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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From ANN -

1st Live-Action Dragonball Poster with Son Goku Posted (Updated)

…posted the first poster from the Dragonball live-action film that features a main character on Friday. The poster portrays Canadian actor Justin Chatwin (War of the Worlds, The Invisible, Lost television series), who stars as Son Goku…

Ray’s take: Uh, animation can get away with a lot of things where live action films can’t. Don’t they get it? God damn it’s not a racing anime! I mean, I mean…Gosh, I just can’t watch this at all. The costumes look cheesy as hell with actual people wearing them, and I shudder to image the hair of Vegeta on a real person…However, Shoto-tan maybe thrilled to see it…But I’m seriously disturbed.

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TOKYO–SHAFT, the studio responsible for creating “ef–a tale of memories,” has said that the sequel series entitled “ef–a tale of melodies” will not only feature most of the same staff, but will also include “bonus artsiness waves” that will emanate from the screen to the viewer.

Scientists studying “artsiness waves” said that their primary effects include tickling the part of the brain that sees overarching themes and patterns, as well arousing emotions that induce intellectual egotism and a sense of superiority over others. A side effect included the sudden desire to drink lattes at indie coffee shops and to watch French movies whilst wearing a beret. Scientists are also studying why it also produces desires to post five page essays on blogs after exposure.

“This is an exciting new development,” director Shin Oonuma told Believe What You Hear. “We couldn’t help but notice that the kind of people who really appreciated the first series were into the experimental style that me and my staff applied to an otherwise pretty but ho-hum eroge. We noticed, too, that the anime bloggers who loved it the most really seemed to get off on analysis. So we figured–why leave it to the poseurs? Why not send everybody into that state of mind?

“Let me read you just one example of the kind of stuff we want to see a lot more of,” Oonuma continued. “Blogger ‘Michael’ states that:

It is like a dream: a series of moments both strange and memorable, passing through the filter of the mind’s eye that, with a little direction, arrange themselves into patterns and meanings whose sum is greater than the parts. This series’ melange of art, memory, dream, and sorrow is a creative triumph and is, for me, the best anime I’ve seen this year.

“I gotta tell you, I creamed my pants after I read that. This is exactly the sort thing I wanted people to feel after watching my shows. I want everyone to write pretentious crap like that about me.”

Oonuma and his staff made this decision after seeing that Kaiba, an experimental show from the Spring 2008 season, was having much success with anime bloggers in using the same artsiness waves. However, the first director who started the trend, Hideaki Anno, has made a public statement saying that he regrets using them in the Evangelion TV series and End of Eva movie. “After seeing that my biggest fans were pathetic pseudo-intellects who picked at every nosehair on Lilith to find some bigger religious meaning, I gave up,” he said. “I’m remaking the Eva movies now to repent of my sins.” He then proceeded to flip a middle finger at the press and stalk off, muttering, “Too bad.”

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From ANN -

Second Strawberry Marshmallow Video Anime Announced

…, a second Ichigo Mashimaro (Strawberry Marshmallow) original video anime project was announced at the Rondo Robe 2008 event…Tokyopop has been publishing the manga in North America, and Geneon Entertainment (USA) released the television series on DVD.

Ray’s take: So, like little elementary school girls doing nothing? Like Noto Mamiko and Kawasumi Ayako playing kids? Finding baby-like chubby faces cute? #%&#^$^@$$#%@#@??? Well than, stay tuned!

Actually, watching kids doing silly things is funny.

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From ANN -

Akiba-chan CG/Stop Motion Series to Debut in July

…will premiere on Japan’s KIDS STATION channel on July 24. The “figu-mation” series focuses on the daily life of Akiba-chan and…

Ray’s Take: So I guess it’s now cool to train your kids to know the way of the Otaku when they are young. After all, why not try to mellow them out before they start stabbing people with knives, chopping off the heads of their fathers with axes, shooting their classmates with guns, and all that junk? Let Akiba-oneesama teach you how to date girls on PCs and how to put powerful women on pedestal and worship moe-moe young girls. It’s all fun and games. Good times, good times. I’m certainly looking forward to watch this one.

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From Yahoo! News -

7 dead in stabbing spree in downtown Tokyo

TOKYO - A man plowed into shoppers with a truck Sunday and then stabbed 17 people within minutes, killing at least seven of them in a grisly attack that shocked a country known for its low crime rate.The lunchtime violence in the Akihabara district, a popular electronics and video game area, sent thousands of people fleeing…

Ray’s Take: (NOT A SERIOUS NOTE) God damn it! Some sort of evil organization sent one of its minions for a different kind of terrorism attack (well, people ARE fearing) on our Holy Land! Fuck! Let’s send Sailor Moon to save people from being possessed by Daemons! Have Section 9 track down the heads of the organization! Where are our defenders and heroines when we need them? Has evil finally invaded the last of the purest places on this worthless piece of shit planet for uncle and aunt Otakus? Arise, citizens of the Holy Tribe! It’s time for us to take over the world and govern it with our self-fulfilling love and our lack of guts, courage and strength, so that every man will be a wimp too scared to commit crimes and every woman will be fujoshi! Banzai! Banzai! Banzai!

Ray’s Take 2: (A SERIOUS NOTE) There are real evil out there on this planet. Even the place where we call “paradise” cannot avoid being invaded by evil. We at the Anime Diet mourns over the 7 possibly Otaku comrades and may God bless their souls and comfort their grieving friends and family - yes, even Otakus have friends and families.

And I hope the damned idiot dream about yoma eating his guts every night and hallucinates about getting his skull bashed in by a loli-angel with a spiked club every waking moment!

Also thanks to Zel from the MAL News Team.

Editor’s Note: Mike from our staff has already written an excellent piece about it here.

