Alright, continuing from yesterday, I will now build the di:stage that is included with figma #42 Golgo 13!

The pack includes 6 square pieces of paper with the stage printed on them.

Also included are two transparent pieces with the windows and sound effects printed.

Luckely, the whole stage is pre-cut, so you can just pop them right out the squares! I do suggest only taking out the pieces you need for the steps you are working on, som parts can look alike and you don’t want to mix them up!

Step one includes folding these pieces around, when you do this, you see little cuts on the inside. This is to hang in the windows in the fifth step.

The second step involves folding pieces and use glue to basically make the thin parts stronger. Be sure to apply enough pressure and let the glue dry for a bit.

Step one and two finished!

The 3rd and 4th step involve the roof. So far I was using the Pritt stick, but switched over to a stronger kind of glue by Bison. I had trouble with the windowsill, but with the Bison glue it stayed in its place~

Next are the windows~ Be sure to remove the protective layer before you glue them together, or your windows will be all blurry (guess who had to pull his first set of windows apart…)! The stage comes with two sets of windows: a clean set and a shot set.

I like the bulletholes more, but whenever I feel like changing them, I can. You don’t need to glue the windows in the sockets, so you can switch them whenever you want!

As you can see it comes with a little backdrop. I have no idea how you are supposed to bring it up to the window’s level, so I used a roll of tape here.

Last step: the table!

This took a while, because it’s so small! It does look really nice and it is quite strong, too! You have to glue the feet of the table in a triangle, so they can take some weight. Place it all on the plastic stage (with the floor) and you’re done!

Golgo 13 is ready to make a hit.

Oh, you also get some parts to place in the suitcase, so it looks like it’s full of money. I had some trouble with this so I gave up XD

I’m suprised to see it turned out so well! It looks really cool, but it does mean you can’t really use the di:stage stand anymore. Oh, and even though you probably went through this post in a minute or so, this actually took like two hours to build! If you are getting it, be sure to take your time

Time for the first review of my newest batch: Golgo 13! For those who don’t know who this guy actually is, here’s a brief summary from Wikipedia.

Golgo 13 (ゴルゴ13, Gorugo Sātīn?) is a manga series written and illustrated by Takao Saito, published in Shogakukan’s Big Comic magazine since January 1969.[1] In 1976, the manga won the 21st Shogakukan Manga Award for general manga.[2] The series follows the titular character, a professional assassin for hire.

The manga is one of the longest running adult manga in Japan and has sold over 200 million copies in various formats, including compilation books. It has been adapted into two live-action feature films, two animated films, a television series and five video games.

I happen to have the NES game, which is actually quite hard, but still fun to play! If you are a fan of the series, I suggest to check it out!

Anyway, on to the review. Duke Togo, nicknamed Golgo 13, comes in the biggest box I’ve seen for a figma so far. Not surprising, because it also includes a basic set of di:stage!

The figma comes with all the basic stuff: some pair of hands, the figma stand and bag, but also some interesting other things. It comes with a cigar, pistol and of course Golgo 13’s sniper rifle which you can store in the suitcase!

You can make some pretty cool poses with the weapons.

And he looks pretty bad-ass with his cigar as well!

The main attraction point is of course the di:stage, which comes with a special papercraft! I’m sure it can’t be that hard, right?

…Right?

Okay, this was actually quite a project. I’ll show you how I made it tomorrow.

Heh, I got this box the 18th, but only opened it the 19th. What is with this lack of sudden unboxing, you may ask? Sick time yay -_-;

Well this is the biggest box I got from Archonia so far! Let’s see what’s inside!

Four new figma! Duke Togo, a sniper from the old series called “Golgo 13″ and Konata Izumi, Tsukasa Hiiragi and Miyuki Takara in summer uniforms from “Lucky Star”! They didn’t have Kagamin yet I also got the new Haruhi manga, which I forgot to order before n_n;

Duke’s box is BIG! I’m not sure there are more of this size, but it’s as wide as the one Drossel, Witch Yuki and most of the Nanoha StrikerS girls come in, except is thicker. This is because it also comes with a basic set of di:stage, meaning I own six of those now!

Well I feel awfully tired, so I’ll unpack them all tomorrow, posting pictures of them in action. I may build Duke’s di:stage as well, it should look like this when it’s done, pretty cool~

Takao Saito – Viz – 2007 – 13 volumes
the US edition is based on a special “greatest hits” release of the manga.  Golgo 13 is 154+ volumes.

Oh, Duke Togo.  So serious.  So much fun to read about.  I like the stories better when there’s not a huge government conspiracy involved.  The first story starts out with some CIA line, but then quickly turns into a Golgo 13 versus a Russian counterpart face-off.  The second story is a personal vendetta, which are my favorite stories.

The first story was interesting because the first third of the story is Duke Togo catching up to someone who is clearly ahead of him and after the same thing, and then there’s a small segment where that man chases after Duke Togo, and then they briefly work together.  The motives of the Russian man are never made clear, and the story is interesting because you are waiting to see how one reacts to the other.  The ending was the most interesting part of all.  The plot involves busting up some sort of… poison/drug lab that serves several nations in secret.  Golgo 13 is hired because the CIA is in hot water and needs the poison disposed of immediately.  If they can’t use it, no one can.

