Podcast: Download (Duration: 2:11:18 — 60.1MB)
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS
It’s been entirely too long since we’ve done any con reports. In fact, we owe about a year’s worth. But here’s our report for Otakon 2009 while it’s still fresh in our minds. Warning: in order to release this “on time,” we opted to more or less release the audio unedited. It’s rougher than we’d like.
Read our Otaku USA con reports for Otakon 2009, too! Daryl’s is here and Clarissa’s is here.
Still listening to the show as I write this. Even if you edited this your show would've been long. It aint AWO if it isn't 2 hours!
Just wanted to comment on the 18+ stuff. Or lack thereof it seems. I though mine would be the least dirty. I only had about 5 out of 9 or 10 scenes that were risky. If you guys are stepping it up next year I better compete. HAHA!
I shall continues to listen. Ah~ zombie conversation time.
Just saying, I love the unedited version. It really isn't as terrible as you make it out to be… save yourself some editing time, and keep giving us these longer episodes 😀
I'm glad that overall Otakon was good. I have been on college visits lately, so I couldn't go. Also paying off my car, so I can't afford to pay for admission or buy anything. But anyway, please come to Katsucon, I would have loved to see your panels this year and hope to see you in February or whenever it gets scheduled next. Thanks for being the most entertaining and informative podcast around.
Should have run the clip of Violence Jack slaughtering section B who were gang raping the women of section C in the Evil Town OVA. That's shonen isn't it?
Granted it is Otakon's fault regardless, I can understand why. From what I've heard, there were some cancellations, guests didn't commit until very late, and other issues that worsened the problem. This led to scrambling for filler guests, which is why, while I'm not complaining, we ended up with a weird lineup. Ishiguro and Fred Schodt are atypical for Otakon, as much as I loved them.
There's other areas in which Otakon staff messed up where they shouldn't with dumb mistakes and decisions, as they always do. Yay.
Hendane transports all their items with a huge van/truck. It's quite funny.
MELL did some of her newer mainstream J-pop songs, which I don't care for, though her songs I did like (Red Fraction and Virgin's High, for two) were great fun live. She didn't do the Hayate the Combat Butler op. That was KOTOKO, her fellow I've recording artist. Naomi Tamura and last year's JAM Project were the better concerts, even though MELL was still very nice to see.
Haha yes, do some insanely hardcore 18+ panel. I'd go in a heartbeat and crack up at the hilarity.
There were so many Ranka cosplayers, though oddly barely any other Moecross Frontier characters. Ranka is a joke to cosplay, which could be why. Besides that, there was so much Persona and vocaloid cosplay. I didn't catch all the cosplay with how busy I was, so I'm slightly unreliable for that metric. There was a little bit of awesome GaoGaiGar and sizable Shugo Chara cosplay. So nice.
Sadly, your panel woes were beaten into the ground at and post-con, Daryl. Not much you can do when Otakon staff makes stupid mistakes repeatedly. Ah well.
Exactly. PAX, AWA, and I'm sure other conventions treat their volunteers very well and they keep coming back again and again in droves. Otakon doesn't understand this. Their higher-level staff honestly believe that's a duty or work, not fun. This extends to other issues at the con and I've gotten to the point of barely caring because it'll never change…
I had an awesome time meeting you dudes yet again, seeing your panels, and at the con as I do most years. Heh. I'll see ya all next Otakon hopefully. Until then, I'll keep listening.
But anyway, please come to Katsucon, I would have loved to see your panels this year and hope to see you in February or whenever it gets scheduled next.
If a con will pay for our transportation and hotel room–we can all share one!–we'll gladly be a guest pretty much wherever and bring our beautiful tapestry of panels and such with us for the schedule. I heard via the rumor mill that part of the Katsucon reshuffling is directly related to them not giving out as many rooms as they used to, though. If that's true, then we probably aren't able to make it out there. But Katsucon is where THE TRUTH originated, after all, so it'd be interesting to return!
Should have run the clip of Violence Jack slaughtering section B who were gang raping the women of section C in the Evil Town OVA. That's shonen isn't it?
It certainly is, which is why practically 50% of my shonen panel consisted of Violence Jack, YO!
Hendane transports all their items with a huge van/truck. It's quite funny.
