pass on an offer for daily Miso Soups… but that’s just me.
posted by Pi Visuals at 3:48 pm
Tags: Anime , FLCL1 Comment | Post a comment
November 24, 2009 : Uhh… What?
It came out a few years ago, but I finally got around to watching the film Paprika.
The animation and character design was very impressive, which also goes for Paranoia Agent – director Satoshi Kon’s previous work. Agent’s problem, at least in my opinion, was that it moved too slowly. The story was definitely out there, and this could have been a good thing had it moved faster than the Frieza Saga.
Paprika takes this bizarreness and kicks it up about five extra notches. By the end, the weirdness envelopes the movie so much that it makes Akira and Evangelion seem as convoluted as Sesame Street.
All in all, it wasn’t a waste of 90 minutes. Paprika was visually appealing and its premise incredibly unique – just make sure you don’t mind being confused.
posted by Pi Visuals at 1:10 pm
Tags: Anime , Paprika , Satoshi Kon1 Comment | Post a comment
November 18, 2009 : Genius Party
Having just recently heard about this DVD, I think it’s worth a mention.
Genius Party is a series of animated short films from Studio 4°C. It consists of seven shorts, with each one coming from a different big-name animator – the coolest of them all being Shinichiro Watanabe (the awesome director of the awesome Cowboy Bebop… awesome).
A second DVD was released 7 months later, entitled Genius Party Beyond. It has five shorts that were supposed to be released with the original films but unfortunately were not completed in time.
These releases tend to be hit or miss. Mostly because each short is hit or miss. A perfect example is the Animatrix. Some of the chapters were pretty impressive, while some dragged on. However anime fans will probably be pleased with the overall product.
posted by Pi Visuals at 4:52 pm
Tags: Anime , Cowboy Bebop , Watanabe0 Comments | Post a comment
November 3, 2009 : Halloween: Bleach Style
It’s a few days late, but here’s a pic from Halloween.
Going with an anime theme this year, the costumes were characters from Bleach. I was Ichigo Kurosaki (the main character from the show), and to my right was Byakuya Kuchiki. My brother’s costume was much more involved than mine, and he did an impressive job with it (particularly on such short notice).
As expected, very few people got the costumes – and by very few, I mean zero. Fortunately, we had digital references via the iPhone to show people we weren’t making things up. Plus it was a good conversation starter.
All in all, a fun Halloween. But that goes without saying.
posted by Pi Visuals at 3:32 pm
Tags: Anime , Bleach , Halloween0 Comments | Post a comment
February 12, 2009 : Bang!
A few days ago, I received a totally unexpected and awesome gift (thanks Moridin).
For those you unaware, it is Spike Spiegel from Cowboy Bebop. Spike is my favorite anime character, and Bebop is my favorite anime.
The figure is really sweet, and it got me thinking about the series. A running debate is whether or not Spike dies at the end of the series (it’s not really a spoiler, but sorry for ruining it for anybody). Theories run abound, but it is never stated explicitly either way. This includes Shinichiro Watanabe, the director.
Personally, I like to think Spike died. This might be the less popular view, but it serves best for the series. I am usually not a big fan of sequels (that will be for a later post); and even though sequels can be a great thing for certain franchises, it does not apply to Cowboy Bebop.
Bebop did a great job ending the series. There wasn’t definite finality with Spike, but there was closure with every character; and that is what makes a great story – whether the medium is anime, movie, or TV show. So while I might be in the minority, I say, “Rest In Peace, Spike Spiegel. You are a true hero. If you are alive… I will still watch you and love it.”
As a side note, I realized I was titling too many posts as questions. I figured the polar opposite would be a pertinent exclamation statement. Take that, expected masses!
posted by Pi Visuals at 11:08 pm
Tags: Anime , Cowboy Bebop , Sequels3 Comments | Post a comment
October 2, 2008 : The Revolution Will Be Televised
They say all good things must come to an end. Apparently that is also true about great things. Unfortunatley, after eleven years, Toonami has aired its final episode.
Even though this programming block on Cartoon Network has long since peaked, it was an incredibly innovative and successful franchise. It helped fuel the mainstream interest of anime in America and acted as a precursor to Adult Swim.
While it reminded people of cool shows from their past (Thundercats, Voltron, Batman: The Animated Series), Toonami extended beyond nostalgic programming by introducing a lot of incredible shows (Dragon Ball Z, ReBoot, Gundam Wing, Justice League…the list could go on).
During its peak, everything about it screamed quality:
- The 3D bumps were top notch.   TOM and SARA always looked cool. They even had Moltar in it for a while.
- The Midnight Run was awesome – Gundam Wing Uncut? It didn’t get any better than that.
- The Rising Sun was a good way to go to bed (“Here’s your wake up call”).
- Their promos were amazing. ‘Pardon Our Dust’ was editing perfection.
- The In Flight Movies every Friday were a real joy – ranging from cool Batman/Superman crossovers to the Endless Waltz, how could you not love it?
- Kudos on airing ‘The Month of Miyazaki’. His movies definitely deserved their props.
Again, its cancellation was probably long overdue. Especially since lately the Toonami block was relegated to airing derivative shows only once a week. However, in its prime, it was simply incredible.
Ultimately, its footprint can be seen in many places – and not just on Cartoon Network. Toonami showed how programming and marketing should be done. They built a solid fan base, and then they expanded it…a lot. Plus, they spawned several programming blocks, some of which were on other networks.
Therefore, even though it’s gone, Toonami will not be forgotten. It was an accomplishment that people should be proud of – and thankful for.
So long, Tom.
posted by Pi Visuals at 10:26 am
Tags: Animation , Anime , Cowboy Bebop , DBZ , Toonami5 Comments | Post a comment
August 30, 2008 : You’ve Been Animated!
Have you ever wondered what you would look like in an anime? Of course not – you’re normal. Still, that didn’t deter me from making myself into a character.
Clearly the style isn’t the stereotypical large-eyed anime character. This follows a Ghost In the Shell type show or works from Hayao Miyazaki.
It should be noted that this image was rotoscoped from another photograph. The transition from reality to fantasy can be seen here (for those of you that don’t know, the other person in the photo voices Trina from University State). This whole process was pretty quick – only taking a couple of hours.
posted by Pi Visuals at 9:43 am
Tags: Anime , Me0 Comments | Post a comment
July 21, 2008 : Delete! Delete! Delete!
Death Note just finished up its first run on Adult Swim a few weeks ago. In addition to being rerun in the same time slot, most of the series is available on Net Flix. After recently watching the conclusion of the show (as well as the series in its entirety), it is highly recommended to give this one a few.
The premise is simple: a high school, honor student finds a supernatural book (called a Death Note), which allows him to kill anyone he wishes by writing down the victim’s name in the book and picturing his or her face.
This 37 episode anime series has many good attributes and few bad ones. It is less action driven and more of a suspense/drama – something that is not easy to do well. But, the plot was very original and well done, the character design was solid, and the ending was pretty good. All too often, an episode would shock the audience with such drastic and quick plot developments. If you get a chance to watch the show, check it out.
As a side note, two live-action films have been produced based off the original Manga. They both were pretty successful.
posted by Pi Visuals at 12:20 pm
Tags: Anime , Death Note , Recommendations1 Comment | Post a comment