The second story is about a man who hires Golgo 13 to take out the mayor of a certain town in Mississippi.  The mayor is hilariously racist, and he and his police squad use several slurs I’ve never even heard before.  The mayor catches wind of Golgo 13 coming to assassinate him, so we also get the slurs about Duke Togo being Japanese, and it only gets better when Golgo 13 teams up with a black resistance movement set on stopping the mayor.  It didn’t strike me as insulting since the portrayal is so over-the-top.  We are told immediately that the mayor is like this, and everything out of his mouth is some sort of slur, which pretty much means you can’t take him seriously.  Also, you know he’ll get his in the end, anyway.

Notably, Golgo 13 uses methoxsalen to darken his skin, knowing that the police will shoot any Asian man they see on site.  Also notable is the fact that Golgo 13 is shown with women in both stories, something that hasn’t happened in a long time.

The File 13 in the back is about Golgo 13’s income and expenditures.  It is quite possibly the geekiest thing I’ve ever seen, where the amounts he was paid from every story it was mentioned in are added up, and then any expenditure that is mentioned is taken away from this total, then things like averages for the jobs where pay isn’t mentioned are discussed at length, as are anomalies and other things about his finances.  I read the whole thing, and as impressive as it is… that’s ten minutes of my life I’m never getting back.

Please click the photo for the full color shot

Let’s start this show with my photography and a quick toy review of Max Factory’s Golgo 13 from the Figma Action Figure series.

This figure is based on Takao Saito’s Golgo 13 which reaches various platforms from manga, video games to anime. It boast inordinate amount of articulation that allows various dynamic poses with interchangeable heads(2) and hands(10), detachable m16 that can be stored in an attache case, cigar, 38 caliber, speech bubble that can be attached on his back and the standard base for all Figma figures. A new addition as an accessory for this Figma figure is the paper vignette that transforms into a motel interior. It’s a hefty price for $50 but it’s certainly worth the price!

Click to enlarge the photos

For more in depth review of this figure please check out Ocha!

Next week’s preview

Please click the photo for the full color shot

Let’s start this show with my photography and a toy review of Max Factory’s Golgo 13 from the Figma Action Figure series.

This figure is based on Takao Saito’s Golgo 13 which reaches various platforms from manga, video games to anime. It boast inordinate amount of articulation that allows various dynamic poses with interchangeable heads(2) and hands(10), detachable m16 that can be store in an attache case, cigar, 38 caliber, speech bubble that can be attached on his back and the standard base for all Figma figures. A new addition as an accessory for this Figma figure is the paper vignette that transforms into a motel interior. It’s a hefty price for $50 but it’s certainly worth the price!

Click to enlarge the photos

For more in depth review of this figure please check out Ocha!

Next weeks preview

I’m sure you’ve heard about the meet up with Steve Nagata in Singapore, who is one of the Tokyo Life Bloggers at Danny Choo.com. Instead of eating a filling dinner at Lau Pat Sat, we took pictures and had a long chat of around 4 hours? ^~^

Steve did not waste any time in displaying the goodies nicely, where as we did not waste any time displaying our figures with them.

Puchis were set to roam freely!

Is Kodomut’s Drossel going to use her special powers again?

Ummmm..

Solitude.

*Stares..*

The Drossels seems to be enjoying themselves!

Aaah.. Nice view..

Please do not mistake Minami for a bar of green tea flavored Kit Kat. You may not notice because she is sweet as well!

“Moe~ Moe~ Kyun~!” – Double the Drossel, double the moe.

Arayden’s quickie of Mirai :3 Adorable!

Chatting away.

While hungry people feasts..

And Drossel lends a helping hand to hungry Domo.

Hands can be dangerous if coming from underneath. ^~^

This meeting was really fun! Thanks to Steve for the Akihabara goodies, DC.com readers for their adorable (and manly) figurines! Everyone did their part to try not let anyone feel left out ^~^

Also, special thanks to ScorchNRoses for his camera once again, and Kodomut for his amazing creativity in posing figurines!

A batch post can be found here!

Golgo al desert de Utah.

BT Frozen-Layer

Vídeo: x264
Àudio: AAC
Resolució: 1280×720

Estiu Indi

Golgo a l’Amazònia.

BT Frozen-Layer

Vídeo: x264
Àudio: AAC
Resolució: 1280×720

Garimpeiro

Oies!

Nossa… para esta quinta eu tenho muitas notícias boas! Para começar, a Editora JBC divulgou durante o Animecon a sua nova aquisição: Golgo 13! \o/\o/\o/

Golgo 13 é um clássico dos mangás, já vendeu mais de 200 milhões de volumes e venceu em 1976 o prêmio Shogakukan de Melhor Mangá Seinen*, e vem sendo publicado desde 1969 na antologia Big Comic, ultrapassando – até o momento – 149 volumes! Além dos diversos filmes live action, animê e diversos jogos de vídeo-game.

Eu fiquei HÍPER feliz com essa notícia, pois Golgo era uma série que eu sempre tive muita vontade de ler, mas por ser antiga e a mídia brasileira geralmente preferir os gêneros mais “gutchi-gutchi”, achava quase impossível esse título sair por aqui… ainda bem que o tempo – para o bem e para o mal – evolui o mercado! XD Mas, evidentemente… tem que haver um “mas”… A publicação de Golgo 13 não será a série regular, mas sim uma seleção com as melhores história do personagem. Não fiquem tristes, Golgo é uma série que pode ser lida individualmente por ser dividida em episódios não muito longos, que se encerram ao final do arco das tramas. Infelizmente, não há detalhes sobre o formato, nem preço e data de lançamento. Mas, como a JBC (com erros e acertos) nunca falha… aguardemos anciosos! Ops… falei, falei, e não coloquei a sinópse! XD Segue:

Golgo 13, também conhecido pelo pseudônimo Duke Togo, é um assassino profissional. Sua idade e local de nascimento são desconhecidos e não há consenso na comunidade de inteligência no mundo inteiro como a sua verdadeira identidade.  A maioria de seus trabalhos são cumpridos através da utilização de um personalizado rifle M16, escopo. As tramas são policiais, no maior estilo James Bond, mas mais sombrio que este (e muito menos mentiroso / desculpem, precisei dizer! XD).

