Archive for August, 2008

Well, it’s from the PS2 game. Here Miyuki is cosplaying Nanoha and Ayano is Fate.

I have seen it on the Asuki boards, but knowing that there are people too scared of this board, I felt like posting them here.

Source

Prayers had been answered. Here to hope that Doumu get to animate it. I welcome back our GAR Fish Hugger.

When the majority are drooling over fanservice or sophisticated storylines, there are sometime a little gem making its way in internet and gain a little following.

Detroit Metal City is one of these gems. At first glance, it seems to be a music band anime like “Beck”, but upon viewing, all these expectations are shattered. The viewer will get to sit through a short episode of gag anime, dealing with the Death Metal.

Actually, Death Metal is one of the ingredients of this comedy. From the Death Metal, Detroit Metal City, the band, have the music, the theme. From the Black Metal, D.M.C gets the hatred for humankind and the hate-loaded lyrics, and lack of respect for everything the common man hold as dear. The other ingredient of this gag anime is the sheer contrast between Johannes Krauser II, the lead singer, guitarist and songwriter, and Soichi Negishi, the man behind the ghoulish paint.
Anyone who had been familiar with the early Norwegian Black Metal scene may remember the stories of people who had actually gotten to know the man behind Euronymous, a rather nice guy who would tell you about his passion in music (read the book “Lord of Chaos” to know more about Euronymous and Mayhem). This is the kind of contrast you will see in Detroit Metal City, only taken to the extreme. If Euronymous was actually a rather nice guy, off-stage, Negishi is like totally white as snow, have a love for Swedish pop (always the Scandinavians), and have the aspiration to raise to the top as a sugary sappy soapy pop artist.

But things had not gone as planned and he somehow ended up in that band, performing on stage as the feared Krauser, said to be a homicidal maniac and remorseless rapist. Negishi had a hard time to leave the band. Moreover, his on-stage persona have taken a toll on his social life, where he tries to be normal, but always find himself in situations where his on-stage persona take over and get the better, for the fans, or the worse, for his love interest, of him.

And the show had not other pretentions than showing Negishi trying to be Negishi, but turning Krauser the instant the situation get too much for him to handle as Negishi. The music store or the police scene are the prime examples of these awkward but hilarious situations. The harder he struggles, the more entertained the fans, and the viewers of the anime are.

Technical-wise, the style is fitting. There are hardly any full screen scene but it does serve the theme of the anime. The same could be said about the animation that gives this rough feeling from the musical genre.

The format is of the short kind, like Cromartie highschool, in one way, it does it justice and prevent the viewer to be tired from the gags. Something that could have happened if it was stretched over 20 minutes.

Detroit Metal City is a little gem in this rather monotonous, imo, summer. It gives food to the people missing comedy format a la Cromartie and may introduce people to the world of Death and Black Metal genre.
Detroit Metal City is a hilarious take on the music anime genre with a slice of Mister Hyde and Doctor Jekyll on and off stage.

So I know more about it. It’s not just two OAVs. It is also going to be a 13 episodes series. I am hoping that this release will get younger people to know about the first man to have ever had a gun instead of his arm. Sorry Megaman fanboys, but Cobra was first!

August 29th seems to be an eternity for the old man I am.

Soviets thought it would be a good idea to be dickheads and steal czech people’s lunch money, with the help of about 5000 tanks, it was like 1000 more tanks than nazis has used against the same czechs. This has put an end to the Prague Spring. How is it relevant to a fucking anime blog? Well, it’s my turf so I felt like commenting about it. The 40th anniversary of this sad page of the Cold War has worn the cape of sweet irony in the light of what’s happening between Georgia and Russia.
Twenty years ago, I has wet my kiddy pants over the mere thought of Reds doing their Europe tour.
Ten years ago, I would have laughed my ass off over Russia and the old drunkard Boris.
Now in 2008, I am torn between fear and amusement over how Russia is back in his boots of Big Bully of Europe. Moreover they have the means to do it, and these means are not just nukes and tanks *hint*energy*hint*.

PS: Yes, this blog is still alive. I was just slacking off and bringing little touch to something I was typing since about two weeks (it’s reaching 12k words!).

PPS: I am also amused by the fact that Russia is dicking around the very country that have breed the biggest dictator of their history.

One of the more depressing news of these last days

Kawai Eri, the singer of Aria animated series, is no longer with us since Monday.

