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Omonomono

A Gundam Seed Destiny Emergency

Just in today: Animazement announces the appearance of Mitsuo Fukuda, the director of the famous Gundam Seed and Gundam Seed Destiny series.

That means I will actually have to attend the Gundam panel. Guh.

I’m praying that a lynch crowd will be there and ready to move into action…would be entertaining to say the least. Animazement is not a con known for big crowds for its Japanese guests.

And just to keep people updated: while we don’t know for sure if our panel at Otakon will materialize (that’s up to Otakon’s panel department), we will go ahead and give it the good ole try.

Animazement へ…

Just a heads up, next week I’ll be very busy and (maybe) not post very much. I usually avoid this kind of a post but it’s something relevant for the average reader here, I guess.

The 11th Animazement (AZ) commences the same time as Fanime on the west coast, which is Memorial Day weekend in America. Hopefully I will be there. And get to meet one of the sexiest voice in anime voice acting, IMHO. (Even if you disagree, you can’t deny that her homepage is one of the funniest Japanese personality homepage around, with sound enabled). Then again, she was the voice of the Japanese dub for this character, so I can’t be the only one who thinks this.

And there’s more. It’s a bit of a vacation for me as well, just finishing up a tough stretch of work/professional life. Ugh.

Too bad AZ is in North Carolina, which is pretty darn far for most people East Coast, let alone non-east-coast, ironically. Any of you attending?

And more importantly, now that AZ is shaping to be the premiere old-school voice actor’s club from Japan, anyone got any nice dirt or good questions for not just Mitsuishi, but any of the other attendees? I’m a fish out of water here; I don’t even know where to begin to bring loot to get signed for the whole crew. These guys are veterans with a lot of solid, popular shows under their belts, and I’m just not a big old-school person. Nonetheless, I hope it’ll be fun and educational.

It seems like I gotta do my “con homework” even if it’s like, vacation. Sigh.

Momotato Is…

Some things in life are just hard to put into words. Momotato is one of those things.

Sure, for most people, Momotato is this guy who used to blog (although technically he still does) about anime, Japanese pop music, and some random game stuff. And being one of the earlier anime bloggers who wrote about proto-news, his influence on the fledgling online blogging community in English-language-land is actually more far-fetched than one would imagine an owner of a dead blog.

But to me, he’s a friend I’ve known for some time. And he’s a pal. Despite his eccentricities, there’s an undeniable charisma about him which makes his opinions somehow always better than most people’s opinion about the same thing, even with the same opinion! He did not need pretty pictures or a 12th grade vocabulary to convey heartfelt ideas, even if he had those. There’s a trace of humility entwined with experience in every wisdom-laced review he posts on a humbly designed, pre-Web 2.0 homepage. It was admirable, and to me he’s managed to accomplish something that few I know was able to do so–to cause ruckus out of building bridges between fans who share the same passions, rather than divisive drama spoken from some ego-filled hot -air-balloon/soapbox.

Even so, I don’t think I’ve gotten close to capture the essence behind why a small group of people are so hyped up on Momotato. He’s just a fan much like you and me, after all.

Perhaps he is the everyfan?

I’d like to take this opportunity to (try to) embarrass him, but also to let him know how many of us still appreciate him. And also for me to get a better idea just how many people who appreciate him. You can do this by leaving a comment on a blog. Any blog. Like this Anime Blog Award vote thing that’s going to end today. Just post “Momotato” in the comments.

The Basics of Basics – Mid-Season Update

I’ve been busy lately; and during this time I appreciate my anime viewing habits all the more.

In some ways, as adults, anime is a luxury that few can afford in excess–and it’s not so much a cost issue but a time and effort issue. Thanks to things like fansubbing and lawless digital distribution a person like me can afford both the technical complexity (like, not have to deal with DRM) and easy access to a large library of works. With the help of my anime-watching brethren, bloggers, and like-minded internet peeps, I can even fine-tune my selection with helps of all kinds of review websites, blogs, and old fashion word-of-mouth.

And because my anime watching is limited I treasure the few shows I get to watch even more. It’s lovely how scarcity makes you look at something in a different light.

I wish I also had the time to share all my insights, but why blog when I don’t even have the time to watch the show I like? It’s a puzzling dilemma.