Fora isso (nossa, que felicidade poder dizer isso! =DD), a Panini também divulgou recentemente um novo título! E, nem preciso dizer o quanto estava rezando para que alguém se animasse a trazer este título para cá! Otomen será lançado pela Panini no mesmo formato e preço dos outros títulos da editora (geralmente R$ 9,90 – Tankobon). Otomen é um título muito bacana, brinca com o universo feminino e masculino, “bate” os gêneros no liquidificador e nos dá de presente uma bela mistura de humor, romance e aventuras!

Otomen:

O mangá, que ganhou o nome de Otomen – Um Doce de Garoto, conta a história de um garoto que é o mais popular do colégio por ser capitão do time de luta, lindo de morrer  e tudo mais que um típico “popular” tem. Só que o másculo garoto tem um segredo: ele adora coisas doces, como cozinhar e ler mangás para meninas.

Sim, evidentemente esse mangá está arrastando as polêmicas que surgiram – e continuam surgindo – sobre ele… mas, eu dúvido que não exista um marmanjo nesse mundo que não faça o mesmo! E, provavelmente este marmanjo em questão lerá Otomen escondido no banheiro… XDDD. O mangá tem 8 volumes e ainda não foi encerrado no Japão.

Última notícia! (preciso ir para Facu… XD): Trigun está de volta! No cheklist da Panini está na lista o sexto volume do mangá, que está previsto para sair agora em dezembro, e a série é a continuação de Trigun, série já publicada no Brasil pela própria Panini. Bom, coisa boa tem que voltar mesmo… rs

Piiii!!! Só, gente, se não eu perco a primeira aula! XDD

Sayonará! =D

_________________________________________________________________________
Nandinha - Faltam 5 dias para estréia nas bancas de Ranma 1/2 – Previsão 15/09 – XDDD

Yo! Aqui estou eu de novo. Primeiro queria comentar o novo lançamento da JBC, saiu ontem pelo JBox que a editora irá lançar o clássico Golgo 13 (Já conta com mais de 148 volumes, foi iniciado em 1969). Nunca li nada, mas conheço a fama e acho válido, até por fugir das características de lançamentos da JBC. O Alexandre, do Maximum Cosmo, comentou que acredita que não seja lançada a série toda, pelo menos inicialmente, mas sim alguma coletânea como a Best 13 of Golgo 13, o que eu acredito ser mais sensato, não sei se daria certo lançar algo de 148 volumes e aumentando hoje em dia.

Agora que comentei essa notícia inesperada, vamos ao principal de hoje. Já faz um bom tempo que não comento sobre nenhum manga por aqui, até por não ter começando coisas novas, principalmente do mercado nacional. Mas hoje vou comentar sobre um manga que estou lendo há algum tempo já; The world god only knows.

The world god only knows é um manga shounen, lançado na antologia Weekly Shounen Sunday, de autoria do ainda inexperiente, mas promissor Tamiki Wakaki. A história é sobre Keima Katsuragi, mais conhecido na sua escola como Otamegane (mistura de Otaku com Megane, óculos em japonês). Keima é totalmente viciado em date-sims, jogos de simulação de relacionamentos. E quando eu digo viciado, é realmente viciado, ele joga tudo que sai, já zerou todos os jogos em 100% e é conhecido na internet como um deus por sua alta capacidade em jogos do estilo. O vício é tanto que Keima prefere garotas 2D à garotas de verdade!

E tudo ia bem para Keima até se encontrar com Elsee, uma garota demônio que precisa de sua ajuda para recapturar espíritos malignos fugitivos que vem para a Terra e acabam se escondendo dentro dos corações de garotas. Para que isso possa ser feito, é preciso fazer a garota em questão se apaixonar, o que está longe dos planos de Keima, amante apenas de garotas 2D. O problema é que se ambos não concluírem essa tarefa, irão perder a cabeça. Literalmente.

Quando comecei a ler esse manga tive medo de uma coisa, mas apesar do roteiro ser baseado em um especialista em date-sim que tem que “capturar” garotas de verdade, felizmente não é usado fanservice, algo que eu esperava. O traço é bem feito, bonito e um pouco diferente, não é genérico. Além disso, a dupla de protagonistas é muito boa. Keima é um dos personagens mais divertidos que eu encontrei em mangas. Mesmo com suas habilidades em game funcionando bem na vida real, ele continua focado apenas em garotas 2D. Elsee é bem divertida e a parceira perfeita para aproveitar bem as maluquices de um personagem como Keima.

The world god only knows é um manga bem despretensioso, até agora conta com 66 capítulos e 5 volumes. Inicialmente as coisas seguem no esquema “Pokemon do dia”, com alguns capítulos para cobrir uma garota específica, sendo ótimo para ler sem grandes pretensões, apenas para relaxar, mas com a chegada de novos personagens, principalmente personagens do inferno, as coisas tendem a ficar mais complexas, mas sem perder a diversão.

Pra quem quiser ler algo original e bem realizado, recomendo.

Jak na standardy NES’a, grafika w MC momentami zwyczajnie powala. Poziom trudności natomiast nie pozwala cieszyć się kolejną świetną intrygą.