Well, sure. That's typical for most anime con dealers; they live gypsy lives. Our question was more to do with "how do they transport that high a volume of material of that nature between Japan and the United States without it getting confiscated?"
And you're right, Link. There were multiple Persona 3 and 4 groups, plus Vocaloids. I classified them all as part of the other 50%.
I agree that Kannagi was just an average show. It just was well produced (some episodes had very fluid animation). Funny that the director doesn't like the singing & dancing openings in shows, I LOVE THOSE.
I have an artbook for the series and will get the series eventually. People are wining about the lack of a dub, I don't give a shit.
I also agree about cons not having rare stuff. One guy from Mediablasters' table (that really fat guy) however, sold me some neat old artbooks. one for Iczer, one for Megazone 23 and one for the awesome but sadly gone studio ARTMIC.
Daryl who are you to criticize Mr. Yamamoto's attire when you also parade around with a tie on at THE ANIME CONVENTION :V
Also if Yamamoto and Shinbo really were in a feud it'd be one sided since Shinbo works on about two shows each season and is entirely too busy to do anything else.
(Shinbo is the true hero of Japanese animation)
I also agree about cons not having rare stuff. One guy from Mediablasters' table (that really fat guy) however, sold me some neat old artbooks. one for Iczer, one for Megazone 23 and one for the awesome but sadly gone studio ARTMIC.
Now this I was wondering. There was this guy who used to go to the cons some years ago, big fat guy, dark glasses (I'm pretty sure it's not the same guy you talked to, since I haven't seen him at cons in years) who used to sell ancient, rare artbooks, figures, resin kits, even LPs, all that good stuff. It was rather expensive, but all authentic and you couldn't find anything else like it in the dealer's room. I think his name was Bruno, but I'm only going on what I've heard. I then heard he had some very bad medical problems and that Media Blasters was trying to sell some of his stuff. This may all be related or non of it may be true since I'm piecing it together from what I overhear. I was hoping that someone would fill in for this guy when he left, but it seems like no one wants to even try to sell the older, rare items and everyone wants to sell only merchandise related to the brand newest shows.
Hendane transports all their items with a huge van/truck. It's quite funny.
Daryl addressed this but…yeah…I'd sort of imagine they would. But they must have some sort of secret, or some incredible luck or friends in the government to transport that much pornography across country lines with either no Customs inspection or confiscation. I don't know what they do or how they do it, but whatever it is, they've got the model down, since they're almost always cleared out by the end of a con, and if it were so easy, I have the feeling that there would be entire rows of dealers selling nothing but doujins. Speaking of which (I may have mentioned this in the podcast but I can't recall), I overheard a conversation between the guys operating the booth saying that they'd just put through a $3,600 order, a single one. I doubt many dealers, if anyone there put though that big an order at once during the weekend.
Thanks for the plug, guys. As you can probably imagine, we're pretty psyched about the "Dragon Box" sets coming out. We've got a big feature if you'd like some further reading.
I mostly wanted to pop in and agree about the dealer's room. The sad omission for me over the last few years was the sudden removal of CDs/soundtracks almost entirely and immediately (forget which year it was). I'll never forget that one year of holding a specific Street Fighter arranged soundtrack in my hand… and then no cons I went to after that so much as carrying CDs, anymore, nevermind GOOD ones. It's an obvious response and change in the marketplace/fanbase, but still… 🙁
This year's Otakon dealer's room was a major disappointment due to the only two things I could even tell they were selling: fake weapons and garbage. Normally there's the one setup with the swords 'n stuff, but this year it seemed a little more overwhelming. And the junk? Good lord. Pre-made, pre-packaged, crappy-looking cosplay accessories… frumpy-looking clothes… it seemed like Spencer's Gifts set up shop and that was that. We did a grand total of ONE quick walk-through of the dealer's room, and decided there was NOTHING of interest there.
Yes, yes… the internet has essentially negated the need for a convention dealer's room. It's all about the immediate, spur-of-the-moment, impulse-purchase though. I think there's still a place for that.
Hearing about crappy panels always just reinvigorates my desire to submit a bunch the next year. :/
Definitely had a great time, as always, though. Not having any videos or panels let us do things like catch a movie (Urusei Yatsura), Kikuko Inoue's second Q&A panel… ended up getting drafted to judge Iron Editor, but it was nice to actually be on the totally-normal-fan side of things for a change, otherwise.
