So the gang you all know and love are back to discuss a few things with you guys as we go into our second Bloggers Discussion on topic ranging from anime (of course) to politics… in anime. I’ve got Mokuren, Devil Survivor, Z-Comix and me with the mic(s), So lets get ill’in.
Our (Main) Topics include:
-anime video games, the ones that come out here and the ones that don’t. – discuss how people react when they find out you like anime, being good or bad – what anime series we are watching at current -Bandai and the recent news concerning them. -how the character battle on aaa podcast is rigged (my personal question) -Funi is wanting to take whatever is left of the organism known formally as ADV for all its worth to court.
Not only that, we dive into the world of My Little Pony, cosplaying, the current presidential election and SOPA, the true ending to Crystal Triangle, Soul Bro Ryu for President, those annoying fanboys of Chiaki and SOOOO Much more!!!!
So once were done, we got straight outta the AAA and we were done for this segment.
Hey all you crazy anime addicts out there, its me coming at you once again, the most interesting man on the AAA network, Devil Survivor. I have an extremely interesting, yet disturbing, and maybe humorous topic for you today. Recently, a survey was commissioned by the Japanese government on the attitudes of Japanese men and women aged 16-49 towards sex. So let’s take a look at the results of this study. Starting with the men 16-19, 36.1 percent said that have little interest in sex or even despised it altogether. Wow, I’m shocked that a teenage boy would ever say he hates sex, its like a Republican politician saying he hates cheating on his wife then claiming he is a family values candidate. That figure is almost double the figure reported in a 2008 survey. This survey, which was conducted in September of 2010, also found that 83.7 percent of Japanese men that are turning 20 this year are not dating anyone, and a further 49.3 percent said they have never had a girlfriend. The findings for girls in the same age group unfortunately are no better; 59 percent of them felt similarly like the young men about sex, which was up 12 percent from 2008.
So what does this all mean, you might ask. Well according to Kunio Kitamura head of the clinic of the Japanese Family Planning Association says it seems to confirm the notion that Japanese younger men are becoming ” herbivores” meaning men who do not actively seek out women or sex. What we are seeing here I think is the collision of two social phenomena at play in Japanese society creating a tsunami of sexual apathy. Women in Japan have been gaining empowerment in society in the past couple decades making more money and getting higher on the professional ladder, and this has caused Japanese women to raise their expectations of what their potential husband should make at his job. This has in turn caused Japanese men to believe that the expectations of women are too unrealistic and they cannot possible make enough money in their jobs. So more and more men are turning other means of romantic engagement such as dating sims, anime character figures, sex dolls, and other such things. Add to this the already extremely low birth rate in Japan and the high average age of the population, which is 44.8 years old, and things are not looking good for the future of Japan.
Some other findings from the survey that are of note; 40.8 percent of married couples answered that they had not had sex in the last month, up from 36.5 percent in 2008. Almost 50 percent married couples older than 40 also reported that they had not had sex in the last month. Thus confirming the widely held belief that getting married kills an otherwise healthy sexual desire haha.
This is a major social problem for Japan in a number of ways. In terms of the workforce and having a ready a supply of new young workers it would be disastrous as the birth rate is well below replacement. National defense would also be compromised as its hard to maintain an armed forces without young people to fill out the ranks. The population is projected to shrink to about 95 million by 2050 and this would cause the Japanese economy to suffer worse than anything before. Correcting this isn’t easy will probably take a generation or so to see signs of change.
Here’s the original article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/14/japanese-men-losing-sex-d_n_809271.html
Disclaimer: The following is a work of fiction for the use of parody only. Any data or events cited are most likely pure fabrication. Please read for enjoyment and the satirical viewpoint, not for facts.
