Anime World Order Show # 72 – Have Another Lead Enema

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With Anime Weekend Atlanta mere DAYS away, we managed to get this one edited in between the time spent scrambling to get our panels all put together. Clarissa’s reviewing the BL manga Dog Style, Gerald reviews the terrible wannabe cyberpunk OAV Burn Up! which unfortunately got multiple sequels, and Daryl reviews the awesome non-wannabe cyberpunk OAV Cyber City Oedo 808 which unfortunately got no sequels at all.

Full show notes with pictures and stuff to be posted later. Maybe.

Introduction (0:00 – 29:58)
After lamenting our inability to play children’s videogames, we answer a voicemail about “real giant robot shows,” which slightly confuses us. Hopefully we answered the question. We also read an email about our experience with seeing anime in theaters, which isn’t all that much. For those curious, here’s the IMDB page for the 2006 Danish animated movie “Princess.” Since this was recorded, we did actually get a copy of this movie, and you have our assurances that although there are some moments in it with live-action, it’s not another Rock-a-Doodle. We wrap things up with a quick overview of all the panels we’ll be doing at Anime Weekend Atlanta 2008. Spread the word!

Let’s News! (29:58 – 54:44)
So there was this MSNBC article about anime that has the Internet in a buzz right now, and rather than just say what everyone everywhere’s already said, we decided to interview TV’s Patrick Macias, who was [mis]quoted in the article, to get to the bottom of how it came about, what got misrepresented, and even what it got right. The audio quality on this segment isn’t very good, we know. We blame Patrick for pounding on the table constantly. Just like we blame him for everything. Here’s “The Incredibly Strange Mutant Creatures who Rule the Universe of Alienated Japanese Zombie Computer Nerds (Otaku to You),” the article we mentioned from the March/April 1993 issue of Wired (the first issue) as being where the “otaku = techno-geek” notion came about. Though as Lawrence Eng astutely notes in the comments, it is preceded by this December 1990 article entitled “I’m Alone But Not Lonely: Japanese Otaku-Kids colonize the Realm of Information and Media, A Tale of Sex and Crime from a Faraway Place.”

Review: Dog Style (54:44 – 1:13:10)
Mara from the Providence Anime Conference sent us a voicemail in response to the podcast from “the 25th, which was yesterday.” What that actually means is that it’s a voicemail in response to the podcast from July 25th, which was not yesterday. In fact, it was the podcast from July 25th, 2007. We just forgot to play the message. For a year. PAC’s actually happening in about two weeks, so we figured this was the absolute latest time to actually put this thing into the show. Mara sincerely hopes the con doesn’t end up being nothing but sleaze and porn, so it’s only natural that we relay that sentiment right before Clarissa reviews one of Modoru Motoni’s BL manga offerings. Like Poison Cherry Drive, Dog Style was released by Media Blasters through their Kitty Media label. So far Volume 1 and Volume 2 are out, with the third volume to be released in the future. This review’s a little short, so if you want more Clarissa, check out the latest episode of Destroy All Podcasts DX where they reviewed Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack. Granted, it should have been Daryl on this one as he’s the one who’s seen the movie the most times, but Jeremy really wanted a girl on the show. Does that make Jeremy the John McCain of anime podcasting? We’re pretty sure the answer is yes.

Review: Burn Up! (1:13:10 – 1:36:05)
Gerald plunges into the depths of the “the world should’ve forgotten about this” pit to bring us this 1991 OAV that was somehow so popular in the US, we got three followups made to it. And two of those were TV series. In our entire lives, we have never seen anyone who genuinely LIKES Burn Up!, so it is a complete mystery as to how this came about. Pay special attention to the dub of this one, as it was one of the first dubs made by AD Vision, as they were known at the time. Don’t worry: we’ve got sound bites! Due to some level balance mishaps, Clarissa’s audio on this portion is much lower than everyone else’s, but you should still be able to hear her if you BELIEVE IN THE FUTURE:

Promo: OSMcast (1:36:05 – 1:36:52)
Five months this podcast has been out and they have not one, not two, but THREE serviceable promos? And we’ve been around what, almost three years now and we still have the one crummy one? CURSE YOU, REED RICHARDS! [shakes fist] At least, we assume he’s to blame as this is run by a fantastic four! True to the name, this show’s about everything “awesome,” and then some. I say “and then some” since they did episodes about Smash Brothers Brawl, Rock Band, and Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles. Also, Indy IV. Still, give them a shot since their show actually comes out each week. Whatta concept!