I just came here to say what has already been mentioned in previous comments: Unedited is perfectly fine! If that's what usually delays releases, then just post them raw.
Also, length (as, again, mentioned in previous comments) isn't an issue. Anyone listening to this show expects 2+ hours of content.
Hmmn, I don't recall a Bruno. I think his name was John but I totally don't remember. Was the guy you saw have curly hair? Last I saw him, he was wearing an Outlanders T-shirt.
I would love to see the panel "anime's craziest deaths."
Loved the con report.
Your comments about mailing badges is something I brought up with the registration folks from the con I staff. They brought up the same arguments you mentioned and refuse to even think about mailing out the badges. It basically comes down to "this is the way we've always done it, so it'll always be that way"
Daryl addressed this but…yeah…I'd sort of imagine they would. But they must have some sort of secret, or some incredible luck or friends in the government to transport that much pornography across country lines with either no Customs inspection or confiscation.
As both you and Daryl brought up, I'd not think that much into the oh so dangerous international transportation of porn. Considering that if your organization is not dumb about it and have enough people bringing over the porn, I highly doubt they have issues. For Hendane, the act ends up not being any different than transporting pounds and pounds of Naruto goods over from Japan. They should know all the tricks.
At the same time, I'm sure dealing with the mass quantities of imported goods on a consistent basis from Japan is a pain, no matter what you're dealing with. That's why the majority of shops in the dealer's room deal with domestic or easy-to-obtain goods.
Think of it this way. When there's stories that come out over American fans who are arrested and possibly prosecuted over their Japanese cartoon porn, there's almost always other circumstances involved, or the recipients aren't too intelligent about the whole deal. Considering that those problems trouble maybe 0.001% of the cartoon porn consuming base overall, I certainly doubt a business or even any not-neckbeard individual has the same issues.
Just agreeing with the other commenters that you guys sound great unedited, though it's still cool if you really prefer to edit them 🙂
I subscribe to a few unedited skype-based podcasts already, and of course there might be the awkward silences or two people talking at once, but as long as the rapport is good, no one sweats it.
As unlikely as it is to materialize, as a SF Bay Area resident I must voice my support for you guys making the trip to California for FanimeCon.
From listening to your shows, I've deduced that the con you guys attend which is most similar to Fanime is most likely Anime Weekend Atlanta. I think the director of programming at Fanime may be an AWO listener, as the video schedule this year included Rose of Versailles, Getter Robo, Princess Millennia, Galaxy Express 999, Captain Harlock, and others. In addition there were some cool showings of live action material such as the Detroit Metal City movie(this was extremely popular) and the Sonny Chiba Golgo 13 movie. Ryan Gavigan and Carl Horn were there too. So was Hiroyuki Yamaga and a posse of GAINAX people.
Of course, Fanime still suffers from the sign-toting, glomp/hug-soliciting, cat-ear clad scourge that other conventions know well. I guess it's just unavoidable these days.
But yeah, you guys should make the trip. Skip Otakon next year or something. 😀
A comment or two:
I see lots of discussion about the huge reg line at Otakon, but I don't see any discussion on WHY that was. Was it they just had 2 stations set up to hand out the badges? Was it one person who had to type in all your 'contact info' by hand, even if you had pre-reged and filled that all out on the web months ago? Was there only one printer to kick out the names to be stuck on the badges? What was the deal? You'd think that by NOW they'd know there's a shitload of people gonna come to the thing…
As to CDs and the lack thereof. The problem is there really was only ONE person/company that had any interest in selling legit Japanese CDs, Eldon of Lazer Perceptions/Digital Discs/whatever, and he kept…well, he kept making some foolish mistakes.
In the early days he was running into the "how can I compete?!" problem as most every OTHER dealer stocked in the 'usual suspect' HK/Taiwan bootleg CDs, and it's not rocket science that if you're selling $30 and up CDs someone with SM CDs at $12 (even tho they actually cost like $2) is just gonna put a massive beatdown on your business.