The following is a PSA from the Z-ComiX Medical Division:
Today we mourn the death of a dear anime character of whom many have known and loved and even cosplayed as. Today we have lost a remarkable swordsman who could take on many foes. Today we mourn the death of one Sagara Sanosuke from the manga and anime Rurouni Kenshi. He has left this world and gone onto the next, having fought a long battle with a disease that has plagued many an anime since long ago. This disease is called BFS, or the medical term Big F**king Sword.
Yes friends, it’s time to have a serious chat about BFS. In animes BFS has led to the death of many a character. In the case of Sanosuke, it hit him later in life; after year of muscle degeneration and back problems from using his sword, a massive blade known as the “Zanza” (his Zanbato), he finally succumb to the sheer weight of the situation and ripped many muscles and tendons all throughout his body. He was immediately taken to a hospital for treatment of his BFS only to die later that day.
Sanosuke had been struggling with BFS for years, but it has finally caught up with him. It’s too late for him, but there are many anime characters who are afflicted with BFS. Cloud from FinalFantasy, Zabuza from Naruto, Ichigo from Bleach, and even Inuyasha from Inuyasha All have some form of BFS. There are many individuals who go through life everyday carrying unreasonably large swords. There is no way that they can carry, let alone swing the swords the way they do. It is our job as anime viewers to bring to light the viewer-made gravity of BFS.
If you or an anime you know as BFS, there are steps you can take to help overcome this disease. First, the best way to counteract BFS is to point at the sword and point out all the obvious flaws with it. Some phrases that may work to alleviate the problem are “that sword is too massive to work in reality,” “the writers should have realized that there is no way someone could swing a blade that big” or my personal favorite “FAKE!” If this doesn’t work to fix the problem immediately, you need straight to go into step two; tell everyone you know about the BFS. Dictate to them how the sword isn’t realistic in unnecessarily detailed arguments. If they tell you that it is an anime and should not be taken so seriously and to just enjoy it, slap them across the face and tell them that they are wrong and that it does matter and that they just don’t care about good animes like D.I.C.E. and Duel Masters.
You are the only one who can fix this problem and change the mind of an entire franchise by airing your grievances. BFS and other unrealistic things in the unrealistic worlds of animes are plaguing the industry. You need to point this out to everyone repeatedly so that they all know how much anime should model real life. After all, animes are made in order to teach people about the real world and to be as accurate as possible in terms of reality.
Greetings and salutations, all you anime crack addicts anonymously looking for your next fix of deliciously, deviant, and decadent animated narcotic. Today I’m going to return a topic I talked to about in a previous post way back in September of last year; the Nintendo 3DS. However, this time I’m going to add in another element, the Playstation Vita now that its out. I’m going to be a comparison of the two on certain levels, but also an update of somethings I addressed last time and some extreme claims about the Vita.
Last time I discussed how a lot of people on the internet where predicting the doom of Nintendo and the 3DS because of the massive drop in sales about 5 months after the launch which was mishandled(if anyone can point to a really solid launch for a game console please mention it the comments). So time has shown that either is true, of course although I’m aware that the Nintendo prediction is kind of open ended because a company’s future is always up in the air, however the 3DS one has proved to be very wrong. Over the Holiday Season the 3DS sold almost 1.6 million units and the weeks following have been strong as well. Add that to the fact the 3DS sold more units in the first 8 months in the U.S. than the DS. One thing I was wrong about in the last article was my prediction of a possible redesign of the system which didn’t come about(yet) maybe because the sales have rebounded. I around thing I predicted was if a bunch of quality first party games would come out they the sales would go up; and that’s what has happened with the Mario and Mario Kart games. There are also some great three party stuff like the Monster Hunter game and more coming.
Ok on to Vita, and with its recent release in Japan on Dec.17th out of the way it looked pretty impressive with first weekend sales of 320,000. However, after that the sales have dropped off a lot and have been below the PSP. So now people predicting the end of Vita already. I really wish people would not make such wild and unfounded predictions about the future of a product that just came out. I think I Vita will pick up in the coming months, it might take a price cut, but I’m sure it will in the end. The launch library was kinda underwhelming even though there was an Uncharted game, but I think was better then the 3DS’s launch line up. Just give Vita some time.
