I remember she was much less of an obstruction. But now she’s definitely getting on my nerves.

Justice? Fuck that. Understanding? Fuck that. Protecting the forest (thus being an environmentalist) FUCK THAT.

In addition to an annoying magical animal that’s not in a bishojo anime (if it were a bishojo anime I can understand having one), now we have an annoying “defender of justice”.

I just realized it was funny back in the ’90s when she first started doing that, practically making fun of Sailor Moon-style series, but it’s 2008 and it has now become annoying to me.

To her credit, she gets the stupid animal with 2 huge fists working with her, but the result is the plot being dragged on further (yeah, yeah, I know, I know), and not enough exaggeration that we know and love happens.

Again, something isn’t quite working for me. I can see the writers trying to take everyone’s personality a few notches higher, but for some reason, that makes Amelia super annoying.

- Like, destroy the damned forest already (it’s not the real life hence fuck the environmental damage)!

- Like, let Zegadis stab that little critter already (I’m sure the writers can think of something to save it anyway)!

- Like, let Lina use Dragonslave and beat the crap outta team Amelia and criiter already (hey, I got sick of this plot already)!

However, more of the fun chaos ensues and the seiyuu do a great job as usual. It’s a decent addition to the Slayers legacy but somehow, it hasn’t been that fun in my book. Ganbatte! Megumi-sama tachi!

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It’s the first day of Comic Con for press and 4-day-pass holders–not for anyone else! And really, the “Day 0″ moniker does not at all apply–you’ll see how crowded the Exhibit Hall is, and how long I had to wait in line just to get a press badge. This calvacade of a convention has already started, really…preview night was intended to give a few people a look at the hall before the crowds showed up. And all I have to say is: if this isn’t a crowd, what is??

Enjoy the video. I’m going to try to post one every night.

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This series is an interesting adaptation of the Chinese classic, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.  I won’t say anything more.

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Dear Meu,

My best friend, Hannah, has cancer. It is leukemia. I went on the Net and I did a bit of research on it. She has acute lymphocytic leukemia. Malignant cancer cells are replacing the healthy cells in her bone marrow. Hannah is normally a very athletic person (she’s on the soccer team) but during the last month she always felt tired for no particular reason. A twenty mph jog would leave her exhausted because she didn’t have the necessary red cells to carry the oxygen to her muscles. When she went to the doctor they did a blood test. The low blood cell count alerted them to the problem.

Luckily, it is no big deal. The doctors will give her a new body next month. She’ll get her second body a couple of years early, and she’ll suffer from growing pains, but it is a minor inconvenience. However, had we been living two thousand years ago the diagnosis would have been her death sentence. People living back then didn’t have the technology to produce replaceable bodies. In order to “cure” leukemia they used primitive methods: “chemotherapy,” and “bone marrow transplant.” They would dose the body with high amounts of radiation to kill both the healthy and the cancerous cells in the bone marrow and then replace the dead bone marrow with a transplant. It was a sickening procedure, literally. Their hair would fall out, and they would vomit constantly. Furthermore there was always the chance that a malignant cell would survive the radiation and infect the new bone marrow transplant.

Science and technology, I think, is a good thing. Without biosilicate, robots, or replaceable bodies, life would be short, miserable and fearful. Since our ancestors had only one body for their entire lives minor things like a mysterious shortness of breath, a bump that wouldn’t go away, or a twinge in the heart would be cause for fear. Now, however, it is no big deal. As long as the brain case isn’t damaged we can always get new bodies!

– Sasha

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Chizuko will go out and try to find him again.

The airship is crashing; Ken is trying his best to save the ship and the people including Chizuko. What’s going to happen?

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If you’re nowhere as cynical when watching anime and everything is a refreshing experience for you, I (can I say it, can I really) envy you.

I’m not being remotely sarcastic at all but little bit remorseful and quite sober (it’s 4:00 PM here in Taipei, Taiwan).

I’ve lost that enthusiasm long, long ago when I first got back into anime. At that time, I was in college, and someone introduced me to Ninja Scroll. Everything just looked so cool, freshing and edgy with enough blood and sex and the fact it was animated was somewhat surprising for me. I watched kids’ anime when I was a child in Asia but nothing else for many years after that. I went through high school worrying about not being able to fit in, suicide, prom ( I did have an excellent prom with a girl who was stacked), and other good stuff.

But after that, and after many, many, many, many more anime, finished and unfinished, I got cynical. That may be why I don’t get comments often for my articles (even though that’s not the point here). Because my post is rather boring and the same old critiques are repeated in my post - “uninspired, unfunny, uninteresting, bland, boring, same old same old, run-of-the-mill…” and other highly energetic and interesting words.