Świetna platformówka z elementami przygodowymi. Zrobiona w oldschoolowym klimacie, miała wszystkie predyspozycje do tego, by stać się hitem. No właśnie, miała.

Takao Saito – Viz – 2007 – 13 volumes
the US edition is based on a special “greatest hits” release of the manga.  Golgo 13 is 148+ volumes.

Hmm.  I wasn’t all that interested in the first story of the volume, which takes up about 3/4 of the pages here.  It was quite slow to get started and I had trouble wrapping my brain around the politics involved, which were Japan-centric.  The gist of it was pretty awesome though, which was that Okinawa had been getting the royal diplomatic shaft since WWII and a member of an old Okinawan aristocratic family, now in the military, is staging a coup to liberate the island from both the US and Japan (US military presence is apparently still very strong on the island, and apparently the majority of the Japanese SDF is also stationed there).

I can get behind crazy coups like that, and when I finally figured out what was going on, I was very interested, but by that time more than half the story had elapsed.  It also doesn’t much help that Golgo 13 doesn’t appear until the end, and his role is literally a baffling mystery until the very last pages.  He does take the shot though, which is really what I was looking for.  He also plays a very unorthodox role, which would have been more interesting if we had seen it in more than three panels.

The second story was a riot, but very short.  A traveling salesman in Chicago is mistaken for Golgo 13.  He has a very similar name (it might be Dave Togo or something like that), and was waiting for a client to pick him up across the street from where Golgo 13 was waiting to rondevous with his client, so Golgo 13’s people picked up the salesman instead.  He also bears a vague resemblance to Golgo 13.  He is baffled by his special treatment and all the great lengths the client goes to in order to make him happy, like setting him up with a nice hotel room and an expensive prostitute and all that.  His confusion about being needed as a salesman manifests itself in a few hilarious situations, like when he says “100% customer satisfaction” in response to a request for a summation of his work ethic.

And Golgo 13’s decision is pretty spectacular, too.

I wish this had been the long story instead of the one about Okinawa, but it’s probably better that it wasn’t stretched out for too much longer, because I think I would have enjoyed it much less if it had been padded out.

Otakon 2009 was punctuated by a number of personal differences and changes in my life, not least of which were a new method of travel, as well as a variety of new travel buddies. It was also my first year at Otakon as a member of the Press (thanks to the existence of this blog), and while I can’t say that it was as rockin’ as last year’s Otakon, I can tell you that it was a fine experience where I never felt like there was too little to do.

My trip began Thursday afternoon, where while on the bus to Baltimore and then on the city bus to Downtown Baltimore we argued about moe in all of its forms, seeking to wrestle the elusive beast to the ground with mixed results. Baltimore that day was a breezy 93 degrees Fahrenheit, the kind of weather perfect for strolling through the city carrying luggage. Dropping off our belongings at the hotel, we went off to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and met up with esteemed guests such as Patz, Ed Sizemore, and Clarissa from Anime World Order. A variety of fine topics were discussed, such as the joys of showing little kids the Real Power Rangers and the deliciousness of beef (conclusion: it is very delicious).

Upon returning to the convention center to get our badges, we realized that there was a line still snaked around the building that normally would not be based on past experience. I luckily had my badge waiting for me at Press Ops, but many were not so lucky. It was yet another sign that this year’s Otakon was Different. The lines would continue throughout the weekend.

The Pre-Registration Line for Otakon 2009

I also had dinner with people on Friday and to a lesser extent on Saturday, meeting the rest of the AWO crew, Erin from Ninja Consultant and others who I can’t quite remember because the table was quite long. If you’re willing to sit down and relax, the downtown Baltimore area is good for food, and if you’re able to travel further out there are also some excellent restaurants. If you want fast food, that’s also available, and if you want to save money on food I recommend Grape Nuts and Parmalat. Grape Nuts is a dense cereal in a small box and is very filling and nourishing. It has the Ogiue Maniax seal of approval.

Food aside, there were so many events each day that they’ve started to blur in my head, and instead of discussing what happened chronologically I’m going to talk about things more categorically.

Industry and Otakon-related panels I attended were the Funimation panel and the Opening Ceremony panel. Funimation, as you might know already, announced some big-deal shows, namely Casshern Sins (which I reviewed here), Eden of the East (one of the best shows of last season), and the “Dragon Box” master edition remastering of Dragon Ball Z just like the one the Japanese have.

The opening ceremony also marked the second year that Madhouse animated a special opening for Otakon, akin to the Daicon IV opening of legend. This year’s animation incorporated the entire Otakon staff and had numerous references both eastern and western. If you wanted to see the Enterprise duke it out with the Yamato, this was your chance. Unfortunately, we were given the news that the director of the Otakon 2009 Opening Animation, Endou Takuji, had died the week prior, and our condolences go out to a man who reached out to American fandom so readily. Endou was also the director of Record of Lodoss War, a show which many fans in America consider vital to their beginnings as otaku.

As you might guess from the title of this post, guests this year were remarkably good in their decision to not constantly dodge questions and defer to others, though it still happened occasionally when it had to.

Yamamoto Yutaka, aka Yamakan, dropped down answers to questions which clearly showed him putting in some genuine thought and not just defaulting to stock answers. One person asked him how he got to be a director, and his response was that he wanted to be an animator but then couldn’t draw so he had to pick something else that would let him work in anime without drawing talent. To follow up, I asked what he thought of Takahata Isao, director of Grave of the Fireflies, because Takahata is also a director who cannot draw. Yamamoto answered that Takahata is one of the two directors who inspired him to get into anime, and that he considers the Anne of Green Gables anime directed by Takahata to be pretty much THE finest example of an anime TV series and how to tell a story in that format. Sadly, he would not reveal the second despite prompting.