Well Happy (LAAAAAAAAAAATE) New Years to you guys as I am going to kick off the 2012 year with even more drinking and losing track of time in front of my TV. So, after a few shots of strong whiskey and experiencing another lonely New Years Eve, only to watch Dick Clark “old as dirt” face on the tube, it was time to pop in another random anime tape. By the time I used my last bit of conscious to hit the “Play” button before being overtaken by the devils liquor, I soon found myself in the middle of the desert, with nothing in sight but some old piece of technology that has been rotting on this desolate place for centuries it seems. After investigating the wreckage, behold, a large white mechanical suit popped out from the sand, that looks like it was a defect Metal Gear unit that Kojima didn’t see a purpose to add in his Metal Gear series. The machine spoke to me, saying he has been buried in the sand for something of a thousand years, and waiting for a life form to become his new pilot. He told me his name was Shaian, and opened the cockpit like hatch on his right side of his mech chest unit. “Oh…great, this again…” as I told myself, because I already knew what was going to happen. So, let’s get this booze dream over and done with in this review of Dragon’s Heaven.
I am actually going to do this review a bit different. So, instead of me explaining half the story and saying “hey, screw you and go out there and find it yourself” (like I enjoy doing), I will do a brief review this time to make it easy on you guys, and on myself also. So, let’s dive into this world of robot loving women, 80’s mecha designs, and all around short (and enjoyable) OVA of Dragon’s Heaven.
The OVA starts out with a brief history lesson of a war long forgotten, back in the (or should I say way ahead in the future) year of 3195, where we got robots fighting other robots on the planet Earth (there is a Brazil in this anime, so I will have to use my gut instinct and say Earth). We then hear of the robot back story of Shaian, who cannot return to his home world due to his pilot dying on him in battle and decides to go into robot sleep till whenever. We cut to the current (WAY FUTURE) time and see a rider on some weird looking ostrich animal going through the barren desert, when they go to a wreckage site and see a relic of the past that catches the riders attention. Soon after checking out the wreckage, we see a computer screen appear on screen with the text “Life Form” written, and we see our robot protagonist appear, Shaian. Shaian states that he has been in “robot sleep” for around a millennium when he awakens, and we find out who our mysterious rider is, our human female protagonist Ikaru. From then on, the story takes them into Shaian past and to fight his old robot rival, El Madine.
This is a very short OVA, so your looking at 30 minutes of the actual show, then credits, then about 10 minutes of a documentary at the end. How the actual OVA starts out is there is a 5 minute live action scene at the beginning between animatronic robots that are featured in the anime itself, who look like they are about to throw down right when the anime starts. I have to give the people behind the live action opening some credit, seeing how this was 1988, and if not most of the money went to the animation production than making the animatronic robots, they used what they had to make garage kits of the mechs themselves to try something different. In its own way, it does look really cool. And we get to see the title of the anime that seemed to be made out of a block of steel, rather cool looking. Then ending is just more of a “behind the scenes” look at what they did to make the robots move in the opening, which was recorded at a garage somewhere in Japan. I would have to say the opening sequence and the robots themselves were probably done by the director of this anime, Makoto Kobayashi.
This anime also has its amuzing moments where Shaian is embaressed by Ikaru being nude, and where Ikaru has the hots for Shaian rival when Shaian shows her the picture of the robot. Its like there is this underline theme of “chicks dig robots” in a minor way, for a comical effect that is amusing. The animation and mechanical designs are very unique for its time, which gives this OVA that genuine feel of 80’s nostalgia when you see this. Also to add is Ikaru body armor design when she goes against El Madine with its crazy design of clay looking spike high top boots, spiky knee guards and circular shoulders makes it more unique when it comes to the design work of this anime. There is much more to say when it comes to locations and what not, so keep your eyes peeled. The soundtrack has that 80’s synth pop to it also that kinda stays with you when you watch this.