Of course he did set himself up for the problem to start with, charging something on the order of $42 for a 3000 Yen CD and he never seemed to 'get' that issue. But then, reportedly he did something super dumb, selling home burned copies of Japanese CDs, and *supposedly* went so far as to show the Japanese original, then when a customer wanted to buy he reportedly did a switch and put the home burned in the customer's hands. yes, complete with copied booklet and obi. This got him in a lot of trouble with a couple of cons IIRC and seriously hurt his rep.
It's really a shame, I LIKED the guy, and I liked buying stuff from him. I got a LOT of CDs via mail order from him in the days before CD Japan came into being.
It's a shame CD Japan hasn't considered doing what HobbyLink Japan does, I'd work that table in a heartbeat.
Realy nice blog. I liked it. I agree with Daryl Surat
I've been thinking about something discussed in the 'cast, the frustration of having to 'buy blind' into Otakon because they can't get their stuff together until the last month or so. I'm wondering how much of the 'who will be guests?!' is caused by the concom not making the calls until the money starts coming in?
anyway, I wonder if the attitude of the concom is in any way a carryover from SF/media con thinking, either as staff or as attendees? When I was hitting the Midwest con circuit in the late '70s to the mid-80s, it was just ASSUMED that if you attended a con one year, you'd be back the next. It didn't matter who the guests were or what the theme was, you just WENT because that's just what was done.
I suspect there's a number of anime congoers that do the same thing, just hit their faves, make a circuit of it, regardless of anything else.
Course, you can only do that if you have good, steady money…
I kind of chuckled over your Steampunk panel comments because I did exactly what you prescribed at this past Otafest in Calgary: Steampunk Anime: Scientific Romances in the Land of the Rising Sun.
So yeah, I agree whole-heartedly! ^_^
Some of you probably have already seen this, but…
http://www.nbc.com/the-tonight-show-with-conan-obrien/video/clips/conan-and-andy-do-manga-072409/1139088/
It's Conan and Andy dubbing GITS. The part where they dub over the Manga logo is priceless.
I can attest to getting burned (hah) by Digital Discs after buying a Legend of Mana soundtrack at AnimeCentral. I wondered why one of the discs was constantly skipping in my (crappy) portable CD player despite having no scratches on it whatsoever. Apparently it didn't burn quite right!
The thing is, the book and obi and everything LOOKED real (and were on nice paper), and it was in pull-tab plastic packaging, so it was much more easily passable as the real deal than the typical SM. The discs themselves had printed face art, as well. It was only when I got the real soundtrack a few years later that I saw the differences.
I've always wondered exactly what went on there with the CD counterfeiting and wish I could find out more, because it clearly was a more professional operation than a kid burning CDs in his basement.
I get the feeling that if you're shipping hundreds of books from Japan, customs is only going to inspect a handful of them – if they even decide to inspect the shipment at all. If the odds are in your favor, the books Customs checks will be the one of the several titles with Cammy getting cornholed as opposed to that one somewhere in the bunch with 11-year-old girls with cocks 3 times the size of their bodies, then you're probably good to go! Though with the whole Handley thing, it's likely a bit more risky now…
Yeah, Hen Da Ne has told me that they're actually not going to be doing any loli books anymore because of recent events.
Sad as that is.
Regarding Conan and Andy's visit to Bang!Zoom!…
Daryl and others get upset when I keep mentioning that companies (and of course the news) have 'playbooks' and 'templates' they go to, the easy 'fill in the blanks' of pre-writing a story (or marketing or whatever) and yet here is a perfect example, just textbook perfect.
What did they pick on for their 'funny dub' example? The original Manga Ent. Ghost in the Shell. What were the key points? boobs and violence. Welcome to 1996.
Oh, and the ADR director giving a long winded, overly complex, super nerd description of the plot. I'm SURE he was told to 'nerd it up' as much as possible.
Of course it's just as well, I suspect Conan's head would have exploded if he had been shown some Detroit Metal City…
Great podcast again, love to hear your impressions! (as I live in Europe and have never gone to a real con myself). But wanted to ask this: are there any recordings of any of your panels? Maybe someone had a camera and posted the video on somewhere?