I also asked him about Tonari no 801-chan’s anime debut, and he said that the original author asked him personally to do it, and that he felt destined to do it. Other highlights from Yamakan include his belief that what’s most important in animation is having characters stay “in-character” (and anyone who’s seen Tsugumi in Kannagi can attest to him putting his money where his mouth is), his desire for fellow anime creators to be capable of being creative with each other so that they may grow and improve, and his belief that today’s anime creators lack strong enough personalities akin to Miyazaki, Tomino, and Anno. As you can tell, he was not a “normal” Japanese guest and I am grateful for that.

Oh, and as for his definition of moe: If you like it, it’s moe for you.

Frederik L. Schodt

Frederik L. Schodt (apparently pronounced “Shot”) meanwhile revealed very good knowledge of the scanlation scene and an understanding of its appeal, as well as being good at handling the audience at his Astro Boy panel. At his Q&A panel, I asked him about instances where either American culture values in Japanese comics made them unapproachable by an American audience and vice versa. For the manga example, he pointed out how works are still censored to an extent, and that some companies are forced to claim the girls in their media are 18+ when they clearly are not given the context of the story, and that most of the genres of manga in Japan never come to the US, such as mahjong manga. His answer for American comics that were deemed not appropriate for a Japanese audience was even more interesting.

Schodt had accompanied the great Wil Eisner of all people to Japan, as Eisner was interested in publishing his works there and and there was a Japanese publishing company which published non-Japanese artists. However, when shown the work of Eisner, the company said that he had to rework it to flow more like a Japanese comic and have it read right to left. Eisner, who was over 80 years old at the time, naturally did not want to entirely redo one of his comics which had sold successfully internationally for decades and so the deal was off. He also talked about how much he likes The Four Immigrants Manga by Japanese immigrant Henry Yoshitaka Kiyama, a comic from California in 1927 which is written in a sort of simultaneous Japanese and English (thus requiring knowledge of both to read properly), and is arguably the first existence of a comic book in America, as well as predating Tezuka’s debut by a number of years. After the panel, I got Schodt to autograph my copy of Dreamland Japan.

While I did not manage to score any one-on-one interviews, I did attend some very informative press conferences. There was a sudden press conference with Maruyama Masao (head of Madhouse), Ishiguro Noboru (director of Macross and Legend of the Galactic Heroes), Kikukawa Yukio (producer of Legend of the Galactic Heroes), and Matsubara Hidenori (character designer for the Ah! My Goddess anime), which started off with Ishiguro and Maruyama deciding to just sit in the audience and act like they were members of the press. At this point we had some fun interviewing the translator in the room, asking him throwaway questions such as, “Who are your translating influences?” and “What made you decide to become a translator?” When the press conference actually began, as it were, it turned out to be one of the most informative hours of my life. This press conference will most likely appear online in its entirety at some point so you don’t have to worry on that front, but there are a few highlights I’d like to mention.

From left to right: Kikukawa, Maruyama, translator, Ishiguro, Matsubara

One interesting set of answers was everyone’s response to the anime they would love to make if they could. Matsubara said he would love to adapt the Tezuka manga Dororo into an anime, and even has the support of Maruyama. Maruyama meanwhile said that there were so many he’d like to have made and that’s why he makes them. Ishiguro wants to make a story set in Tokyo in 1948 that he’s been wanting to make for 30 years and even has the entire story plotted in his head. Kikukawa’s dream anime is to adapt the Darkover series of science fiction novels by Marion Zimmer Bradley.

Another interesting answer was one to my own question, where I asked Ishiguro to talk about his experiences with the deceased Nagahama Tadao, creator of Combattler V, Voltes V, and Daimos, as well as one of the directors of Rose of Versailles. Nagahama, as it turns out, was actually in puppet theater of all things before he became an anime director. Also, when working as a director he would act out every part, male and female, in the script to give a better idea to his staff as to how the story should go. Finally, because he had no talent for drawing, whenever he wanted to make corrections to a key animation (and he inspected every single one), he would write a detailed description on the back as to what needed changing. Nagahama is not terribly popular in the US even among old school fans so this was an amazing bit of information to find out. I personally cannot wait to ask Tomino this question at New York Anime Festival.

While the other press conference I attended with MELL was not nearly as informative, what I found was that MELL opened up to us much more than I would expect from a musical guest. We found out that, despite the heavy use of English in her songs she was never good at it in school, she had her first band at around the age of 15 or 16 where she sang for a college band, and that she mistook a guy for a girl due to his elaborate cosplay of a Victorian era character.

MELL was also one of the concerts I attended at Otakon, the other being the Tamura Naomi concert, and both were beyond my expectations. I am no music expert and my music vocabulary is entirely lacking, but I will say that MELL and her band knew very much how to perform and keep the audience in the mood. She sang songs from Black Lagoon and Rideback, and showed off why she’s well regarded among fans.

Sunday’s concert with Tamura Naomi showed how incredibly powerful her voice can be, as she demonstrated that the notes she hits in those opening themes she sings are notes she can hit in a live performance. Highlights of the concert include her own rendition of the Jackson 5’s I’ll Be There, and her Rayearth songs, namely Yuzurenai Negai (1st series opening), with which she ended her concert.

I also held my own concert on Sunday where I sang the theme song to the Golgo 13 NES games. In case you didn’t know, the song actually has lyrics!