I would say if you care to check this out, I will be worth your time. Its short, sweet and very too the point. It is available over at Anime Classic Reviews if you care to check it out. Well, I told you this would be shorter, so hope you enjoyed it.
Hey everyone. It’s a new anime season, so I talk a little bit about the ones that have piqued my interest, and also give excuses as to why I haven’t finished Cowboy Bebop yet. WOOHOO!
Recently I was looking for news topics on anime for my next post when something caught my eye. A post by Shubhajit Roy over at India Express, although unassuming in nature, caught my eyes and my heart when I read the title. The post was entitled “Japan Pushes Anime for Indian Kids”[1] and being half Indian and an anime addict I was quick to jump on the post… 9 days after it was posted.
In his article, Roy speaks about how both the Japanese and Indian Prime Ministers were in talks to “strengthening of cooperation in creative industries… animation and manga.” Roy also writes that when addressing the good people of Delhi(no not a meat shop, the capital of India folks), Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Nado stated this:
“Adults may be unaware of it, but I understand that Japanese Anime is quite popular here.”
To me this was a surprise, as I have never actually met any Middle Eastern people who like manga or anime, except for the occasional Deviant Art artist. In fact, Roy cites that India is actually a growing market of anime and Japanese products, having 40 to 70 Japanese animations exported fromJapantoIndiaevery year! vice secretary general of the Association of Japanese Animation, Eiji Takahashi, has been working on relations with India as is working with companies such as Toei Animation to bring anime to India. Older readers may remember Toei Animation as the guys who brought us Sailor Moon and Dragonball Z, two shows that helped pave the way for many anime fans inAmerica. That said, having done this before, Toei Animation is the best choice if we want to see anime take root in India. Takahashi has also gone on record, saying that anime exported toIndiawill have good dubbing, a problem that turns off many viewers to this day. It is also should be noted that even though India has not put any restrictions up, Japanese companies will be exporting cleaned up versions of shows such as the removal of guns and sexual scenes. Being Indian myself I can see that this was a smart move for Japan as those things can and would be very offensive and cause many problems for anime in India.
Now, one of my complaints about anime is the representation of, or the lack thereof, races and religions that are not the standard set withinJapan. Of course, in my teenage mind this only pertains to Indians or really anyone from theMiddle East. I’ve seen “stereotypes” from the man with a grey beard, white clothes and a turban to a little girl with an accent, red don’t on her forehead and makes weird robotics or some sort of, what I guess is “Hindi voodoo.” I am however able to forgive these caricatures of people of my race since Japan isn’t Indi aand therefore really has no reason to insert individuals whom they do not necessarily understand into their media. Even so, I still yearn for good Indian characters in anime. That is why when I heard in a recent article thatJapanis working on a cricket anime for India based off of hit manga Koyjin no Hoshi I was ecstatic.
Apparently, as seen in Catherine Makino’s article “Anime Baseball Hero Transforms into Cricket Champion”[2] on Majirox News, Japan plans to release a 26 to 52 episode anime based on the hit manga in the form of cricket in the Fall season of this year. The following is an excerpt that explains the premise of the anime:
“The Indian version will be called Rising Star. The hero, who has tentatively been given the name of Salaji, is a young, left-handed southpaw cricketer who wants to follow in the footsteps of his cricket player father and make it in the big leagues.”
The success of this show, Makino points out, will be on how well they can reskin the manga’s ideas around cricket. Cricket is a very complex sport and is difficult to learn, let alone play. A game of cricket can take days to complete, as opposed to baseball where it is for 9 innings. Also, India has grown up on mostly American animation and comics, and not the newer kind. We’re talking Golden Age, CaptainAmericavs Nazis, Superman leaping over buildings in a single bound, Smiling Batman comics. The idea of a non-super-powered protagonist may not appeal to the Indian audience even if cricket does. It’s going to be tough to hook people, but I’m hopeful that his will be a gateway for more!