Still, it’s important to sing praise where it’s due, so to get on with it:

Macross Frontier – Amusingly, despite its imperfections, it delivers. Maybe the magic behind Macross is that it is a fairly silly and flawed, but entertaining adventure with drool-worthy toys to sell and the generic aspiration of an (American) idol. And it just happens that idol entertainment is really in these days. Anyways, not complaining about how I love it when a plan comes together. Few franchises that span generations are so unashamed and so blatant. From the get-go we are asked which one to kiss!

Kurenai – Those who have traversed through the magical land of New York City of Red Garden can attest to how you take your weaknesses and forge them into new strengths in Kurenai. Granted we’re no longer talking about walking dead people but some kind of strange and mystical feudal Japan lineage problem, but its unique production style and sharing of artistic designs invariably link the two shows together. It’s even MORE like Gilmore Girls than ever before, which isn’t a bad thing per se. It just makes it no easier to stomach than Red Garden.

Kaiba – There’s just as much intrigue with this show as with Kurenai. The difference is that there’s only one-tenth of the dialog and one-half the laughs. It also reminds me I really should buy those Tweeny Witches DVDs. I have to say that I like this more though.

Tower of Druaga – How many people have actually played the original game? I have faint memories of it, but why would anyone evoke random 80s video game names with their shows? Leaving the novel release format aside, the show is a very hearty, non-serious adventure that should charm most viewers. And it is all about charm. For what it is worth I did buy the season pass for the show from Bost TV, even if somehow my home internet connection have problems with that site.

Code Geass R2 – Mai Hime of 2008. Now with more slutbiri.

Soul Eater – I can care less about shounen adventures but I really like stylish visuals and killer animation. Soul Eater delivers this in spades. In fact, it even knows that people don’t really care about shounen adventures.

Toshokan Sensou – If Tokyotosho goes to war, will you pick up your rifle? I jest, but between the great voice acting and the heart warming, but crappy excuse for character drama, I have unconsciously pushed this title on the top of the to-watch pile.

And I have a large to-watch pile. But a smaller pile of praises. So I’ll stop here.

Anime Blogging Nonsense

For once, I feel compelled to do something about the state of anime blogging.

Would anyone be interested in hosting a panel with me at Otakon? This is a somewhat serious commitment and the deadline for an application is the end of the month. I am in the process to evaluate if this is a worthwhile idea or not so I can accordingly decide the next step.

I realize while anime conventions are a part of the fan culture, the mixing of that and anime blogging has not really come to focus in the fore. One of the issues that could be discussed is exactly the scope of anime blogging. The everyday blogger writes about daily circumstances, and it’s not totally uncommon for someone to talk about or review an anime once a blue moon. Or manga. Or any other subject matter the usual “anime” blog scene cover. How is that different than an “anime blog” as we know it?

Should we talk about the style of blogging? Personally I take a very relaxed approach; a major advantage of blogging is the way it allows for the expression of individuality; at the same time, it is worthwhile to discuss the nature of such things in order to provide insight into how to get the most out of a blog as a blogger. As long as we can convey to people that ultimately a blog is whatever you make it, and defined categories are not all there is to anime blogging. At the same time, I am interested in how people think about this issue, if you have given it some thought.

Discussing such topics at a con also runs into the issue to get the audience involved, and I think that is why the idea is compelling. For one, a lot of con panels are really just pow-wow sessions for people on the internet to say hello to each other. Also how to entertain people may very well be an issue. I suppose I can start stretching and practice learning the crane kick. Anyways, I think this is only a good opportunity and worth all the potential work if other people can play both as panelists and audience.

At the same time, all this thinking makes me realize I’m pretty under-equipped with some of the basic blogging concepts. How do we discuss aggregation portals, scrubbing, or the technical ends of things? Managing traffic and generating it? Advertising? Well I guess I’m not clueless about all of those things but I’m certainly not confident and knowledgeable enough to host a panel. This is just another reason why I will need help.

And … yes. Help. If you are interested in this project (even if you may not be able to come to the panel), I can probably use it. Just ping me, email me, or otherwise leave a message.

Speaking of that, anyone else up for epic karaoke this Otakon?

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