Boy, if I was someone else reading these words in the same article I’d fallen asleep or change the damned channel in under one micro-second!

But after seeing so many things done over and over again, I’m rather bored. Really, really bored.

I envy other people who can write something about a show which I find boring, such as Zero no Tsukaima season 3. I actually do, because they can find parts that make them excited and they feel wonderful about it, even episode 1.

I’m just not a fan of that show.

Does any of you know how to stop being cynical and bored and just be excited about everything being reviewed? Please, I humbly ask your assistance and I’d love to be enlightened.

Please.

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I think I’m infected with the cynical reviewer disease. I guess I’ll try to be fair then.

To me so far, this seems like a show using a concept that we don’t see that much in anime, but it’s certainly not revolutionary.

An interstellar police is trying to catch criminals but in the process, a commoner on this common earth gets hurt, and in order to revive him, she has to get him involved somehow, and in this case, she simply inherits his body.

Of course the boy is in love with a girl, in this case Sakamoto Maaya’s character, and of course, some daily hijinks ensue.

One dramatic moment is Birdy’s robotic partner dies in this episode (spoiler? Who’s actually watching this show?). I’d love to see just a little bit more emotional expression and sadness, but I think the flashback is effective enough. The guy who shares the body with Birdy doesn’t have to say anything, though.

You know what my problem is ( as if anyone cares)? It’s that I’ve seen so many anime finished and unfinished, if something doesn’t wow me (is that allowed in the blogsphere), I simply don’t get excited and unbiased about it.

Nothing is particularly exciting or catering to any special tastes here. I guess if you’re a seiyuu fan in general you’ll appreciate the cast.

Even the important fight scenes don’t seem that inspired. But honestly, if you can catch this one, give it a shot. The concept and everything else about it hails back to the earlier days of anime, and you may even appreciate this one.

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 Anime Diet Radio Episode 24 (AAC) [53:29m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (16)

 

 Anime Diet Radio Episode 24 (MP3) [53:29m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (8)

 

 Anime Diet Radio 24 Outtakes (MP3) [7:16m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (7)

In the days between cons–between Anime Expo and Comic Con, which starts tomorrow–we raced against time, and terrorists, to bring you the 24th episode of Anime Diet Radio! (Sound only, this time.) We just have a couple of news items: the new season of Black Lagoon, and the weird shenanigans happening at Studio Bones about Full Metal Alchemist and Darker Than Black sequels. Our Roundtable discussion is about the difficulties and the triumphs of our first ever live panel with Anime Genesis.

For the first time in a while, too, there were some outtakes worth keeping. There’s a story there about how I could get Shokotan’s number next time and about one other panel glitch in which we (sort of) shafted our beloved friends from Makenai, the Japanese cover band whose lead singer Pamela won AX Idol this year. Consider this yet another apology from us. :)

It’s great to be back on a roll with Anime Diet Radio. See you at Comic Con this week!

Show Agenda

• (00:00–04:49) Introduction
• (04:50–16:56) News 1: Black Lagoon 3rd Season (and a few words about other action shows)
• (16:57–27:38) News 2: BONES memo leak
• (27:39–52:07) Roundtable: The Pros and Cons of Paneling
• (52:08–53:29) Conclusion

Show Notes

• –OP: “You’re the One” by Ichiko (OP to Zero no Tsukaima: Princess no Rondo)
• –ED: “Kaze no Kioku” by Aimmy (ED to World Destruction)
• –The ANN story about the new season of Black Lagoon can be found here (1). Likewise, Ray’s first review of the show, and mine, are here (2) and here (3). Ray’s post has the distinction of being the third ever on this website (note the year it was written in!), and his debut post. My review was my second series review after Welcome to the NHK!
• –More info is available about the BONES link at ANN (4). Check out their forums on the story too (5).
• –Makenai’s website is a Myspace profile here (6). Our partner Anime Genesis is here (7).

Link References for iTunes Listeners

• (1) http://tinyurl.com/5a996b
• (2) http://animediet.net/archives/10
• (3) http://animediet.net/archives/18
• (4) http://tinyurl.com/59pps6
• (5) http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/cms/discuss/23805
• (6) http://myspace.com/makenaiband
• (7) http://anime-gen.com

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Walk like an Egyptian! Now!

So, anybody imagined En Shou (Yuan Shao) being a pompous, jouoh-sama tsundere-like character that talks like a spoiled ojousan? Me neither.

But, as a moe-craving Otaku, this show serves up everything today’s Otaku could ever want - girls, yuri, fan service, women in embarrassing situations (sumo topless with a…funny…sumo outfit)

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Better late then never

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