The export of anime toIndiais great for both sides as it opens a new frontier forJapanto make money and gives India new form of media that may be better than anythingAmericaputs out inIndia. I personally am looking forward to all this and will watch the first episode of Rising Star when it airs, although not in Hindi since I only know Urdu. Keep your eyes open because if What happened in America and in Japan when Anime was brought over happens to India we may see some awesome new animes that may even feature an Indian protagonist too!
Disclaimer: Today’s post is based on a true event. Arguments and point-of-view in this article should first and foremost be understood as political satire. The writers’ mask set is that of parody and does not necessarily represent Z-ComiX’s views on the topic at hand. Z-ComiX is a writer for AAAPocast, but this does not mean that his views are the same as those of AAAPodcast as a whole. All products, articles and images belong to their respective owners. Please understand this and enjoy this article for its satire.
Photoshopped image from the scene of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Characters from left to right: Tsugumi Aoba(Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens), Lelouch Vi Britannia (Code Geass), A Gundam (Gundam), Victorique de Blois (Gosick), and Sir Lancelot (Money Python and the Holy Grail).
Bandai has announced that they would no longer be localizing any of their products in North America. Products such as the anime Gosick, the manga Mobile Suit Gundam 00I, and the novel Code Geass: R2 will no longer be exported to North America.
What. The. Heck. Come on Bandai, what gives? You’re going to stop producing products for America? What about your fans? What about all the viewers who found you from watching your product online, or the rippers who scan your products in Japanese and then get translators and subbers to put them into English form and release to us for free? What about all the pirates who are taking your product and distributing it online? You callous and insensitive company.
At first I was going to forgive them because I though they were going out of business, but then I read this quote by a writer from Kotaku, Charles Maib.
“Bandai Entertainment isn’t going out of business. They’re a pretty big company and have a market far beyond that of the United States; but their actions do serve as a red flag as to what’s on the horizon unless the fan community stops it’s selfish and destructive behavior. If we examine the actions of the last 20 years, and put our own selfish desires to the side we can see that the only thing fan translated anime, manga, and games serve to advance is our own desire of want. It does not help the industry, it does not call positive attention to our hobbies, and while it may attract a small number of new consumers, more often than not these new faces will continue to feed on free pirated content because that’s how they were turned on to it in the first place”[1]
What took away from this is that Bandai doesn’t are that we, the fans, love their material so much we decided to distribute it for them! I mean, they are a large company and all so what is the problem if a few million people what their stuff for free online? Even though it is much more profitable to make the anime of other markets, North America needs it too. How else are we going to be able to put up good dubs for the viewers who hate to read?
What gets me even angrier is what the Bandai Representative Ken Iyadomi said on the issue in Justin Sevakis and Christopher Macdonald’s article over at Anime News Network.
“…the broader reasons are quite clear from the outside. The physical anime business in North America has shrunk substantially over the last five years, and shows no sign of returning to its former glory. “A couple of times we were hit with huge returns, and the financial result was pretty bad,” Iyadomi admits. Still, he believes the division might have been able to keep going for a few more years, had the SBU allowed it.”[2]
SEE?! IF they allowed it! Even if the industry isn’t growing because people are using the internet to view your product in its entirety before you even have time to decide to localize it is no reason to pull your products from North America. I feel bad for every fan who now can no longer buy the products that they could easily watch online for free.
Bandai is making a clear statement to its N.A. fans. “We can only provide a product for you if you go out and buy it.” But we the fans have found an easier way; we have the internet, the provider of a free version of everything. Its like druggies and drug dealers; why would they buy your product, when they can get it free from a shady alley? Bandai is doing what any drug king pin would do at this point; go to another location and sell their product to a better market.