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From the New York Times:

TOKYO – A 25-year-old man “tired” of life went on a killing rampage in a busy shopping area in central Tokyo on Sunday, plowing his truck into a crowd of pedestrians before stabbing passers-by with a survival knife. Seven people died and 11 others were injured in the attack.

The attack took place shortly after noon on a main thoroughfare that had been closed off to vehicles for the day in Akihabara, the main district for electronic goods in Tokyo and a magnet for fans of Japanese anime and manga comics. The location, as well as the number of fatalities, stunned a country that has long enjoyed low crime rates but has recently experienced random stabbings in less-high-profile areas.

The police identified the attacker as Tomohiro Kato, who was living by himself in a small apartment in Shizuoka, a prefecture just west of Tokyo.

According to the Japanese media, Mr. Kato told the police that he had grown “tired” of life, “hated the world” and had gone to Akihabara to kill people.

“Anyone was O.K.,” he told the police, according to the Japanese media.

This mass murderer hit people like us in the place we would have felt safest. Especially with people who are typically not the most aggressive in society. That’s why it hurts so much, and we at Anime Diet send our thoughts, prayers, and grief to the epicentre and the birthplace of so much of our entertainment and joy.

It’s hard not to wonder, like I did initially during the Virginia Tech shootings (which took place in an Engineering building), whether this is something of a “geek hate crime” aimed specifically at otaku. From what we know now, it doesn’t appear to be, just as it wasn’t in VTech. The killer appears to be connected to the yakuza, and said “anyone would do.” It takes a special kind of callousness, I think, to simply pick out purely random victims, each of whom have names, have stories, have families and friends.

Sometimes in our concentration on our various anime and manga fantasies, we forget there are real people producing it, real people buying it. May all otaku worldwide unite in mourning and in solidarity with our fallen brothers and sisters in fandom.

These are the seven dead (from ANN):

• Katsuhiko Nakamura (male, 74 years old)
• Kazunori Fujino (male, 19)
• Kasuhiro Koiwa (male, 47)
• Naoki Miyamoto (male, 31)
• Takahiro Kawaguchi (male, 19)
• Mai Mutō (female, 21)
• Mitsuru Matsui (male, 33)

As a minister-to-be, I would like to offer the same prayer that I offered after the Virginia Tech massacre, from the Book of Common Prayer.

Today we are reminded, O God, of the slaughter of the holy innocents of Bethlehem by King Herod. Receive, we pray, into the arms of your mercy all innocent victims; and by your great might frustrate the designs of evil ones and establish your rule of justice, love and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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Now that the Democratic primary process is over and there is a clear winner, the divided party needs to get back together. And, as we know, the solution has always been becoming anime characters and dancing to a bright, chirpy, techno J-pop-sounding song. They even somehow got Clinton to wear a skirt rather than a pantsuit, which must have been some magic indeed. After this dance, we know the party will be united as one in peace-u, love-u and great justice.

Of course, if you really want a change in Washington, you need to vote for me! Obama may offer “change we can believe in,” but Ikari “Mike” Gendo offers change you will believe in–or else.

HT: Alafista. For actual anime examples of Caramelldansen, see Gundam 00, Clannad, Haruhi, and Code Geass. No actual political endorsement is implied. Except for me, of course.

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Tokyo, Japan, 06.05.2008 - Apparently the news is already one day late, but sources indicate that some Japanese uploaders at large have formed a group to promote legal uses of uploading. The members call themselves 関東のアップローダ共同体の友人 or “the Friends of Uploaders Consortium in Kanto”.

A member known only by the screen name, Asuka Soryu Sugoi told us in an encrypted email that the group formed mainly to promote distributions of raws of Japanese TV shows to further ensure the spreading and appreciation of the vastly unique Japanese culture. “We each bought so very much many copies of the shows we love after we uploaded our raws - yes! we record them off TV first and then upload them, but we love shows so much that each member have 3 copies of the same show on DVD for self use, go outside use, and lend use.”

Dochira Ume Megane Beryl, another member only known by screen name, contacted us by MSN Messanger: “There are many many many good uses for raws, all legal yes! Like use for study material for a research, discussions of fundamentally in depth elements of Japan culture, for learning Japanese classes, and other good things! No prosecution! No prosecution! Prosecution is bad, very bad, very worse!”

The two members above, Dochira Ume Megane Beryl and Asuka Soryu Sugoi, are preparing an online vid cast to all netizens, especially Japanese-Show-Lovers of the world, to discuss the benefits of uploading raws and using them legally. The site appears to be down for the moment (it may be up by the time you’re reading this). When we checked with them, they told us “Too too many hits. Can’t take. Try Fix now.”

They suggested another site for more information.

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I just saw an episode of Kelly Osborn in Japan and I felt that I was severely offended - they had her playing Lacus Clyne!

Not only was Ms Osborn fugly, disrespectful to the character and without understanding the cultural context, she got pissed and felt the activity made women into tramps.

I wonder why she bothered to go along with the cosplay activities including a photoshoot?

OK, so she’s daughter of Ozzie, so she’s supposed to be offensive, right? But hey, her dad bit off the head of a bat.

But this woman dressing up as Lacus Clyne? Disgusting, sickening, highly retarded, not to mention blasphemous and goddamn stupid.

Do not pick on aspect of other cultures without understanding it, especially the Otaku culture. This is why I fucking HATE normals. I wish they get the fucking hell out of Akiba permanently and do not be allowed to enter at all.

Hey, we poke fun at everybody’s culture here, INCLUDING OUR OWN but at the end of the day, we’re only joking.

But she wasn’t.

Just don’t fucking go along with the program if it feels wrong, stupid.

Not to mention she was fucking ugly in the costume.

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