My dealer’s room experience was also a most pleasant one as I managed to get everything I was looking for, specifically Ogiue-related…merchandise… as well as the recently released Revoltech Souther from Hokuto no Ken, or, as he’s known on the box, “Thouzer.”

On the fandom side of things, while I did not pay much attention to cosplay I was glad to see a good variety of costumes. While you had your endless Sora from Kingdom Hearts and the general love for Naruto and Bleach you usually expect, I also got some pleasant surprises, such as a cosplay of Kitarou and Nekomusume from Gegege no Kitarou.

Something I did not approve of was the near-total lack of Tainaka Ritsu when it came to K-On! cosplay. I like Mio too and all, but the ratio of Mio to Ritsu was unacceptable. I’m just saying.

The fan panels I attended were all well-run and had people who at least to some extent knew what they were talking about. The Neo-Shounen panel run by Daryl Surat succeeded in its goal of showing how Shounen as a concept changed over the years, mainly in its desire to appeal to both male and female readers, and the Lost in Translation panel was a good beginner’s panel for those interested in seeing some of the difficulties of translating from Japanese to English. The Mecha Appreciation Panel had knowledgeable panelists, but the format was a little haphazard and could have used some focus. If you ran this panel, I was the one who said “King J-Der” for coolest Gaogaigar robot.

I also went to the Anime Recruitment panel by the Reverse Thieves, which provided very good advice for how to get people into anime without scaring them off, offering tips such as, “If your first attempt fails, don’t press the issue. Instead, give them time to cool off, like three weeks or however long it takes.” I’ve spoken before on how difficult I find recommending anime to be, so I will take this advice to heart.

I had a personally vested interest in attending the Otaku TV and Genshiken panels, both run by Viga the Otagal, and was curious as to how these panels would go. Overall, they did a good job of showing the audience what these shows are all about, though I think Viga was a little too spoiler-friendly and it could scare off people who would want to see these series otherwise. Still, I was very glad to see such significant attendance for Genshiken-related panels. After the Genshiken panel, someone in the audience actually greeted me as a reader of Ogiue Maniax and asked to take my picture. Whoever you are, that made my day and I thank you.

Viga said in her Genshiken panel that she believes “The Psychology of Ogiue” would provide enough material for an entire panel, and I am inclined to agree. Keep on the lookout for that.

Overall, I have no serious complaints about Otakon this year, as I feel that the events I would have complained about I simply did not attend, such as the apparently misleading title of the “Sailor Moon’s Influence on Hentai” panel. The fact that Daryl Surat’s Anime’s Craziest Deaths got shut down because no one actually knew what Apocalypse Zero was disappointing, but I’m sure both sides will know how to better handle it next year. As a member of the Otakon press, I also would have felt better if I was told in advance that I would not be getting any interviews, rather than being left dangling. However, because this year’s Otakon was so packed with activities and intriguing and intelligent guests, I can say that this was one of my finest convention experiences, and everyone I traveled to Otakon and back with agreed wholeheartedly.

After reading about Takao Saito in A Drifting Life and learning that Mickey Spillane changed his life and birthed Duke Togo, I couldn’t help but follow up with a volume of Golgo 13.  I’ve actually got a good balance going tonight, because Golgo 13 is one of the manliest manga I can think of, and I’m also going to write about Otomen, the girliest manga I can think of, so… you know.

Unfortunately, I was kind of disappointed with this volume.  Most of the volume is taken up by a story about a nuclear power plant outside LA going through a crisis just before the Olympics.  This story isn’t bad… it’s actually pretty tight, but it just wasn’t to my liking for some reason.  I’m not sure why, because all the insane elements are there: the crisis starts when a political bigwig somehow has the power to override the safety inspector’s orders and open the plant when it wasn’t ready and several major repairs and tests still needed to take place.  It continues when a minor crisis flushes a bunch of honored guests out of the plant, including the governor and other politicians, and in the middle of the panic, Golgo 13 randomly appears and takes a shot.  It builds when the safety inspector saw Golgo 13 take his shot and finds him at a local decontamination plant and hires him by robbing a bank that had been evacuated because of the crisis.  Golgo 13 is needed to snipe a pipe in order to relieve pressure needed to cause a coolant system to engage.  The ending has some of the best dialogue EVER between Golgo 13 and the safety inspector.

Yeah, it’s one of those types of stories.  It just keeps building on itself, but I guess I was soured on it initially because the premise of a safety inspector being overridden so abruptly was less realistic than I would expect in Golgo 13 (which sounds weird, given some of the insane things that have taken place, but still).

There’s a strange scene at the decontamination camp where a woman is being tackled in order to get her head shaved, which needs to happen because “Mr. Geiger Counter” says so.  I think I found it more disturbing than it was intended to be.

The last story didn’t make much sense to either me or my roommate, but involves two assassination attempts and some Vegas mob-type stuff.  I don’t really have much to say about that one, it was a simple story.

The material in the back included an interview with Takao Saito, where he mentions some things that make what characters say about him in A Drifting Life sound potentially true.  Take that as you will.

Treball a Malta.

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Estiu malenconiós

NCS Product Synopsis
«©NCSX» The shadowy world of professional assassins and the syndicates who hire them for nefarious purposes is explored in Marvelous’ new Golgo 13 story interaction, quiz, and mini-game compilation. The quiz portion of the game contains over 400 questions which touch on all aspects of the Golgo 13 universe while one mini-game features shooting action where the shots are accomplished by touch-pen tapping.