Disclaimer: The following is a work of fiction for the use of parody only. Any data or events cited are most likely pure fabrication. Please read for enjoyment and the satirical viewpoint, not for facts.
17 year old David Newgen woke up on a typical morning to find that everything he knew and loved was a lie. After years of watching horrible anime he had finally come to terms with his problem.
“It was like someone had taken everything I knew about anime and turned it all into new episodes of Pokémon… and before today, I would have said that was awesome!”
What led David to this epiphany? A few days ago, while choosing some new anime shows to watch one of his friends told him to broaden his horizons. Up to that day he had only watched harem animes and shows like the newer Pokémon episodes. When someone introduced a show like Monster he saw a new genre that put his other shows to shame.
“I mean… Really there was a BIG difference. Story, characters, plot development. I thought I knew everything there was about anime, but I was wrong.”
There have been many cases similar to David‘s situation. People are afraid of opening their horizons when it comes to anime. Whether it is the transition from Romance to Action or from Old to New anime, people can and will only learn what kind of anime they like from viewing all types of anime. Once someone has sampled enough anime, then they can really see for themselves if they really like an anime or not.
“It’s not like I’ve given up on shows on the shows I used to love, it’s just now I know that there are shows out there that also appeal to me and help me gauge which shows I really would enjoy. I can watch a show like Trigun and still love a show like Love Hina.”
Hey triple A community, its me Devil Survivor, the most interesting man on the AAA Network, and I’m finally back with a new blog entry. Today I’m going to shine the anime spotlight on the 1980’s classic mecha show Aura Battler Dunbine. Dunbine was directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, who is best known for directing the original Gundam series and a lot of other great anime series. Dunbine was the first fantasy\mecha series which inspired other series such as Escaflowne. It ran for 49 episodes and spawned three OVA sequels; Aura Battler Dunbine: Tale of Neo Byston Well , Tales From Byston Well: Garzey’s Wing, and The Wings of Rean. However, it should be noted that all three are considered to be of inferior quality to the original series. Let’s get into the story.
The setting for the story is in the parallel world of Byston Well which is kind of similar to 16 century Europe, but with one major difference; Aura technology, which allows machines to be built using life force as a power source. Chief among these machines are the Aura Battlers, insect like robots with great destruction power. The story centers around Sho Zama, a Japanese motocross racer who one night is pulled into Byston Well by a magical fairy called a Ferario to serve as pilot of a Aura Battler called the Dunbine. One of the several monarchs in Byston Well, Drake Luft has been maneuvering for sometime to attempt a power play and seize control of the surrounding kingdoms. Part of his plans involve transporting people from Upper Earth, including Sho, because they have strong aura power. Another person brought down to Byston Well to pilot a battler is Todd Guinness , the trash taking, racist, ace pilot from Boston. He becomes the main rival for Sho. Burne Bannings is Drake’s right hand man and the general of his forces,however he does not have must in the way of piloting skill. Sho eventually discovers the evil intent of Drake’s plans and defects to a group led by a noble opposed to Drake, named Nie Givun. Among this group is another person kidnapped from Upper Earth, Marvel Frozen a former cop from Texas. They along with their allies embark on a guerrilla war against Drake and to gather other kingdoms in an alliance to thwart the ambitions of Drake. After a long war in Byston Well, the story shifts to Upper Earth at the mid point of the series. Some people have criticized the series for the slow pacing in the Earth arc, but for me I think the second half of the show moves along fine, albeit with some rough spots.
Overall, Aura Battler Dunbine is a classic piece of mecha anime and one of better works of Yoshiyuki Tomino, which is saying a lot considering all the exceptional shows he has created and directed. I really enjoyed in when I watched it in 2009. So I would recommend it to any fan of mecha or fantasy anime. You can find reviews of each episode on the MAHQ website at this link: http://www.mahq.net/animation/dunbine/abdunbine/dunbinetoc.htm
Until next time, say addicted my friends. Devil_Survivor