Also wanted to say that the so called "unedited" version of the podcast is sounds not bad at all, so feel free to do more of these if you need:)
Hey Gerald, Daryl, and Clarissa-
I just finished listening to your Otakon '09 report. First of all, thanks for putting this up. I enjoyed it greatly as I do with all of your con reports. I find your views of the various conventions to be excellent and I appreciate your unapologetic attitudes and opinions (especially Daryl, who frequently cracks me up).
I'd like to say that where I'm from (Chicago), we really only have 1 major con, which I'm sure you're aware of (Anime Central). I've been attending Acen for the past 6 years. We do have smaller cons, like Anime Reactor (which I think is now just known as Reactor), but Acen is really it for anime cons. We also have the Chicago Comic-Con, which is run by Wizard. I've attended this particular con 5 or 6 times as well.
This kind of brings me to the point of what I want to say. In your podcast, you touched on a few interesting points regarding the divide between sci-fi cons and anime cons. I don't necessarily consider Chicago Comic-Con to be a straightforward sci-fi con, but it is definitely NOT an anime con, nor has it really had a huge anime presence (at least from what I've seen). In the 90s, it was one of the few places where one could purchase fan-subbed tapes of anime, but that's really about it. Anyone out there who sees it differently is free to disagree with me.
My point being, this year at Chicago Comic-Con, Anime Central is having what they are calling their "After Shock" event. You can read about it here: http://www.acen.org/aftershock.
Now, I'm not necessarily opposed to this, per se, but I must admit it is somewhat disheartening. It's representative of a trend in cons, I suppose. Furthermore, Acen just ended TWO MONTHS AGO, cementing the lack of necessity for this greatly in my opinion.
For the past few years, Acen has done very little to attract the attention of big guests. We get voice actors from American and Japanese productions, former Power Rangers, and the same guests year after year after year who have nothing new to add. I don't necessarily have anything against Robert and Emily DeJesus, for example, but it's good to see some new blood or some major guest announcements instead.
I guess it just pisses me off that Acen can spend money on this instead of attracting the big names. I know you guys named off a lot of big Japanese names that appeared at Otakon. I'd LOVE to see some of these guests at Anime Central. I know we got Kenichi Sonada (excuse my spelling if I am way off), but that was a long time ago. I'm tired of seeing Vic Mignogna and Travis Willingham attend this convention as "guests" every year when in reality they are just playing off the sensibilities of annoying fan girls and riding Full Metal Alchemist into the ground repeatedly.
Am I just a jaded asshole? Or am I making some semblance of sense? At any rate, I enjoy your show greatly. I've even downloaded (GASP!) Robot Carnival after listening to one of your older shows recently. Thanks for all that you do to entertain folks like me while we're bored at work. We appreciate it.
*Should add that I meant to say Acen is the only big anime-specific con. I know that Chicago Comic-Con is technically larger in size.
Listened to the con report on the (three hour long) drive home this evening. Your unedited stuff STILL sounds better than the edited episodes of some podcasts I listen to.
I just had one quick question concerning the Otakon game room and the killer promo Daryl cut at the end of Episode 81b. Mr. Surat, did the numbers add up?!
Called out. 🙁
Still listening to the episode, but I just rushed over to my computer to comment after hearing you talk about the steampunk panel and your desire for a Steampunk in Anime panel. I wanted to tell you that there was a panel exactly like that at Otafest in Calgary this past May, though I see the person who ran that panel has already commented (Cory, if you're reading this, you did an awesome job!) It went over the history of the genre and then covered most of the titles you mentioned complete with clips, including an extended clip from Robot Carnival that went over very well with the audience. So don't lose hope, guys! Great panels that tie in subject matter to anime still exist!
Also, I'm the person who spoiled Baccano! on an earlier blog post, if you don't remember my name (I had a grey smiley-faced shirt on Saturday). It was great to get to meet all of you guys and I hope to attend Otakon again next year.
Hey guys! Just started listening to this in the car this morning. Considering its length, it will take me several rounds of commutes to get through the whole thing, so there may be more comments coming.
For now I just wanted to touch on Gerald's question as to whether Mr. Kikukawa had been to American anime cons before… Most definitely! He and Ishiguro were sort of a tag team at AX for a number of years (it was several years ago at their panel that they first discussed plans for Tytania). Here is a photo from AX 2000. He was also at the Worldcon in Philadelphia in 2001, officially representing the Worldcon Japan 2007 bid committee. Actually, come to think of it, I believe I mentioned that in my interview in episode 64!