The Golgo 13 software is played in book format where the NDS is rotated 90° counterclockwise and held open like a novella. The protagonist of the Golgo 13 property is a somber and overly impassive hired killer named Duke Togo who gives his approval as you answer questions correctly and shoot targets with unerring accuracy.

Un illot enmig de la mar.

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Alcàsser de Cristall

A.K.A Usertaken Anime Reviews II de III + bonus

Sí… una random pic siempre saca de problemas cuando no se sabe que img poner… ¡Enhorabuena, random pic folder!

Heh, esto ya se está volviendo costumbre en la realización de post de un servidor: el editar el párrafo inicial porque las bromas/gags/info./etc. se hacen viejas… y bueno, el impacto no es el mismo o alguna de esas cosas en donde ya no se ve tan bueno después de 3-4 semanas…
Pero bueno, como no se que poner en esta parte de comentarios aleatorios… creo que mencionare varias noticias relevantes (según la escala “Cosas relevantes de Usertaken”):

• SRGakuen me sigue pareciendo un juego flojo/débil no merecedor de ser parte de la familia SRW… Y cada vez veo SRWOG3 más lejos… por este juego y por la ruta que esta tomando Banpresto con la marca SRW, que al parecer están satisfaciendo a los fans del moe/ecchi: Endless Frontier es un buen ejemplo… bueno, el gameplay es muy divertido pero… bueno, si han visto videos y demás sabrán el porqué de ese pero.
• Happy Usertaken is Happy: Tatsunoko VS CAPCOM IS FUCKING ON!!! (Sera traído como Tatsunoko vs Capcom: Ultimate All Stars)
• La final del fucho no será Indios VS Puebla (lo cual hubiera sido muy…. interesante) pero carajo, estuvo cerca.

Heh, parece que me desvíe un poco con ese último punto… Bueno, para no empezar hablando de ah, 2 personas jugando ping pong con raquetas de oso y una bomba en lugar de pelota, mejor empecemos con unas cuantas reviews…. de cuales serán?

1. Tytania
2. Casshern SINS
3. Real Drive
4. Xabungle (8-15 o 7-15, no recuerdo en donde me quede)
5. Shin Mazinger (2-6 o hasta donde llegue antes de postear sobre eso)
6. Mitchiko to Hatchin
7. Golgo 13
8. One Outs
9. Kuroshitsuji
10. Sunred
11. Linebarrels
12. Himitsu
13. GL Gurren-hen
14. Index
15. Shikabane Hime
16. Mugen no Junin
17. Xam’d

O en pocas palabras, de todo lo que hable y dije “hablare de eso después cuando vea lo que siga” y no hice, para poder ver las series de esta nueva temporada (Shangri la, Eden of the East, entre otras). Así que, a darle átomos…
Tytania

Ano sora wo… ikeeeeee!!

Hmm… no recuerdo en que parte me quede en las ya olvidadas reviews que hacia… creo que fue en la parte de las aventurad de loli Lydia… En ese momento, la serie parecía caer en un estado estable: Fan confundido sobre si debe ser ícono de la revo, Tytania realizando trabajo de oficina normal… Se necesitaba algo para iniciar el fuego… y la serie de eventos con Lira dio en el blanco.

Y bueno, “puntos extra” al agregar su muerte. Fsck, no dije “spoiler”… (muy tarde). Sí, ella pudo seguir viva; pero eso le hubiera quitado impacto a la serie… ¿La caída de Tytania fue gracias a dos enamorados? No, no me jodas. Aunque Fan era un hombre perseguido y demás, no había sustento para que él atacara Tytania. Y con Lira, era “juguemos a destruir Tytania”. No, tenían que tener algo más fuerte, algo como una muerte o una injusticia que hayan sufrido o algo así. Podríamos decir que Lira la tenía… pero Fan no. Sí, gano una batalla que no debía. Sí, era el hombre más buscado. Pero, ¿lo iban a matar? Nah, era para alinearlo. Muy probablemente Zarlisch e Idris hubieran preferido su muerte, pero Jouslain prefiere métodos más pacíficos, y el tiene la preferencia de Ajman.

Así que, después de un gran tiempo sin naves atacando a otras naves, Tytania regreso a la acción. ¿Su resultado? Otras 2 muertes. Y, la muestra de que Tytania no es el Dios que muchos pensaban que era…

Sí, la serie termino abruptamente. No sé cuántos libros abarco la serie, pero según esto hay 3 y aún no termina. Así que, qué podemos concluir de la serie?

Tytania… sí, es buena. Pero, lo suficiente para decir “tienes que ver esta serie”? Mmm… Sí, si es lo suficiente. Así que, si no la han visto, véanla.

Xam’d: Lost Memories

No tengo la menor idea de que poner aquí sobre esta serie…

Bones nos dio Eureka7. Eso es suficiente razón para esperar de Xam’d algo mucho mejor, o por lo menos lo suficiente para olvidar el sabor amargo de Darker. Sí mi memoria no me falla (espero que no), la última vez que hable de ella fue que Akiyuki fue raptado por un circo… bueno, no era un circo, si no que fue añadido a la compra-venta de esclavos…

Después fue rescatado por Haru, mientras que en otra parte Nakiami visito su villa para ver como andaban las cosas, y después todo se concentra en la guerra en tierra santa (no creo que se llame así, pero carajo, así entendí yo que era ese lugar), donde cada bando realiza su parte, aunque todo queda en las manos de Akiyuki; quien pelea con el Hiruken Emperor y Nakiami, que decide sacrificar 2000 años de su vida para salvar a la humanidad. Akiyuki se convierte en piedra para que tiempo cumpla su promesa de regresar con Haru (aunque no me quedo muy claro eso). Claro, me faltaron algunos detalles como cuando Ryuuzou pierde su ojo y como rescatan a Midori después de ser convertida en una bio-arma… Detalles, simplemente detalles.