I am at loss of words here. She was one of the singers I liked the most, after having heard her work in the Aria series.

My god why?! OH FUCK WHY? SHIT! ;_______________________;

USA and France may have not the monopoly of stupid kids after all!

BANGKOK (Reuters) – A Thai video game distributor halted sales of “Grand Theft Auto” on Monday after a teenager confessed to robbing and murdering a taxi driver while trying to recreate a scene from the controversial game.

“We are sending out requests today to outlets and shops to pull the games off their shelves and we will replace them with other games,” Sakchai Chotikachinda, sales and marketing director of New Era Interactive Media, told Reuters.

“We are also urging video game arcades to pull the games from service,” Sakchai said. An 18-year-old high school student, now in custody pending further investigations and a trial, faces death by lethal injection if found guilty of robbing and killing a 54-year-old taxi driver with a knife at the weekend.

Police said the youth, an obsessive player of “Grand Theft Auto”, showed no sign of mental problems during questioning and had confessed to committing the crime because of the game.

“He said he wanted to find out if it was as easy in real life to rob a taxi as it was in the game,” chief police investigator Veeravit Pipattanasak told Reuters.

The youth, described by his parents as polite and diligent, was arrested late on Saturday after he was found trying to steer a cab backwards out of a Bangkok street with the severely wounded driver in the back seat, newspapers reported.

The suspect told police he did not mean to kill the driver, whom he had chosen as a possible victim because of his age, but that he stabbed him to death when he fought back, newspapers reported.

“Grand Theft Auto”, now available in its fourth edition, has been criticized for depicting violence including beatings, carjackings, drive-by shootings, drunk driving and prostitution.

A senior official at Thailand’s Culture Ministry said the murder was a wake-up call for authorities to tackle the issue of violent video games, and urged parents to pay closer attention to what their children played.

“This time-bomb has already exploded and the situation could get worse,” Ladda Thangsupachai, director of the ministry’s Cultural Surveillance Centre, told Reuters. “Today it is a cab driver, but tomorrow it could be a video game shop owner.”

The ministry has been pushing for tougher regulation of video games such as Grand Theft Auto, including the imposition of a rating system on sales and restriction on hours that youngsters can play the games in public arcades.

A multi-million dollar lawsuit was filed in the U.S. state of Alabama against the makers and marketers of Grand Theft Auto in 2005, claiming that months of playing the game led a teenager to kill two police officers and a 911 dispatcher.

The blockbuster Grand Theft Auto games are published by Nasdaq-listed Take-Two Interactive Software.

Source: Reuters

I don’t think I should be blaming the game. I can credit GTA4 for being one of the most immersive games of these last years.

However, such games require a lot of distancing, in the psychological way, from the players. A similar situation that the P&PRPG player communities has gone through when some of them has lost contact with the reality.

It just did not help you put Star Wars characters in, but then there are this!

It’s hard for me to take this franchise seriously anymore. This kind of shit makes Troy and 300 look manly. And suddenly oppai calibur doesn’t sound as bad anymore:

I don’t mind the oppai that much, especially after being hammered in the head that I am an irredeemable, heartless pig by the feminazsi and the DFC loving crowd.

Many people will argue about if Soul Calibur has jumped the shark or not, and if yes, when. One thing is sure in my eyes, the sense of wonderment I has felt when I played Soul Calibur on my Dreamcast is now gone and have left place to skepticism.

For going through the bother to read my post, you can have some Marisa Stole the Precious Thing

Since July 28th, a new server has opened on kRO. It then filtered from the mentioned server that they are actually testing new effects of the stats on various parameters of the game.

With the third classes that will be coming later, people knew that the 99 level cap would be removed, moreover, this also applies to stats. I know that 120 were going to be the new level cap, but I forgot what would be the new stat cap. 120? 130? 150? Ok, likely 120.

With such new limits, rebalance were in demand, the removal of the cap would mean to open new paths for non-mainstream builds.

This also mean that veterans will have to throw away their knowledge of the game and adapt to whatever change will come to them.

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Cruel Angel Thesis, Stone Ocean version

nicovideo link

And something I dont know, but godamn, the animation is good

nicovideo link

This was the original

Gintama version

D-Gray Man version

Baccano version

One Piece version

There are also a Gundam 00 for those who are interested, and a Minami-ke version (sadly, it seems that the Minami-ke version is off-synch, sound-wise)