Review: Cyber City Oedo 808 (1:36:52 – 2:18:36)
Daryl tried to shorten this review. Really, he did. But he didn’t have it in him to make this one single segment shorter than your typical entire episode of Fast Karate for the Gentleman, especially not where Yoshiaki Kawajiri is concerned. But unlike all the previous Kawajiri-related AWO segments, this one’s not actually a scene-by-scene description of what happens in it. In fact, it might just be Kawajiri’s best work, which is why it’s odd that hardly anybody ever remembers it. Not even us, until we did the review! That is a damn crime for which we should be locked up in orbital space prison for three centuries, but fortunately we’re all out on parole doing podcasts in exchange for reduced time. For every minute of edited podcast we release, we get time off our sentences. Now you know why the episodes run so long!

This is Shunsuke Sengoku. That’s a jitte he’s holding. I don’t remember if you could pick up jitte in the Neo-Geo side-scrolling beat-em-up that was also named Sengoku, where ninja and cowboys fought side by side. I played a lot of Shogun: Total War back in the day, and so I know the word “sengoku” refers to “the country at war” when all those daimyo were fighting over control of Japan. We need a sequel to that game.

This is his gun. You mean to tell me they can make TWO TV shows out of Burn Up!, but nothing for Cyber City Oedo? This is already all the premise one needs!

This is Gabimaru Rikiya, but nobody ever calls him that in the show itself. He’s just “Goggles” or “Go-gl” or what have you. In addition to being a cyber hacker, he’s also a former boxer. Or at least I assume that since he decides the best way to defeat evil robots is to PUNCH THEM.

Put your peen away: THAT’S A DUDE. Merrill Yanagawa aka Benten does not ride a space motorbike and have a chain wrapped around his chest, but he wields MONOFILAMENT WIRE~! which automatically makes him the best character. On second thought, take your peen back out.
For a cop, you sure don’t know much; those are Cyberjunkies! Oh wait, this isn’t the Streamline dub of 8 Man After. This is a fine representation of what the cyber criminals look like. Notice the Hokuto no Ken thug motif present throughout this cartoon. Further proof of its quality, I tell you.
Wait a second, is that…Donna Troy?!

Nothing better exhibits Yoshiaki Kawajiri’s unmatched talent for character and fashion design than this Brigitte Nielsen lookalike, but giving the Shoryuken to the robot won out for being the embedded image in the MP3.

There is no “witty” caption I can offer to this picture of a cyborg sabertoothed tiger chargin’ his laser. Either you instantly want to see this anime or you do not.

Amazon has a few copies of the DVD left in their zShops. If you’re wondering why they never wore those uniforms they’re sporting on the cover ever again after the first episode, it’s because Kawajiri decided they looked stupid after all.

Closing (2:18:36 – 2:22:15)
The next episode of AWO hopefully shouldn’t take TOO long since after AWA we’re just about done as far as anime con season goes. Gerald’s going to be reviewing the Witchblade anime, and despite having bought every volume of this series as FUNimation released it, he was able to mentally block out the Gonzo logo that’s on all the packaging and is displayed at the start of each disc. Perhaps he was looking at something else! Daryl’s reviewing the 3-part OAV Strait Jacket, soon to be released by Manga Video, and Clarissa’s reviewing the highly infectious Moyashimon: Tales of Agriculture, which for incomprehensible reasons has been licensed by absolutely nobody. It’s all about bacteria, so see you next “decultured”!