Así que, al final, después de que Akiyuki decidiera dar su nombre al HE, se convierte en piedra para luego reaparecer a lado de Haru después de… 5-10 años? No me molesta el final, lo que me molesta es la manera en que se dio la escena final… Haru va a su rutina de ir a la estatua de Akiyuki, y cambian la toma para mostrarlo ya en su forma humana… No lo sé, me pareció más bien que eso era como una ilusión de Haru al ver la estatua…

Xam’d fue una buena serie. La animación no me defraudo… y qué bueno que no lo hizo, ya que su calidad debería ser buena si eran episodios bajados del PS3 Network. La historia estuvo entretenida, no hubo ningún capitulo que fuera tedioso o que no aportara algo a la trama (a mi parecer). Y la parte final fue excelente: trataron de tapar todos los plot holes que pudieron para que no hubiera preguntas como “y que paso con este personaje” o “esto quedo como para segunda serie”.

Sí, Xam’d cumplió con lo que quería: una buena serie Sci-fi con su pequeña dosis de mechas… aunque se parecieran a los Phanter (Silhouette Engine)xD.

Mugen no Jounin

Al igual que Xam’d, no puedo encontrar algo para escribir aquí

Carajo, justo cuando la serie se ponía buena, cuando entraba a su clímax… terminó. Se huele la segunda temporada… porque carajo, eso no pudo acabar así, con Rin entrenando y los indicios de una revo contra Ittoryu (así se llamaban? carajo… debo hacer las reviews recién terminando de ver la serie, no un mes después)… Aunque bueno, no se puede hacer mucho en 13 episodios…

Golgo 13

Fsck yeah, Golgo 13!!

No ha acabado, pero debido a su poca (?) popularidad no hay mucha banda trabajando esta serie, así que los subs son escasos. Pero, siempre es bueno una vez cada 6 meses ver un nuevo episodio en donde Golgo sorprende a todos con su gran habilidad para matar gente… y complacer a las mujeres. Aunque, en los 2 últimos episodios que vi usaron más o menos la misma jerga de rebotar la bala para matar a su objetivo… aunque en un capitulo fue contra una superficie de metal y otra en una piscina. Juzgue usted mismo cual es más imposible, y diviértase matando cat-girls al mezclar física real con anime.

Tentai Senshi Sunred

Carajo, esta debía haber sido mi Top 1 del 2008…

Me encanto Sunred… cada episodio, aunque fueran de 15 minutos, me entretenían más que 12 episodios de cualquier otra serie. Es impresionante como una serie de gags y parodias de un Super Héroe NEET, malo, vago y aficionado del Pachinko y un grupo maligno más bueno que el héroe puede llegar a crear. Momentos memorables como el monstruo del techo cantando el tema de Sunred, la cita en el karaoke, Sunred armando un robot que fue diseñado para asesinarlo… y que al final se autodestruyera, alimentando el espíritu plamero de Sunred para construirlo las veces necesarias hasta que le salga bien, Sunred caminando en la ciudad, solo que ahora la ciudad no era dibujada; si no la de la vida real, las recetas rápidas de Vamp… entre otros grandes momentos…

Sí, Sunred es una de las mejores series que he visto. No necesita una historia complicada, ni una animación sorprendente ni nada de eso. Una serie simple de comedia/parodia es todo lo que se necesita para tumbar series de las llamadas grandes… Y lo mejor de todo es que ya se anuncio la segunda temporada…

Shikabane Hime

¿Será necrofilia leer o hacer algún H-doujin de esta serie?

Hmm… esta serie tuvo muchos altos y bajos. En ciertos momentos, me molestaba esa tendencia de matar sub-boss de sub-boss… pero fue al final de la primer temporada y toda la segunda temporada que las cosas ya fueron tomando el rumbo correcto. Y bueno, paso de ser una seríe shonen genérica a lo que explicare como “wow, no sé donde carajos el autor tenía guardada esta parte, pero carajo, si que se tardo para sacarla a la luz”. Qué raro, la serie se puso buena desde el momento que murió el primer personaje cercano al prota… Le da un toque diferente a las series ¿no creen? Le quita ese “es el prota/amigo cercano del prota/personaje con nombre completo, no va a morir”, de alguna forman ayudan a consolidar la historia de una serie… o por lo menos, esa debe ser la teoría…

6 ya han sido completadas… faltan 11. ¿Podré hacer la hazaña de no tardarme más de 3 semanas en el post? ¡Descubra en 3 semanas la respuesta!.

Another newly announced figma! It’s Golgo 13! We finally see another male figma in a suit~

This dangerous guy, of the manga that started in the 60’s(!) will be released in August for 3800 Yen! A high price, I know, but that is because it’ll also get shipped with di:stage Basic!

di:stage are DIsplay STAGEs for figma’s and Nendoroids, which’ll you be able to buy starting next August for 580 Yen for the basic set. Instead of the regular bases with one hole, the whole thing is covered with them! They also come with poles and parts to build bigger stages and walls!

Golgo 13 will be released with this awesome room like setting. I wonder if it’s pre-cut, or you get sheets to build it yourself.

I seems they’ll be releasing a lot of backgrounds~ I’m sure there’ll also be a lot of fan created ones as well and I personally can’t wait for them!