From the sound of things, the Otakon staff recognizes that the majority of Otakon con-goers don't actually care about the con operations. They're just there to hang out with people who think and act like they do. Otakon isn't a destination; it's an excuse.
Also, I'd imagine that the Otakon core staff is like any other group of nerds: more insular than the worst high-school clique you can imagine, and firmly convinced that They Aren't Like That because They Hate Those Kind Of People.
Man, I'm surprised the AOD'ers are so pissed about the ADV MD Geist not having any extras from the CPM editions. Do most people actually watch that anime for the bonus features?
Good report.
On coming out West to Fanime I'll add some sugar to the possibility. Give your selves a few extra days and stay at my place.
We have some interesting shops here in the SF Bay Area, hell Japantown in San Francisco is an anime dealers room open most of the year (they actually close down on major holidays and New Years). Kimono My House has great stuff and some dealers at the con are starting to bring slow selling older items from their inventory (I've been asking them to do this).
I have a couch and two large inflatable mattresses. Being sexist I say Clarissa gets first choice.
Who knows I may even do the "Sex trade in anime and manga" panel I've been thinking about.
Anon: Never mind most of CPM's extras, but the commentary track on MD Geist, supplied by Ohata and his screenwriter Riku Sanjo, is stunning and really drives home how lousy MD Geist is. The two men spend the entire running time not remembering anything about the project and asking each other why what they're seeing doesn't make any sense. Really hilarious stuff. If you're enough of a bad cartoon fan that you're buying MD Geist in the first place, you probably want the CPM version.
Unedited is always better. 🙂
Keep up the awsome sauce. 🙂
Hey, if all of you make it to fanime next year, please announce it cuz that would totally make me wanna go and see you in action. Also, it gives me a great excuse to visit fanime after so many years – it was the first convention I ever attended, way back in 1997…
Oh yes, we certainly have our ways. :v
And certainly, we will not carry loli stuff ever again. Boobs forever. \o/
In all honesty, a lot of our changing policies is due to a lot of factors. The Chris Handley case, as someone has mentioned, certainly comes to mind among other things. But hey, if people want this stuff so badly I would suggest going to Japan and getting it yourself. Do let us know how that goes. 🙂
Your podcast always makes my day at work brighter. You guys are cool that way.
Otakon, wow. I've always wanted to go one day, to see the sea of anime fans for myself, if you will. However, that might not happen anytime soon(as in the next few years).
The only "HUEG" con I'll be able to go to most definitely is AX, as I have family in L.A. and can stay at their place for the duration.
My only con experience is Otafest in Calgary, Alberta(mentioned by that Cory Gross guy) as that's where I live, and the next closest anime con(as far as I know) is Animethon in Edmonton, Alberta… but I don't like Edmonton. Oh well, might go there one day just to check it out.
Great report and episode as usual, keep up the good work! You don't sound bad at all with no editing!
To be honest after going to a few Anime North and Fan Expo shows here in Toronto I really don't see the big appeal of anime con's. Dealer room have always been iffy with most of them being just local outfits setting up shop with little to no deals to be had. Panels were pretty much a wash as well, sure anime hell was alright but nothing you cant find surfing YouTube. Certainty nothing that would get me to fly out to a show like Otacon. I think the thing with conventions is the only reason to really make an effort to travel to one is if your meeting up with a group of friends and people you know to hang out. Personally I would rather use that money to plan an actual pilgrimage to Japan and get in on ground zero of the anime scene.
Gerald you mentioned enthusiasm being one of three ingredients you feel panelists should have. What are the others? Are they knowledge and ability to communicate clearly?
SoundwaveCA said:
"sure anime hell was alright but nothing you cant find surfing YouTube. "
Ummmmmmmm.
And you avoided the dance because you can download the music, right?
The point, as I understand it, isn't to 'linkbomb' the room with clip after clip from online (and I DEFY you to point out where online some of that stuff Dave has is. He's got things NOBODY knew existed), he's a VJ, mixing and mashing and talking trash and sometimes little bits of useless but fun information.
The point of Anime Hell is not just watching crap. It's EXPERIENCING crap.
