April 9, 2012 : A Pi Sighting On The East Coast
Last week, I spent some time in Boston with Lady Pi, and this included a trip to MIT where I saw Jaume Plensa’s Alchemist. The sculpture is a thinking man comprised of numbers and math functions.
In addition to being an overall cool piece, I found the following symbol:
There were actually several Pi’s on the sculpture, which was pretty sweet to see. Overall, Boston was a fun time. Another fun thing I found was:
I did not eat here, although I was tempted. Rest assured, had it been Vegeta’s Vienna Hot Dogs, I would have been there faster than you could transform into a Level 2 Super Saiyan.
posted by Pi Visuals at 3:11 pm
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April 7, 2012 : Toonami… On Adult Swim
I have no idea how I missed this, but last Saturday’s Adult Swim broadcast aired as if people were watching Toonami. Not only did they have old school Toonami shows like DBZ, Gundam, Yu Yu, and Outlaw Star; but they also created new bumps with Tom the robot. This was apparently their yearly April Fool’s prank (it aired March 31st – April 1st).
Adult Swim asked on Twitter how many people would like to have Toonami return by using #BringBackToonami. It created such a positive reaction among its fans. The result is below:
I’m not sure what a potential return could entail. Toonami was a great programming block… when it was on during the week. They had great shows that filled the desire of anime. I was sad to see it go; but after being relegated to Saturday evenings, it went downhill because the number of solid shows being aired were few and far between. If this means more anime on Cartoon Network, then I say use the Dragonballs to wish Toonami back to this dimension. If this means going back to Saturday evenings with sub-par programming, then maybe we should call off the search for the balls.
posted by Pi Visuals at 8:27 pm
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October 29, 2010 : New Dragon Ball
Dragon Ball creator, Akira Toriyama, has supposedly been talked into creating new material for the series. The story is pretty sparse with the details, but I am torn with the news.
Being a huge fan of DBZ, I can definitely get excited about the prospect of new Dragon Ball Manga (and no doubt anime to follow). However, DBZ was starting to sputter at the end – even with Toriyama involved. Dragon Ball GT didn’t have the creator and was awful. However, I think DBZ peaked during the Cell saga (which was awesome). The Buu saga was pretty disappointing, and I’m not sure how much better anything new would be.
Besides, there are countless questions as to the specifics of any new material. When would the story take place within the Dragon Ball universe? Who would be the main character(s)? How much stronger can the bad guys really get?
Ultimately, I would prefer Toriyama create an entirely new series. That would be more interesting to watch.
posted by Pi Visuals at 9:11 pm
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December 14, 2008 : Rock The Dragon!
Check out the trailer for the upcoming Dragonball Movie.
After years of rumors, it looks like the DBZ series will finally create a live action movie. The flick, scheduled to come out in April of next year, occurs during the Dragonball portion of the time line. This means that Goku is pretty young (in high school, which is slightly older than what he was in the anime/ manga) and Piccolo is the antagonist.
As a huge fan of DBZ, I can say I am definitely interested in the movie – and optimistic that it will be worth watching. After all, Stephen Chow of Kung Fu Hustle fame is producing it. In addition to that, Chow Yun-Fat stars as Master Roshi and the stunt performance company that worked on the Matrix is working on the film. They even have Winston from Ghostbusters (Ernie Hudson) in it!
My only concern is that the movie will deviate too far from the anime/ manga. While this has positives (the movie opted to cut out certain crappy characters like Turtle, Puar, and Oolong), it could lose it’s authenticity that made DBZ so awesome. At which point, this could upset a lot of hardcore fans and result in an overall lousy product.
Ultimately, the success of the first movie will dictate if future ones get made. Hopefully the movie will be worth the wait and live up to the franchise’s reputation. Even though I was a hoping a Dragonball movie would eventually come to fruition, I am really waiting to see a live action Vegeta on the big screen – that will truly be awesome. And sadly, that requires a sequel or two…which means more waiting.
posted by Pi Visuals at 4:53 pm
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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