I suspect that's why the room is jammed full every single year. it's something you CAN'T get online.
feh.
Fair enough.
I couldn't it into it personally but I know what your saying about it being a shared experience.
For me the lack of editing wasn't noticeable. It felt like it went as smoothly as any of the other bonus episodes.
I liked getting new episodes, It gives me something to listen too while drawing.
And you avoided the dance because you can download the music, right?
No I avoid the Dance because all I do and stand awkwardly in the corner and drink my smuggled in whiskey. I could instead drink whiskey at home and listen to the same music. Both are equally pathetic, but at least during one only I know about display of pathetic-ness. However, something tells me that I completely ignored your point.
I also agree about cons not having rare stuff. One guy from Mediablasters' table (that really fat guy) however, sold me some neat old artbooks. one for Iczer, one for Megazone 23 and one for the awesome but sadly gone studio ARTMIC.
Didn't know they were gone. 🙁
Steve Harrison said…
Regarding Conan and Andy's visit to Bang!Zoom!…
What did they pick on for their 'funny dub' example? The original Manga Ent. Ghost in the Shell. What were the key points? boobs and violence. Welcome to 1996.
Sadly true.
Oh, and the ADR director giving a long winded, overly complex, super nerd description of the plot. I'm SURE he was told to 'nerd it up' as much as possible.
Needless to say for a late night audience who might not be into this stuff, you need to make it seem that way.
Of course it's just as well, I suspect Conan's head would have exploded if he had been shown some Detroit Metal City…
I bet it would! As usual, this is a typical fluff piece and nothing more. Is it no wonder I won't watch TV?
subatomic brainfreeze said…
Anon: Never mind most of CPM's extras, but the commentary track on MD Geist, supplied by Ohata and his screenwriter Riku Sanjo, is stunning and really drives home how lousy MD Geist is. The two men spend the entire running time not remembering anything about the project and asking each other why what they're seeing doesn't make any sense. Really hilarious stuff. If you're enough of a bad cartoon fan that you're buying MD Geist in the first place, you probably want the CPM version.
I would probably buy that just to see the confusion unfold!
hdn guy said…
In all honesty, a lot of our changing policies is due to a lot of factors. The Chris Handley case, as someone has mentioned, certainly comes to mind among other things. But hey, if people want this stuff so badly I would suggest going to Japan and getting it yourself. Do let us know how that goes. 🙂
I would then give them the finger behind their back!
Looks like someone was wrong about "Gigantor" being copyrighted. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1355196/
As for the Conan O' Brien hate, someone hasn't seen his Gundam. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ConanmkII.jpg Oh, and if anyone can upload that ep. from the NY show where they broadcast a censored hentai clip, I'd really appreciate it.
Chris, Steve, you guys gotta stop being such grumpy gusses. The Conan / GITS thing was funny, because it's true. Have you ever tried to explain what Ghost in the Shell is about to someone, and then taken a step back and recognized that the words coming out of your mouth resemble an onslaught of crazy gibberish? I know I have.
I get the impression that the skit came from a place of love and appreciation. And as much as I love the first GITS movie, I had a great time watching Conan and Andy make poke fun at it. 🙂
I would very much like to do the sort of video game panels you describe.
But I am very, very lazy.
If someone signed me up for it, I would put in the effort to actually compose the panel.
Ah shit, that was me.
Also, Erin and Noah must listen to your podcast with one ear. Noah incorrectly attributed "zombies in D&D mechanics" to you guys, and I was like "That's Joel's joke, son!" and my pitchfork was out and I was gonna come down to Florida as soon as I could find a permissible $29 flight and as soon as I stopped hating Florida, which was never, so you're SAFE for NOW.
Also I listened to the podcast and Joel was given attribution (CC share-alike license for douchebags). So my rage was sated.
Also, listening to your podcast is better than listening to the single battle song they have in Persona.
GITS is easy to describe. "It's a sci-fi movie about cyborg cops in the future." Done.
Gilles: Kimono My House closed last year, I think that they only do mail-order now. See our podcast on CollectionDX.
"GITS is easy to describe. "It's a sci-fi movie about cyborg cops in the future." Done."
And the The Crying Game is about a dude that falls in love with a lounge singer.
And Evangelion is about a kid that pilots a robot.
-_-